WisconsinMomma

My issue is that when we are meeting as a committee, we are on-duty as volunteers for the BSA, and therefore submit to the values of the organization. If we were at a non-Scouting event, then I don't care. I care about Scouting.

I struggle a lot when I hear people use bad language at committee meetings. Unfortunately, I have heard the phrase (I'll make it less crude) "poop show", at both a Cub committee and Troop committee meetings. I decided to leave Cubs because I felt that there was a growing negative vibe overall, coupled with a lack of appreciation for many of the adult volunteers. Then at the next Troop meeting I went to, I heard the same phrase, but in a less accusatory and critical way. But honestly, I hate hearing this kind of language from adults in Scouting. Now, if I hear this again at troop committee? Do I say something? Is that too parental? I am *not* a delicate flower, I just want people to use clean language throughout Scouting, observing the Scout Law. What would you do / say? Thanks!

Your son is too young to be in Boy Scouts, but he could be in Cub Scouts as a lone scout. So maybe that is where they are coming from, your son is not old enough to register as a Scout, but could be a Cub. Have you looked at all the churches and schools in your area for a Pack to join? I would probably approach the question as -- my child wants to be in Scouting, we have not found an organization to join, and we might want to pursue Lone Scouting (for whatever reasons) -- what do you recommend? If they don't have a lot of experience with Lone Scouting they may just not have a lot of knowledge to share. Read up online and if possible, talk to others who have done it. It also might take you a while to find the right person. Be persistent and polite in your follow ups. Get a Youth Application and turn it in as a Lone Scout? I don't see how they can turn down your application, to be honest. Good luck! https://www.scouting.org/commissioners/lone-scout/ https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/09/28/what-are-lone-scouts/ Here's a Facebook group for lone scouting: https://www.facebook.com/LoneScoutingUSA/

There are seriously NO other merit badge counselors? Which one is it? Pulp and Paper?? I can understand being frustrated that a meeting was rescheduled, and a 2 week plus wait -- that is frustrating. I can also understand how 12 year olds don't have it together organizationally and it takes multiple tries to make things happen. I am sure that it can feel like you are delaying things like asking him to bring his calendar (who uses a paper calendar?) rather than you proposing dates that work for you, but someone has to offer dates, and make the communication. I get frustrated sometimes when people get a little too picky about --- first you have to do this, then here's another hoop, and then this needs to be done just so. It can be hard for kids to communicate with adults, and if the adults are not accommodating, or have road blocks, or are difficult to reach /busy schedules/slow to return calls, it's all a big pain in the backside! This stuff can be 1) slow and 2) frustrating, and it is very hard for 12 year olds to be successful with! So take a breath and don't get upset. Have a good trip!

I think the mid-20's is a fine age for starting a career in politics, and obviously the voters supported him, so I hope he serves the people of Iowa well and I hope that he lives the BSA oath and law throughout his service to the people of his state. BSA teaches about citizenship and we should be proud. Generically proud, we don't have to be specifically proud of political stances, etc. but proud that a Boy Scout is serving people, yes!

If you are not the den leader, make sure you are working as a partner with the Webelos den leader so you two are on the same page, and I would reiterate that the Webelos den leader needs to sign off. I'm the mom of a 10 year old Webelos who has missed several meetings due to hockey, and we need to play catch up, so I'm going through this myself -- I need to figure out how to do things at home (not a problem, I was a den leader for my older son) and then he needs to get them checked off and talk about what he did with his leader. As far as fast-tracking a kid ahead of his peers, I suppose if he does all the work and his den leader approves that work he could move up. I would not give him a big ceremony (our pack does that as a group) but I would get him all the awards and present them with the Cubmaster and then let the kid go apply to the Troop he wishes to join. I think the den leader should make sure the requirements are met. Then set the kid free and get on with the rest of your Pack. You might want to dangle that the kid might want to stay with his buddies. Crossing over with friends is nice. Or maybe he wants to serve as a den chief or run for patrol leader and do some Boy Scouty stuff in Webelos. If they are fast-tracking to Eagle though (I wouldn't be surprised), just make sure they get the work done and let them get out of your hair. Good luck and thank you for working with the Scouts!

I'm going to go slightly off topic but since this is on Page 8, what the heck! In our area, our Boy Scout Troop would often rent sites at Girl Scout camps. But since the BSA has allowed girl membership, the Girl Scout camps do not want the BSA around. That probably makes sense, except, they are losing the rental money! It's a little bit too bad because all camps need money to keep running.

It's good that a parent/den leader who was trained (likely YPT) raised the concern! This is an example of YPT working, not perfectly, but it worked to prevent future boys from having their privacy compromised by this creep. Note, that camp director needs to be fired and perhaps we need to write to the council about that.

The video is selling the fun, which is, IMO, the right way to promote Scouting.

I think it takes a lot of patience with new parents, and figure that new parents just don't know what they don't know. I had a very frustrating first year or so in my own family when my oldest was starting Scouts. It went something like this. I'd ask a question -- I have lots of questions, and my husband, an ASM, would get mad at me for asking the question. This is exactly what it felt like from my point of view. From his point of view, he was trying to tell me that Boy Scouts was different, but he came across as the grouchiest person on earth, where I couldn't even talk about Boy Scouts!! It was terrible! In my own house!! I learned a lot more here than I did talking to my spouse, but he is not a guy who has much patience for explaining stuff. Somehow we got through it, but it takes a patient person to stop and tell an inexperienced new parent how things work. And I was not asking things maliciously, I just wanted to know what the deal was with Boy Scouts. It takes awhile for new parents to understand the system.

Nope, that's still essentially how it works.

Yeah, that's how you make friends. All the AOLs need to do is an outing with a troop. I would not mess in a Pack you don't belong to. Like, once, a female SM in our troop was complaining about how a female CC in our Pack was wearing her shirt. But, the boys in the troop were dressing very sloppy themselves. Take care of your own unit and leave the other units alone! Plus, the SE is unlikely to interfere.

Just go to coffee and make sure to tell him a big thank you for everything he's done for you and your boys, and reiterate your friendship. You are switching because you are seeking a boy-led troop that uses the patrol method, and sadly, this troop you've been in is becoming more adult led. Then thank him again and tell him that he is a good guy, and lightly go over your frustrations, but end with apprecation of your time together. Maybe you'll get to work again in the future or maybe he'll come to your new troop too!

I think it's an interesting project idea, and I'm curious about what the beneficiary thinks of it. Will they be on board? Is there anything else that they need even more than the Legos? Storage is not a bad idea -- as a person who has a lot of legos in my house, I think that having an organized way to keep the sets together (whether it is purchased plastic bins or built) and labeled, etc. might be good. Maybe from a construction standpoint they'd like some Lego tables or workstations for the kids to use too. Maybe your son could expand his project by seeking some donations from the community -- that requires more effort and organization. I think he's got a good start, but it might need a little more oomph to get it approved. Encourage him not to give up and to think of ways that he can make his project even more meaningful. I think the video idea is very good. I wonder if he could share his video with even more people, maybe the parents and kids at that school too? Maybe he could do some research on how manipulatives like Legos work people's brains? Maybe he could design some of his own Lego creations with instructions? Maybe there are actual Lego learning exercises that he could incorporate into his plans? I don't know, just throwing stuff out there. Perhaps he could make a video that would be fun for the studens to watch? You can do a million things with stop animation. I would be concerned about not overwhelming the recipient with too many Legos because that can be a problem too! He should have a plan for communicating with them and working to fit into their needs and wants. Good luck to your son!

With young Cub Scouts, I would not get too picky over it. Make sure you are setting the right example personally, the kids look up to you!

I am always impressed whenever we have a guest speaker from the police or fire department or the military, how awesome they look in their uniforms. I mean, there's a very clear, sharp identity that comes from wearing a uniform well. Now Scouters are a little bit of a sloppy bunch in comparison, we are clearly volunteers with our various bling and whatnot, we are obviously not professionals in uniform. But a uniform gives an impression when it is worn well. P.S. I hate the pants but I have like 3 pairs!

It might be a lot of fun to go out and visit other troops. Take your time and go make the rounds. I'm sorry your troop is going downhill but it sounds like this group cannot be turned around.

Thank you qwaze! The Traffic Safety merit badge was yesterday and it turned out well. I was very nervous and stressed earlier in the week but it ended up OK. I'll have to count but I think we had around 28 participants. The merit badge class was 3 hours, review style, with a state patrol officer as a guest speaker and an hour of hands on work outside measuring stopping distances and reviewing lights, wipers, tires, seatbelts, etc on a vehicle. Then I had a 60 question quiz (for fun) where the boys answered 2 questions each and got a York Peppermint Patty. The course was full (30 kids) but I think one or two were sick or couldn't make it on the day of. The thing that was a struggle for me was recruiting helpers. I had envisioned having one or two volunteers helping me, but in the end it was just my husband and me. It worked but having one more person helping would have been better. I reached out to a few people but I did not get good support (or even reply emails) from most. I think I will ask Council to help me find one or two helpers if they want the course again. My initial goal was to make this an annual course for our council. I'm not ready to commit to that today! (resting) but now that I've done it once and because it was a very popular class, I will likely do it again (just not in October, October is a crazy month for our family.) So yesterday I signed off my very first blue cards as a merit badge counselor! I got the first few wrong (gah!) but it should be OK. I did not realize right away that I needed to sign in multiple places and keep the counselor record, but I got the hang of it, and I signed the portion that goes to the unit leader for everyone, but I forgot to sign the applicant' record for some of them. It will be OK. Now I know! Everybody knew it was my first time. The surveys from the kids were very positive, and I feel good about it and I'm very glad that it's done!! Side note: one of my Patrol mates had his beading ceremony yesterday. I wasn't able to go because after the traffic safety course, we had my oldest son's birthday party. His ceremony was out at one of the council camps before one of the council's haunted hayride events. It was for Scouters and family and they had cake. He had a shared ceremony with another guy from our course. I don't know what I want for a ceremony, but it's not time to think about that yet - I have two more tickets due before early next year!

I am trying to look it up on Google, I think it was Taffy 3 but I would need to read more about it or ask my contact at Council.

Side story, I was just at our council office and one of the staff was telling someone else how yesterday (many years ago), her dad's ship was sunk and he floated in the ocean for 3 days before rescue. Interesting stuff. I did not remember the ship name.

It sounds like teabagging is featured in a video game, where you kill an opponent and then can do this move on someone's corpse. (Ugh.) That said, it's no excuse. This SPL needs to be taught that what he did was wrong, it will not happen again, and the Troop will protect its members from that kind of inexcusable behavior.

My boys worked on and completed their swimming merit badges at home. They took individual swim lessons at our fitness center with an instructor who is a Swimming MBC in a neighborhing council. Then they also took a swimming merit badge workshop though our park and rec department. One passed via that class, and the other took some additional lessons with the MBC to finish up his requirements. They spent a lot of time swimming, it was maybe 4 to 6 months of work. My middle son, who was not a strong swimmer, now takes continuing swimming lessons because he wants to, and that's his choice of physical activity. Now his teacher is telling him that if he keeps swimming, when he's older he could get a lifeguarding or swimming instructor job. (He wants to be a Youtuber, but that's another story.) Note that my boys both used goggles and my oldest wore a wetsuit because his is very thin and got cold in the water quickly, even in a pool at a temp for competitive swimming. I think swim lessons are the way to go for kids who need to get stronger in swim skills. He could take a few months swimming leading up to the next summer camp also. Let your instructor know the merit badge requirements and all the goals.

I think we agree that this is a reportable Youth Protection issue. Right? Or do you think that this should not be reported to the Council? Would you trust this SPL tenting with another one of your scouts?

The question for Scouting is -- is this kid's next tent mate safe? How do we know for sure? That's why it's a Youth Protection Issue to document it. When I was a teenager, there was a 17 year old who was very sexually forward with me. Within a year he was charged with sexually assaulting another girl in our town. Knowing his past behavior with me, I believe that his behavior was a pattern. I don't know what ultimately happened to him. So, just think about protecting the youth from similar incidents.