The Blancmange

Why is it unethical for the SM to approve himself as MBC, present the material, and sign off on it? I think the answer is in the question. A MBC should be a subject matter expert, and the SM is the one that verifies the MBC is qualified, understands BSA YP, and will meet the BSA MB requirements. In a perfect world every MBC will be registered as such, but back to reality ...

 

 

It's actually the district or council's responsibility to verify those things. I think we're on the same page that it is not the best idea, but I also don't think it's a reason to question a scoutmaster's integrity.

Barry' date=' I agree, but there are checks and balances for a reason. Ethics dictate that he also act to preserve the checks and balances.[/quote']

 

 

I'm sorry but I don't see where the ethical risk is in this situation. The SM signs off on all sorts of other requirements for scouts, why would a MB be any different?

 

That's not to say I don't agree that, under ideal circumstances, it is preferable to recommend a MBC who is not someone with whom the scout regularly deals in order to maximize the adult association method. I just don't see it as giving any appearance of impropriety (and apparently the GTA does not either).

As much of a blowhard as this COR seems to be, he is the COR and speaks for the chartering organization. If this is how the organization wants to run its youth organization, then so be it. But that doesn't mean the volunteers who seem to have put on a successful event without interference have to go along. I would have the unit committee, collectively, tell the COR that they will prepare the $3.27 (or whatever it happens to be) refunds at they same time they prepare their resignation letters.

Rather than explaining anything to council in his fanciful audit, he can explain why a wildly successful unit folded.

He was diagnosed with high functioning autism by the school last fall.

Don't mean to take the thread too far off track, and if so, I apologize, but "diagnosed by the school" is a big red flag for me. My oldest son was "diagnosed by the school" (in actuality by folks not qualified to render any sort of diagnosis) with ADHD, and they were insistent that he needed to be on meds, IEP, etc. We had him evaluated by an independent (there are benefits to the school district for labeling kids in this manner) psychologist, who diagnosed him with anxiety. After some counseling and following several suggestions, and a discussion with the superintendent about unqualified staff playing doctor, things improved greatly.

I obviously know nothing about your situation but wanted to throw that out there as a caution against blindly accepting a school's "diagnosis" of a student.

Counselors have pretty wide latitude in deciding whether or not to accept work performed prior to contacting the counselor. It has nothing to do with the worksheets themselves, which are forms prepared for convenience by non-official sources. My suggestion would be for your son to talk to his Scoutmaster about finding a different counselor with whom he might be able to work more amenably. Or bite the bullet and do the work again. If it's personal fitness, it certainly can't hurt.

More than one unit. Your event has been a district/council event all along.

 

 

I would disagree with this as a general rule. Our troop is fairly small. So is one from a neighboring town. 2 or 3 times per year we will go camping, hiking or some other activity with them. I can't imagine anyone considering those district or council activities.

On the other hand, if several folks on a district committee work together to put on an event, that is sounding more and more like a district event. Is it not a district event simply because the DE says so? Is our organization volunteer run?

I offer no comment on the merits of the advice, but just thought folks would find this interesting because it purports to include input from the national advancement people:

http://netcommissioner.com/askandy/2014/05/issue-397-may-20-2014/

So yes, this means that, a partial pull-up, so long as the Scout has been trying and practicing for at least 30 days, is considered improvement. So is a partial sit-up or push-up. The idea is practice to improve, and so long as both of these have happened, it’s okay.

fascinating conversation. Ive always wondered about the phone call thing vs a text or email.

 

Incidentally, I had my SM specific training this weekend and on one of the slides that they blew thru I say one regarding YPT it said something to the effect that YPT guidelines require 2 adults in every car carrying scouts.

Simply not accurate. This is a common, but incorrect conflation of two separate rules. One says that you must have 2 deep adult leadership for an outing. The other prohibits one-on-one contact between adults and youth. As long as the two deep leadership is satisfied by two leaders on an outing (possibly, and quite often, travelling in different vehicles), the one-on-one contact rule is followed by having one adult and two or more youth in the vehicle.

As you attend more locally-operated training, you will see that misinformation is not all that uncommon.

This might seem hyper-technical, but it's not against YP rules, it's against the "Boy Scouts of America Social Media Guidelines." There is a thread discussing this from when that document was first issued. The point is someone who reviews YP guidelines out of concern over this might never discover these Guidelines.

It seems like more than semantics to me, suggesting a focus on the adult leaders rather than the scouts. I don't see why that is a "BS" point to discuss.

 

 

As long as teh kids and parents are happy with it, and BSA rules are followed, a self-chartered troop is fine.

Sorry for not being clear. My comment was directed more at the "My" troop and "I direct the troop" aspects.

My troop is self chartered so in effect I direct the troop. .

Anyone else see this as a red flag?

 

 

My new scouts just got done with their first outing, swimming at the local pool. They had a good time. No problem. Now they have organized a "water fight" at a local park. I have no idea what that is, but come Saturday,

Stosh

Hope there are no squirt guns involved, else you'll have a G2SS problem on your hands.

How about asking someone at the school who operates the machine? I'll bet they would be more than willing to offer advice so their machine doesn't get messed up.

The confusion comes when you drill down further into the AOL requirements:

"Be active in your Webelos den for at least six months since completing the fourth grade (or for at least six months since becoming 10 years old)"

A boy can satisfy either of these to receive AOL, and if he happens to be young for his grade, can be younger than 10 1/2 at the time he meets the requirement.

Well, either they are very generous benefactors of the unit, or they had previously deposited unit funds into their personal account and are now reimbursing it. In any case, sounds like some transparency is in order.

So i pulled our pack's account fromt he scout office. They have been mixing there personal funds and pack funds together on this account.

I'm curious how this worked? Councils don't collect financial statements or anything along those lines from units. The only "account" that the council would be involved with would be the unit account used to pre-pay registration fees, advancement item purchases, and the like. The council allows these folks to make deposits and withdrawals from this account?

We are a Troop that collects and stores during outings. .

I certainly wouldn't want that responsibility as a leader. What happens if they are lost/stolen/damaged/etc?

Our council sends refunds to the unit, so this would not be an issue.

Regarding the Epi-pen' date=' what do these things cost these days? What is their shelf life?[/quote']

 

You need a prescription for it. My doctor is a backcountry traveler, so he doesn't ask questions when I ask for a script.

 

I only have to pay my co-pay, which is $10, but if I recall from the last time, the full retail price was about $200 for a twin pack. The expiration date is usually about 18 months out. They are sensitive to heat, so be sure to check the little window on them to see if the drug has become cloudy, even before the expiration date.

I think they got off easy.

Really? In the grand scheme of things, this seems proportionate and appropriate. What did you expect, prison time?

They can make a recommendation . . . to the scouts.

Welcome to BSA training. Not unusual at all for a trainer to make things up as he/she goes along, particularly as it relates to BSA policy.

Any word on this? Our unit's site is on here too. I realize this was a free service that no one was obligated to continue to maintain, but it would be nice to know if it is done for good so units can make other arrangements.

Wondered what everyone's take on leader v leader is

It's wrong. Did someone actually argue that it's OK or should be tolerated?

Not sure what there is to discuss.