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GeorgiaMom

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Everything posted by GeorgiaMom

  1. I have observed a similar situation in my extended family for many years. A 19 year old "man", molested his little six year old cousin. This occurred at a family reunion, the kind of situation with many people around which many reasonable people would consider public and safe. He still found a way to trick this little girl into going into a bathroom with him alone. The actual molestation was very brief, but it follows her today. Now, 13 years later, this has caused a huge rift in the family between those who insist forgiveness = trust and those who are more realistically cautious
  2. Thank you very much. It is so helpful to hear from parents who have dealt with this issue further down the road than we have been at this point. I have not addressed the mild bullying with the SM or the CC. We are at this point encouraging our son to speak up and self-advocate. I have also witnessed one of his good friends in his den stand up for my son when the DL/CC's kid (the yeller) said my son couldn't be a part of the group game they were playing at the last den meeting. I made a point of praising the child who spoke up for my son to be included to his parents in his presen
  3. Hi, My son loves being a Scout. He loves building things and going camping with his daddy. I have some concerns about his future in Scouts. I am unsure how he is going to get along in an increasingly boy led Webelos den and then a Boy Scout troop. Our son was diagnosed this fall with Auditory Processing Disorder. It is a neurological problem, and cannot be fixed with hearing aids. This is a total shift for us as parents. Until just a few months ago, we thought he was shy and uncomfortable in groups and needed to be encouraged and required to stay in group situations
  4. Thanks, Qwazse. I don't think Patti Garibay's relatively low salary has anything to do with being a woman. The GSUSA chief exec makes even more than the BSA chief exec, and she's a woman. Bloomberg's list of the highest paid female executives include companies like Hewlett-Packar, Yahoo, Intel, PepsiCo, etc. I think the glass ceiling is on its way out. http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2013-08-19/the-15-highest-paid-female-top-executives-.html#slide7 Maybe Patti Garibay chooses to take a reasonable salary and make AHG all about helping girls be the best women they can be.
  5. The figures I quotes are from each organization's 990 form archived at http://www.guidestar.org. With a free account, you can see the IRS filings and other info on any registered nonprofit. I check here when I want to make sure my donation dollars are being well spent. I get that Mazzuca is retired. He was the exec when the most recent info available was posted. I doubt the new exec is paid any less handsomely. Whether or not you find the numbers reasonable, they are the actual salaries taken from each groups' 990 filings with the IRS. Look under "Compensation of Officers".
  6. After reading a few snarky comments about American Heritage Girls, where I am a local volunteer leader, I took a look at the salaries reported on Guidestar.org. With a free account, you can see the IRS 990 forms of any nonprofit organization for the last three years. I like knowing where my money is going. Anyway, here are the numbers for 2011 except where noted, the most recent year available online for most of these groups: American Heritage Girls, national office: Top Executive salary (Patti Garibay): $70,651.00 Boy Scouts of America, national office: Top Executive sal
  7. As an American Heritage Girls leader, I do have to clarify one statement on behalf of the organization and our church. We have no problem "rubbing elbows" with people outside the Christian faith. *All* girls are welcome in AHG, and in our church, as you will find in the mission statement at http://www.ahgonline.org. We have a wide variety of girls in our troop and our church. AHG, and our church which sponsors our troop, *does* require that *leaders* teaching children agree to uphold the church's statement of faith and the AHG mission statement. We are protestant Christians.
  8. I second the idea of putting the planning and the financing squarely in the court of the Scouters and their parents. I doubt most parents will be motivated to pay, volunteer, and/or fund raise to be considerate of you (unfortunately), but they might be motivated in order to avoid disappointing their own child. Ga Mom
  9. First, thank you for all your hard work for the boys. I completely sympathize with you, as I wore six hats myself last year and totally burned out. Our district summer camp had a great idea for their camp week signup sheet that I wish our pack would use (but won't). Maybe you will find it useful. The summer camp organizers have decided that they must have one committed parent helper for each four Scouts attending from a pack. Their signup form has staggered lines that make it very clear that you can't sign up campers 5-8 until you signup adult helper #2. It also states that Scou
  10. It is hard to tell if this rises to the level of sexual harassment based on one post, but it might. I speak from the perspective of someone who had no support, and ran away from a bad situation with sexual harrassment by a classmate in school. I have regrets about not standing up for myself back then. That does not feel good years later. What did feel good was standing up to a different abuser when I was older. I totally agree that the OP needs to get her son out of this situation, but it may be healing and encouraging for the son to confront the abuse and leave of his own choice than
  11. What JoeBob said plus one more: "stay away from my son!" Georgia Mom
  12. Harassment of any kind is ugly, but sexual harassment is soul crushing. This scout is violating your child's private sexuality in a very ugly way. No wonder he was so upset. I have to ask the OP, if your daughter was being harassed in this manner, would you tolerate it? I think our sons deserve the same dignity and respect as our daughters. Nothing personal. I just find as the mom of a son and a daughter that in our culture generally too often sons are expected to tolerate abuse above and beyond what is expected of our girls, and I don't think that's right. In your conversation
  13. BD, why do you think it's ok to make racist comments about me, while I doubt you'd tolerate them about yourself? BTW, I also bring my little girl's best friend to AHG every week. She's black. Our pastor is black and our church is highly racially integrated, as is our AHG troop at the church. I happen to be white, but I expect to be judged not by the color of my skin but by the content of my character. You can laugh at me all you like, but don't ever call me racist.
  14. Yes, I have. The resolution was for me to reluctantly leave the leadership. My son remains as a Bear Cub. He absolutely loves Scouts, and I will not remove him as long as the leaders continue to treat him well. It's very awkward as his den leader is the CC who treated me so poorly. I continue to offer help with den activities (like arranging a visit from my deputy sheriff friend to the den), and I continue to be ignored as though I don't exist. It's sad. I was asked to be the treasurer for my son's Cub Scout pack for the 2012-2013 school year. As a part of my job, I tried to
  15. There is nothing in my statement that says our community is unappreciative of Lockheed. Quite the contrary. They have given a lot to the community, but they have also demanded and received a lot from our community in the way ot tax breaks, etc. No one is saying that Lockheed owes the kids a merit badge program. If they elect to discontinue it completely, that is their right. By your argument, if a great Cubmaster had to step down, we'd give him a plaque and thank him, as we did last year. If the Cubmaster said that some kids could come to Scouts if he approved of their religion
  16. Lockheed's decision is a major blow to Atlanta area Scouts, including my 9 year old Bear. We have been looking forward to the merit badge programs at Lockheed for years, which would have begun with Webelos next year for our family. Lockheed is one of the crown jewels of the Atlanta area merit badge programs. Few other institutions match them for quality of offerings to Scouts of all ages. They have a well developed and long standing outreach program for children. I have a low opinion of any company or group that is willing to hurt children to make a political point. This is cruel
  17. Dear NewToScoutsDad, from AlmostNewToScoutsMom, I totally sympathize and understand your position. I have a younger daughter who had to attend with me when my son's Cub Scout pack needed me last year. My husband often works late, and is often called to work unexpectedly. We have no family where we live now, and I cannot afford to pay a sitter $50 so that I can go volunteer. Therefore, my daughter often accompanied me. She was quiet and well behaved, more so than some of the Tiger Cubs. I think every pack and every troop are a bit different. The comments indicating that you
  18. Thank you, Sentinel947. I do agree that what happened to me was unusual. However, it does point out flaws in the system. Considering the severity of the consequences for getting the tax filings wrong, I think it's good to know where the pitfalls are if a volunteer agrees to be a treasurer. I say this as a person who was living in her car after the IRS got finished the first time. I don't believe most volunteers realize they are taking on a legal responsibility to the IRS on behalf of the pack or the troop when they agree to sign checks for the unit. I was not told this by the BSA or
  19. Brewmeister wrote: "GM, It says right in the document that you posted that units do not need to file a tax return." Yes, I know. I posted the BSA financial guidelines to show the OP that his DE isn't even quoting his own organization's two page rulebook correctly, which puts the DE's competence in serious question. I have stated previously that much of the BSA's advice to units and volunteers about federal taxes is wrong. Some of the BSA's advice agrees with federal tax law (like the part about not using a volunteer's SS# for pack finances). Some BSA advice goes directly against f
  20. Hi Ksokolik, I am a sadder but wiser former Cub Scout treasurer. Thank you for donating your time and effort to the kids. Your DE is wrong about suggesting that you use your personal SS# to open the account. It is a bad idea for all the reasons you stated and more, plus it's against BSA's national fiscal guidelines, which you would reasonably expect a DE to know: http://www.bsaseabase.org/filestore/financeimpact/pdf/Fiscal_Policies_and_Procedures_for_BSA_Units.pdf I walked into a perfect storm of bad bookkeeping and poor leadership. Our pack had not filed taxes on its income for
  21. Thank you for the good answers. I'm ordering the recommended Opinel from Amazon Prime today.
  22. I need help. My son's den leader has announced on less than a week's notice that the Bears will be doing the whittling chip. I need to buy my son a pocket knife. Can anyone offer guidance on the correct knife to buy for my 9 year old son who has no whittling experience? I'm hoping to find something I can buy from Amazon that he can safely use as a beginner and hopefully continue to use for a few years. I've read references on the internet to certain types of knives not being allowed by the BSA or various packs, but not much info on what *is* allowed. My son's den leader has not
  23. Please consider that a parent may have a medical condition. Personally, I use a CPAP machine that requires electricity overnight. Several other parents in our pack also use them. I have tried all the methods of making my machine work on batteries so I can tent camp, and they just don't work for me. Yes, I can get the blower to work on a battery, but not the heater. I can't sleep with cold air being forced down my lungs. Several years ago, I had a bladder issue after a car accident hurt my back. Can you imagine trying to deal with self-catheterizing in a latrine? So, pl
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