BSA24

> ever be surprised by the conduct of one scouter to another. > bsa really does tolerate some horrendous conduct directed > from adults to adults I too was appalled by the behavior of scouters toward one another when I first got involved as an adult leader. Interrupting, stating opinions as facts, telling other people what to do boldly... For the sake of discussion, let's group leaders into two groups: grown up boy scouts and everyone else. The grown up boy scouts still do a good turn every day before they go to bed, and they still mutter the scout oath and law to the

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfxYR2hgBV0&feature=fvwrel Which tribe is it where the guy in the war bonnet walks around with his arms folded in front of him? Which tribe used the traditional native battery method to spark a fire instantly Bonus question: Which tenet of Youth Protection do you see violated in this video? I've been a member of the OA for decades, and I've never seen anything but this sort of thing at OA ceremonies in all that time. I've never seen any actual native americans assisting with anything in the OA. Maybe that is a local thing. By native a

For reference: http://imgur.com/ndaaZ Here's a chart showing BSA's annual total traditional membership counts since 1960. The total includes cubs, boy scouts, venturing/exploring (before learning for life came along) and adult leaders in traditional units. There are some good ideas posted here. I see a lot of "make a good program" comments. Unfortunately, program retains but does not attract. "Build it and they will come" doesn't work. Build it, and no one will know you built it, and very few will come. I think there are two major problems: Marketing and Conduct of Business

> Who is doing the creative statics?? No one. The Eagle Award is given out far more frequently today than previously. The membership numbers are falling, and a higher percentage of boys are receiving the award. 4% instead of the previous

Deleted previous comment. I really can't tell what this story is about. I tried to read it twice, but it is such a badly written wall of text that it is impossible to make out what the issue is. However, after reading it, I was reminded of a common problem of the den leader mom who wants to be an ASM in a chauvinist boy scout troop. I've had a few of these angry phone calls over the years. "I was a den leader for five years, and now my little Billy is in that troop and I am supposed to be his scoutmaster and they won't let me." Then following that is a lot of accusations and dr

> I am sure that members of the African > Scouting Associations have native influences > in their ceremonies, much as we do do here > in the USA. Do you think white South Africans do that? > I've met a lot of folks who had no problems > with the OA. Back in the 1970's, a frat at my college was doing black-face dances as part of their ritual. They all said the same thing... they know some black people who don't mind. Black people helped them come up with it. It's not offensive if they can find a guy who thinks it is awesome. I don't see what dr

> BSA claims to want experienced instructors, > but them goes out of the way to discourage > the people with the experience. BSA prioritizes avoiding lawsuit risk over the program in everything they do.

Your den leader lied. Time to discuss with the CC and CM whether or not to go to the COR and ask that the leader be removed. You'll have to decide this yourselves. As to what to do with the boy, I don't know. The youth is innocent and should not suffer for it, but clearly cannot meet later Webelos requirements that he be out of the 4th grade for 6 months or 10.5 yrs of age to get the AOL. Eventually this catches up with him, so someone should do something with him now that is constructive. I have a problem with the Cub Scout advancement program overall. I think I prefer the way it w

I want to start a society within scouting that will use the traditions, dances, and songs of Africa. We will all dress up like Zulu, make shields with zebra skins and spears, and we will do Zulu dances. Problems?

The two things that seem to come up over and over: * The Great Elephant in the Room (old fashioned) * Failure to position and perform as an organization for tough guys. Forgetting the first one for a second, consider the tough guy aspect. Can BSA market itself as being for tough guys while it is full of nerd guys? Or won't we have to actually require that one pull up, or maybe more, for tenderfoot, and make scouting something hard that kids cannot do? In my area, a lot of non-profit types of organizations are firing up that are sort of ROTC based. They are paramilitar

> Liberals are never going to be happy with Scouting. What about Scouts Canada, the UK, and Germany? Do their populations consider the scouts out of touch with youth culture? Are they under attack by their country's liberals?

I find all of the ceremonies in the OA to be odd. Much like the membership policies, I find the OA's use of fake American Indian lore to be disturbingly old fashioned. I'd like to see OA reduced to a service organization that performs service within BSA in exchange for the sash, and I'd like for the OA to stop dressing boys up like fake Indians. A bunch of black and white kids dressed up in fake Indian garb mixed up from various nations (or non-existent nations) all pretending to be Spaghetti Western Hollywood-style deep voiced Indian chiefs around a fire - it's too 1950's for me. Flints

This was the best answer, imo: > the only people attending a Boy Scout function > should be Scouts, registered leaders and any > parents/guardians who are checking it out to > see if they want to become registered leaders, > or who are needed because there aren't enough > registered leaders. From that standpoint, > regardless of the aged-out Scouter's sexual > orientation, he shouldn't be attending (and > if guy in question has no reason to attend, > his boyfriend especially has absolutely no > reason to attend).

> Can you wear your Woodbadge beads with other neckerchiefs? It depends. By that question, which of the following do you mean? A> Will there be consequences if I wear my beads with another neckerchief? Possibly an uninformed leader will tell you that you shouldn't do that. Your response is yours to make. Anything from "Really?" with you then taking no action they hope for to eye rolling is appropriate. You could also ask them to cite the dreaded insignia guide and show you the exact wording that forbids it. B> Will I be in conflict with the recommendations in the i

You can wear vintage patches mix and match with the new uniform. Anything that was ever official uniforming is official uniforming today. You can wear an old square tenderfoot badge on your new uniform. It's not a big deal.

Short version: You can use whatever you like. We are just happy to have a concerned adult trying to do the right thing. What you are running into are old boy scouts serving as adult cub scout leaders. As one myself, I find myself going back and forth. Here are some helpful (?) scenarios: 1. At round table - if it is a cub scout round table, I use the Cub Scout sign and so should the other leaders. We are playing at being cub scouts there. 2. Mixed round table - Boy Scout sign because I am a Boy Scout in my heart. 3. Pack Meeting - Cub Scout Sign - it is for the youth to si

I too was burned by this. Yes, it is a change. It used to be that you were trained, and then had to use the training by working as an officer on a range at least once a year to keep it current. Now it expires at two years. It's ridiculous for running a shooting sports range. Like the other guy above me, I too am seeking NRA training and abandoning BSA as a training source so I can get a more professional training experience and not have it expire in my face. Every time I have retrained for shooting sports, I have been more and more disappointed with the quality of the trai

BSA's 2011 annual report shows continuing annual declines in membership and revenues. The decline has been going on since the 1960's, with the number of potential youth almost doubling in the same period. BSA's market share of youth is drastically reduced from what it was in the 1960's. Is there ONE BIG THING that could be "fixed" to restore BSA's attraction to youth, is it many things, or is the brand burned? Interested in your thoughts.

The number of postings here by unit leaders with trouble shows us that our commissioner program is not functioning very well at a national level. I know some of you are UC's and you do a great job, but you know you are few and far between. Most UC's are doing three other jobs, and unit leaders have no idea who their UC is, and the UC has no idea how to help them.

Agree. If the unit commissioner is doing his job (hahahahaha - rarely happens), then they are coming to the unit's meetings every month or so, and they are attending the unit's committee meetings hopefully quarterly. A unit commissioner is supposed to have NO OTHER JOB IN BSA. The commissioners field guide clearly tells us that commissioners shall not be unit leaders and that holding any other position in BSA is unacceptable. However, districts continue to recruit commissioners who have multiple jobs and unit numerals on their shirts. So they are busy and the job is not done.

> So, there are no people who are truly poor, only those who "choose" to be poor? Correct. The youth certainly don't choose it, but the adults do. They make bad choices, and they are poor as a result. I used to believe I was lucky. Then I started doing social work with the poor to get others on their feet. I walked in a guilty liberal. I walked out and stopped the help with no guilt. I watched people boost up their trucks while claiming they could not afford a tie for an interview. I saw people paying for cigarettes by the carton and smoking them like a chimney, but saying they

They can't have it both ways. It is untrustworthy and disloyal to hire gay employees, give them control of corporate finances, and then also be a member of an organization that publicly and officially states that their gay employees are immoral. How would your black employees feel if you joined the KKK? Just because it is legal doesn't mean your company and shareholders won't ditch you to get out of a sticky political situation. This is not about labor laws. This is about politics. CEO types are very political. As soon as this becomes a touchy subject for them, they will push BSA ov

> Please don't visit my Cub Pack. I'm sure > you would be a very unhappy camper with your attitude. If I took it over, I'd have them all in uniform next year and prove your beliefs about their inability to obtain them are false. I learned about this from the local baseball league. All of the parents in my pack who said they could never afford a uniform bought $300 baseball bats for their sons to play baseball. They also bought them complete baseball uniforms. Why? Because Dizzy Dean is strict on uniforming. Boys not in complete uniform at games are out of the game and can'

> They are whatever rank they are, whether they've > earned the rank patch or not. A boy in the 2nd grade is a member of a wolf den and is considered a wolf level cub scout. He is working on his wolf cub scout rank. The rank is the little diamond patch that he earns.

I went to an event yesterday which was sponsored by a couple of units but attended by the community. When I arrived, I was the only person in a scout uniform surrounded by a few hundred other folks. Then some other scouters and scouts started to arrive in their full uniforms, and we greeted each other with the left hand shake and smiles. While I am always against the uniform police bullying people about unnecessary details of their uniforms, I strongly push leaders and scouts to wear a complete uniform - socks, belt, pants, and shirt - at every opportunity. I want them to enjoy wearing t