Bloop

Maybe I'm missing the heart of this question. But why would a cabin trip need to "count" to be valuable? Have you seen it "counting" in the forums or only mentioned as a trip that happened. Huddling together in a cold smelly cabin is hugely rewarding in building community in troop and patrol. It certainly "counts" for "being active" for unit. Logistically it's harder to implement in BSA than for girls in GS or AHG and thus it's rare for my BSA troop. But it's wonderful for when they're losing their sense of belonging.

Has anyone else found that the merit badge program is great for introducing concepts but neglects boys with any expertise? I discovered this during a BoR for Eagle. This wonderful young man was competing and placing in sailing at a state level and had even gone to national competition. But when he wanted to earn the badge, the ONE counselor in a 50 mile radius said he couldn't work with him unless he had *witnessed* him sailing. That the boy should come to camp XYZ. In the end, he could never earn this badge when plenty of boys do with far lesser skills and knowledge. I've found this

Thank you! You're right. I would have lost them in the first sentence if I invented new points of the Law. Among the points of our Scout Law, we pledge to be Brave, Courteous and Kind. In our Oath we promise to help other people at all times. We all come from different backgrounds but we as scouts all believe in the same Oath and Law. If we follow that, our compass will always point us in the right direction. Scouts need to be Brave by standing up against bullying, but that isn’t easy.

Thanks to Mash, and a site for teens on bullying, here's my SM Minute for tonight. I welcome suggestions. Among the points of our *Scout LAW* we pledge to be Respectful and Brave. Courteous and Kind. A scout should always be respectful of others. We all come from different backgrounds but we as scouts all believe in the same Law and Oath. If we follow that, our compass will always point us in the right direction. Scouts need to be Brave by standing up against bullying, but that isn’t easy. Whenever there’s a terrible case of bullying in the news, people wonder, “How could t

Was there a question there? Okay here are some. He must join as an ADULT volunteer and complete YPT. Okay. But he wants to participate like a Scout. Can we keep him as adult an let him work on skills though First Class? Like a s.l.o.w. IOLS training?

We have a young man that joined the troop. He was obviously disabled and very excited to "Earn lots of badges and be an Eagle Scout." He lives at home and we *finally* got a hold of his mom after him getting rides to meetings for several weeks. We haven't had a lot of questions answered but his mom says that he's been perseverating about joining Boy Scouts especially since he *graduated* high school. He lied. He filled out the form as a 15yo. He even "forged" his mom's signature by printing it in the same handwriting as the rest of the form. Mom: You're too old for Boy Scouts So

Really? Like only within meetings? W/o special certifications? I found 5 events in my state alone. Theyre still on the calendar, everywhere. I've

We found a "Lumberjack" weekend. Which has lumberjack themed stations. Kinda like Klondike Derby without Cubs, stations are more challenging. Lots of interest. We found a rocket building challenge. Not scouting, but scout teams could participate. No interest from the boys but the one that suggested it. Also ScubaJam. I don't see this as a competition event at all. But the boys seemed to think so. HUGELY popular w/ my Scouts. And a patrol completion of small water ballon trebuchets and water cannons.

I'm putting together a list of competition events for my Scouts. They're planning the annual calendar this week. I *really* want them to choose one as I think they *need* the team building experience of launching a pumpkin on their trebuchet or Davy Jonesing to the bottom of a lake in their cardboard boat. Boy led and chosen. But adult offered/encouraged. Can you name some events like that? So far I have 2 pumpkin chuckin events, a cardboard boat and a Lumberjack event. State doesn't matter much, because I think such cool events have a version anywhere. Unless it's *very* specific

I get frustrated when I feel I've been snowed by a kid or anyone. But my optimism ultimately isn't a character flaw or integrity failure. Both in advancement rules as meschen said and in your own dignity. I don't think you should "renig" your word. If you feel Scout Spirit is a weak area, let him and his SM know as a focus for the next advancement. Think about it. A scout that is less than a model scout got in trouble. He was then "forced" to teach kids about knots. I'm not sure that's something that can really be "forced" unless you also want to punish his students. It sounds like it

Other than sleep depravation, hello up at 5 for something or another, camp shouldn't be stressful at all. And yeah, Momma Bear hadn't stayed at camp. She just arrived family night and had been up for "ice cream night." Eagle77, I don't blame anyone for not being sensitive to Grumpysaurus' needs because nobody has a crystal ball. Sensitivity is what adults that KNOW and care about him are for. And we were correcting, sitting out with and guiding him all along. She may not have known his situation any more than the good folk here. But all the more reason to leave discipline to the SM &

I guess any leniency given the boy is due to a long custody situation that just had a dramatic ruling. Again, no major act on his part, just generalized grumpiness and an uncooperative nature. But it seems all the boys know he has "stuff going on at home." I was away one night for an OA event but parent has approached me that it was "parent ice cream night" - geeze - Mom had a run in with the boy over her precious snowflake. Not nearly on this scale but she (reportedly) was unfair and inappropriate then too. Had it been mentioned sooner, her butt wouldn't have been near camp. She was wait

S1: Went home that night and skipped dinner. His dad's a scouter and is aware that she went over the line with him but also knows he's been 'difficult' lately. They were headed on vacation but he seems content that we'll handle it. Mom is out of the loop. S2 got tapped at the campfire Friday night and both Mom and Dad stayed for it. Dad seemed willing to be pleasant for the ceremony and Mom seemed to stew. Dad & son packed up and went home Sat morn on their own. No further contrition or indignant acts. They won't be at the Commitee meeting. Maybe they were planning to leave a

We were minutes away from having a family dinner followed by closing campfire. She was specifically encouraged to attend because her son was getting tapped out. But all parents were invited. I think she had YPT for her Cub.

She doesn't hold a position. Just helps out with photos, shopping for an event, that sort of thing. Her hubby is an ASM but pretty background. But yeah. Major damage control is needed.

We had a parent that came to camp on the last day flip out on one of our Scouts. This Scout HAD been a pill all week. He would pout, refuse to do things and was snappish. No one big thing but grumpy enough to give himself stinkface in a mirror. Then, he said to a kid "Out of my chair". A Mom told him to "Shut up and stop being such an asshole". Then she cotinued telling him what a "rude smart ass" he was over and over. Followed him to his tent (ignoring people trying to stop her) to yell at him some more and to hear if he dared grumble (he did). Then her husband got up in it. It took

There's a lot of background and frustration behind my questions, but I'll keep it uncluttered for now. How often are patrols restructured? If Scouts in a Troop are also in a Venturing Crew, should those Crew members be a patrol when they're in Troop meetings? How boy led is the assigning of patrols?

The writing: We have a Scoutmaster's Conference form. I personally love it. The boys take time to reflect before the conference. They can then can answer questions like, "How have you done a Good Turn Daily" with specific examples. Instead of, "Um. I help people." Cumulatively they can see the progress they made from rank to rank. Most boys write it up on their own. Some full sentences, some a couple words bulleted. Even if they had a parent or sibling scribe to put thoughts to paper or just did it in their heads, it helps. This kid types up all sorts of things. He doesn't read off it or eve

Thanks to all that have responded. Our SM requires that things be signed off by ASMs or himself. We have a pocket of Scouts that are having to "relearn" skills I feel they never knew because their patrol leaders signed off. I mean *basics*. My 8-year-old know a match can't light a log, my 6-year-old scouts do too. Still, if that was a problem the time to fix it would be at a Scout Master's conference. And to give some guidance to the patrol leaders waiving them through. We do have boys teaching. And they provide great feedback on what is known and what needs work. So I'd really like to p

For what it's worth, I will only sign off on my son's merit badges if he attended a session with me with other Scouts. If his access to me is primarily due to me being his mom in his house, I won't sign. Scholarship and Reading are good examples. We can talk about and practice the skills, discuss quality of work, etc, but I think he still needs to pick up the phone and call a counselor that never saw him in diapers. I think Buguling would be an exception. It's time-consuming and there's soooo few people teaching and going for the badge. If you're the only one in a 50-mile radius, he shouldn

Dude! Where's my white space? I'm sorry that's one big hard to read blob. My paragraphs were compressed together.

Hi. I am Assistant Scout Master for BSA and with AHG. I am also Special Education teacher. I, proudly, think I'm one of the reasons that our troop has quite a few boys with ASD and other challenges. But the best reason is that we have really awesome boys that make everyone feel welcome and included. Our newest challenge is for our leaders is that we now have a *parent* with Aspergers. Brilliant, Intense, Pushy, Long-winded, Dedicated... He has great ideas, his ability to sell them to folks is rough. His son is very bright, knowledgeable and motivated. He bridged in March and wanted to get