gumbymaster

@@HelpfulTracks I screwed up my click and accidentally down voted you.Mods, is there any way to un-downvote or change a vote?

Ignoring, for the moment, if this is a good thing or not for the BOYS ... One of the things I really do like about the Girl Scout approach (and I understand that specifics are very leader dependent), is that it really is focused to try and encourage the Girls to believe that they can do anything they want to, including areas that at one time were not traditionally women's areas or roles. It is because of this, that I accept their reluctance for male leader role models to be involved in their program (as it may reinforce that a man has to teach me how to do this, rather than a woman teachi

When adapting the requirements, that applies to the Rank, not to Merit Badges; and @@scoutldr is right the District/Council Committee must approve the changes. If a scout has a disability that prevents them from, say, camping overnight; the committee can approve alternate requirements for Tenderfoot through first class and can approve an alternative merit badge to replace earning the camping merit badge. They cannot change the requirements of the camping merit badge for the boy. A (trained) merit badge counselor should know that these are the rules, and work with the parent to either

My Camp did this 25+ years ago. All members (usually) and especially those who were not already registered with a Troop or Post (both youth and adults - including our Military "volunteers") at the time were registered in a specific Explorer Post whose mission was support of the Camp. Technically, however, I do not think the Council was the Chartering Org for that post, a Church or Volunteer FD (near the camp) were the technical charter. The council may have paid the registration fee for those not dual registered. As for payment (to the staff), I don't think it creates an issue any m

While there are (as demonstrated above) many answers to the question, I think one of the larger answers (from the Scout's perspective) is more than just having fun, but looking at what other options are there. If they don't play sports, and they don't have a neighborhood with lots of other kids their age; then just being able to socialize may be a big part of what keeps them there. When my son first joined his troop, I think they all would have been happy if they could just get together once a week, and hang out and play magic the gathering or some such. Camping just gave them a reas

Thank you for the more elaborate background to the situation. Personally, I am bothered that the SE would agree with a non-advancement punishment, that person should know better. A more common punishment for the scout (which may or may not have a similar effect) would be an TBD month suspension from Troop activities. Based on your SM's policies of what is allowable service hours (again, this is against the rules of the Guide to Advancement), this further reinforces my opinion that the SM is a petty dictator looking to have control regardless of rules. Even if not removed from auth

Keep in mind, as with all these types of disputes, we are only getting one side of the story. Now, given that, the ONLY reason to man-handle a youth in any way is for the immediate health and safety of that youth or others. Willful disobeying a directive (with good reason or not) is not such a reason. That said, the alternative option available to the SM would have been to call you to pick up your son from camp because he will not follow adult leader directions. As described, this is at least a Physical Assault (the pickup and carry - harm, if any, is irrelevant to the charge) and li

The Marriott Family are supporters of the Scouting Movement, with at least some of their family having been very involved as youth members. Ross Perot was a scout (before wealth), I am not sure if his sons were.

While I generally agree that the BOR requirement in this case was more of an impediment, slowing down scouts who wanted to earn the palms, I think I disagree with your reasoning here. If, as a committee member, I want to get a good idea of how well the unit program is functioning, the two people I want to hear from the most are: the newest scout who just joined (having fun, learning what you need to, understand the process, etc), and the most experienced scouts (i.e. Eagles that stay), because they have a good idea of how the program has evolved (better/worse), are effectively beyond po

When my son earned his karate black belt, he had reached his goal, but he decided to stay in the program until he completed his first degree. He wanted to demonstrate that he was in it for more than just that initial goal. Most people, when you say black belt, don't really care or understand about what goes into degrees after that. I kind of look at the (old method) eagle palms like that. If I saw someone with Eagle palms, I knew that they didn't just get their Eagle and immediately leave. They stuck around and presumably gave back to their unit. With the new method, I wouldn't be sur

From the perspective of ownership of the name of the prior council. If the Council's merged, then the new Council (if a new name was formed) or the surviving Council (if the old council was just absorbed), would "own" the name of the old council (all assets including intellectual property such as names, historic artwork, etc.).

This can probably help get you started. https://www.ncacbsa.org/council-committees/membership/lions/ (for some reason, the resources links don't seem to be working) https://newbirthoffreedom.org/lion-guide-and-parent-orientation-video/ http://www.scouting.org/filestore/ppt/LionGuide_ParentOrientation.pptx In general, the Lion scouts will only attend a couple of the pack meetings, not all of them. The most important thing is to have an experienced Scouter serve as a Lion Guide (not Den Leader) to help the parents coordinate activities and taking turns leading Lion meetings.

Question 1. Did you ever fill out an adult leader application, and if you did, was it ever turned in and processed. If so, you should be able to inquire with the Council office or your District Executive what your "official role" in the unit is. If the Cubmaster made you the Church Liasion, as Stosh says, this may mean you were registered as the Chartering Organization Representative (COR). If so, this could be good news for you, depending on who much work you want to do. As COR, you have the authority to "fire" the cubmaster, the committee chair, or any other adult leader in the uni

Clearly, you don't know me, and I don't know you. That is one of the greatest limitations with communicating over a method like this forum vs. had we been able to meet in person. In fact, this is one of the general issues with communication in the modern era, is the lack to nuance a response or to adapt the vehemence of the response to the body language of the intended recipient. If I read your message correctly, and after my read of the last one I grant that I may not be, but you may be the first person to ever imply that I was a snowflake, or that I was dismissing your argument because

Other than some self-appointed individuals, there are no "uniform police" in Scouting. I will admit that I kept my eagle badge on some of my my uniforms until I was no longer serving a Summer Camp Staff, at about 23. While I am sure my attitude was I earned it, I should be able to display it, I also justified it as helping to inspire the Scouts I was teaching at Camp. At the same time, I was in a co-ed explorer post, and on that uniform I never put on the eagle badge and instead went to the knot when I was 18, because I did not consider it fair to be so in their face to the women in the

Is anyone aware of a (ideally) scout sponsored patch/award for backpacking/hiking the trail and/or for completing various state segments of the trail?

On the one hand, since this scout is well past this point and the BSA is a one and done organization, I agree that is should not be technically required . That said, : requirement 1e of the Scout rank is to repeat from memory the Outdoor Code and in your own words explain what it means. Tenderfoot 1c is to tell how you practiced the Outdoor code on a campout or outing. Second class 1b is to explain leave no trace and to describe how that has been practiced on a different outing from tenderfoot 1c. First class 1b is similar for the Tread Lightly concept. Life requirement 4 is that at l

I don't think that's entirely true. BP often discusses scouts being in a patrol with one's friends/peers. The Boys who join together generally stay together, etc. This would imply, but not codify, age based patrols. Each method has strengths and weaknesses. I grew up with mixed age patrols, not because that was required, but it was the culture of my troop, and led to a good distribution of leadership and skills teaching (by the youth) that seems less difficult than my son's (generally) age sorted troop.

Congratulations on her achievement. As for how common and where, this is all a matter of the local culture. In the White Stag leadership development program (they offer a program very similar to NYLT but run by venturing posts not council), this is not at all uncommon over the last 30-50+ years.

Admittedly a different animal, but I had a group of 9 cub scouts(Wolf - Webelos) (and 6 adults) do 13+ miles in a day as a part of the HOST (History of Scouting Trail) here in DC. Yes that is urban hiking instead of outdoors, yes, there is less elevation changes and more bathrooms. No, we didn't plan to hike that much, it had been pitched as closer to 10, but the estimate was a bit off. It did take the whole day, so I am glad we had one of the earlier start times. I would have to believe that a decently practiced troop of boy scouts on a well selected route could do that. 20 Miles in o

In the short term, while it will be a membership hit, the Scouts who really want to are supposed to be allowed to continue in the Troop. This would imply that LDS units would start to have some older boys in leadership which may help and encourage more boy-led, boy taught programs at the Troop level (and I do not mean to indicate that that is not happening now, I have only limited direct experience with LDS units). It would also allow those troops that remain to be a little larger - I know several stakes have problems keeping up their Troop membership. From a discipline point of

While I am so glad this is not my decision to make, I'll add a couple of my thoughts. 1. As others have stated, technically this is all rumor at the moment. Without official confirmation of the charges, this is difficult to adjudicate within the unit. 2. Even if the charges have been made, that does not necessarily mean the act was actually committed. We've had more than a few instances of "it look liked ..." when it really wasn't. 3. While I am sure you would like to get his side of the story, because of the way the criminal justice system works, his legal council may have said to say

When I was program director for a camp, this usually wasn't an issue. Cell phones were rare, and the nearest gas station was nearly an hour long windy dirt road away. People didn't leave camp, but most units had the minimum adult coverage allowed, and in several cases had to be paired up with another unit to have the minimum adult coverage between them. Camps are designed for the enjoyment of the youth. That's a great purpose, but we really don't want the adults hanging around, hovering over the boys. The camp is NOT designed for the adults interests or comfort - baring the occasional

This is certainly an issue with the on-line system. It would not be so bad, if there were a place to at least also indicate the unit's fee structure ... $24 to National for Registration (is it prorated for months to recharter?) $12 (optional) for the Boy's Life Subscription This will be collected on-line, today Additional Fees (units could have a place to enter the information) $XX Council Insurance Fee $XX Unit Dues some dens may have additional "Den Dues < $XX/year some pack activities may have additional activity fees With your unit dues payment, the unit

As others have said, while it may not sit right with you, this doesn't have to be your fight. As the Cubmaster, your job is program. Administration (including funds) is the job of the committee including the chair and the treasurer. I am also of the "let if go" school of thought. If you have made the COR aware of the issue and they do not want to follow up on it, that is their decision. Maybe, have the current treasurer document how the prior year's funds were acquired and distributed - without comment (or maybe just to indicate where an expense was officially approved, or a rec