Zahnada

Bob, Bob, Bob... No, I'm afraid I do not have a magic pair of glasses that I can don that allow me to see everybody's pain. And I also do not have a guide that tells me the proper course of action for every situation. HOWEVER I have a good idea when someone's in a difficult situation. And sometime's it is very obvious when a teenage boy needs help. The issue we're dealing with is if a boy's sexuality prevents him from being a scout. In such a case then I know it was not me who brought up sexuality (so you don't have to worry about my removal from BSA). And once again, I feel it

Bob White, I'll start by answering your questions. Hypotheticals are always tough to answer because we can never know all the facts. The main question I have about the situation is whether the boy is comfortable or not in his sexuality. That makes a huge difference on my next course of action. I disagree that we can automatically assume that the parents are aware of how strongly the Boy Scouts support their position. Although this is a high profile case, people do have a seletive perception so a person unaffiliated with BSA probably knows very little about the case. Therefore, I wou

Bob White, I hate arguments based solely on wording, but if that is what you choose... "If you found out a boy in your troop was a drug addict would you turn him away?" You took this statement as an indication that I would leave the boy in the troop. To leave a drug addict with other boys is irresponsible. It is just as irresponsible as throwing that boy out the door and turning my back on him. Either way, you are doing neither the boy nor society any great favor. You say you will turn him away "in a heart beat" and I find that sad. I hope that there are scout leaders who

Actually Bob White, your post bothers me. If you found out a boy in your troop was a drug addict would you turn him away? Would you say, "You're not welcome in Boy Scouts and I won't help you."? I feel it is very unscoutlike to simply cast aside the people who engage in a lifestyle we don't agree with. (and some of the traits you listed are illegal and in my mind that puts them in a very different category than homosexuality) And you say that it's not the BSA's responsibility to help gay boys. Maybe not officially, but as a scout I feel it is my responsibility to help anyone who nee

Well, we can't complain about the United Way. Boy Scouts is a private organization with the power to make decisions that are not favored by all. By the same standards, the United Way can make decisions on how to run their organization and what groups to include. It's too bad this conflict exists, but both groups made their decisions in an attempt to please their members and supporters. In regards to the contraversy, I agree with much of what the article says. The teenage years are the most difficult in a young man's life. He fights for the acceptance of his peers. This is especially roug

Quick question: What if a council (and there may be one out there) has a Confederate flag on their patch? What do you do?

I would like to respond to a short comment Ed made. "PC & Scouting don't mix. Nor should they." I understand what you're saying and I in part agree. Someone will always be offended no matter what the situation and so complete PC is impossible. I would hate for all of America's enemies and their motives to be omitted from history (much like how the Japanese attempt to forget WWII). However, I feel this is a very self-destructive attitude. While Boy Scouts cannot please everyone (they've proven that in recent years) we must to sensitive to issues. I fear the Boy Scouts can be too

This is truly a shame. I always respected General Lee. He has always been one of my favorite generals and definitely one of the greatest generals in the history of America. Did anyone else see the History Channel's show, "April 1865"? It talks about how Lee kept the war from going guerilla (I'll never learn how to spell that word). He also was not a racist. The show ends with him being the only member of a Virginian church to accept communion with a black man. I really hope that Lee is not wiped out of history by this type of action. We should respect all who have fought for and aga

I'm a college boy. Thus explaining some of my political stance.

Wallace, I would like to add to your advertising comments. I think BSA needs to engage in a multi-pronged advertising campaign. I also noticed that high adventure ads are no where to be seen. But the ads I do see are directed almost exclusively towards parents. These are ads that emphasize the morals of scouting (important, but not inspiring to a youth until they experience it themselves). The pictures on the ads are of boys in uniform saluting the American flag. I think the main target is obvious: the parents. They need to target the youth at all ages. I would love to see ads of bo

The "coolness" level of scouting is so interesting as it changes through a boy's age. In elementary school, almost every boy is a Cub Scout. Some join willingly, many are forced by parents, some join to be with friends. Elementary school boys don't have any shame in scouts because everyone else is also in the same program. There's no huge problem in high school either. While some teasing occurs, and boys often don't wear uniforms to school, most people don't care. Many high schoolers realize that an Eagle Scout has a full resume that will play a vital role in college admissions. They have

I know many of you won't agree with me, but if we want to increase Boy Scout membership and "coolness" we need to separate it from Cub Scouts. When boys reach middle school and "coolness" becomes the ultimate goal in life, scouting is equated to their elementary school experience of Cub Scouts. Cub Scouts aren't high adventure. They are the ones who perform the arts and crafts that middle school boys wouldn't dare touch. They are the ones who go to their parent's house after school instead of going on weekend hikes. BSA has focused its advertising on attracting boys for the Cub Sco

I think "One Tin Soldier" has a fine message. It's all in the interpretation. I would caution its use with younger Cub Scouts though. The chorus is the only part many of them hear or remember so they'll leave the song with the lines, "Go ahead and hate your neighbor. Go ahead and cheat a friend." The rest of the chorus gets more difficult to decipher meaning from. I've had a couple young boys confused about the content of the song. It's better than some other songs I've heard at campfires. Most notably, "Shaving Cream" where everytime the audience expects a certain word that starts with

As you said, the trick to knowing knots is using them often. Once someone starts using knots and tying them for reasons besides merit badges and rank advancement, then they will remember the knot. I always make sure they learn the knot in a practical setting. When tying down a dining fly or a tent, two half-hitches and a tautline hitch are wonderful. Once boys see the uses of those knots in a practical setting, they will see the knot's value. And then they will use the knot and remember. Besides that, the only pioneering advice I can give is to practice, practice, practice. The best

hops_scout, I felt I owed you a reply. "You mention we spend soooo much on our military... I wonder why?? Only because we are free and so many countries are not. Therefore, we are the best military force in the world, no doubt." Actually the United States does not spend "soooo much" on our military. It really only accounts for 3.2% of our GDP. Compare that with Israel at 8.25% or North Korean at over 30%. The real issue is: The US has tons of money. Is humanitarian aide the better use of it or is military support? It can be argued that our military budget keeps other people fre

I don't mean to start a topic concerning the contraversy surrounding the impending war with Iraq. I'll leave that to the Issues and Politics forum. I'm wondering what if any actions your troops take to support the troops in the war? Regardless of our personal feelings about the legitimacy of war, it should be considered a given that we, as Americans, support our young men who have been called upon to fight. Is it the place of BSA to take an active role in that support? Also, I'd like to connect this to the fundraising topic. Can a Boy Scout troop do fundraising for an organization like th

An interesting add-on to this conversation is the topic of improv. More than once, I've seen boys faced with the challenge of finding a new skit and they have turned to "Whose Line is it Anyway?" for inspiration. What are your thoughts on improvisation? The pros are that it can be hilarious. It's always fresh and new. It really showcases the acting talent of some boys. It gets the audience involved. The cons are that it cannot be pre-approved by an adult because there is nothing to approve. Therefore, the content can become tedious or unacceptable. These boys are also not professiona

I need some help. My school offers some excellent research grants and fellowships for innovative research. Such research should be done on topics that interest the researcher and I figured that Boy Scouts would be the perfect topic for me. I want my research to take me to England to study the origins of the scouting movement. My main interest in scouts is the leadership aspect. I am hoping to perform some possible comparison between leadership camps in England and the United States and maybe how the differences reflect the two cultures. As you can see, this idea has not been brainsto

Bob White, In that case I owe you an appology. It does add an ironical twist that I became guilty of the act that I charged you with. I am sorry.

Evian is naive spelled backwards! That's great! The things that I never noticed in life. Anyway Bob White, once again you misrepresent my post in order to prove your point. I don't appreciate that. As I stated in my post, I don't agree with "begging" others for donations. I think it's wrong to have a boy go door-to-door and ask for money. That's why I'm also reluctant to endorse fundraising in general. It's very similar except that the buyer has less of an option on what to give to scouting because the product has a fixed price. The troop also only receives a portion of the money because

To also tag on to the last few posts: Popularity in youth is a really funny thing. I see some groups picking the loudest and most popular boy to receive the joke. This kind of calling attention to a person can be seen as a badge of honor in some groups. I'm not saying this is right, but different groups act in different ways. Back before hazing became much of an issue, our troop had scouts who lost an item do a song and dance in front of everyone. I agree with why this form of display was banned, but it was always enjoyable at the time. Boys would jump up to receive this sort of "emb

Bob White, I agree with you. Anything dealing with money is a slippery slope. However, I slightly cringe at the mention of the word, "Fundraiser." I completely understand why some parents would rather not have their sons ask people to buy from them. Money is an amazing way to ruin friendships. It's a difficult position because many of the purchases made during fundraisers are out of guilt and the purchased good is not wanted by the buyer. Naturally there are exceptions as I love Girl Scout cookies. But I don't believe that BSA stands for "Boys Sell Anything." I think it's perfectly u

About the issue of donations vs selling. kwc57, I understand the motives some parents have for simply writing a check instead of pushing their son to sell. While fundraising is a great responsibility for a youth and an excellent lesson, the product can often be looked at critically. I know many parents who would feel bad to have their son peddling some low-grade product to their friends and neighbors. These people are then almost obligated to buy. Our troop sold Christmas wreaths for years, but the quality was so low and the price was so expensive that some parents finally just

I've read a few posts with some movie recommendations. People have recommended showing movies like "Remember the Titans" during JLTs and occasionally troop meetings. I would like to add "White Squall" to the list of great scouting movies. I must warn you that it is rated PG-13 for sexual references. It is a great movie where a group of boys become men through the process of teamwork and community building. It is so easy to see the parallels between the boys in the movie and the troops that we lead. It's a very enjoyable and powerful movie. If you're uncomfortable showing a PG-1

Perhaps this is a topic better posted in the "Issues and Politics" section of this forum. If you scroll down through those topics, I'm sure you'll find plenty of opinions that can help with your paper. Just to put in my two cents, I hate to turn away any boy with a good heart and lots of enthusiasm. Scouting is a wonderful program that I feel should be open to any boy who wants to participate and won't cause trouble. But I also respect BSA's ability to place certain membership restrictions even if I don't agree with them. Here are some interesting sub-topics/ hypotheticals that may be use