5yearscouter

yeah I could see our camp rangers getting cross about moving tents around too. They'd need a LOT of reassurance that the scouts would put everything back how they found it at the end of the week.

I'm pretty sure both my sons should have the camping segment with a pin thingy. They are low on hours on the water, but did go to a San Diego beach camp and got a lot of hours there so I'd have to go thru and add them up plus other hours swimming and boating/canoeing. They certainly are low on the high adventure stuff and the others too. There is something at the troop level for most of these, but may not be enough that a boy who is with the troop from 11-18 still might not get enough hours/miles. So it would be a good thing to suggest to the scouts to kick it up a notch.

For older cub scouts[Webelos age] I don't like them tenting alone because they get scared in the night and need the buddy system so they have someone to be scared with. for boy scouts, sometimes the newest youngest guys should be advised to always tent with someone for the same reason, especially their first summer camp away from mom and dad. But for all the rest, let them figure it out.

den leader has to approve the achievement is completed, not just parents. So right there you move away from mom and dad signing stuff just because they read it and think that their son must have done it some time at day camp or at school. Involving a 2nd person, non-family in the process is like involving a mb counselor. They get to sign the achievement when they see it as completed. Therefore they tend to expect that swim 100 ft actually means swim 100 ft, not attempt to swim 100 ft but don't make it, not read the requirement to swim 100 ft but never get in the water. I define do you

I believe it's in the eagle project workbook packet, at least with our council it is. He should have an Eagle counselor or guide who can provide him the correct form.

Yes, they don't have to pass the BSA swimmer test, but they do have to swim. the top required 3 parts of the badge all include getting into the water and swimming. [paraphrased requirements below] 1. swim 100 feet, half as backstroke, 2. back float and survival floats 3. swim 25 ft with a PDF on. then choose 3 of the following 5 4. front surface dive and swim under water 4 strokes, 5. explain water rescue techniques and demondstrate reach and throw. 6. with an adult onboard show handling of a rowboat (I see this as only being able to occur at council camps due to guide to safe sco

Boys got in a fight with the new SM when he told them to sit down and shut up. Lack of respect on both sides, but started when SM told the ASMs they couldn't talk to the boys unless it was health and safety issue and any non ASM adults the boys should ignore if they talk to them because this is a boy led troop. [we always have a couple extra adults drive scouts to camp, and when camp is out of state they stay for the week instead of going home and coming back ] So then the Scout got caught up in the scouts ignoring all ASMs and other adults and they started ignoring the SM. yeah that di

Disability accomodations only apply to the actual rank requirements, or getting a substitute badge for AOL or boy scout ranks. I've never seen disability accomodations for the optional elective portions of ranks/badges/belt loops at the webelos and higher level. Below Webelos trying it is good enough, but when a scout refuses to try, we don't reward that level of non-participation with a badge. Since Aquanaut is not required for the Arrow of Light Rank, it's an optional elective within the Webelos program. Instead of doing that badge in the physical skills area, your son can work on a

BD, I would at least insist thru the pack leaders that any adult attending any camp has to take youth protection training. and they should really take safe swim defense. and that they need to realize that they will be helping to supervise other scouts in the pack/den. and that there are bugs and only cold showers and the food kinda sucks. And that none of the other youth with have both parents there so the kid might get laughed at. I mean don't out and out lie, but discourage them from going. Actually the YPT and Safe Swim would be requirements in our pack for doing an overnighter. And

I think I posted a new topic! over in cub scouts. I'm afraid to think that it might actually work!!!????

Does this thing work now?

If a counselor says tough luck, you lost your blue card and have to start over, having the info in TM doesn't do any good, since that's not a blue card.... how can you reissue a blue card from the info in TM? You aren't the mb counselor so you can't sign off on partials even if you have it written down in TM.

National doesn't care about partials and national doesn't care about the boy or the troops copy of the blue card. some councils I guess collect copies of completed blue cards but I'm not really sure why they would go to that much trouble. programs like troopmaster care about partials, but it doesn't really do much good unless the mb couselors can use it to see what they haven't covered with the scout yet, but a blue card does that just as well or not better. We track completed merit badges in internet advancement which goes to national and that program will provide a copy for any scout

Basement, Even if the problem scout was the real reason that they quit, they probably wouldn't come back. Because it's a lot easier to sit on your duff playing xbox and txting rather than to get up and go to a scout meeting. In 8 years of doing this, I've only known of one scout who stopped scouting and then came back, and that was with a huge push from his parents. If you stop scouting, it seems easier just to stay stopped than to restart. But regardless, this isn't about the 2 scouts who quit. and it isn't about the scout who was suspended and should probably leave the troop. it'

A update from Terry about what he's tried and what he's beating his head against the wall over, and what we could do to help would go a long ways toward getting him the help he needs. But the quiet is deafening.

I thought I replied to this. why would I check out an app that allows a tiger to earn boy scout merit badges?

basement, we've done cooking contests and awarded the golden spoon. which is a dollar store wooden spoon painted gold. easier than trying to paint a wisk maybe?

Basement, I see you took my advice to find a similar thread and bump it up and turn it into your own since we can't make new posts. We have a brand new SM as of last week. He is just out of cubbies so enthusiasm is really HIGH, and he's been an ASM in the troop for a while, so he does have some experience. He's looking for things to change and improve. Unfortunately our troop functions as a unit, everythig is run more like troop method than patrol method. Patrols exist only as a way to take attendance, line up for flags, and they make a menu for a troop campout, but they'll end u

It might be easier for Terry[or someone else] to just to start a new scouter.com forum after testing that things work, and keep the old threads on this forum as a back up searchable resource, but lock all the threads so they can't be posted in. Heck it seems like they are already locked down and nobody can post in them, eh? I get a little bit of info at the meritbadge.net forums but not the activity level and info level of what has been here, and certainly no debate. I'm not sure where else is good, so many have moved to facebook and I don't facebook. I waste enough time on the intern

basement I'd suggest you could find an old post that is similar to the one you want to ask, and bump it up with your question? or is everyone going to a different community to talk now?

Yeah our scout camps have enough ammo for basically the first 2 or 3 sessions and then they'll run out for the rest of the summer.

Referencing the first post in this thread, I still think it's absurd the inconsistencies between the different BSA documents. If a Wolf scout is going to assemble the Outdoor essentials that includes a pocketknife, and then discuss why he would want a pocketknife on an outing like a hike -- it makes no sense to me that said wolf scout after discussing how important these things are, is not supposed to actually carry the pocketknive or maybe he could have the pocketknife in his outdoor essentials that someone else carries? Outdoor essentials really should ot be shared by two people, becau

New guide to safe scouting/ Age appropriate guidelines-- only Bears and Webelos and up can use pocketknives, no morepocketknives for wolves like it used to be.

I copied and saved the scenarios from the COR survey questions if anyone else wants to see them. They were worded weirdly to me. Like is it acceptable or unacceptable for the troop leader to allow an openly gay and heterosexual boy to tent together. um, it depends on whether the scouts are choosing their tent mates and agree to this, or if the adults are choosing tent mates. As long as the youth are ok with it, it shouldn't be an issue. it's not like the heterosexual scout will catch the gay from the gay scout. My suggestion to national is local option, and to provide some suggeste

The problem we've run into when this kind of thing happens, is that the other parents and the other scouts start to talk. a bit of "how did he get the bear badge he hasn't come to any meetings." and a bit of morale issues arrise, other scouts and parents think maybe they can just sign off that they did stuff when they really didn't or that they can earn something without ever coming to a meeting. We do have a pack rule that if you are absent from meeting for 3 months, you are considered not a member anymore wtihout somethings changing. We will have a serious discussion about whether sco