Krampus

Yes, I would take them down. The troop and your unit could get in trouble. We always follow the BSA social media guidelines. We go a further step and require all families to sign a photo release where we will only use certain pictures and only first names. They can revoke permission at any time or simply request a certain picture be taken down. We also require parents attending camp refrain from "tagging" anyone other than their scout in their social media posts. The people who want to find that information can find it at any time. If really tried I could probably find the real names, addresses and emails of most of the people on this forum by the end of the day. When you know where and how to look it really isn't that tough. Heck, I could hang around ANY scout event and get names, addresses, etc., using non-technology means just as easy. I imagine dumpster diving at you local council office would get me even more. I HIGHLY doubt they shred EVERY page that has membership data on it. The best you can do is follow all the safety guidelines and train the boys to be vigilant.

I have 5 pairs of them. 4 are the centennial switchbacks, 1 bought in the last two years. The latter is falling apart faster than the former. Decent pants though. All have lasted pretty well given I wear them every week or weekend for something, plus camp outs, summer camp, high adventure. When you think about it, if you wear them often enough, try thinking about any other item of clothing you wear as often and that takes that much of a beating and is still in decent condition.

Sorry, where I live you need long pants on three occasions. Shorts it is.

A fellow scouter had a recent incident. Scout was out of control and in need of constant adult intervention. Dad was on camp out. Clearly father's son. Scout did something requiring an immediate and long-term punishment. At first dad agreed. Next morning dad was wondering if the punishment wasn't too hard, whereas the night before he could not be more contrite. At the end of the day no matter who's son it is, personal accountability means everything.

APL, scribe and QM. They train at the patrol level to understand the higher roles. It also allows young scouts to get a leadership taste.

In our unit I'd say most of the leaders' kids are held to a higher standard than other kids, but the father and by the other adult leaders. The kid with the shortest straw nearly always your own kid. If you leaders have a different standard I'd find another troop. No one likes a leader that lets his kid get away with stuff.

The beneficiary, SM and committee chair sign off on the Eagle Project Proposal BEFORE the project is completed. They ALSO sign off AFTER the project is completed. There's plenty of blame here. If the beneficiary has signed, the SM has signed and the troop chair has signed, then the horse is out of the barn. That's the green light to proceed. My problem is that the process is wrong. The scout gets his proposal "approved" and then moves forward without having to have his PLAN approved. IMHO all parties should see the detail of what you will do. He's right...but he's included in that evaluation.

You can bet me but you'd lose. The average number of Eagles in the top 50% of troops is 9 per year. There's 25% that have 12+ on average. The remaining 25% have 5-8. So taking the overall average (9) times the number of units (40, there's more but lets work with that) that's 360 candidates. Take an smooth split of 360 divided by 12, that's 30 scouts a month. At 30 mins per scout (usually more but let's go in your favor) that's 15 hours worth of EBORs. If you meet twice a month to do this at the district level that's nearly two full working days of meetings. Divide that in to four meetings per month and you'd have nearly 4 hours of EBORs per week. How's my math now?

We have our own account, treasurer and audit the books from outside once a year.

The only way a 9 year old completes the fifth grade is by skipping a grade. That said, I'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks boy scouts is for 9 year olds.

You should visit my area. Your head would explode. There are units here with over 100 scouts, 8+ patrols, etc. They cannot be boy led or use the PM....but they claim they are.

Yup, that's all we have ever done. District sends a rep, we host the EBOR. Four to five folks, one of which is the district rep, the other our advancement chair, the other 2-3 are unit parents (unrelated to the scout). I could not imagine the district changing that. I think most of the units in our area would rebel. I also think we have WAY too many EBORs in our district to hold them all at one time. If you figure 40+ units with 6-12 Eagles each a year that's a HUGE number of scouts to review at one time.

Just curious, what would happen if you unit said you were holding the BOR and invited a district rep? I don't get this need by the district to pigeon-hole units in to their schedules.

Agree that there's no need for an SM to introduce the Eagle candidate. I've only done it once for a special needs scout when the board was made up of a few new parents and a new district rep that did not know him. Otherwise, I let the boys speak for themselves. This is their pinnacle to make or break. Most are 16+ by the time they do their Eagle BOR. If they cannot handle adults by then I haven't done my job. We prepare for the BOR during the Eagle SMC. I take about 45 mins or so to walk them through how to "manage" a BOR. It's an interview, run it like one.

I only buy cookies from the girls who are willing to go door to door. Hijacking me at the grocery store does not count. I don't buy from mom or dad. I don't buy online. I will buy if they sell on the street corner like an old fashioned lemonade stand. In short, if the girl makes an effort I will buy. I've even been known to break my "no grocery store rule" if the girl is innovative, out-going and really nails the sales pitch.

A cot in a pup tent is like low-rider shocks on a 850i.

Cot? Cot?

Nope. T2FC is taught by Instructors. The patrol method is used for all other things. PLs can work with Scouts in their patrol on requirements if they want to. About 70-80% is covered by the Instructors.

Let's face it. No matter HOW you read that section, it is clear the intent was that a boy should be AT LEAST 10 years old and having completed the fifth grade (excluding the AOL requirement for now). If the kid in question was under 10 and had not completed the fifth grade then nothing earned should qualify. I suspect the only grey area here is whether the kid was home schooled at mom says he completed the fifth grade; though I suspect you need a few state documents to validate that. It still would not negate the age requirement. As Jean-Luc Picard said, "The line must be drawn here. This far. No farther!"

In our unit we have Instructors that meet with the T2FC guys once or twice a month to teach the various skills. Camps are another place where this happens.

Our unit offers up our OA ceremonial team to perform crossovers. We will do their ceremony, just stand there and accept the scouts or we have our ceremony we can do. We leave it up to the pack. If you are looking for something like that, ask your local troops or the OA lodge if they would be willing to do something similar.

BSA removed the ability for cubs to use 'hawks a year or so ago. They used to be able to use them at council events along with archery, bb guns and sling shots. Now it is just that latter three. My point is that if a unit has qualified instructors and RSOs, why limit cubs to ONLY doing these things at council events?

BSA precludes Cubs from throwing tomahawks unless at a council event governed by a RSO/Instructor (i.e., an archery instructor).

Our unit has the council archery instructor and we use the local range which has been accredited by the council for operations. We also have several scouts who are instructors. This allows us to host groups for archery and sling shots.

@@Stosh, long bow is MUCH harder to score with.