mashmaster

I saw two pictures last night that yet again show differences in the current program.  I have seen very similar pictures over the last two years.  Both were just after their Eagle board of review and were consistent to the pictures I have been seeing.  First picture and status was for a boy that is in 9th grade and had a full sash of merit badges at least 60, has gone to many summer camps and high adventure camps.  His picture is of him alone signing his paperwork.  The second picture is of a boy that is in 8th grade, has 22 merit badges.  His picture is with 12 adults standing with him.

The programs are run very differently between the churches.  With the church leaving the program (BSA did not leave them no matter what others want to say), it has become much more parent run pushing the youth to complete before the official split.   The only scouts I see going to another troop are scouts that are close to completing Eagle to just get the rank.

OK, let's reflect it onto something else in the news.  

     Look at the Survivor show: 4 weeks or so ago, they have footage of a guy who is all touchy feely.  He is approached and denies everything and then given another shot.  After that, they gang up on the accuser for over reacting. This week at the end of the show, they mention how he was kicked off the show.

     We have many years of blaming the accuser, "She dressed that way", ""She shouldn't have been there", "It's just lockeroom talk".

In this case there is video evidence of what happened.  People may or may not agree with the law, but the law is what it is.  And the action was inappropriate.

FYI, I saw they updated the med forms today.  From what I see they look cleaner and highlight epi-pens and rescue inhailers.

https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/HealthSafety/pdf/680-001_ABC.pdf

https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/HealthSafety/pdf/680-001_AB.pdf

That sounds like an awesome experience.  My ship started the day making Thanksgiving meals for those that need them.  It is an annual think we do now,  great way to start the day.

That is super cool.  Here is the info on the Barque Eagle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Eagle_(WIX-327)

signs signals and codes are easy for Sea Scouts....just saying 🙂

37 minutes ago, Jackdaws said:

I had a problem with my sons most recent summer camp and the rifle & archery classes he took.   They only marked off 2H for Rifle. I know they did more than that as I went up there on Thursday to watch him shoot.   They didn't mark off a lot of things that you even have to do before you even make it to the firing line.   I called the camp back afterwards and the lady said she can only answer for what was put on the print out.  Really?  Such crap.  So now my son will effectively have to start all over when he decides to find a new counselor for it. 

They also didn't mark off much for Archery.   He made the arrow & bow string and they didn't mark it off along with several other things.

In my times at camp, we would get a report on the evening of the night before the last day at camp and they had the counselors available to discuss what is in the report.  If we had any questions, we could talk with them about discrepancies.  

Not a great solution, but it helped.  I would have preferred to see it daily so I could talk to the scouts throughout the week. 

What is snow?

Frankly, this topic should be shut down.  People on each side are not going to change their opinion and it will just end up pissing everyone off in the end.  I for one am Jewish and for a long time National were actively advising against temples sponsoring units because of the overall focus on Christianity as the basis for National decisions.  That is much less now. 

IMHO, Scouting is supposed to be interfaith.  The believe and faith in God is what is asked of scouts from the beginning.  Once a particular faith has too much influence the interfaith nature will go away.  The scout program is good for preparing scouts for life which is also interfaith.

I welcome people of all faiths into the program and that they should follow their believes and not impose or evangelize them onto others.

I have my own beliefs about the Church of Latter-Day Saints and will hold those to myself.

Update on the camp as of yesterday: https://www.kxan.com/top-stories/former-boy-scout-camp-could-become-next-hill-country-swimming-hole-with-tuesday-vote/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KXAN_News&fbclid=IwAR0VtMs5WGIeNYcZLWwuIg9pIjSbhokU5M1tk3PpxTq2Ik6_HU5ilPrIrTw

Pretty decent outcome compared to what could have happened. 

Here is a bit more info about it: https://seascout.org/news/auxscout-is-here/?fbclid=IwAR0nQRuc6iqFINcCwpSl1SBQh9JbfzUpTkab0EIBett_OQR2HFLPlYl5dkQ

Yep, this has been in the works for a while now.  It is a very good thing.  The CG Auxillary has a lot of excellent training and resources to help the youth and scouters in the program.

There are now a lot of older experienced mariners that will be able and willing to teach the youth excellent skills.

It really isn't about Coast Guard itself.  USCG Auxillary is a seperate entity than the CG.

I don't see anything wrong with it other than the wrong terms.  They mention his activities like scouting, cross country, and schooling.  They paint him as a normal person rather than out of the ordinary.  

So today in Texas it is freezing, basically we shut the state down.  It is 28 degrees.

I got a note from a mom of a scout that brightened my day and I thought I would share it.

Mom: I was telling my son to drive slowly and if he hit ice to not slam on the brakes, he said "Mom, I got this, Mr. XXX taught me when we went to Philmont."  Thank you!

Me: Glad I was helpful 🙂

Moral of the the story, You never know when they are actually listening to what you say.  We were driving through ice and snow last winter to Philmont and apparently one of my scouts was listening to the old man driving.

6 hours ago, Onslow said:

It is important to instruct the other scouts not to tolerate a pervy mouth being the goal is to grow the youth into respectable citizens.  I'm not suggesting the scouts give a weak whisper of disapproval, but a forceful shut down.  Many crap stirring kids enjoy the power of disruption, and seek to turn a group of youth south, or against the adult leadership. However when the figurative knives come out within the peer group, such behavior looses its appeal quickly....and yes, sometimes the whole group needs to suffer for the deeds of one if the group is enabling.  My wife has been teacher on the district level, and employs certain tactics often.  Said tactics work.

 Perv mouth talk may seem like harmless watercooler talk to some, but I've noticed that when such behavior is tolerated, Troops struggle with membership, and risk complete implosion.   Causation or correlation?, maybe both.  It's a culture thing.

 

The scouts were pretty vocal about it, not weak.

He is a good kid and well intentioned.  I am hopeful that he will change his behavior.

I had to deal with a situation with a scout at our meeting this week.  My conversation with the scout went fine as far as I knew.  The scout was using inappropriate sexual preference remarks to other scouts repeatedly, the other scouts spoke to him about this at prior activities and told him he needed to stop and that it made them feel uncomfortable.  When it happened again, the other scouts came to me asking me to help.  I was proud of the other scouts taking the initiative to solve the problem themselves.  But knew I needed to have a discussion with him.  I talked to another leader who had overheard this previously from him and the scouts trying to handle it.  So I talked to the young man, it went well.  He understood what he was saying and how it wasn't appropriate.  Blamed it on his friends, so we had a conversation about how friends can sometimes lead us to make bad choices.  Overall, a good conversation.

Of course, I get a text from Mom and Dad today about how they needed to be present if I am ever to reprimand him again.  And that while he understood what I was saying, I didn't listen to his side of the story. Sigh.....

I know I did the right thing, and I hope it helps him in the long run.

We have shown movies on campouts to our ship.  They were binding events that brought the kids together.  I suggest the movie "Morning Light"  it is a documentary about college age youth training and racing a sailboat in the Trans-pac race.  They used it to build up as a team.  

On 10/24/2019 at 1:18 AM, skeptic said:

No; it is an offshoot of the Venturing program.

 

ummmm, no.  Sea Scouts started in 1912.

Sea Scouts are free?

3 hours ago, mrkstvns said:

I've been trying to get my son interested in them, but he has less than zero interest in trying to re-create logs of every single scouting activity he's ever done. 

Understood,  best to keep the log from the beginning.  But it can be down by reviewing calendars. 

He could look into a Venturing Crew or Sea Scout Ship and attempt to earn their highest awards.

Too me the National Outdoor Activity awards are an awesome thing to strive for.

49 minutes ago, The Latin Scot said:

This is simply not true, regardless of the fact that it may violate BSA policy. I would never be so callous as to voice 'disapproval' of somebody's uniform, however egregious its errors may or may not be. I don't know whence this suggestion comes. But this discussion is about the parent pins, not the knots; consequently, I think it's important to use better terms for this conversation.

Approval has nothing to do with this. It's not my place to approve or disapprove of these things, nor anybody else's. Approval is not the point of this discussion. However, there are very clear, and I dare say very easy-to-follow policies outlined by the BSA in The Official Guide to Awards and Insignia regarding what is and is not appropriate for uniform wear according to national standards. Despite its title, it is more than merely a "guide" - it's a handbook of official policy. No, it's not "holy writ" (don't exaggerate now; nobody said that it was), but it's not mere suggestion either. It's the national standard. It outlines the specifics of what is permitted for uniform wear, and what is not. Follow it so that you can comply with our organization's expectations, and you'll be doing yourself a great favor. Ignore it, and, well, that's your choice - but you're setting an example to the youth you serve either way. My approval is irrelevant. Your example is everything.

I know parents in particular get touchy when it comes to their parent pins, but really, it's such a small thing - are we really going to let a few pins keep us from truly embracing proper uniforming? My mother has a ribbon that looks like a long piece of chain mail garnered over the years from her three Eagle scout sons, but she isn't so attached to it that she ever feels the "need" to wear it, especially not with her uniform. She's learned to discern what really matters from what's just 'fluff.' She's been Scouting for over 30 years now, and she's discovered there are better ways to honor her kids than by skirting around the uniform policy just to show of her 'parental swag.' I'm grateful to her for her example in teaching us that she doesn't need to wear her pins to show us that she cares about Scouting - or about us. Parental pride is one thing, but parental example is infinitely more efficacious.

Whether or not we may think or feel the pins look okay, the fact is they are very specifically stated as being for civilian use - not for uniform wear. That's the policy. It's so simple, I'm almost surprised there's discussion about it. Anybody can follow this rule. @rickmay, your profile image suggests that you are an army veteran. You then, of all people, should know and appreciate the importance of a uniform, and of wearing it properly. That applies to Scouting just as much as it does the armed forces, or to first responders. Our uniforms mean something. These small details reveal great things about our character.

If you read your initial email you are  disapproving of him wearing the pin on his uniform.   You say it isn't your place but then you go on to say that he shouldn't especially as an ASM.  He should follow the uniform code to the letter...."simply being a well-uniformed leader will represent your daughter far better than any extra pins ever will"  That may not seem like a disapproval by you but it is.

If wearing the pin has anyway of encouraging a scout to continue on then go for it.  We are here for the youth first.

Also, the key to survival that I have seen for Crews is to never stop recruiting and try different methods to recruit.  each wave of scouts will want to do something different.  If you only recruit once a year or when the crew starts dwindeling it is hard to recover.  there isn't a natural crossover point like from packs to troops.

Also, we have a very specific rul of no "purpleing" ,  mixing of blue and pink.   Not dating allowed between crew or ship members.   

Awesome!  My son is in a Crew and also a Ship.  I am the Skipper of the ship.  You'll notice with the older scouts that they really can do just about everything other than drive other scouts to events.  You really get to see them excel  greatly and fail badly.  Sometimes at the same event 🙂

For fundraising, we sell, deliver, and spread mulch.   That is a great return on investment and the scouts being older can do the work.  We also hold an annual garage sale with the profits going to the crew.  Everyone brings stuff from their garage or gets stuff donated from neighbors to sell.  Our church has an annual garage sale so they setup a booth along with the church.