skeptic

Following are three letters that appeared in the DESERT TRAIL, a community paper in 29 Palms, Ca., home of the largest Marine base we have. The troop is from the town it appears, but they likely have Marine dependents involved; and the town is very supportive of the base mission. What impressed me most are the responses by the SM and SPL, published publicly. Boy led, adult mentored. Your view: Scouts' behavior disappoints reader Published: Wednesday, June 9, 2010 6:21 PM CDT Melodie Chambers; Twentynine Palms (Community member) Dear editor, I, like many Ame

Be in trading post B, serving or doing something with food. Only know where I will be, not the exact job. Tried to get in something to do with scouting history or literature, or even displays; but at least I have a place.

For a while we had a separate ribbon displayer that was carried like a patrol flag might be. But it proved to be too cumbersome. Now, other than honor unit items, they are strung across our meeting room on wires. Of course with excess of 50 years of stuff, it was way too cluttered, and they kept falling off. Even the 15-20 on the troop pole now are becoming a bit much.

Lot of "Chicken Little's" it appears. Much ado about nothing if you are already doing the basics. But, just like when they finally came out and asked for drivers' licenses and SSN's for long time "carry over" charter names, many simply refused or ignored, and they were dropped. Our charter lost at least 6, and a couple complained very loudly, but did it anyway. So, now, we will likely lose one or two more who either will not care to make the effort, or feel put upon for some reason. Take a deep breath, and get on with the important things as soon as you can.

If you are the SM, you do what needs to be done. If you do not have the strength to do so, then perhaps you are not in the right position. Part of the job is counseling the boy; and that includes making them accountable. JMHO

Gern: Jeal never once proved anything in his book; he only made very broad suggestions that few find particularly accurate. His allegations are based on poor psychological interpretations and judgments of a late 19th century English life style using late 20th century ideas. He was the only serious biographer of B.P. who came to these conclusions, and even he used the term "repressed homosexual".

Bando; While there are occasional religion specific prayers or devotional comments in group settings, most of the time they are pretty generic. My experience at large scout gatherings of obviously multi-denominations and religions is that an effort is made to be very careful in the invocation and so on. On the other hand, people that are secure in their personal beliefs are really not threatened or upset when another belief makes public statements meant with good intent. But, still, if it is a constant occurrence in your experience, perhaps a polite discussion with those in

Calico: As I see it, this has nothing to do with adding requirements. It has to do with living up to the Scout Oath, and the definition of Spirit. Not maintaining at least average grades, if one does not have special issues, is simply not "doing their best", as I noted earlier. And that IS my responsibility as a SM. I have yet to have a parent complain; matter of fact, they have agreed with me in the few instances this has come up. What we consider important in interpreting our role as counselor when doing conferences is very subjective. But I personally expect more perhaps th

Again, too many people beying at shadows and grinding axes. While there may be a bit of tilt towards LDS pressure, there does not seem to be that much in our area, or the ones in which I was involved earlier. They are still held to the same requirements on district and council levels, other than accommodating their camping schedules. Just like Scientology, Catholicism, or other examples, there are people who have issues with them; and you will not convince them of anything positive, no matter what you say. They already have their minds set. Sort of like one of our favorite "debaters

So, while not knowing from the material presented, I would not be surprised if this assignment piggy backed on other material already completed, and perhaps only required finding additional pieces and putting it together. There is a chance that there had even been a preliminary mention of its coming. I know that in the middle schools in which I have subbed, there often have been a final assignment noted related to a longer term set of related material. Also, it is very common for kids to "waste" considerable class time that could be used for prep for these things. I would wager that the ov

Once again, some individuals are fuming unnecessarily. The Museum has a very nice web site which can be reviewed along with the materials which might be sent via mail. This is not a difficult requirement with which to deal. Personally, I would have hoped to see a bit stronger requirement for the BSA history time line and so on; but it is overall very well done. As with any merit badge, we would hope that the counselor might set some basic expectations for a boy that chooses to do the badge. Most likely I will end up a counselor, and certainly will have my personal interpretations on a cou

Possibly this would be a lesser concern if the other CO's actually bothered to vote. In my experience, almost nobody votes in reality, except the actual executive board members. Unless someone gets out there and pushes the COR's to actually do their jobs, that will not change, unfortunately. This does on rare occasion happen, but usually only when someone gets peeved enough to wrangle the voters to respond.

Scoutnut: Where are you getting your info'? Did I miss something? Went back and reviewed, and there is no mention of grade, ADHD, or additional details in that regard. So, your comments do not make any sense to me. If I missed something, please point it out. Otherwise, you are completely off track here.

Yep; God, family, school all come first if a conflict happens and can not be solved. Employment too would fit here if the young man had a job, though he hopefully would work with the boss in that regard. JMHO

Very good point that "some" units are not well run; this applies to the whole sphere, not just LDS. In our area,there tends to be a bit of contention at times, but it has softened over the years. Most importantly, as I see, is that the LDS here has made it a point to "attend roundtable", have "trained" people whenever possible, and participate as much as practical in the council and district activities. Problems most common are in record keeping, and the movement from unit to unit, as it confuses tracking advancement, especially when verifying Eagle. Because of the separate unit issue,

My experience has been that most of the time it is counter productive. But, every parent approaches things differently, and each scout responds differently. That said, most of the "I finished it, now I'm done" Eagles were likely coerced to start with. While the skills of the required badges are apparent, the less visible element is the development of "personal initiative" and "character". The more self motivated, the more these things are apparent and will serve them going forward. JMHO

Duhhh! Another indicator that I am still living in the 60's. I still have a college footlocker, and it is way too large for practical shipping. Thanks for unmuddling my head. Now know what to look for.

Have tried to get an answer regarding the notes on the jamboree site in the staff section that we need to have a footlocker. This is not something that is simple, or inexpensive to ship. Is this something actually needed, or just a suggestion; or do they furnish them? I lived out of duffles in the past two I attended. Thanks

Please; enough. Must we rehash this whole thing "again". Close it out.

Guess I should read more carefully. The service work would satisfy the 1 hour service requirement. But the work for compass, and so on, are not normally counted towards other related requirements, especially merit badges. They MAY work on requirements for all three lower ranks concurrently though, just not generally use the same work for multiple requirements. Now for swimming for 2nd and 1st; the 50 yard requirement can be part of the 100 yard requirement. But that work normally would have nothing to do with the swimming portion of the merit badge, other than to meet the prelim req

Yes, it should.

Congratulations to Justin for his positive outcome after a difficult ordeal. And kudos to "Mom" for sticking with it and encouraging him to persevere. But, as Huzzar said; time to put this one to bed for good.

Thank you Beavah for the link to the article. I agree, it weighs the issue very evenly, and makes a number of very important points regarding the broader consequences.

As far as trading at Jambo is concerned, he should simply remember that he no longer is supposed to trade with youth. In reality, there will be no shortage of adults with whom he can trade; so that should not hinder his fun and possible improvement of his field of interest. Jamboree guidelines are very specific. And he needs to adhere to them. Since he is 18, and going to Jambo, what is his position? Is he going as part of the Arrow Corps at Jamboree? He would then be part of a large group of "tweeners", 18-21 year old scouts. Again, a fertile ground for trading. Good luc

Yes!! Common sense still does survive. Great comments Eamonn. Like the part about taking the fun out. Had Camporee this past weekend, and minor issue in that realm. Have two brand new cross over boys on the outing. Saturday, one of the event staff is walking through; her job is safety among others. These two have crawled up a large oak branch to a fork and are just having a good time; maybe 8 feet from the ground at best on a branch that is over a foot thick. She tells me that they cannot climb the tree; and of course I pretty much tell her they are boys, and that is what they do