blw2

Our fundraising is adult conceived and adult driven The only reason we're doing it is "so the boys learn"....but with adults doing 90% of it what are they learning? Even if it was 100% scouts coming up with the idea and making it happen, I still think it should be secondary at best to scouting. With such a limited amount of time available in the week, I'd rather scouts spend there time scouting and doing scout stuff rather than learning about finances and the like... they can learn that elsewhere. I do support the idea of a scout using his own money to pay for things, but that doesn'

I used to attend RT's fairly regularly but it was a chore and I can't say that I got a huge benefit from them. Every now and then a tidbit perhaps, but not a huge help... I have often though of this forum as a modern version of what Roundtable was intended to be. A place to bounce ideas and questions around.... In my thinking, the social aspects of getting to know others is almost secondary.....and announcements and the like, maybe tertiary I never really thought of it as a training venue. Honestly, I feel it's nearly infinitely better here, because compared to the monthly meeting,

ha ha.. mid sized units too. when I was CM, I also wore the hat (even though other names were on the roster) of CC, ACM, and at least two of the other MC positions

don't get me wrong... I wasn't really proposing this idea exactly, more just playing devil's advocate for sake of conversation around the campfire here..... When i read what he wrote, I think the point to restrict to around 32 scouts or so was for SM being able to give proper individual attention. Stosh, to your point about letting the SPL set the tone instead of the SM set the tone..... well really, that you as SM setting the tone to be scout lead. Exactly what I meant.... the SM sets the tone. (he guides, and if done the way I think it would be best, he runs interference b

I think this makes a whole lot of sense. Focus on the patrol, not the troop. Scouts are patrol members first and foremost, so if you can get everyone thinking that way it seems like its a more manageable bite sized snack! I wonder if it would be good for a larger troop to think of themselves as a collection of smaller troops...... I know this is not how things are intended....but running with the thinking that the total roster is no more than 32 scouts so that each scout can get individual attention form their scoutmaster and from the program and that no troo

My son wouldn't even consider going to a troop without his friends, and it would be a tough sell for him to go to a troop at a strange meeting place and strange leaders even with his friends coming along. Going to a troop in a strange place where he knows nobody and alone with none of his friends along..... forget about it! No way would that ever happen. Scouts just isn't that important to him. I can imagine a lot of scouts are this same way. Yeah, I have to agree with others..... #1 seems like the best way to steer him

my thought.... I agree with NJCubScouter. You've been a good neighbor. Can't really worry about them or do anything for them. Can't even really go over and tell them what they are doing wrong... that's kinda like going to the neighbor's house and telling him his living room walls would look better yellow (taken loosely from Clarke Green) but I do like the sentiment that someone wrote earlier about helping them to know what you are doing.... being willing and open to show and help. and my other thought is this.... any time I read about large troops, I think of this one short chapt

It makes things adult heavy only from the context of having more adults on the roster than necessary. i didn't mean that it necessarily must lead to adult lead or anything like that..... but I'd guess odds are in favor of that. I think adults that are willing to fill out the application have a desire to help. A lot of folks that want to help don't do a great job of standing around with their hands in their pockets and their mouths shut.... Remember, in the purest since of all of this, most of scouting could and arguably should run without adults in the room.....and when that adult is in

wow, lots of great comments and conversation. Can't even begin to comment on all of it..... will add about my thoughts on this issue..... I've always in my mind followed the logic that BP outlined, that patrols are formed naturally.... groups of friends that just naturally want to hang together. Extending that logic, the younger ones might look up to older scouts, and the older scouts might do well in leading and helping along, but it doesn't make sense to force them together into a friendship group. Those things can still happen from patrol to patrol. it hit me the other night that

Yeah, I'm kinda thinking the dynamic is more complex than this. I guess I painted that picture, but truthfully the SM is pretty good about letting the scouts do some things.... you might say the scouts "run" the general troop meetings more often than not, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are "leading". He and the other ASM's too, do a fairly good job of this I think..... They do a good job I think, but at the same time not so much.... if that makes sense. The few times i have observed at camp, they are pretty good too about giving the scouts space. Your story of 10 scouts visitin

For those of you that believe in the concept of mixed or what I have heard called traditional patrols, what is your main driving force for steering it this way? and why, in your mind, is it successful? Does it point to an aim or goal that scouting is supposed to fill? Is it for rank advancement purposes? Is it to foster friendships? Is it done only because that's what the book says to do? something else? The reason I ask is that, as I mentioned in another thread, son's PLC last night did a complete dismantling of all current patrols and reorganizing the roster into "tradition

Hey, I'm glad this thread popped back up.... I'm still thinking on this, and searching for ideas and options.... Lately, I have been reading about the Benton Mackaye Trail, which I had not heard of till only recently.... Anyway, i have been meaning to pull out the books and check.... what are teh mileage requirements for scouts. I know there's things like the 50 mile patch.... & I know son had to do a 5 mile hike for his scout badge but what sort of length requirements for distance are there? was thinking that IF i end up doing something with scouts, I'd hate for the group t

So I'm sorry to say I had to drag my son to his PLC yesterday. Normally I wouldn't do that, but there were a couple of extenuating circumstances that made me feel it was necessary for him to follow through with his commitment as PL. I did not attend, and don't normally since I'm MC. Even though I would be welcomed, I don't feel it's my place... in fact I think adult presence should be minimal if at all there.... But the "funny thing" after the meeting, son tells me that it started with a long lecture form Mr. SM telling them that they are supposed to be boy lead, that they need to take ch

I love this idea.... We did this back in my cub days, but it was informal and just sorta happened.... some times. I wish we would have formally say down and discussed this with the other scouters. My suggestion, and this is looking at it in hind site.... I really wish that I would have learned more about the patrol method when i was working in the pack. now I know Tigers are a long way off from this.... but I believe the concept can still work on some levels. involve the scouts in running the show, put them to work. I don't know if tigers is still this way, but it used to be that i

this seems like a great twist to the way of looking at it and approaching the issue. Exactly the sort of thing I struggle with sometimes, coming up with these flip-flops on the fly.... I'll keep this in mind and see if I can find a way to work that in... I actually love the idea. A neighborhood Patrol really does strike me as something a bit more natural in a way. In our case, our troop is really more like a community or small city in geographic area. Scouts going to several different schools and not living at all close to one another. Not really conducive to how it once was....

yeah, standard canned scouter answer.... you be the change. I've heard that before. Training....I've already done it.... used to attend RT's regularly. Been to U of Scouting many times, have all the required training for all the positions I've ever held as scouter, additionally for those positions I do but unofficially, currently have all the required training for SM, do a lot of extracurricular reading here (closing in on 2,000 posts), other blogs and sites, podcasts, and books on scouting. I do a lot of thinking about scouting. I'm guessing, but I think safe to say more than the "averag

the thing is none of his friends are going to summer camp either. None of them want to go, and that's the biggest reason he's not going i think. I had actually thrown that out there about going to a local camp instead.... but yeah, there is no way he would do that on his own, and there's no interest enough to try to talk his friends into trying it. I think some of them might be going to non-bsa camps anyway and to set the record straight.... I just typed 16 hours.... I think that's what he said, not sure. It's really more like 10 or so hours drive time, and from what I can tell it's no

If I could just get myself to stop doing all this extracurricular reading and caring and start just going with the flow like most "average" scouters.

I have made a lot of effort to suggest and hint whenever appropriate, but I've also been careful with it. I don't want to be that guy is is being critical and undermining of the person out "front". I'm not in that position, and certainly don't know it all... and furthermore I'm not that good at that sort of thing.... correcting in a "nice" way. There's a certain bit of cooperative volunteerism to take a term from Clarke Green, that I feel I need to do. After all, I'm the "new" guy, I'm not the one asked to be one of those key positions. I have been tempted on a few occasions to forward

yeah, move to another troop is great on paper. in reality though, there aren't an infinite number of troops in a reasonable radius, and in our case like a lot of others I'm sure.... those few that are here aren't any better. Besides, It's not so bad as I would imagine a revolt of my son and several friends wanting to up an leave together. No way he would do it on his own. His friends are here. he knows the faces, knows the drill. It's comfortable. And really, it's not that bad. Not at all. It's much more subtle in this case....

I posted this statement in another thread, but thought I'd elaborate .... As MC I'm nearly powerless on my own to stave off the adult onslaught against the patrol method. I'm starting to realize that It's a big ship for one person to turn, if he's not one of the "key 3" Son doesn't want to go to summer camp last years MB fair fest of a summer camp program didn't really excite him He's not interested in driving 16 hours to go someplace similar this coming summer. Adults push to do summer camp far away in the mountains.... (they say the scouts decide, but the scouts are easily manipulat

exactly what I was wondering Stosh! As I think about it I have seen only a very few scouts wearing an eagle rank.... ever. We had a scout pass his eagle BOR yesterday evening. I have not seen this scout in my year with the troop, save for about a handful or two of meetings. I think he's got a couple more years till 18, so there might be hope though. We've got a couple other scouts on track I think to get theirs "early" too I think. Might be good..... I want to agree Colonel (love the username, btw) but can't completely. Without adults at the helm that foster it, it's not ve

I'm not deaf nor a lip reader, but I do have a hearing loss and tinitus I do have difficulty hearing presenters sometimes so I probably do lip read a bit, even though I'm not aware. Anyway, my point is that this topic really applies to a lot of people, not just the deaf.

bowing to 'political correctness'. A very dangerous thing me thinks. bewa ha ha!! Funny!!! No kidding. Whether you Agree about coed or not, that is exactly where it is heading and this whole business is just the muddy zone in the middle. Cut to the chase BSA and change your name already!!!

stand in front of the presentation so that the audience can read some of the slide but not all of it.... for example a graph, where the presenter is standing to the side but in front of the Y axis legend..... so the audience has no idea what it is showing and the presenter is talking about it but never mentions what exactly that y axis represents.....