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SSF

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Everything posted by SSF

  1. I may be wrong but I believe that what Eagledad was referring to, when he mentioned watering down the program, was not how advancement standards would have to be lowered to accommodate girls necessarily, but rather how the inclusion of girls into the BSA program would represent a huge change to this program and organization; which was originally created as a program to meet the needs of boys. That's why the name of the organization is the Boy Scouts of America, not the Boys and Girls Scouts of America. Glad to hear that your girls do so much outdoors and are so adept in their scout s
  2. Ha! I actually thought the new Ghostbusters was fine for what it was; i.e. a popcorn flick. Didn't see it in the theater of course, just caught it when I came around on cable. No, my feathers weren't ruffled at all by the all female cast (lol)
  3. No offense to you directly MomWhoCamps, but the fact that the BSA is now actively recruiting girls, all just shameful. I know it's kind of a radical idea but how about boys participate in Boy Scouts and girls participate in Girl Scouts...? What's so wrong with girls who actually want to play with dolls and Easy Bake Ovens? Our society and culture seems to be pushing girls towards becoming more masculine. They're told that they should not want to be like "Barbie" but rather "Rey" from Star Wars. As a side note, it's also incredibly sad to me that Star Wars has largely become a franchise
  4. Obviously, I don't know what the circumstances were here, but it's clear that you, and I'm sure your son and your family also, are very upset by whatever transpired, and have great concern over the way it was investigated. Just to be clear was your son's membership actually revoked by the local council, or was this done by his troop? You said that the local council knows your son best, so it seems that the council was not involved, but I just want to confirm if that's the case... Also, while I'm not a Youth Protection authority by any means, my understanding of YP is that it's int
  5. I've personally never had any experience with that If I'm reading between the lines of your post correctly though, it seems that you may have concerns over an incident in which a youth was removed and the manner in which it was handled. If you may be able to share a summary and any details of what the situation is and what transpired, that would be very helpful
  6. The council's response to this is so incredibly disappointing, and so wrong. The troop committee and this district executive all just chose to look the other way and sweep this under the rug, as quietly as possible, so that everything could go back to normal...beyond shameful. As Edmund Burke wrote: Evil triumphs when good men stand by and do nothing. I'm sure that at least some of the committee members saw this for exactly what it was, but rather than put themselves (and their sons) on the chopping block for some kind of retaliation or retribution, they chose to look the other way
  7. I'm so sorry to hear about this situation. The SM's conduct in this case was truly shameful and, based on what you shared, it appears that he clearly lost his temper and acted out of rage and it also sounds as though this kind of behavior on his part has been an ongoing problem. In any group of kids, for any kind of activity or group, there will always be rebellious, defiant kids, but the adult who work with them (teachers, coaches, scout leaders, etc,) have to maintain their cool and have to remain the adult in the situation. There's no place in scouting for scout leaders who can't cont
  8. Sadly, I'm not at all surprised to hear about Boy Scouts acting selfishly and with little regard or consideration for fellow scouts. I've long believed that the scout oath and law have simply become for many scouts - and scouters - just a bunch of words to be rambled off at the beginning and end of troop meetings. Too few scouts and scouters alike actually live by the oath and law.
  9. As others have noted, the camping trip you've identified does, by all reasonable measures, constitute a scout camping trip that should count towards camping merit badge nights completed. Regardless of that fact though, your son's SM is clearly marching to the beat of his own drum and, from what you've shared, it appears that he demands that all of his scouts march to that same drum beat as well; i,e, he's inserting his own personal expectations or subjective requirements into the advancement process. What this SM is doing is wrong, but bear in mind that, council has no real power to a
  10. Competition is part of scouting - Klondike Derby, Camporees and every summer camp I've attended has always concluded with some kind of camp wide competition.
  11. Lots of great advice has been shared here. I too think that it's important not to rush to judgment against the new SM and to give him the benefit of the doubt. However, the fact that he has delayed this for as long as he has, does raise a serious red flag, in my humble opinion. I hope that your son can resolve this on his own, however, if the SM delays further, then I think that a conversation between you and he, or perhaps the Committee Chair, is in order. Obviously scouts interacting with adults is an integral part of the BSA program, but I also believe that if proper advancemen
  12. Belladona, congratulations again to your son. His desire to stay the course and not throw in the towel on scouting even in the face of unjust treatment is commendable. His achievement should be celebrated, not distorted as something that was stolen or cheated. There are too many scoutmasters and scouters who are more concerned with "being right" than in doing what's right. Your son's scoutmaster never had your son's best interests at heart.
  13. My advice to you is to have a very candid discussion with your troop's scoutmaster as to exactly what level of participation is required and see if that will mesh with the level of participation that your son puts into swimming, football and band. The other question I would strongly recommend you ask is does the troop do things by the book. i.e. do they adhere to the BSA program as written or do they choose to march to the beat of their own drum and "apply" the BSA program "as they see fit." The SM might be a bit taken aback by that, and others on this board may disagree with me on this, b
  14. Matt, I think this is a great question you've asked and the story you shared is a great example of what scouting should be. I think you touch on (as I see it) the very important issue of how far askew the BSA program has come from, what it was intended to be. . I'm envious of the fact that your troop has been devoid of any of the type of vindictiveness, pettiness, elitism, power tripping, egotism and rogue operations (I don't use any of these descriptions lightly) that I've experienced, as a scouter, or as a parent. It's always disheartening to me that when people come to this b
  15. CaliGirl, I'm so sorry to hear about what your son and your family had to go through. I too have dealt with a highly corrupt Scoutmaster and Troop Committee so I definitely empathize with what you and your son have gone through. I think the real question is why does the BSA allow corrupt leaders to retain their positions as registered leaders? This seemed to be far more than just a simple misunderstanding of some kind and, based on what you shared, it appears evident that this SM did overtly lie in an attempt to cover-up his own unethical actions. Beyond shameful.
  16. I wonder how often the sons' of Scoutmasters, or other prominent troop leaders, have to undergo EBORs under disputed circumstances? Parent politics play a very ugly role in scouting and there are too many Scoutmasters who see themselves as the Scouts Master. Belladona, I'm sorry your son had to go through the ordeal he went through to achieve his rank. He can take pride in knowing that he stood up for himself. My son also earned Eagle through an EBOR under disputed circumstances, so I empathize with everything your son and your family have had to go through. I don't know what the
  17. I think you should definitely report the incident to council. That said though, I don't believe council would do anything about it.
  18. Thanks everyone! Definitely a very rocky and rough road, and now that it's done, a tremendous sense of accomplishment and relief.
  19. I'm very pleased to announce that my 17 year old son is now an Eagle Scout
  20. Matt, I agree that this thread has gone on too long and I also agree that there are “bad apples†who everyone, youth and adults alike, will encounter in life. Counter to your point though about turning the other cheek, a bad cop who acts inappropriately needs to be held accountable. A bad clergy member who acts inappropriately needs to be held accountable and a bad SM, CC or scout leader who acts inappropriately, also needs to be held accountable; either by the CO or by some authority within the BSA. There are things in life for which we can turn the other cheek, but this is
  21. The ban was put in place as a form of retaliation one week after the very contentious meeting that my son and I had with the SM, CC and UC. I was informed of the ban by a telephone call only (yes, seriously) nothing in writing at all. I have most definitely not threatened anyone, acted in any inappropriate manner or done anything to warrant being banned. Prior to my raising the issues about my older sons advancement, I had a great relationship with everyone in the troop, the scouts, the other leaders and the parents. There were no issues. When the additional ten nights o
  22. Tahawk, Hedgehog, Krampus, jr56 - many thanks again for the words of support. Again, my son has rightfully completed all requirements by BSA standards and by the troop's own active participation policies. Bear in mind that the SM changed and added an additional requirement (the ten nights of camping) that was adopted literally overnight at the SM's whim, with no advance notification and then applied retroactively, even after my son had already met the troop's original active participation standard. The SM also completely misled him over the course of the year regarding his SM Co
  23. I thought I'd share a brief update. If nothing else it's somewhat, therapeutic, to share my thoughts here. In short, my older son completed his one final partial for his one outstanding merit badge. The merit badge counselor signed the blue card, but when my son gave the card to the SM, the SM refused to sign it. Made no sense, but I am no longer surprised by anything from this SM at this point. He's shirked all accountability up to this point. Why start doing the right thing now? So, the merit badge partial is also something that is now technically, under dispute, although sinc
  24. My deepest condolences. I'm so very sorry.
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