Twocubdad

Congratulations, red feather! We're also about four years into the transition. I figure we've got another 5-6 years to go. I need to think about your distinction between boys and scouts, adults and scouters. Things that make you go hmmmmm...... You're right about taking time to wash away bad habits. After almost four years we have most of the organization and mechanics in place. We have a functioning PLC which plans and runs troop meetings. (Before I became SM, PLC hadn't met in more than two years). Individual officers (QM, scribe, etc.) understand their jobs and every new term they take on more and more responsibility. For the past three years we've had good Troop Guides who work well with the new scout patrols. The patrol leaders tend to be the weakest link. Last year, four of the oldest, most experienced guys were the four patrol leaders which was great while it lasted. I really thought they were going to make a breakout. But last September we were back to a crop of enthuiastic but inexperienced younger guys leading the patrols. The one setback I feel we had (maybe it was a strategic retreat) was getting the adults more involved in instruction time. For a year and a half or so the boys were responsible for the instruction program. We're a young troop (of 62 boys, three are 15 and two 16) and the scouts just didn't have the expertise to teach much beyond basic stuff. The boys had gotten to the point that they wanted more advanced programs, but without the older guys, there was no one to teach it. The boys were really struggling putting on instruction and letting the inter-patrol activity slide in the process. We made the decision to let the adults become more involved in instruction, but require the boys to do a better job with the activities. So far, it seems to have been a reasonable compromise. Our glass ceiling seems to be an unwillingness by the scouts across the ranks to do the hard work necessary to take it to the next level. They're more than happy to sit back and do the same things over and over, rather than doing the work to stretch. They've found a comfort zone and aren't willing to go beyond it.

It's funny, because our pack was just the opposite. Scouting was a "dad thing" except for a few mom jobs like Blue & Gold and popcorn chairman. That carries over into the troop. Except for a couple moms who attend the Troop/Webelos campout with their Webelos, we NEVER have moms on campouts. A few will sit boards of review and counsel merit badges, but we've never had a female ASM. I guess it gets into the culture and sticks. Do the dads go camping with the pack? Try to hook them in on some high-testosterone outdoor activities. Get them to run a fishing program on a campout. Or teach the boys how to cook burgers on the grill. Find a project that requires lots of power tools. Transition that into pack and den meeting programs. You'll have a ton of them hanging around belchin' and scratchin' before you know it.

You've got me backward, KC. I'm saying target those new leaders. Now by new, I mean those who have completed position-specific, not the "we-joined-Monday-and-I-came-to-Roundtable-Thursday" new leaders. Folks so new they don't know whether the ball is blown or stuffed are going to have a hard time making heads or tails out of any sort of supplemental training. For them, maybe their time would be best spent with a cup of tea and a one-on-one chat with some old coot who's only there to socialize anyway. Your other ideas fit in nicely, too. The problem with the RTs I've attended is they don't target ANYONE. There's no program, they bounce all over the board and usually wind up being a subcommittee meeting for the next camporee or training course. My earlier suggestion was to build two years of mid-level (beyond SM/ASM Position Specific) supplemental training programs around the eight methods of scouting. As an exercise, here are some quick ideas: Boy Led Conducting Troop JLT Counseling Poor Performing Leaders NYLT Overview Getting the most from new NYLT grads Patrol Method Maintaining Patrol Method at Summer Camp National Honor Patrol Award Camp planning that supports the patrol method Uniforms Centennial Uniform Update What's new from Supply Division Adult Association Recruiting New Leaders Webelos Transition for Adults Scout Parent -- what is it? Advancement Planning for First Year First Class Eagle Project proposal guidance Defining "Active" Outdoor Program Summer camp prep Great local campsites Organizing Troop HA trips (you could do three sessions on each base) (And you could go on forever just doing outdoor skills) Ideals Defining Scout Spirit Scoutmaster's Minute ideas Personal Growth Ideas for Troop service projects Participating in BSA service initiatives I spent about eight minutes on that. Maybe you don't like my outline, so come up with you own. Better yet, take time at RT to ask the people there what they want to hear. As Gunny Sgt. Highway said, "You can beat, you can starve me, you can kill me. Just don't bore me."

Well...I thought I was going to be johnny-on-the-spot with a difinitive answer for you. I've got my Big Stack of Stuff for camp school right here. But I've read the entire BB section of the Shoot Sports for Cub Scouts, the 2010 Camp Standards, the CSDC Administrative Guide and even the shooting sports section in the faculty syllabus and cannot find a specific reference to a scout/instructor ratio. The pertinent language is in camp standard M41, (M42 is identical, but referencing archery) "BB gun marksmanship (no pellet guns)is conducted by a qualified range officer, at least 18 years of age. Additional adult supervision and guidance are provided, and minimum state requirements are met. All BB-gun range officers have successfully completed the BB-gun Safety and Training program from an authorized instructor, as outlined in Shooting Sports For Cub Scouts." So at minimum, you have to have one certified range officer and additional supervision as you see fit. My experience and suggestion is to have one certified range officer for every six boys. When I was CD our ranges were always set up for 12 shooters (the same as the number of boys in a den) so we always had two certified range officers. According to the standards, only one is required, (the other could be knowledgable in range procedures but not certified) but what happens if the guy with the certificate gets called away? We also tried to give each range a couple of good Boy Scouts who could help. Hope that helps. Have fun next week.

Instead of figuring out what everyone else is doing, maybe it's time to re-invent what Roundtable should be. Ninety percent of the value of Roundtable is finding out what is going on in the district and council. Unfortunately, this means half the time of most roundtables are spent listening to someone crow about their pet project. An no one can simply announce an upcoming event. They have to come up with a unique and entertaining way to announce the same thing they announced for the past two months. This drags each announcement out an extra 5 minutes. While the information contained in the announcement is valuable, I resent spending an entire evening away from my family for 15 minutes worth of information. This problem was solved in 1440 by Johannes Gutenburg and further refined in the early 1980's by Al Gore. The printed page and the Internet are technologies with which all RT commissioners should familiarize themselves. For 10 years I could count on one hand the RTs I missed -- and almost all of those were due to other Scouting commitments. But I've not been back in more than a year. Why? They are a waste of time. Almost every roundtable I've ever been to took an hour-and-a-half to cover a good 15 minutes worth of material. And that doesn't count the 30-40 minute drive each way. In four years of boy scout roundtables, I can only remember one program which I felt was valuable: an impromptu discussion of favorite and unique camping trips. That came about only as a last-minute fill-in program bacause the regular RTC got sick. And I CANNOT TOLERATE cub roundtables run like pack meetings. I do not need any additional rehersal time on the Grand Ol' Duke of York. If you have a truely new song, fine, teach it to the group -- but give me a copy of the words and music. I am an educated man. I can follow a page of written instructions for a craft. I do not need to sit and watch glue dry for a half hour to understand the process. The RTs I've attended failed because the leaders treat them as a big leaders meeting for the whole district. It's a chance to conveniently do (convenient only for them) what they failed to do the rest of the month. How many RTs devolve into camporee committee meetings? Or membership committee meetings? Or popcorn? ROUNDTABLES FAIL BECAUSE THE LEADERS FAIL TO UNDERSTAND THE PURPOSE OF RT IS SUPPLEMENTAL TRAINING. Reinvent RT by looking at it as a series of training sessions. My opinion is that BSA training misses the mark by not having a formal, mid-level training structure between position-specific and Wood Badge. RT is supposed to fill that gap. My solution would be to develop two years worth of training modules. On the Boy Scout side, breaking down the the eight methods of scouting would make a great place to start. On the Cub side, you still need to divide the time between organizational topics (like advancement, fundraising, outings, etc.) and traditional Program Helps stuff (crafts, skits, songs, activities, etc.). But I still don't want to sit and watch glue dry. Set this up on a two year cycle. After two years, you've graduated. Go take Wood Badge. Become a RT commissioner and teach. Or spend an extra night a month home with your family. And for heaven's sake, move all the announcements and admin stuff off line. And by off line I really mean on line. Assign a couple RT commissioners to fulfilling that function with a Mac Daddy newsletter or web site. Shoot, I'd pay $100 a year to have a packet of all the stuff mailed to me. I spend more than than now driving to RT -- or I used to.

Part of the equation has to do with expectations. When I was a scout we were perfectly content to "just go camping." We spent many the weekend sitting around a campfire, shooting the breeze with our mates. If there were a creek or pond nearby, we were in hog heaven catching and eating crawfish, frogs or fish. Our scoutmaster and many of our assistants were veterans and we typically camped bivouac style. As we got into high school, several of the guys "dropped out" of scouting, but our old "patrol" went camping more then than we did when everyone was still in the troop. Even then, we still enjoyed hanging out with our friends in the woods for a couple days. These days, that's not good enough. In the past year, our troop has been snow skiing, water skiing, on a canoe trek, skeet shooting, rock climbing and rappelling, mountain biking, backpacking and wilderness survival training. Aside from the heavy-duty certification required for shooting and climbing, that's a lot of expertise the troop leadership has to bring to the table. Even still, we have people (mostly adults, a couple boys) who don't think we do enough high adventure. That pulls us in a couple directons. For one, it pushes us more in the adult led direction. Not many 16 year olds own ski boats or are qualified to teach shotgun shooting. But mostly it sets up a expectation that troop outings are going to look like Mountain Dew commercials. And it's not like we can develop a focus in one area. The demand is to always do something different or go somewhere different. Last fall we camped at our council camp three months running. GOOD GRIEF! You would think we were beating people. Of course one month we were training on the canoes and another month we were using the shotgun range. The third month was our campout with the Webelos and we intentionally hold that at the camp to show the Webelos around. But a couple folks just go off regardless. Seems to me it's more about entertainment than it is about a love of the outdoors.

Couldn't find out where the big the box of mantles came from or how much they were (I suspect the former Scoutmaster who owns a local outdoor store sold them to us near his cost). But I did look up the new lanterns we use. They're Coleman Compact Perfectflow. The're cheap ($22 retail, I think we get them for less than $20) and the use the #51 mantles which attach top and bottom. They seem to be more secure and last longer. Also, because the lanterns are so small, when attached to a 2# cylinder they aren't top heavy like regular lanterns and don't tend to fall over so much. More typically, though, our guys screw them on top of the propane trees which make them even more secure.

I will guarantee you one of the reasons the city used to justify its hosting of the conference was the economic benefit the influx of visitors it would bring. Consider the $19,000 your cut. Would you feel differently if CNN, Green Peace or the Tri-Lateral Commission had rented out the facility for their folks? Our council regularly rents our facilities for various corporate functions. We even charge out-of-council scout groups a buck or two for camping. I'd be more concerned that the $19,000 is well spent rather than where it came from.

I'm not sure where we get them or how much we pay, but we've been able to get full boxes -- you know the ones that open into retail display bins. I'll see if I can find a source and let you know. I do remember that at some time we had a box of off brand mantles which wee probably less. In the past year we've bought a set of very small lanterns -- the globes are a little smaller than a baseball. The cool thing about them is that the mantles are tube shaped and attach top and bottom, instead of only at the top. That extra support seems to make the mantles last much longer. The older, traditional coleman lanters have been inherited by the adults. On the other hand, three years ago, when we converted everything to propane from coleman fuel, we bought a set of off-brand lanterns - maybe $25 each. They were Super Quad somethingerother and had four mantles in each lantern. WHAT A PAIN! Four times the trouble. I'll try and stop by the hut this afternoon and see if I can find some details for you.

I'm something short of 15 gallons and have been a donor since I was first eligible at 16. My Eagle project was a Bloodmobile, back in the day when the scouts did everything but actually stick people with needles. But somehow that doesn't seem quite right. Logically, I can justify it. Twenty gallons is 30 years of regular donations. And there are BSA awards for all sorts of service, not just in Scouting. But are we going to honor 30 years of service to the Kiawanis Club? Build a house for Habitat for Humanity?

Not Klondike. Webelos may not attend Boy Scout camporees. They camp only with individual troops. It's a programming thing. The point is to make sure the activities are age appropriate. Between our troop and pack, it has always meant a joint campout. The Boy Scouts run a round robin of scout skill demonstrations for the Webelos. We push the boys to stretch and show off for the Webelos. The focus isn't instruction, but showing the Webelos what they will be doing in the troop. We also take the time to do an indepth orientation with the Webelos parents. This is a big part of our Webelos-to-Scouts transition and we really push the campout. Both the troop and pack leave it unsaid that the Webelos need to go on the campout to meet the requirement. Invariably, some Webelos will have a conflict the weekend of the campout. They're welcome to camp with us the following month. After that we'll call uncle have them attend any outdoor activity which fits their schedule.

Results vary. When I first became pack committee chairman (a couple years before BALOO was instituted) I saw a reference to "approved campsite" and the inspection sheet in Guide to Safe Scouting. I asked my DE for the list of approved locations and for a copy of the form. He looked at me like there was something growing out of my head. Needless to say, our council doesn't maintain a list of "approved" sites and it took them two weeks to get the form. No on at the council had a copy and they had to order one from supply. They had the same attitude when it came to tour permits. I've always said I could submit a tour permit listing our destination as Hell and it would get approved. I've watched as one of the clerks in the scout shop literally rubber stamped the scout executive's signature on a stack of permits, never bothering to even look at the individual forms. I think they're better about it now. The woman who approves them seem to at least glance over the forms to see if they're complete. Which is all the more reason for folks like yourself to follow procedure, be conscientious, and do you best to deliver a good, safe program to the boys.

We use Advantage Emblem at www.advantageemblem.com Their art department is great. They can take scribbles and turn them into great designs. They are reasonable and the don't tack on a lot of set up fees and stuff that runs the cost up. Our sales rep is Jenni. I've worked with her 7 or 8 years and ordered lots of stuff for both day camp and the troop. She takes good care of us. I've found their online catalog to be a bit weak. If you don't see what you're looking for call or email Jenni and ask.

I took a stab at answering Beav's questions, but everything kept coming up "it depends" or "yes, but..." Apparently we just run on a different management style. Truth is, for a lot of these items, no one is making a decision. By design, a whole lot of what we do is by continuing resolution. Schedule, for example. Our default setting is that we camp the first weekend of every month. With a few exceptions, anyone can figure out our schedule in perpetuity. When conflicts arise, they may be brought to the table by Scouts, leaders or parents. Even then the solution is generally to move the campout up or back one week. Our PLC meets the week before the troop committee in order for the PLC to find a resolution and forward it to the committee. The only time this has come up recently was with our Webelos campout last fall. The cub scout pack had a conflict the first weekend of the month, so we simply moved everything to the second weekend. We are on our way to becoming a large troop. This year we have boys on NINE -- NINE! -- different school calendars. (Public schools, Catholic Schools, four different charter schools, two private schools and one church school.) And that's just school. I can't begin to imagine the turmoil which would ensue if we threw a blank calendar on the table and said, "so what do you want to do?" Now WHAT we do the first weekend of each month us totally up to the PLC. My challenge there is to get the boys to come up with new and challenging campouts. The boys are fat and happy doing the same things over and over. I really have to push them out of their comfort zone. This fall we spent two months trying to come up with ideas as a PLC. I finally had the SPL and two ASPLs meet one Sunday afternoon, locked them in the conference room, and wouldn't let them out until they had a plan they could present to the full PLC. Budgets are the same way. The troop budget rarely changes. We do no fundraising, our dues are slightly below average of nearby troops, thus we have very little descretionary spending. Activities are typically paid for a la carte (and that is rarely more than a $10 fee). Patrols are totally self-contained when it comes to cooking. The grubmaster does the shopping, divides the cost among the patrol members then collects the money himself. Quartermaster issues are similar. We have a standard set of patrol gear which is issued by the patrol. Three years ago we bought all new tents and stoves and developed the standard inventory. The ASPL and QM did all the research and made a recommendation to the PLC and committee on what to buy. The only change was the committee made was to get a slightly more durable version of the tents (from the Eureka Apex to the Pinnacle model). Now, if something needs to be replaced or if we have to outfit a new patrol (as we are having to do with the wave of new Webelos coming next month) there is no decision to be made. On the other hand, the PLC has discussed buying stands for the camp stoves. The QM has options for simple wire stands for $20 or more elaborate tables for $60. It's on the PLC agenda for next month. Different strokes for different folks. For our boys and our adults, I think we strike a pretty good balance between the boys making the decisions which affect them -- mainly program stuff -- and the adults handling the administrative details. Could he boys do more. Sure. But it seems to me we've got the 80/20 rule about where we want it.

Thanks guys. Just knowing we're I'm on the right track is good information. I really like your three points, Stosh. We present much the same thing at TJLT, but we talk about #1 as being good "followership" and #3 in terms of being servant leaders -- pretty much the same message. #2 is a new one and I turned it into my SM minute tonight. New PLs took over tonight, so it was timely. A little more background on the kid. First, his father is very involved and very supportive. He and I are good friends and talk about this stuff a great deal. We see eye-to-eye on much of it. Along the lines of your point, Barry, that maybe we're pushing too much, too soon, at some point in the last few weeks, the scout said he wanted to take a break from leadership positions. I think I surprised the dad when I agreeed that might be a good idea. My concern was that he do it for the right reasons. If he's taking a break to take a break, fine. He's earned it. But if he's backing off because he's upset or frustrated, I'd like him to solve the problems, then take a break. Never go to bed mad, so to speak.

Sorry, E732. I thought my post was sufficiently dripping with sarcasm. I should have used one of those little sarcasm thingys. What's the code for that? Ctrl/Alt/F7? Several months and hundreds of post ago, when there was still substantive discusion going on here, I was fairly supportive of MDSummer.

Okay, seems like we've been focused on a lot of silly, tangential stuff lately. Here's a real, red meat, core Scouting issue: One of our senior youth leaders is a real tough nut to crack and I'd like some perspective/advice on how to get through to this kid. Some background: Although he is almost a year older than the other boys in his grade (he's now 15), this kid has always been much smaller than the other guys, very quiet and tends to be a loner (although he's much better than he used to be). When he first joined the troop he would have nothing to do with the other boys in his patrol. Wouldn't help with camp duties or participate in activities. He was one of the last to reach First Class because he would cook a meal or two then just shut down -- refused to get out of the tent to cook breakfast. Of course that compounded his social problems. In addition to being a quiet loner, he developed a reputation of being lazy and someone the other guys couldn't count on for help. Three years ago I convinced him to be a Den Chief. Given his physical stature, I thought working with the Cubs would be easier for him. BRILLIANT! He thrived as a Den Chief. After a year, I convinced him to serve as a Troop Guide for the new Scout patrol. That went pretty well, although I noticed that when it came time to teach the skills in which he was weaker, he tended to just walk away and leave the new scouts to their own devices. The kid never asked for help. He served two terms as troop guide including one year when he was both troop guide and den chief. This time last year the kid was 14 and I really felt he needed to be weened away from working only with smaller kids. Last spring we had two new Scout patrols, so he was asked to be ASPL with responsibility for supervising Troop Guides and Den Chiefs. He really did very little in that role, but continued to function as a troop guide for one of the patrols. He did very little in terms of program planning and coordination, which is what we were looking for from an ASPL. In the fall, as the new Scouts started to spread their own wings, we coached the troop guides (including this kid) to re-engage with their own patrols and give the NSPs some room to grow. They were to camp with their own patrols and work with the NSPs on an as needed basis. That's when the wheels really fell off. This kid created a tremendous amount of turmoil within his patrol and refused to follow the lead of his PL. There were times he would totally hijack the PL's job and other times he refused to cooperate at all. He was very clear that as an ASPL he didn't think he should have to listen to a patrol leader. Over the past six months, I've probably spent 10 hours talking with this kid one-on-one trying to get him on track. In short, the last three years have taken him from a detached loner to a much more engaged Sleader, but only if he gets to be the "Big Boss" and have everyone in a subservient role to him. This term, the SPL decided one of the other troop guides needed a shot at ASPL. The SPL created and appointed this boy to a new job of ASPL/Administration. He now has responsibility for the Scribe, Librarian, QM, Historian, etc. What I'm seeing thus far is that he still doesn't want to work with the boys in these positions, rather he cherry picks the parts of their jobs which interests him and does those tasks himself. He then ignores the rest. I tend to think the boy may have some slight OCD issues. When he takes on a task he's on it like a dog on a bone. For instance, following the recent PL elections he decided he would be responsible for updating the new patrol rosters instead of having the Scribe doing it. He's called me five times asking questions. One of the patrols failed to elect a new PL because of low attendance at the election meeting. The SPL, doing his job, had arranged for the patrol to meet 15 minutes before the next troop meeting to finish the election. But before that could happen this kid jumped in and polled the patrol members by phone. As I told him, I admire his enthusiasm and initiative, but like a good Scoutmaster, he needs to let the patrols work it out and solve their own problems. My question is, how do I get this boy to work with other people? In some respects this is a classic issue of learning to delegate, but with his background, I also know he just doesn't want to work with other kids. I'm trying hard not to knock the wind from his sails, but he doesn't take criticism well. As I tried to explain how things should have worked with the PL election issue, I could see him visibly deflating. I sense a lot of frustration and resentment from him whenever someone tries to give him any sort of direction. He has a tremendous need to have things just the way he wants them. Thoughts?(This message has been edited by Twocubdad)

Wow! It's remarkable the effort people will put in to perpetuate a hoax! Question: does this thread get an asterisk in the record book since it's been juiced by so many people just wanting to see the pages turn?

Yeah, Leno popping in was a surprise. The other ad I liked was the casual Friday ad with all the people their underware. Overall, I thought the ads were awful. Seems like most of them were the versions of last year's ads that didn't make the cut; i.e. Danica Patrick's whocares.com ad. Didn't they run that last year? Sorry Ea, but they do Bud clydesdale-and-friend ads every year. Even the Bret Farve ad was a not-as-funny knock off of the Sears ads he's been doing for the past few months. Some of them made no sense at all. Why is Dockers promoting not wearing pants? The Green Police ad was pretty good, but isn't that counter to selling "green" cars? Apparently Doritos target market is male high school sophomores..... Love The Who, but that was pretty rough. They were much better when the performed stoned. Good game though. I watched most of it even though I don't particularly care for either the 'Aints or the Colts. The on-sides kick to open the second half was genius. It takes a BIG BRASS SET to call that. (This message has been edited by Twocubdad)

To summarize: Out of a $3.50 box of cookies, $0.85 goes to the baker $0.57 goes to the Girl Scout troop, including prizes to the individual girl $2.07 goes to the local council GSUSA doesn't get a cut of the sales price directly, rather gets a royalty fee from the two baking companies. In other words, Girl Scout troops keep about half as much of sales as Boy Scouts do from popcorn.

Imagine if I showed up at the hut out of uniform I'd be arrested for trespassing. Some of the kids probably haven't seem me in civvies in 12 years. At ECOHs, I (SM) share presentation duties with the committee chairman and chartered organization rep. I usually tell some story about the Eagle then make the actual presentation. When Onecubson got his Eagle last summer, I did my usual little talk, then stepped back beside his mom and played dad for the rest of the ceremony. Since I was part of the ceremony, I was in uniform.

We've done it both ways. But I agree it's a little cheezy for the adults to light candles and cross over the bridge with the boys. On the troop side of the bridge the adults stand to one side and let the youth leaders run the show. As the Webelos cross the bridge, the Boy Scouts replace their shoulder tabs, hats and neckers. The troop adults only role is to shake hands with the Webelos as they walk through. When the adults "cross over" with the boys, the troop adults usually walk over shake hands and give them their stuff. Somewhat of an aside to the main event with the boys, but we do recognize that the adults are joining too.

Interesting. Questions: How are national accreditation and required certifications "traits"?

Part of the problem with pot lucks is when you tell folks to bring a veggie, they'll bring one green bean casserole and a family of five. The math doesn't work. That family could eat the entire casserole. The family would need to bring a casserole sized to make an entire meal of it. Clearly, having the pack provide the entree -- KFC's new grilled chicken is a really good option -- helps with that. I used to be responsible for our family reunion. The rule we had was, "bring food to serve your whole family, then share." That way what would have become leftovers at home provides enough food for the gluttons and the idiots who show up with a bag of Doritos.

Abel; In response to your first post, this isn't my unit so I have no business meddling in their affairs. Neither and I on the council advancement committee, so I have no standing to inquire into the situation. I'm just wondering from afar. In the past year or so, the instruction we've received from the advancement committee is that hard-and-fast percentages are out. A unit may, however, use a Scout's participation as one of several "guidelines" to determine if a Scout has met the active participation requirements. (Which is pretty much the policy my troop follows.) We were also told that even then we sould expect to be overturned on appeal if we chose to follow that advice. The advancement committee was not, however, willing to take on fury that would ensue from trying to force these units into compliance with a straight active=registered attendance policy. Obviously, the question I posed, "I wonder if the council advancement committee will enforce the new clarification?" was rhetorical. Nothing will change. As to your last post: the writer of the letter you copied is spot-on accurate -- "If all of us were equal in brain power, resources, geography, family and financial status then perhaps some specific parameters as to hours, #'s of participants, durability, percentages etc. would be in order. However, this is not the case anywhere in this country or for scouts of traveling military families, diplomatic families, etc. Thus, boys need to be judged on their own merits and talents as to access, availability, & performance where the standard is absolutely just as stated in the requirements. No more or no less. The heart of the matter is what comes next: "Consequently, the Boy Scouts of America has adopted a "least common denominator" policy in which ensures all registered Scouts, regardless of their actual participation in troop and patrol activities can meet these requirement." --- OR --- "Conseqently, the Boy Scouts of America entrusts the men and women who devote hundreds of volunteer hours in service to these boys and who understand their personal and family situations to make reasonable and fair determinations as to what 'participate actively' means for the Scouts in the units they serve." So how does your letter end?