Bob White

A little scout trivia. If I remember the calculations correctly, a scout would need to be Eagle by his 13th year and 3rd month in order to earn the maximum number of Palms (4-silver, 1-gold, 1-bronze). That would leave 3 merit badges (currently) for which he would not recive a palm (not a cluster of 5) however he could still earn all the badges. It has happened.

I'l take a stab at the guide to safe scouting topic. I agree that the guide is growing and beco0ming mor detailed. I'm not sure that is a bad thing, and I'm not sure it has to do with low rate of unemployment among lawyers. The problem as I see it is the size and scope of our program. We have thousands of volunteers. Most of the contents of the Guide to Safe Scouting boil down to using common sense. The problem is that common sense isn't common.

A question comes to mind. Is every employee of the ACLU a union member, or are they "at will" employees serving at he unfettered discretion of their employers?

Thursday night Commissioners Corner, Friday night Blue and Gold guest speaker, Saturday AM Cub Leader Traing, Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning troop campout with my son, Sunday afternoon Friends of Scouting Presentation, Monday Troop Meeting, Tuesday Friends of Scouting Presentation, Wednesday Key Three meeting, Thursday Cub Roundtable, Friday and Saturday off, Sunday Eagle Court of Honor, Monday Troop Meeting...... I like the turn this thread has taken!!

scoutdad, Couldn't those Cubs who have not completed the AOL, stay and work on it since they do not meet the eligibility requirements to be a Boy Scout. They could stil come on a couple of campouts as guests of the troop or as cubs with their parent, in order to prepare for summercamp. My concern is what is the scout learning? If he has so little interest in advancement in cubs, what will suddenly get him interested in Boy Scout advancement. What about his readiness for scouts? Those last months to AOL are supposed to prepare him to join the troop at an early age. Without that tr

Remember the February crossover deadline is purely self-imposed by individual leaders or units not the BSA. The Webelos program says that they can go to scouting upon leaving the 5th grade, turning 11 years old, or, 10 1/2 and AOL. Nowhere does it say in February. If the schedule of the Den does not coincide with the Blue and Gold then you keep going. Nothing says that that everyone has to cross together, to force the scout to cross early is not a benefit for the boy merely a convenience for the adults. I'm curious as to what changes you think would help?

Yes I believe a leader is compelled to serve the scouts in their den to the best of their ability. If that means staying on till the end of the den members ime in cubs, so be it. I agree the parents have a responsibility to get the scouts to the meetings and have an interest in their advancement. I also see it (and I am not suggesting in any way that this was not done)to be the WDL responsibility to make the required time committment clear at the very beginning to the parent, and to keep the parent informed as to the scouts progress in order to insure the boy's success. Had It been

Sctmom and scoutdad, I realize that not all units are the same, but the program elemnets are a constant. There problems with graduating Webelos all at once whether or not they have AOL. First off not all scouts advance at the same time sometimes due to missing a few meetings because illness or family conflicts. It is unfair to move them into scouts while thay still have eligibility in Cub Scouts without the chance to earn the awards their friends have earned. The other problem is that without the AOL, alot of these cubs are not eligible for scouts. They would be required to wait for the e

I'm no Psychologist, and I don't play one on TV, but I have some experience with scout age kids. I've seen kids handle stress in some pretty strange ways. Change, like leaving the known world of cubbing and joining the unknown world of Boy Scouts can be very stressfull. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out that your scouts are apprehensive about growing up and are showing this through their attitude. Try getting them more contact with a Boy Scout and a scout leader at the troop they would be most likely to join. If they felt there was a friendly face or two waiting to h

I don't disagree sctmom, although I will point out that part of requirement 4 includes backpack cooking as well. I was addressing the original question of "what basic equipment was needed". I'm sure with all of our varied experience we could fill a patrol box or two with cooking supplies, however the MB can be completed with far less. I also agree with getting a pro chef to come give a demo. You can get some great tips on simple but unique meals.

Don't think that because it's backpack cooking that you are limited to Dehydrated foods. There are alot of other foods that lend themselves to backpacking. Characteristics you look for are: nutritional value, durability while packed, minimal packaging, correct portions, and ability to maintaion freshness. For the most part backpack menus are designed for no more than 2 persons. Items such as fresh eggs, milk and raw meat rarely lend themselves to this situation. But dried meats, grainsand many fresh fruits and vegetables. work quite well, as do dehydrated foods. I enjoy base camp coo

Hi yarrow, What basic equipment you need depends really on the type of camping you want to teach. The Cooking requirement mention lightweight soves and packing out garbage so I perceive that they are leaning toward backpack cooking. This would certainly be a more adventurous way to go. However if you want to include heavier style base camp methods there is room for that as well. I'll let others go into base camp cooking and just give you my ideas on the specific items to complete the merit badge. You'll need *a Food Pyramid to teach the basic groups and to guide the scouts in m

Yarrow is correct. The pack retains the boys memberships as Webelos for the rest of the school year, or their 11th birthday, or until they complete their Arrow of Light. Whichever happens first. The best case scenario is for the Webelos Den Leaders to give full concentration to these scouts to get them to complete AOL and give them a proper send off into Boy Scouting. Nothing says that crossovers only happen once a year or only during Blue and Gold. These boys are high risk for dropping out unless they are given immediate attention. Bob

Sorry about getting side tracked on the Laser tag thing. Here are some comments back on target. Here is what we do in my son's troop where I am one of two ASMs assigned to the New Scout Patrols. 1. At crossover the boys receive Red Shoulder Tabs Troop Numerals Troop Neckerchief Boy Scout Neckerchief Slide (we encourage the Packs to give a Boy Scout Handbook) 2. At their first troop meeting they Selected a Patrol Name Elected the first month's Patrol Leader Completed The requirements for Scout Badge Recieved their Scout Badge 3. 1

I agree with jmcquillan and others who emphasize "keep it simple" and "stay within the BSA policies". So many of the topics mentioned by others are already covered in the Scout handbook and other manuals. We have always shared lots of info with parents such as calendar dates, budget and finances, rosters etc. in our newslwetters. In 26 years as a unit leader the only "rules" we needed were behavior rules set by the PLC. It is reviewed and revised every 6 months as troop leadership changes. It's always between 10 and 15 bulleted lines that carry a very easy to remember discipline. Vi

I'm no lawyer by any stretch of the imagination, but unless our high school civics teachers lied to us... No foriegn government or organization has the power to make laws that supercede our own, within the boundaries of our own country. United Nation referendums are simply governments agreeing to agree. They are only binding as long as the individual governments choose to continue to abide by them. But, they do not constitute law within our country until they are made law by local, state or federal government.

Scoutruud, I'm guessing you meant hypocrytical not hypothetical. I realize that the European programs differ from the U.s program. But, nearly every country that has scouting has program differences from every other. I don't feel it would apprppriate for U.S. scouters to determine what is right or wrong about your country's program. The controling body of volunteers for the Boy Scouts of America (the National Executive Board have identified, through input from other volunteer committes within scouting, beliefs or activities that they feel are not in keeping with the goals and met

I agree with eisley. I see nothing in the gude to Safe Sccouting that prohibits Laser Tag. My concern is that it really doesn't teach or test a scout skill. I guess you could argue that it meets an aim of scouting by helping scouts to be physically fit, but I can think of alot of scout activities that meet that particular aim better. I guess I would run it past the parents and if it they didn't have a problem with the activity I would use it on a very limited basis.

FYI Don't count on the DE removing the Cubmaster. Unless an unit volunteer misuses children or unit funds professionals have no authority. Unit leaders are selected and approved by Charter Organizations and only they have the authority to take such action.

Using teachers is a great way to go. Most are very willing to use any tool that will motivate their students. We have used teachers for all the fitness related MB, all the sciences, Arts, Reading, Academic and Citizenship badges. Most junior high students can get 6 to 7 merit badges a year just by doing their schoolwork and meeting a few extra times with their teachers.

sctmom, Normally a sufficient grace period is given to allow the scout to either complete the requirements as listed in his current handbook or to use the new requirements as publications are updated and distributed. My recommendation would be to visit http://www.meritbadge.com and download the new requirements. include them in your sons handbook or even edit the handbook to match the new requirements. The reason I recommend using the new requirements is that one of the old First Class requirements has been removed and moved to the Swimming Merit Badge.

PS There is no registration fee for MB counselors. (no insurance coverage, no scouting magazine etc.)

Mom Scouter, For the most part when a troop is operating using the Patrol Method, the scoutmaster will be the most influential of the program leaders, only because it is the Scoutmaster that trains the scouts and the Scoutmaster who helps the SPL develop the PLC agenda and who sits in on the PLC meeting. The primary role of the committee is support the decision of the scouts. This does not exclude input from other adults, but it would be a good idea to filter these sugeestions through the SM. The reason for this is so that the boys do not get mixed messages or feel that they are being

Hi sctmom, Merit Badge counselors can be recruited through the didtrict to work with all scouts or through the unit. The counselor recruited through the unit can choose to only counsel the scouts from that particular unit or can choose to counsel scouts on a very limited basis. The counselor must be 18 years of age or older and have sufficient skills or knowledge in the area(s) that he or she counsels. Counselors can do more than one merit badge and scouts can use the same counselor more than once. It is within the policies and regulations for a parent with appropriate skills to c

Terry, I am still unable to edit my posts within the first hour. I click on the edit icon and I am sent to an edit screen. Once I make my corrections and select the edit message line I recieve a screen telling me I am not authorized to edit this screen. Bob