WisconsinMomma

I don't have daughters, and am committed to helping our all-boy Troop, but if a girls' Troop needs a female to go along on a campout, I would volunteer to do that or other small tasks if I had the time available to help and all they need is a female to tag along. 

@TheFlyingMum

The head of your Troop is the Charter Organization will be someone called the COR, or Chartered Organization Representative.   The head of your troop's Chartered Organization will be someone like the PTO president, or head of the Rotary, or head of the church, depending on what your chartered organization is.   

You also must contact your Council's Scout Executive asap, and if needed, the national hotline as RememberSchiff detailed above.  The info. he linked to is great and I hope it is helpful.

Best wishes and thank you for helping Scouting. 

I'm a female cubmaster.  I wear my tan shirt, blue loops, Cubmaster patch, trained patch, fleur de lis with centennial ring, a 4 year service star, a wood badge patch in the temporary patch position above the pocket.  

I have a Wood badge custom jacket and sweatshirt that I sometimes wear.

I also have a red patagonia zip up better sweater that I sometimes wear with the uniform.  I have green uniform pants, a belt, and nice hiking shoes. 

I would like to get a name tag.

Oh, I have scout socks too!  

I should add that I walk around with terrific posture when in uniform (although sometimes I have seen myself hunching when talking to small boys, must fix that), and I hope that my great posture is a signal to other Scouters that I'm totally awesome and a confident female leader. 

@FaithfulScouter are you interested in the job or do you know anyone who will be good at it?   All you need on a basic level is, IMO, the ability to run a meeting and stay on task, attention to detail for rechartering, ability to recruit and discern other committee members and willingness to get trained.  

We have an umbrella policy anyway, but I am not worried about Scouting lawsuits. 

1.   The program is the same for all participants.

2.  Go to Wood Badge this year.   Get your online trainings done and I don't think anyone will harass you about the position specific stuff. 

Have a great time - woo!!!

I wonder if I can or should wear my Wood badge necker (plaid) with my Cub Scout uniform. 

Hi @bearess  I am totally late to this thread.  How is it going for your son now?   Have you talked with the Scoutmaster?  It sounds to me like the adult CM was almost bullying your 10 year old son, which is unacceptable. 

I hope it is going better.  Hang in there!!  Best wishes to you and your son.  

6 minutes ago, scotteg83 said:

Patrol Method is being outlawed in October? 

Yes, I do not understand this either.   What I briefly read here is something like -- patrols will not be allowed to camp completely on their own without adults, and patrols cannot go on hikes, etc without adults present.   But I am not clear on the exact details and it will be important to understand exactly what is going on. 

On 6/10/2018 at 10:01 AM, Ranman328 said:

Doesn't your District provide training to your Leaders?  Did your pack provide Leaders with Leader guides?  There are plenty of resources out there to provide additional ideas and activities to the boys other than what is just in the book.  Attaching the Pack to a Troop is also a good idea as you can invite the Troop to participate in events to help the Cubs see older boys in he uniform and help mentor them. 

I never said I would not welcome the new scout in my Troop.  His twin brothers are already in my Troop.  My concern is that the Pack he is coming from is not preparing these scouts and not giving them the Program they deserve.  I find it interesting that a Scout can join Cub Scouts in October 2017 and earn his Bobcat, Webelos and AoL in less than a Year.  This Pack also takes off the entire summer off (June, July, August) which makes it even more difficult as those are the best dates to do outdoor activities.  Here in Virginia, the weather can play havoc with outdoor activities in the spring and fall so summertime is a great time to get the boys out.

I have to say, it sounds as if you want to go volunteer and help a Pack with their Webelos program.     

If you're not interested / able to go volunteer or partner with the Pack, then I suggest -- stop looking over your shoulder.  Instead, focus your energy on making your Troop program the best it can possibly be.  

I have a hard time hearing a troop complain about new scouts, when -- new scouts are new scouts.  The troop has them for as many as 7 years -- ages 11 to 18 to help the boys learn and grow from young tweens to adult men.  

The best thing I did as a Webelos/Arrow of Light den leader,  was to encourage and excite the boys about Boy Scouting.   I viewed my job as a sales job, and I told those boys how awesome Boy Scouting is.  (Note that, I had no Boy Scouting experience, and I was going totally on faith that the Troops will deliver.)   I was extremely pleased when all six boys in my den chose to cross over into local Troops.  Were they great outdoorsmen -- no!  But they had an interest in continuing their Scouting journey and I think that was job #1.  And they all earned Arrow of Light, which is a big accomplishment for them and their families. 

Cub Scout packs are not perfect, just as troops are not perfect --- they're not!   We're all run by humans who are just trying to do the best they can, sometimes they have more success than others.   I appreciate the feedback about preparing boys for Boy Scouting and will take it back to our Pack for the coming year.  My youngest is a new Webelos and I can share with his den leader and help the Webelos and AOL think about Boy Scouting and the patrol method sooner.  

We have many troops in our area, and the boys can choose to go to any of them.  I expect that all troops in our area will be cordial with our Pack.  Honestly if some troop came to us with complaints about our program, it would be strange.  All the troops we've worked with are delighted to welcome any new boys that are coming out of our Pack, and it's not because of their training, it's because they are delighted to help young men continue their Scouting journey.

Also note that not all Cub Scouts and their families choose to move into Boy Scouting.  For a few,  Cub Scouts is it.  It is a sales job to encourage boys to continue.

It is possible that the Pack you are working with has a light program, but, what are you going to do about it?    I think it's easier to work on that in your Troop and especially work on your  new scout retention --- our Troop loses a lot of scouts in the first year or two.  I don't know if it's preventable, but it is important to engage the young guys and bring them in and form a strong connection in their first year. 

Good luck with it! 

I just want to say,   Amen! 

I think that it is important for young Scouts to realize there is more to the world than themselves and that there is a responsibility to a higher power and to the community.  I also find the practice of communal prayer and reflection important, especially in a society that says, no it's all about you all the time.

Welcome and thank you for talking about your journey, and best wishes for a great summer!!!   I have seen a few YouTube videos about Northern Tier.   Also, I think you should feel free to call  or email their director and ask some questions directly about getting ready for the job.   Best wishes and thank you for staffing!!! 

Rowe is an excellent communicator and would be a fabulous spokesperson.  He believes in the BSA.  

For an executive director, those folks are professional fundraisers and capital allocators.  That is not the same job as a spokesperson.

Hi, 

First of all, thank you for working with the Scouts.  It is not easy!  

Second, I am thinking about something called executive functioning -- which is basically, organizational skills.   This kid may have difficulty with some of these things and keeping track of directions and times and dates, etc. 

Since there is evidence that following directions and keeping tack of times and dates is causing some difficulty, see what you can do to make the communication about these things easier for you and for the scout and his family.

Here is what I will suggest.   I once had a terrible experience with a CC who was belligerent towards our family, including my ASM husband and our oldest son with ADHD, a new scout at the time, and I think his motive was a power play to push us out of Scouting.  Except, we had no plans to leave, he left. My worst experience in Scouting and the prime example of how not to do things.

But, perhaps you, or your Scoutmaster and you, or perhaps the Committee Chair and SM and you can have a meeting with the dad with the tone of --- how can we make this work better for everybody? 

But if you do this, you have to be very positive and forward looking.  It's about figuring out what you can do, and what the boy can do and how the family can support the troop and the boy so that things run smoother. 

Maybe email reminders before outings with the date and time would be good! Our troop does that.  Maybe giving the kid a note with a few bullet points (from the PL) would be good also.  Our Troop also does paper permission slips.  The bottom is a tear off and the top has the date and time and location, etc.  Our family puts the top part on our fridge and it is helpful.

Maybe the kid could work with the Troop Guide.  Maybe there are some areas where this kid is talented where he can shine and be a leader.  Maybe you can find the times to praise him when he's doing things well.  Maybe the parents have examples of things that work well in their home or at school that you can apply to Scouting.  You can express to the parents that you need help, but be very, very careful to do it in a way that does not attack their son or their family.  The goal is to make it work for everybody.   It's not a disciplinary meeting, it's about a teamwork with the family and the troop.

You probably need to come up with a communication style with the kid so that you are not repeating everything.  You probably need a plan for how you communicate, so you give directions once,  you repeat once, and after that the kid is on his own.  Also, if he argues, you have a way to stop talking and not engage  Discuss this with the parents and ask them how they handle this at home or how things are going at school.  You can very gently discuss the behaviors (not the kid) the behaviors that you are hoping to improve and need help with.  You must be kind and gentle.  You are building a partnership.  But hopefully an hour with the parents over a coffee can help you be much more effective in the troop.  This is almost like an IEP meeting for Scouting, but be careful and not paint this boy as a problem. 

Maybe the parents don't have a lot of ideas for how to work with their kid and are struggling as much as you are.  Be compassionate and of course, kind, courteous, friendly, etc.

I hope that helps a little.  Best wishes.

P.S. If you have any perfectionist tendencies, you gotta let it go in order to survive!

On 6/7/2018 at 11:46 AM, The Latin Scot said:

Our den has a "patrol" name, flag, patch and shout, and our monthly denner has a number of supervised duties to help the boys gain leadership experience. The whole POINT of Webelos is preparing boys to get a head start with their Boy Scout experience!

We did all these things in our Webelos / AOL Den, but -- just know that it was the boys (and my) first time trying out any of these concepts, and it was more about an initial exposure to these concepts than full mastery.  

I fondly remember the meeting where the boys were trying to come up with a patrol name, and various kids were pitching ideas, and some wanted to give campaign speeches, etc.  The Illuminati was a contender, but they came up with the Night Owls -- and it was contentious, not everyone was happy with that result.   But it worked, and they had a patrol flag with them when they went on a troop visit. 

Note -- we did not do a patrol patch in Cubs, and our denner program was on the weak side, but the boys elected denners, and they had some additional responsibilities, that were sometimes carried out better than others.

Hi Everybody,

I will just share my experience and perspective from when I was a Cub scout den leader.   We did the requirements in the book to the best of our ability, but since I had no experience with the Boy Scout program, I was not aware of any expectations that the Webelos journey was all about prep for Boy Scouts.  We did the things in the book, which included some things related to Boy Scouts, but that was about it.

Regarding the young man who will be coming into your troop,  take him where he is when he comes in, just as you would take in any other boy with an interest in Scouting.  We need to welcome anybody and everybody to Scouts, and just as you would welcome a man with no Scouting experience, you will meet this Scout where he is. 

11 year olds are young!!  Obviously they are still only just beginning to learn.  The real formation happens in Boy Scouts.

Congratulations, Brian!!!  Woo Hoo!  Cycling is a big merit badge and great work getting it done!   

I feel honored that you are here to share some of your journey with us. Thank you!

Late to the party here, but who wouldn't love Mike Rowe as an American Scouting Ambassador? 

I am so sorry for what you are going through.  Keep working through this and hopefully your son can have his name cleared or find another unit that's a better fit.  Best wishes and I am sorry this is so difficult.  

You know, after my boys went out on a hot day,  I can see the use of a class B.  At Wood Badge we wore t-shirts a lot but uniforms for some meals and all flag ceremonies.  I am OK with some flexibility.  

I'm taking my boys and some troop mates orienteering today!   it's some First Class stuff. 

It sounds like there may be a misunderstanding.  I would let them regroup and try again.  This is called, a learning experience.   Kids screw up all the time.

Or you can kick him out of the troop, ban his family and curse him for life.   I don't know what BSA says about punishing scouts, but if you seek to punish the Scout, I think you may need to check your scope of practice as a Scouter. 

My whole family is in scouting.  My husband is an ASM and I am a Cubmaster and Troop Secretary, working on Wood Badge tickets.  We have three sons in Scouting, a 2nd Class, age 13, Tenderfoot, age 11 and Webelos, age 9.  The boys have a nice pack and a nice troop and we have to reason to leave.    Sometimes our Pack and Troop are frustrating, but big picture, the people are nice, the kids are nice and we make it work and do our best.

Why would you quit with kids still in the program?   Give them the best experiences you can!

I am generally OK with girls joining Scouts and I have never been a Boy Scout.  I am a woman.  Thinking back to my girlhood I am not sure if I would have been a Scout if it was available.  It's a huge commitment and the physical fitness might have been a turnoff.  I was more into dance and music programs as a youth. 

I wasn't into camping until my husband and I started together when our kids were potty trained.  So we are newer outdoorsy types.  I've always liked day outings, of course.

For us, we are just keeping on with Scouting.  I'm working on some fundraising for our Pack, and my Wood Badge stuff, and the Troop is working on getting ready for summer camp.  So far, no big waves of change.  The Troop just had a brat sale and they did well, so it doesn't seem like they are getting any social flak, and the community supports them in their endeavors.  Oldest son is getting closer to First Class, they are working on some orienteering stuff this weekend.  Youngest is not making a lot of progress but he is 11 and I'm not worried over him, not much.  His older brother made second class by 2nd summer camp, I don't think #2 will be that far behind and he has earned a bunch of merit badges and a few Eagle Merit badges (swimming, first aid, citizenship in the nation) so I think he's accomplished a ton in the last year.  They just had a great biking outing on the Elroy Sparta bike trails and had fun. 

Our Pack might get girls in the fall or not, we don't know!  We'll take it one step at a time.