shortridge

1 hour ago, gblotter said:

With so few girl troops anticipated, perhaps the real question should be why so many summer camp weeks are being designated as co-ed.

Because girls aren’t second-class citizens, and boys don’t get priority.

For summer 2019, my council has set aside a quarter of the total camp weeks for  only boys’ troops. Is anyone else seeing or doing this? Was there a significant demand from your existing troops to segregate summer camp like that?

1 hour ago, malraux said:

check blood circle

 For general consideration: Can we use the modern term “safety circle” to put the emphasis on the desired outcome, rather than “blood circle,” which focuses on the negative potential outcome?

Nope, but clearly great minds think alike! 😃

We’re working on a Cub camping event with a “time travel” theme. What are the best activities and program idea with that theme that you’ve seen or done? Thank you in advance!

50 minutes ago, The Latin Scot said:

behavior is simply the correct term to describe the cumulative summation of one's personal choices. 

The word “behavior” suggests something that is temporary and can be changed. Temper tantrums are a “bad behavior”; that can be altered. Studying for school is a “good behavior”; that should be rewarded.

Being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or heterosexual is not a choice. It is not a behavior. That terminology demeans an entire group of people by suggesting that a central part of who they are can change if they just want to.

Under your definition, you’re OK if I were to call your religion a behavior, right? It’s just a lifestyle. It’s only a choice. It doesn’t represent anything deeper than following through on your feelings.

Or how about being straight, as most people are? You can choose to stop being straight by just halting that heterosexual behavior and switching to the other side. It’s a choice, after all.

Can we please show some common respect? The term is not “transgenders” or “their transgender.” That is language that dehumanizes people.

Barry, I know that we are going to disagree, and I know that you are going to continue to thump on this bizarre drum of “abuse,” but I hope that you can find it in yourself to refer to humans as humans.

Being a transgendered person is not about “behavior,” as you repeatedly claim in thread after thread. It is about living a life.

6 hours ago, Eagledad said:

This is exactly why I am against the BSA accepting transgender and gay youth. Volunteers now feel licensed and privileged to encourage youth toward a lifestyle that may only be a phase or a mental health condition ...

Barry, you do know that being gay or transgender is not a mental illness, right?

That means nearly half will be leaving Cubs in the next two years and expecting to transition to a Scouts BSA troop. We’ve got to have the infrastructure ready, or they’re going to vanish.

A violation of GSUSA policies on several levels: http://www.gssc.us/content/dam/girlscouts-gssc/documents/GSUSA_safety_activity_checkpoints.pdf

Just now, 69RoadRunner said:

Anyone who says this isn't harmful to Girl Scouts is lying or incredibly naïve.

Who’s been saying that?

Of course it will be competition for GSUSA, in the same way that soccer and drama club and first jobs and the SATs are competition for both organizations. But neither BSA nor GSUSA has a monopoly.

1 hour ago, NJCubScouter said:

And yet I have read elsewhere that there will be no "early adopter" option for "Scouts BSA" as there was for Cub Scouts.  Or has that changed?

That was the phrase she used, but I’m with you in that I haven’t seen that referenced elsewhere. It may have just been shorthand or internal council language.

Unfortunately, not starting troops until June or July means they have to wait a full year until summer camp - not the few months that others will have. From what I’ve read, that first summer camp is critical to getting Scouts hooked and sticking around.

Our DE has said that February will be for early-adopter COs, and that we don’t expect to have any girls’ troops active until June/July. The focus right now is on identifying packs that will take girls this fall, as we didn’t have any early-adopter packs. The ones that have so far are from United Methodist Church COs.

Personally, I’m hoping my daughter will get her interest piqued this fall as she starts high school. In the next district over there’s a CO that is starting a crew now and looking to start a girls’ troop in February, so I’m hopeful that there will be an outlet if she’s interested. I’m trying very hard not to push her into it, but let her choose. That said, she had a blast working staff at the local Cub day camp this summer.

This is going to be a gradual process, as well as a chicken or the egg situation. Aside from the first burst of news coverage around the announcement and some social media work, National seems to have done very little work promoting it - which makes sense because right now there’s nowhere to send these girls. One troop at a time, one troop at a time.

3 hours ago, qwazse said:

My brother would always ask me to note the locations of any black walnut trees I came across.

I made it a point never to tell him.

And that’s why the American airplane propeller manufacturing industry died ... I hope you’re happy! 😁

Agreed, not funny at all. If the facts are as described, this person could have gained access to paper files, computer systems, and a whole lot more. On applications alone, there is someone's SSN, DOB, address, phone numbers, employer’s name, occupation - almost everything needed to steal an identity or commit fraud. The Council should be issuing an immediate apology and explanation to its volunteers and members on its failure to safeguard their information.

5 hours ago, ParkMan said:

I think I'd have cried uncle after the second attempt.  If the kid is sneaking out to be with his family, what is the benefit by trying to force him that much?  The Scout doesn't like it, the family doesn't like it, you all are frustrated.  So he doesn't tent with another Scout - I can think of worse things.  

The benefit is called Scouting. Scouting isn’t done by camping with one’s parents or family.

5 minutes ago, ParkMan said:

Just wondering though...  

What's the benefit to the Scout by so angering the family that they leave?  Is getting the Scout go tent with other Scouts an issue important enough to have a separation over?

Camping with one’s parents is Cub Scouting, not Scouts BSA. They can bunk together all they want as a family, just not on a Scout outing.

My summer camp’s trading post had blank belts that you could tool during the week. Is that an option?

“Although it is the unit leader’s responsibility to see that at least one merit badge counselor is identified from those approved and made available, the Scout may have one in mind with whom he would like to work. The unit leader and Scout should come to agreement as to who the counselor will be. Lacking agreement, the Scout must be allowed to work with the counselor of his choice, so long as the counselor is registered and has been approved by the council advancement committee. However, see “Counselor Approvals and Limitations,” 7.0.1.4, for circumstances when a unit leader may place limits on the number of merit badges that may be earned from one counselor.”

https://www.scouting.org/resources/guide-to-advancement/the-merit-badge-program/

(I was trying to respond in the other thread to some comments about consulting the membership on this. I hope it’s OK to continue that particular conversation in this thread; mods, if it’s not, just delete, thanks.)

Each lodge sends delegates to elect the section chief. The section chiefs elect the national chief and vice-chief, who represent the youth membership on the national committee.

If you want to influence National OA policy, then you have to start at the lodge level and make sure that your officers and especially the lodge chief represent your views and are going to elect people at the section and national level who do the same.

Or if you’re an adult, sit back, relax, grab a cuppa, and trust the youth to make the right decisions.

I’m not a huge fan of this turn of events (especially the execution of the new crossover script), but I haven’t been in the room during the discussions; I haven’t heard from the tribes and nations; I know that the picture nationally is far more complex than I can see from my little corner; and I’m not a voting youth member any more, so I really don’t have a voice. I’m going to trust those Scouts under 21 who are our leaders today.

The outward trappings of regalia and ceremonies don’t make an Arrowman an Arrowman. Brotherhood, cheerfulness and service do. We’ve adapted before and we’ll continue to adapt and thrive.

edit: Sorry, I have no idea why the text is so large. I’m not trying to shout, I promise!

13 minutes ago, David CO said:

I have no comments to make about the decision, but I am a bit put off by the way it was announced. They made it sound like this was an OA decision rather than a BSA decision. If the comments of OA members on this forum are a reflection of OA members in general, I would have to conclude that this decision was not made by OA. Am I wrong?

@David CO, as the announcement makes clear, it was a decision of the National Order of the Arrow Committee, in the same way that the national executive board makes decisions for the BSA. There is not a national referendum of all OA members on these topics, just like there is not a national referendum of all BSA members on other issues. It also does not have to be a unanimous decision.

Just because a few people online are upset with a decision does not mean that they represent all members. That also does not suggest that a national organization with a representative structure did not make the decision. That’s pretty faulty logic.

The Committee members are publicly identified here: https://oa-bsa.org/about/leadership/national-committee. Anyone truly upset over this should contact the leadership.

Regarding the crossover ceremony itself - that is one of the hokiest, most cringe-inducing scripts I have ever read. The HA base plugs are simply awful, and it’s incredibly condescending. (”In my big, bright Scout voice”? What?) Few Scouts are going to be able to deliver that as intended.

Scouts would seem to agree. Despite it being an Eagle option, only 7,200 earned it last year.

I’ve become more leery of OTC meds since I discovered that aspirin triggers my asthma. Not a fun way to find out!

Agree that parents should approve a list rather than just give blanket OTC approval.

@Liz, I just want to say that it’s a great feeling to read the words “My Cub” and “she” in the same sentence. I hope she keeps on inventing and creating and having a great time in Scouting!