robert12

#52 - Scouting Service Award

The new knot recognizes Scouters who have earned one of these five awards:

Asian American Spirit of Scouting Service Award*
¡Scouting…Vale la Pena! Service Award*
Whitney M. Young Jr. Service Award*
American Indian Scouting Association Grey Wolf Award
Special Needs Scouting Service Award

Each of the awards marked with a * above currently has its own square knot. But once supplies of those knots run out, the new Scouting Service Award knot will be used to recognize recipients.

All of the virtues mentioned in your quote (do things for themselves and other, scoutcraft, patriotism, courage, self-reliance, etc), they aren't the exclusive domain of boys. Just bolding the word boys doesn't make them things that can only be taught to boys in an all-male setting. If you changed the word to "girls", the rest of it would read just as logically and realistically as it does for boys. 

 

Yes the BSA has been a boys' organization. But the core of the program has never been dependent on gender. If someone were to hypothetically sneak through the program as a boy when in reality they were female, all of the gains they made in going through it would still benefit them the same as if they were male. The same character-building, self-reliance, bravery, all of it. 

 

I stand by my previous statement. BSA is about character-building. Always has been, always will be regardless of gender and membership policies. 

No, they are not the exclusive domain of boys, but the stated purpose in the congressional charter is for the training of boys.  You are right that the program has never been dependent of gender, thought it has been geared towards boys since the beginning.

For me it is simple, the Boy Scouts is a place for boys to be boys with other boys, and to introduce girls, even those who live their lives as boys, will throw off the whole dynamic.

The mission isn't to create "men", it's to build character, something that is not exclusive to one gender. If the military can be co-ed and still be a symbol of character, strength, even masculinity, then why not scouts? 

From the congressional charter of the BSA

"The purposes of the corporation are to promote, through organization, and cooperation with other agencies, the ability of boys to do things for themselves and others, to train them in scoutcraft, and to teach them patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues, using the methods that were in common use by boy scouts on June 15, 1916."

This is the same text that is still found in the Bylaws of the BSA, chapter 1 section 2.

The BSAs purpose is clearly to focus on boys.

This only appears to apply to Boy Scout and Cub Scout youth, but not adult leaders and Venturing youth.  This does not take much of an imagination to see where this will be a big can of worms, just a few examples.

• Sally wants to be Bob, but has to register as a girl in her crew.  Now she registers as a boy in a local troop.  One weekend she sleeps in a tent with girls, and the next with boys??  
• Say Sally earns First Class in a troop then decides Boy Scouts is not for her, and drops out.  Now can she earn Eagle in a crew even though registered as a girl?
• Sally is inducted into the OA as a First Class scout, a few years go by and she turns 18, but wants to stay active in the OA.  Since this only applies to youth, she is now considered a adult female for can she participate in OA as a OA 18-20 youth, either as an assistant scoutmaster or Venturing "adult participant"(that is the correct term for those 18-20 in Venturing)?

I just hope the BSA does not do the same as what they did when they allowed homosexual youth.  They stated in this document "This change in membership standards is not a youth protection issue. To consider it a youth protection issue would lead one to believe that sexual abuse and victimization is considered inherent to same-sex attraction. This is not the case."  If that was their position all references to coed actives(latrines, showering, tenting, etc.) in the G2SS should be removed because that could lead one to believe that sexual abuse and victimization is considered inherent to opposite-sex attraction.  

My personal opinion is that this will lead to transgendered adults within two years, and all girls allowed in Cubs and Boy Scouts.  How long before they cave on Duty to God?

I really wish the Program Features for Troops, Teams, and Crews was online 

While planning for the topic of scout resources for our districts roundtable I ran across this website, www.programresources.org, it appears to be a BSA national website.  There are tons of information for troops, broken down int several categories, Scout skill challenges, team building activities for both troops and patrols, general campraft, pioneering skills, ceremonies, and leaders minutes.  Most of the topics have videos to go along with the instructions.

Interesting related news article.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/scouts-ban-advocacy-hurt-groups-bid-troop-35735843

With a very interesting quote  "The Boy Scouts' doors are open, but new troop applications must now be approved by a national body, not locally, Great Salt Lake Council Scout Executive Rick Barnes said."

Hasn't this always be a condition of charter?

This wording has never been on the charter agreement.

I posted this here in I&P as it would be destine for here. I just came across an updated version of the Annual Charter Agreement, with two new additions.  Looks like they are trying to weed out any "activist" organizations becoming COs.

The Chartered Organization agrees to:

...

• Chartered organizations must utilize the Scouting program to accomplish specific objectives related to one or more of the following:
  • Youth character development
  • Career skill development
  • Community service
  • Patriotism and military and veteran recognition
  • Faith-based youth ministry

...

• Chartered organizations must not use the Scouting program to pursue any objectives related to political or social advocacy, including partisan politics, support or opposition to government action or controversial legal, political, or social issues or causes.

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/membership/pdf/524-182_web.pdf

I suspect this is in response to the new text in the The Process of Counseling section in the 2015 Guide to Advancement:

...The sort of hands-on interactive experience described here, with personal coaching and guidance, is hardly ever achieved in any setting except when one counselor works directly with one Scout and his buddy, or with a very small group. Thus, this small-scale approach is the recommended best practice for merit badge instruction and requirement fulfillment. Units, districts, and councils should focus on providing the most direct merit badge experiences possible. Large group and Web-based instruction, while perhaps efficient, do not measure up in terms of the desired outcomes with regard to learning and positive association with adults.

In this months Advancement News, http://files.ctctcdn.com/137c2ed6201/7b35c577-45ad-4c91-a0be-be041f63c9be.pdf, it shows what appears to be a new Scout rank patch.  I suspect this will roll out with the new requirements as it will be a rank, not just signifying membership.

Edo

I have no experience with this type of issue, but if you give us some more info we can tell you what the right outcome should be.

Did they not let him start/complete the project?  

What was the reason?

How old is he?

You've just describe a lot of the functions of a District Activities and Civic Service Committee.

Here is the BSA social media guidelines, http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Marketing/Resources/SocialMedia.aspx

That being said, my district has both a page and group.  The page is for pushing announcements and such, the group is for discussion.  The group is closed, only open to leaders and parent, no scouts, and yes we know that this is against the rules, but some time I think the BSA has a few too many.

Reading over the new Guide to Awards and Insignia, in the sentence proceeding the new rule about nonuniform wear of the neckerchief, I came across this:

"Local councils may prescribe that the specific official neckerchief be worn by Boy Scouts and Scouters on a council or district basis.

I do not remember anything similar in previous revisions, but I could be wrong.  Has anyone ever heard of a council doing this?

The Guide to Advancement states:

Council advancement committee members—or others designated—have the responsibility to secure recommendations from the references appearing under requirement 2 on the Eagle Scout Rank Application. This may be done by letter, form, or phone call. For reasons of privacy and confidentiality, electronic submissions are discouraged. It is acceptable to send or deliver to the references an addressed envelope with instructions, and perhaps a form to complete. The Scout may assist with this, but that is the limit of his participation. He is not to be responsible for follow-through or any other aspect of the process.

It is up to the council’s designated representatives to collect the responses. If after a reasonably diligent effort no response can be obtained from any references, the board of review must go on without them. It must not be postponed or denied for this reason, and the Scout shall not be asked to submit additional references or to provide replacements.

Completed reference responses of any kind are the property of the council and are confidential, and only review-board members and those officials with a specific need may see them. The responses are not to be viewed by or returned to the Scout. Doing so could discourage the submission of negative information. For the same reason, those providing references do not have the option of giving the reference directly to the Scout and shall not be given the option of waiving confidentiality. Once a review has been held, or an appeal process conducted, responses shall be returned to the council, where they will be destroyed after the Eagle Scout credentials are released or the appeal is concluded.

In our district the Scout is given a letter to be given to the reference which is to be completed and returned to the district advancement chair.  If a letter is not returned there is no follow up with the reference.  

Just curious how other districts do it.

Yesterday there was an update to my.scouting.org under My Dashboard, then My Training.  There are now YPT, Training Center, Requirements, and Completions tabs.

YPT - This shows your YPT status for Youth Protection Training, Venturing Youth Protection Training and Exploring Youth Protection Training, and allow you to take all three.

Training Center - this is essentially what was on E-Leaning tab of myscouting.org.  You can view your training status for all online available courses.

Requirement - This shows all of your registered positions and all related training for those positions.  It shows your status for each of these courses, and if available, you can take them from there.

Completions -  Shows the status of all of your complete courses and you can print training certificates.

Using numbers from December 31st, 2013, and assuming 5 paying adults from each unit, the total loss would be over $16 million.  Unit liability fee used to be called the charter fee.

The number of scouts we would lose if the LDS were to pull out is roughly the numbers of scouts we have lost in the last 6-7 years

Your thoughts on this quote from Gates' 2014 NAM address... 

 

 

A year ago, this meeting saw a respectful and civil debate over membership policy. In a democratic process, a strong majority of the volunteer leadership of this movement from all across the nation voted to welcome gay youth into scouting. In all candor, I would have supported going further, as I did in opening the way for gays to serve in CIA and in the military...

...Given the strong feelings — the passion — involved on both sides of this matter, I believe strongly that to re-open the membership issue or try to take last year’s decision to the next step would irreparably fracture or perhaps even provoke a formal, permanent split in this movement — with the high likelihood neither side would subsequently survive on its own. That is just a fact of life, and who would pay the price for destroying the Boy Scouts of America? Millions of scouts today and scouts yet unborn. We must always put the kids and their interests first. Thus, during my time as president, I will oppose any effort to re-open this issue.

...theirs no way any of the boys his age or older are going to "lookup" so to speak to him....

Was he elected the troop or appointed by an adult?

I did not know they beat BSA to the punch with accepting gay Adult Leaders.. WOW...   In light of that, yeah I would say it had to be religious purity and LDS just doesn't make the grade in their eyes..

The article that Rick linked to does not accurately describe Trail Life's membership policy, which states

In terms of sexual identification and behavior, we affirm that any sexual activity outside the context of the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman is sinful before God and therefore inconsistent with the values and principles of the program. Within these limits, we grant membership to adults and youth who do not engage in or promote sexual immorality of any kind, or engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the program.    http://www.traillifeusa.com/whoweare

Can anyone point me to the full text of the actual resolution?  All I can find are sections of it in press releases and articles, but not the full text.---nevermind.  found pdf on UMM link:  http://www.gcumm.org/files/369/Adult%20Leader%20Resolution%20071015%20(Final).pdf

It is in this document, https://www.scoutsforequality.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Adult-Leadership-Standards-Update-and-Resources-for-Key-3.pdf

(I am only assuming this is the actual resolution, it is what was passed by the Executive Committee)

Today, the Boy Scouts of America’s National Executive Board ratified a resolution that removes the national restriction on openly gay adult leaders and employees. The change is effective immediately.

http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/07/27/bsa-amends-adult-leadership-standards-heres-change-means-scout-unit/

This if from the Key 3 letter.  After the youth membership standard change, there was a net loss, I suspect that this will result in the same.

 

The national Key 3 and others consulted with major religious organizations following the National Annual Meeting in May on the subject of adult leadership standards. Scout executives from across the country urged national leadership to swiftly act on this matter in order to enhance recruitment prospects for new Scouts beginning this fall.