shortridge

scoutldr -

I don't want to become one of those rules-spouting bubbleheads, but I'm wondering what your source is for that information.

Like Eagle92, I'm not finding any reference to the SCF's authority to impose additional requirements on unit nominations. He or she approves individual adult selections, sure, but saying that a troop or team's OA members have to be active at a certain level is adding requirements.

As a purely practical matter, it could also severely restrict a unit's ability to rebuild a dormant OA program at the local level. If youth members don't have an adult member in their troop or team to look up to, bounce questions off of or hitch a ride with, the odds that they would attend even 50 percent of functions drops dramatically.

Bugles Across America is searching for volunteers to play Taps at military funerals - could be a great opportunity to make the position more meaningful, and provide a needed service besides:

"Bugler Volunteers can be male or female. They can play a traditional bugle with no valves, or they can perform the ceremony on a Trumpet, Cornet, Flugelhorn, or a 1, 2 or 3 valved bugle. The bugler can be of any age as long as they can play the 24 notes of Taps with an ease and style that will do honor to both the Veterans, their families, and the burial detail performing the service."

http://xeml.buglesacrossamerica.org/

Reference on the shortage of buglers at military funerals:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/07/shortage-of-bug.html

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At a summer camp I staffed, we had a bugler for a couple years, but he got promoted up the ranks to program director and couldn't do it anymore. We also had a small cannon, but it got canned when it sort of blew up and burned the trading post manager's leg.

Just as a unit cannot add requirements for rank advancement, a lodge cannot add requirements for membership.

Besides, that's an incredibly silly rule just on the face of it. You're cutting off your nose to spite your face, limiting the pool of potential adult members available to serve and advise based on an entirely arbitrary measurement.

I hope this is a misinterpretation of some rule somewhere, and not a real policy.(This message has been edited by shortridge)

A few observations:

(1) A troop shouldn't be giving out "presents" based on who was "first" to reach a certain rank. The great game of Scouting is not a race. If your troop's leadership views things in this way, it may be best to find another troop on general grounds.

(2) If the Scoutmaster thought your son hadn't done the job properly, he should have communicated that. And it sounds like that's what he used the SM conference for. IMHO, he probably should have done it sooner - like explaining in advance to your son that the campouts he didn't attend wouldn't count for his POR term. But he did communicate that.

(3) You said your son "was never sure of what he needed to do." If he wasn't sure about his responsibilities, he did have plenty of opportunity to ask in advance. If he wasn't sure about how his Scoutmaster would judge his service, he also had plenty of opportunity to ask in advance.

Thanks for the tip! That sounds like a great story. Aimed right at the 9-12 age group, too. I'll have to check it out.

"We will likley never know because it would be a confidential matter and wopuld probably not be publicized."

*If* this is the case, I'd hope the council would in fact make it a public matter. It's not a personnel issue, since the person in question isn't an employee. He's a high-ranking volunteer, and as such sets an example for many other volunteers.

Were his actions in line with BSA or council policy? If the council keeps any hypothetical action quiet, no one will know, and other volunteers may feel it's OK to follow his example. (Which may or may not be a bad example, of course. Opinions seem divided here.)

But again, this is all hypothetical. Anyone here from this gentleman's council and know some of the details?

Reading this makes my head hurt... No offense, but I'm so glad I'm done with popcorn sales!

I've often thought that an ambitious pack could partner with a local Girl Scout troop and strike an under-the-table profit-sharing deal on Thin Mints. Both sides would benefit.

Your SPL and PLC can organize a dignified, meaningful presentation ceremony for regular advancement recognition at troop or patrol meetings without going all-out for a full-fledged fancy-dress COH. That goes for ranks and merit badges.

I don't have a copy of Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures with me right now. But MeritBadge.com has a page that purports to have information from the 1999 printing, stating:

4. The Boy Scout is recognized. When the board of review has certified a boy's advancement, he deserves to receive recognition as soon as possible. This should be done at a ceremony at the next troop meeting. The certificate for his new rank may be presented later at a formal court of honor.

Anyone with a current edition know if that's still accurate?

You're not the only one to notice this, nor to connect his personal political stances with Scouting.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2008/sep/24/breaking-news-3

Forgot to add this.

These days, seasonal camp experience might not be enough - councils are probably looking for multitaskers.

A friend and former camp staff co-worker landed a resident director's job two years ago, the lucky sonofagun, but he had a master's in parks and rec management and a stint at a municipal parks agency.

The guy he succeeded had been there for many years, also working as the resident ranger, doing traditional double duty. My friend does double duty, too, but as a council program director - he did a lot of stuff with the council jamboree this summer, and even handles some things that sound to me like a UC's work. He oversees a full-time non-resident ranger/assistant camp director and runs summer camp.

Just as an observation - I would be a little suspicious if a strange adult called my child out of the blue and started asking her questions about where and when her Girl Scout troop met and whether she'd be going on a certain campout.

I assume from 2© and 2(d) that these are Cub Scouts the commissioners will be calling. Does your council staff really think that 7-8-year-olds would know where the CSC and Scout Shop are?

Have you checked out the ACA's year-round job listing?

http://acacamps.org/jobs/yrjc/current.txt

It's updated about every 15 days. There are no Boy Scout camp jobs currently included, but some do pop up. There are a lot of GSUSA jobs in the current edition, though.

Good luck!

Anyone out there a WS counselor?

I taught the badge for four years as an instructor at a Scout camp in the mid-Atlantic region. I didn't attempt to teach flint-knapping, snares, tracking, edible plants or anything of that sort - I know my limits, and the limits imposed on me by the resources and program structure.

I figured if the Scouts in my class went away with the basic knowledge of how to stay alive and healthy for a few days while they were being searched for, that would be great. The fact is that most lost people ARE found within a few days.

There were some Scouts, really gung-ho types, who were disappointed by the requirements and wanted to learn more, and I tried to point them in the right direction. (I always carried Tom Brown's book with me and preached his gospel. )

I earned the badge at age 10 - my first summer camp - and loved it. (And yes, I know that I'm a huge hypocrite for saying now it should be limited to Scouts ages 13+.) My instructors were two great guys - one was later the national OA vice-chief - and did a fine job, but they were only 14/15-year-old CITs. That's a big reason why I have significant doubts about the ability of instructors to teach at a higher level. I don't want a 16-year-old novice teaching my child that a certain weed is edible when it's a lookalike for a toxic plant.

But if we are really mastering survival, shouldn't we learn how to survive for more than a few days?

Are merit badges really about mastering a subject, or about getting an introduction and piquing interest?

Generally, I think too often we ask a Scout if he has a certain merit badge as a way of establishing skills in an area, and assume that completion equals mastery.

I asked them what should be done and the older more experienced boy took the two patches and said, "This is an easy decision." He then handed the SPL to his buddy and took the ASPL himself.

That's a great story, and very instructive. Sounds like you have a solid team there.

Re: the Ranger Award....

And in another example of Scouting's multiple personalities:

Boy Scout Wilderness Survival Merit Badge

- Explain why it usually not wise to eat edible wild plants or wildlife in a wilderness survival situation.

Venturing Ranger Award

- Explain the usefulness and drawbacks of obtaining food in the wilderness, including things to avoid.

- Prepare and eat at least one meal with food you have found in the outdoors.

I know Venturers are older and operate at a higher level than Boy Scouts. But I still don't get this dichotomy.

Your adult leaders shouldn't have to spend even a fraction of their time keeping an eye on other adults. If you have concerns, call the council and change your mind.

Are you involved in an official rewrite, or just gathering ideas for a proposal to National or a unit program?

Love this question!

In an ideal world, Scouts who complete Wilderness Survival would be able to live indefinitely off the land on their own. But I have definite objections to unqualified counselors teaching edible plant identification, which would be central to such a program. And since the Scouting system is not set up to assess the qualifications of counselors, it opens up the door to a whole lot of problems.

Unfortunately, there just aren't enough qualified counselors out there to teach deep survival - real primitive living skills, consuming wild foods, snares and deadfalls, etc. The truly qualified ones are teaching $900 week-long courses in the Pine Barrens or Boulder.

That said, off the top of my head, my revised requirements would...

- Specifically require fire-by-friction and flint & steel firestarting techniques.

- Require two nights spent in a shelter, not just one.

- Require demonstration of what to do when a boat flips or swamps, not just a discussion.

- Add a requirement to focus on mapreading and orienteering skills, to avoid getting lost in the first place.

- Add a requirement on creating useful woods tools essentially from scratch - a carved wooden fork, a flint-knapped blade, a coal-burnt bowl, etc.

- Require that Scouts taking the badge be at least First Class and/or 13 years old.

Thanks for the ideas so far... keep 'em coming!

Ohio Scouter: Alas, I missed out on Philmont as a youth. It's going to take me about another decade to make it - have to wait until my daughter joins Venturing and see if she wants to go.

I'm an eastern flatlander, too. In my book, God's Country is sandy coves, flat trails and pine trees. You just can't beat the smell of pine.

On a semi-related note, I was searching on Amazon the other day for Girl Scout-related books, and I couldn't believe the amount of "sexy scout uniform" Halloween costumes that are out there. Sick.

What do you see as the challenge? Older Scouts getting bored with their jobs for a year, or wanting to move up the S-L-E ranks as quickly as possible and thus not wanting to wait for a year?

A year-long term gives PLs the ability to know their patrol's unique internal dynamics, learn the duties and responsibilities of the position, get involved in the nitty-gritty of planning, lead the patrol on independent expeditions and have a stint at the helm at a long-term camp (leading for more than just a weekend).

Six months is just too short of a time to get a handle on the job and the patrol method, let alone chart your own course, without becoming a dictator.

I see no reason why term limits should be imposed. If the concern is that you need to rotate Scouts through the PORs for advancement, well, there are plenty of positions to go around. (And for Star and Life, there's always the "Scoutmaster-assigned leadership project" option.)

* Knot Hike. Have stations set up along the way, or just take rope and stop at pre-determined points. If they're especially proficient, turn it into a competition or relay.

* Readyman Hike - for Webelos. Requires a bit more planning and staffing, but set up stations with adult/den chief volunteers needing "first aid" and have the Scouts give it.

I'd disagree with clydesdale - it doesn't take that long to get a fire going, burn some marshmallows and extinguish it. If you want to teach the boys firebuilding and -starting, then yeah, it will take longer.

Eagle92 - I'm not sure what you mean. You can easily get a nonprofit's tax identification/employer identification number by checking out their IRS Form 990s, which are supposed to be made public upon request. I found my council's in about 45 seconds on Guidestar.org.

Whether you're allowed to use it is another question entirely.

Knots Scouts may wear:

- Religious emblem

- Heroism Award

- Honor Medal

- Hornaday Award

- Medal of Merit

- Order of the Arrow Distinguished Service Award

- James E. West Fellowship Award (though I'd love to meet the Scout who donated $1,000 to his local council)

In addition, Sea Scouts may wear the Quartermaster Award knot and Venturers may wear the Silver Award knot.

You're right that the Arrow of Light knot may only be worn by adults.

More details: www.scouting.org/Media/InsigniaGuide/10K.aspx