SeattlePioneer

Wow! A TRIPLE post! SSScout must really mean that one.

Wow! A TRIPLE post! SSScout must really mean that one.

Children already have the power to consent to sex in many cases, and the Supreme Court has decided that young children are competent to consent to surgery such as abortions --- it's a small step to giving children a right to have sex with adults. Just follow the arguments used by homosexuals over the years. There's really no place to stop that is defensible if you accept the basic "rights" argument of the sexual liberation movement.(This message has been edited by seattlepioneer)

> Around here, LDS units are making an effort to recruit non LDS families into their Scout units. Not to convert the non LDS families, but just to increase the size of their units to improve the program. The LDS church pays the cost of BSA membership and program fees for LDS and non LDS Scouts and Scouters.

Surely NAMBLA is just the next frontier of "bigotry" and "discrimination" to be overcome by the sexual liberation movement. The usual and accustomed political methods will be used to overcome objections to that form of natural born sexual appetite. I don't doubt that in another twenty years the same kinds of attacks on BSA will be made on BSA for it's "intransigence" in endorsing this particular form of sexual expression. There is, after all, no real place for that political movement to stop.

> I agree. And I think resignations on principle should be taken seriously. So I'd send each person a letter regretting that they no longer supported Scouting, and notifying them that all records of their membership in Scouting have been permanently expunged.

Hello Scout Nut, The Girl Scout recruiting night I attended was an area recruiting meeting. Probably thirty or so parents attended, many bringing children. They were told that they would mostly have to start a program from scratch, since there were few existing troops interested in adding members. That strikes me as a TALL order for parents to undertake. An existing Cub Scout pack makes demands on parents for support, but usually has a place to meet, an ongoing program, other leaders to help carry out the program and so on. I have my Cub Pack recruiting night scheduled and the plan of meetings and activities will be reviewed by our pack committee August 20th. It includes meetings and activities through the end of December. I freely concede that I don't understand how Girl Scouts make their program work. The Cub Scout model seems a lot better to me. But heck --- it's not like I'm dedicating myself to making trouble for Girls Scouts because I don't like some of their policies. They are welcome to do their own thing and good luck to them.

> Once again we fence out the capable young people who have been trained in Scouting to be leaders by age restrictions on doing important stuff --- district committee stuff in particular. With your interest in being a professional Scouter, I would suggest that learning the methods of effective recruiting of new Cub Scouts would be a skill you would profit from by learning. Do you have a district Membership Chair? I would be surprised if your DE and/or membership chair would not be delighted to have you assist with organizing and promoting Cub Scout recruiting nights during the September-November fall recruiting season. You don't have to be of any particular age to help with that, and it's a VERY valuable skill for a DE to have. What is your current unofficial district position or activity?

Personally I disagree with Two Cub about laying everything out. That's an invitation to a fight. You need your own plan about how to implement the reforms you propose. Rather than having a meeting of adult leaders to choose the next Senior Patrol Leader, talk to the PLC about a date to freely elect the next SPL and stick with the plan. At a Patrol Leader Meeting announce that if desired, one patrol can camp at a location of their own choosing on the next trip. They will have a rainfly available to set up if they wish and no responsibility to set up the troop rainfly. See how that goes. If there is a big demand for more independent patrol camping, you can accommodate that change over a period of a few months. If some patrols prefer camping with the adults, let them do that. Since you will be a patrol short to set up the troop rainfly, you might want to encourage adults to help set it up, and participate in that yourself. I think you need to look for ways to implement the changes you want over time by giving the Scouts the initiative in making the decisions. I think you can point out to the Troop Committee that the PLC and Scoutmaster have decided on these changes, and they don't need to be approved by the Troop Committee.

Do you recall good or bad Camp Commissioners during your summer camp experiences? I'd like to hear about them.

Just a thought--- I think I'd assign the best CIT who was a counselor the previous year to manage the CIT cabin. Or perhaps have that honor shared each week by a counselor with previous CIT experience. I would suppose there is a need to set high standards for CITS and maintain their morale over time. That takes effective leadership.

While Easy Ups are easy, I prefer my own method which is inexpensive and uses Scout skills: Pretty much any size tarp that has grommets in it. Use: six 2"x2"x eight foot long poles. Cut four poles to six foot lengths. Pound a nail part way into the top of each pole. Cut ten pieces of cord to stake out the poles. Tie a bowline in one end or each cord and a taut line hitch in the other end. Put the bowline over the nail in the four corner poles and stake out the tarp. Put the nail of the two six foot poles in the middle grommet to form a ridge line. Put a piece of cord over the nails in those two poles and stake out those poles. Works well if you have sufficient area for all the stakes.

Hello rainman29, What are your current Scouting interests, positions and activities?

Hello Walnut, I'm relieved to finally hear a positive report about Unit Commissioners and district organization in general. I suspect the life of District Executives would be easier and with better results if more effort was put into recruiting district volunteers to do the tasks that need to be done and less time having the DE do those tasks.

I was a Camp Commissioner last year. The CITs had their own cabin where they apparently lived pretty much on their own. I was advised no to trespass there, and followed that advice. But I wonder about a lack of supervision. I would expect bullying to crop up, and housekeeping is likely to be lousy without supervision. Perhaps some was keeping an eye on them --- I don't know. Shortridge's advice seems to be very good. Little if any of it was apparent among the CIT program I saw, albeit with limited abilirty to observe what was actually happening. It seems to me that a QUALITY CIT program would be a good Scouting experience, lead to CITs returning to be staff members and minimize negative experiences. Without adequate supervision, those positives are likely to be negatives.

I don't have a lot of familiarity with Girls Scout Troops, but as I understand it, most need new troops to be organized each year and the older ones dies off as the older girls grow out of them. That suggests that the units for older girls might reasonably continue for their usual life, and a new AHG unit for younger girls slowly replace the Girl Scouts. Personally I would prefer to avoid disrupting programs that girls and families have made a part of their lives.

Hello How, > You are doing on your own initiative just what BSA is suggesting! You recognize that reporters USUALLY have their own agenda and are willing to exploit their sources to get what they want. By contrast, when you blog you are the one controlling the result.

Our council has a "Mom and Me" camping weekend for Cub Scouts designed for moms to have a quality camping experience with their sons. It always receives rave reviews from moms in my experience: http://www.seattlebsa.org/Camping/Mom-and-Me A Daddy and Daughter Dance for a girls program sounds charming to me, and one of my interests is always to bind children and parents more closely together, especially fathers. I would envision a girls program that would cooperate with Cub Scout program when that is desirable and organizes their own program when that is desirable. I wonder if our council would allow AHG familes to attend along with Cub Scout families at a "Mom and Me" Camp? It might be something to ask about, and perhaps to experiment with.(This message has been edited by seattlepioneer)

What are the secrets for Scout Camps to use Counselors In Training (CITs) reasonably and effectively? What are weaknesses in the program ----or strengths, that you have observed?

Another thing to consider is WHY your previous Camp Directors overspent their budgets. Are the budgets unrealistic or weak? If so, volunteers will merely replicate the experience, or provide a weak program. Did camp directors lack sufficient experience to manage the financial side properly? If so, perhaps your new Camp Director needs an advisor or additional training in how to do the job --- and perhaps additional supervision.(This message has been edited by seattlepioneer)

Hello AHGnBSAMom, I am interested in a program like Cub Scouts rather than one that is mainly religious in nature like one of the links you provide: http://www.themichigancatholic.com/2012/08/little-lamps-of-faith/ However, that's mainly a matter of what you do with the program I suspect. Only about 20% or so of the families in the pack are parish members, and religious emphasis is an occasional prayer or grace plus providing families with information on religious awards, and participation in Scout Sunday for those interested. One thing I do want to do is look over the AHG program and program material to see if it is compatible with the kind of thing I'd like to do. What would be the best way to do that?

> See how easy it is to find a new home?

Hello Two Cub Dad,

Since damaged Scout Handbook bindings appear to be a common problem and issue, Scout Troops should probably develop a method to deal with it. That suggests a preemptive reinforcement of the binding to avoid the problem or methods to make repairs once they become apparent. Does anyone do that kind of thing? It occurs to me that there might be useful ways to customize the Scout Handbook to make it more useful and meaningful to boys. A custom Troop book plate with the name of the Scout on it might be one example. Installing pockets for Merit Badge blue cards a boy is working on might be another. What other ways could troops help maintain and usefully customize Scout Handbooks?

> With a blog and a book, your audience appears to be diverse and impersonal rather than the person-to-person communication emphasized by Scouting. That's not wrong, it's just different. I would expect most highly motivated Scouts to express themselves through Order of the Arrow or other methods like that. But we probably need more general communicators like you than we have. So I wish you good luck. Yours might be one of the great names in Scouting in the 21st century!