Eagle94-A1

Funny thing is this: if you scream and curse out that top level volunteer, he may stop donating. And he may tell his buddies what happened, and they stop giving too. That happened. District had to drop their FOS goal severely since they did this. The current goal is 10% of what is was when I first got here, and that is not adjusting for inflation. Worse part is the DC was actually doing something.

Or professionals ignoring, shouting at, or cursing out volunteers

Even before Trails Life, pros were trying to do away with long term volunteers. I cannot tell you how many good, extremely dedicated Scouters left because of treatment by pros. Some left district and council roles to focus ont heir units. Others just quit. And they left vacancies that to this day are still not filled.

When I met the then National Chief Information Officer in 1998, he made a lot of promises about SCOUTNET 2000 that was coming our in November 1998. Vezinni said it best.

I would start collecting my own statements. If the guy was at the event after you left, he is only getting one side, and it may not be good for you. I have seen innocent people get kicked out of Scouting. @InquisitiveScouter is giving you very, VERY good advice. Good luck.

Funny you mention police. We had a sheriff deputy on staff, and he was in his jurisdiction. Don't remember if he initiated the investigation after calling it in, or was assisting the investigation after he called it in. So I didn't have to call them, they were already notified. I do know the adult was never arrested, nor kicked out of Scouting as I saw him a year later. He told me he did press charges against the kid for assault with a deadly weapon. Having 15+ witnesses is probably saved the adult from arrest and dismissal.

IF, you got a motivated Scout, AND they use their free time to practice, it is possible to actually earn a MB at camp. One reason why I like free periods, especially if taking Shooting Sports or Aquatics.

Concur with @Tron, document EVERYTHING. Include witnesses, quotes, EVERYTHING. And send it to multiple folks: DE, SE, COR, etc. Closest I have had to deal with was on camp staff. A Scout was being sent home for behavior reasons, but was hit by an adult, and had a black eye. Mom made comments about YP and reporting the issue. What she didn't know was her son, after he was told to pack his things because he was going home, picked up a stick, and charged the 18 y.o. ASM. The ASM automatically countered the attack. OH and he attacked the ASM in front of the SM and the entire troop while they were getting ready to go to dinner. LOT OF PAPERWORK WITH THAT ONE! ( major emphasis, not shouting.) Moral is DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT! (again, emphasis). Good Luck.

That would be common sense. Personally I do NOT like the new policy as I see abuse of it in the future.

This is not a scientific poll. This was something I did trying to get more Scouts in my troop. I got a hold of the district dropped list, and called everyone. A few earned Eagle and quit, while one or two moved. But the bulk fell in one of two categories: 1. they were bored at meetings and/or not camping and lost interest or 2. New Scouts who were not prepared for transition from Cubs to Scouts. One troop lost an entire Cub Scout den over it.

I kept paper copies of my records. last year, I got listed as "untrained" because I had Scoutmaster Fundamentals. Council didn't have a copy of my SM and ASM Specific Training Course, I taught. Was able to track down the report.

Yet another reason I, and many others, do not trust National's IT systems.

At least in my area, parents are pressuring for Eagle. Units that do try and focus on adventure, fun, personal growth, etc instead of advancement do not get new Scouts as parents look elsewhere. Even my new troop is focusing on advancement. Yes it has. And be told by the rules lawyers you are "gate keeping," "adding to requirements," etc. @InquisitiveScouter sadly the leadership at the top is encouraging this, and they do not care what the old boots on the ground want who want to maintain standards want. Heck there is now a majority of volunteers support for them and their decline of standards.

Sadly I do not think it matters. The focus has been on MBs and Eagle, no one focuses on fun, adventure, and personal growth. Besides, a lot of places are giving MBs away.

More than likely, National is getting rid of existing physical inventory. The requirements may or may not be current, but that has been an issue since I was a Scout.

What I describe has been going on in my area for over 25 years. This is nothing new here. But it definitely shocked me when I first got here.

Depends. In my neck of the woods, the entire pack meets every week. They will do a joint opening, then split into dens. Sometimes den meetings are done as a pack instead of individual dens.

It is. I remember seeing it. 2/3s of the councils gone if memory serves.

I wish. My troop folded in December after years of begging council for help. They said they needed to start new units instead of helping existing one. They didn't like the fact that I told them that National predicted membership and units would decline for a few years after the lawsuit before stabilizing, and that it is easier to keep a stable unit going than start a new on. And at my new troop's meeting tonite, we had visitors from the only other existing troop in town. They are joining us on a camp out this weekend. Oh we know what is causing the problem, we are not recruiting. And Council is not helping us in this matter. One CST's stats. Look like those councils with metro areas are doing well. Rural areas not so much.

If memory serves, there is a 5 year period that professionals are ineligible after leaving the profession. Do not know if any restriction on non professional staff, ie. office staff, rangers, etc. I do know of one SB recipient who was nominated before being employed by the council, but by the time of the awards ceremony, they were the camp ranger.

Or it could be that standards for advancement have been lowered? Once upon a time, the standard was "master the skills" and "the badge represents what a Scout CAN DO (sic) not what he has done." Those come from old handbooks and advancement guides. Now the standard is "A badge recognizes what a Scout has done toward achieving the primary goal of personal growth. " Sadly I have been to a camp, where they gave away MBs. Best example were the Scouts given Canoeing MB, but could not paddle in a straight line on a troop trip to save their life. I had a Scout's family member tell me they bought the MBs by going to that camp. Or how about all the MBUs popping up where you sit in class and get a MB? Sadly my own kids, after they aged out, told me some of the stuff they didn't do for MBs they "earned" from MBUs. And don't forget the online MBUs. What FL council awarded over 18000 MBs during COVID from online MBUs?

Yes, any thing with a counterweight is banned. Catapults are under heavy restrictions as it was classified as a shooting sport, and has to follow those regs. And those regs have become event tighter. Page 14 states it requires a NRA Range Safety Officer to e present Page 77 - 79 gives details.

Yeah, the lawsuit caused a lot of Scouting endowments to be raided.

Does anyone have the stats on OA membership over the past few years? The section below concerns me. Has the OA fallen so much, that temporary units can now have elections? depending upon when the election is held, folks may not know anyone to judge them worthy or not. EDITED. Found OA annual reports here https://oa-scouting.org/resources/publications/impact-report In the 2014 report, we had 171,211 Arrowmen registered. In the 2024 annual report, we had 98,473 registered Arrowmen. That is a 43% drop in 10 years!