gumbymaster

I too had this type of very fortunate experience. The troop of my youth had a long history. We were in the 50-80 boys range. 5 to 8 full patrols with 80%+ participation at campouts and meetings (Admittdely this was before gameboys, cable tv, and DVDs - The Atari and VHS tapes were just coming out, so there wasn't a lot else to do). The boys ran and planned the meeting, only asking for Adult assistance when they needed or wanted to learn a skill not known (I still remember rope making as an example). The SPL and the "leadership corps" were their own patrol, and set the example for the o

This too is the way I learned to do it, and the only way I have led such a ceremony since. (Alhough the union, while first to be removed, is the last to be burned). With the cub scouts, it's hard, they don't do well remaining respecful and quiet for the time it take, but every one of them remembers that ceremony year later. I saved a gromit from my first flag retirement, it's a part of my neckercief slide. It is a reminder to me of the power of a lasting memory. I read through the earlier links on the (generally non-binding US Flag code), it's a good read; but the key was, as many have

If he actually plans to earn the AOL, the new program is his only (official) option, and can be done by following the requirements. It sounds as if, since your Scouts have already largely earned their AOLs, he would have to be doing most of his adventures / activity pins on his own anyway, so as not to repeat what you have done with the other Scouts. I never want to discourage a Scout from participating, and this year is kind of unique with the grandfathering of the old requirements for AOL, but it may be also necessary to consider how your current scouts will respond to having had to

I have always learned far more from those I have disagreements with then I ever learned from like minded individuals. It is in the attempt to understand their side of an argument, that I come to better understand my own thoughts. And in the end, sometimes, if there really is a right or wrong answer, and I wasn't the one who was right, I learn to change my position. Groupthink is a pox on growth. I would be bored to death in a room of myselves (even if I am an interesting guy ). When we lose a voice, our chorus grows quieter. In the end, we all share a similar goal of providing

I appreciate the response, but I'm not sure how it helps me to understand the position. If half the pieces of the puzzle are missing, then those are naturally filled in by the individual and/or their religeous leaders. Which, again makes it potentially subject to interpretation, and not as, pardon the analogy, set in stone. That issue aside, I also fully understand that for an individual, brought up their entire life with a strong religeous background, they will know morality, as passed down by that faith, and understand it to be a solid anchor upon which the laws of man revolve around.

Having helped to escallate this thread, I guess I cannnot walk away now. I mean absolutely no disrespect to my fellows who believe that their moral code ultimately derives from a supreme being through some combination of (1) the example set by the diety or his representatives, (2) expectations of the rewards for having lived a good life, (3) fear of the consequences for not living a moral life, or (4) something I have failed to adequately address. However, in those religeons that do not believe in a diety to bestow these rewards and/or enforce the consequences ... it would seem that th

In many ways our whole society, not just the BSA is on a precipice. While we in scouting have used Reverence as a call to respect the religeous beliefs of others, even when not in concert with our own beliefs; we seem to allow that we do not have to respect the lack of a belief. If we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. By which I mean, eventually when the population of atheist beliefs outnumber the population of those with some belief, that same belief will be turned on us. "You didn't respect our lack of a belief when you were in charge, now that we are in charg

Even Pope Francis has acknowledged that a person does not have to be religeous to still be a moral, upstanding citizen. Conversely, we are all also aware of specific examples where those who are or preport to be religeous and definately not moral upstanding citizens (ranging from dishonest to demonic). I do not claim to be a better representative of religeon's role in character development that BP, or even the majority of member of the forum; but I do allow for the thought that one could be an atheist and still a good moral representative of what the Scouting program aims to achieve.

I have to agree that I really liked David's answer. That said - there is probably more going on here than a simple complaint about advancment. As a leader, it would be my responsibility to meet the parent and understand the real issues. Yes, there should be a neutral(ish) third person, an ASM or CC sound ideal. As a parent, if the leader blew me off (even if I was in the wrong) that would set of my red-flag warning bells. I might wait on bringing the Scout in to the discussion, because, as many of the responses here indicate, this sounds like it is really about educating the parent o

I guess it depends on how far you want to extend the model? If just Boy Scouts - it could probably be workable. From my experience, cub scouts - which is billed to some degree as a family program - would not do well. While in my pack, almost all the uniformed leaders are male, this is not the norm for cub scouts. And we have far too many roles to fill without our moms helping things go. Ventures - I thought half the point of the program was for women to have a program - the other half as a focus area (high adventure, fire, police, etc.) Addressing an earlier comment - in my exploring

I am aware of that, thus why I was careful to make sure I noted it when describing my observations. But in the end, why the difference exists, I think, is less important than the fact that it does and that it can have both positive and negative effects on ultimately achieving the goal and aims of scouting.

On the topic of the boys being "distracted" - this is true, but only to a certian extent, and can be exploited to advantage. With the explorer post I was in, because were were around each other for long periods of time (and as almost none of us attended the same school - it was a very geographically diverse explorer post), The boy-girl thing really became a non-issue quickly, even when we were similarly aged. Now, while running a summer camp, we had a program of totems used for the scouts setting their tables to select the staff members they wanted to join them for the meal. Unsurprising

I think this is one of the better points that we probably have no realistic way to evaluate. I've said before, I do not think that at the cub-scout level that it could not be co-ed; however, that age group of 11-15 or so, I can see a lot of reasons to allow the boys their own program. That said, it has nothing to do with the inability of the girls to do the program, or for the girls to do that program with the boys (from their perspective). I am a big fan of all the scouting movements for what they represent - which to me is exposuer to interests and hobbies that might otherwise elude

Since the Webelos, at that time, is NOT yet a member of the Troop, he is still technically a member of the Den. So he can participate as a member of the Den (i.e. One registered Den leader, and another Adult over 18), or can participate as a single if accompanied by the parent. I'd have to check with the District Membership chair to find a citable source. I'll grant that I may be misinterpreting or reading too much into how the supervision works; but I did not think that a Webelos could be dropped off at a Boy Scout activity; even for recruiting; that it needed to be a parent accompanyin

I'll described what has been one of our moust successful recruiting tool so far .. First, let me preface that my pack does meet in a School, and the School does allow fliers. However, because the school only allows a group 4 fliers per year, I was discouraged by the district from putting out our own. So for our may pack meeting, our unit got bumped from our meeting space for a PTA event. We decided to still meet at the school that night and have an outdoor event (in front of the school), organized as fun for the scouts and as a recruiting opportunity. It was sports and team type activi

I'm not in favor of backdating awards. Nor am I in favor of blatently ignoring the rules. However, everyone from the Scout through National wants this boy to become a Boy Scout. If he "bridges" with his fellows without the AOL, buy the rules, he still has to wait for June or a birthday to Join the Boy Scouts. If the troop is willing, as a Webelos he can be a recruiting guest, even if that means being a guest for many meetings and camping trips, before he can join. The only real requirement for this method is the Parent (or two of the Webelos Den leaders) would need to participate in

I don't think ever in my life would I have expected to see a discussion of a flag ceremony and RHPS equated. Fun analogy.

This topic seems to have a lot of really good points on both sides. It seems reasonable to ask WHY they don't want you around. It could be that they want to avoid conflicts in the future that may arise if they fear you, with your experience, might not want to do things their way. It may also be, that they too, are looking out for your Sons' interests. It is not uncommon for a Troop to invite a bridging parent to take a year or two off, before becoming an active leader in the unit. They don't know you, but maybe expereince has taught them that giving this separation helps the troop r

While my family qualifies from two separate paths for DAR, and even with the HQ only a few miles away, I actually know very little about representing that link. As for the Tartans, my problem (ok, my Son's, my side didn't qualify), is that the Tartan he's linked to is just so ugly.

We don't do them in the Pack - the rank level is usually enough to distinguish scouting experience. My Son's troop does not appear to use them. Again this generally makes sense to me, but maybe in a unit that is successful in recruiting older new scouts, maybe it might help couch expectations - although a rank should be more effective for that purpose. For myself, I proudly wear all six of mine. 3 cub, 7 scout, 2, 3, and 5 explorers, and now 8 (agrigate) adult - I took too many years off and in retrospect regret it. (And yes you really do/can wear multiple pins for multiple units, e

Make sure to inquire about what an expected participation cost is, that may significanly effect which families can do what; and along those lines, what kind of fund raising the unit does and generally how it is spent. Also, if the majority of the Adult leadership has Boys in the Troop, ask about their succession plan. While I undertand the logistics of a whole den just dropping in unannounced; once my Son was pretty sure which unit he wanted to go to, we did visit unannounced so he could see what a regular meeting was like. We visited three troops directly and were exposed to sever

I generally try to approach a problem like this sideways. Obviosuly I don't know the specifics, but based on what has been described here, if his own confidence is in question, try to find a way to build it back up. When he was active was there one or more skills he was good at? If so, could you invite him back to help you solve "your" problem of teaching this skill to the current scouts. If he's says he's a little rusty or uncomfortable about his current skill level, remind him that Scouts are boy led, and that you would really like one of the Scouts to teach it to the others, but that yo

While not an immediate solution for a cash strapped unit or their families, but in our case the pack buys and presents the correct rank neckerchiefs at our June function (when the Scouts rank level is "promoted"). At the May meeting we collect all of them back at the end of the meeting so we can launder and iron them to be ready for presenting to the next group at the June function. New joining Scouts get theirs when then officially join. Families/Scouts that lose one become responsible for replacement. The pack swallows the loss if the family leaves the program without turning one in.

In my world, we call this the propogation of error. If the first group is 95% right, and teach the second group which is 95% right to what the first group taught and so on, it still doen't take long (~14 times for the oversimplified formula) for the group to be less than half right. They become wrong even faster if there is no accounting for official changes in how things should be done. The BSA puts out the Guide to Advancement on a regular basis, and that document, while not perfect, does clearly indicate duties and responsibilities for the BOR. We may not all agree with them, we may

I encouraged my son to do Scouting because I knew that it would 1. Provide him with opportunities and access to explore interests that we would not do as a family. 2. If would encourage the family to turn off the TV and get out of the house as we helped run and/or participated in the activities (cub Scouts). 3. When I was asked to be Cubmaster, I had a sit down with my Son... up until that time, Scouting had been entirely his choice. I let him know, that If I agreed to be Cub Master, each year that I did so, he did not have the choice to outright quit at least until the end of the year whe