MaDDoG

I've avoided this thread up to this point, but there is a critical point that no one has acknowledged thus far:

 

The new membership standard states that "No youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone." Accordingly, simply stating he or she is attracted to the same sex, but not engaging in sexual activity, does not make a youth ineligible for membership.

 

Further, the new BSA policy states that any sexual conduct, whether homosexual or heterosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting.

Last, as always, BSA policy states that members cannot use Scouting as a vehicle for promoting a particular social or political agenda.

http://www.scouting.org/Training/Membership_Standards/faqs.aspx

Regardless of how the media, various individuals, COs, or even councils have interpreted it, the current membership policy does not allow actively gay youth. It allows youth that experience "same gender attraction".

It was on the inclusion of "any sexual conduct, whether homosexual or heterosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting" that made the change in membership policy acceptable to the Mormon and Catholic churches.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-responds-to-boy-scouts-of-america-policy-vote

http://www.catholicsun.org/2013/06/24/thoughts-for-catholics-impacted-by-the-boy-scouts-of-america-membership-policies/

We've already seen the LGBT community using "Scouting as a vehicle for promoting a particular social or political agenda." (read the posts above for examples).

Changing the membership policy to allow the "local option" may not be the final nail in the coffin for these two groups, but as noted in previous posts, a "local option" will not be sufficient to appease the activists in the LGBT community - and that will lead to the final nail  . The Mormon church is the #1 sponsor of youth in the program, approximately 427,000 youth. The Catholic church is the 3rd largest sponsor. What would the wholesale loss of these youth do to the longterm viability of the program as a whole?

The loss of 3-7% youth year over year will be nothing in comparison. Given the extremely patriarchal heirarchical nature of both of these churches, very few of the members will seek out a community troop to register their boys in. Feel free to say "goodbye and good riddance", but don't deny that this will have a huge effect on the program overall.

From the Guide to Advancement 2015:
 

The Scout may also want to take advantage of opportunities at merit badge fairs or midways, or at rock-climbing gyms or whitewater rafting trips that provide merit badge instruction. This is also acceptable..."

Teaching skills necessitates a "hands-on interactive experience", frequently "with personal coaching and guidance".
Requiring each scout to schedule and complete a personal meeting with a counselor forces them "to take responsibility for their own full participation.  If they show up to their meeting, and don't know their material, or are unable to demonstrate or show, or ... this is no different than how things work in the best of situations
 

When the Scout meets with the counselor, he should bring any required projects. If these cannot be transported, he should present evidence, such as photographs or adult verification...

Once a counselor has reviewed the signed Application for Merit Badge, he or she might begin with discussions about what the Scout already knows. This could be followed with coaching, guidance, and additional meetings, not only for passing the candidate on the requirements, but also to help him understand the subject.

 

Separating the group instruction from their personal meeting with a counselor is no different than a scout learning the information for any of the citizenship badges in their government  classes, attending a city council meeting with their troop, attending one of the US mints as part of a school trip, or whatever - it's a tool for them to learn them to learn the skills and knowledge necessary for completing the badge - nothing more, nothing less.

This model can - and already should be - used for completing merit badges at summer camp. At the end of the camp week, your counselors already should be having each scout individually show, demonstrate, explain, etc., bringing in their targets from the rifle range, or notes from EnviroSci, etc for a personal review of their efforts in completing the requirements.

Will this model lead to more partials? Mmm.... probably. But... - I don't see this as a problem (compared to scouts that are awarded a badge for attending, as is frequently currently done). What is more likely, is that you will have a scout that has a signed blue card from a scoutmaster, that hasn't been signed off for anything because they haven't taken the initiative to meet with a counselor.

I'm going to be ornery with this one. I am the District Advancement Chair for my district - and I have ZERO issues with a scheduled event - not a troop meeting - where a (or a group of) merit badge counselor(s) teach all of the information and skills for a merit badge.

Once the event is finished, the scouts then need to meet one-on-one (in full view of of other scouts/parents/leaders, blah blah blah) with the counselor, and then demonstrate, explain, show, etc. the counselor what they individually actually know. That is the right way to run a MB clinic, university, whatever.

A few years ago, I wanted to do a Hornaday project with our local cub pack.I visited with council, and no one had a clue. Eventually, our council advancement chair named himself our council conservation committee. I contacted national, asking for example unit projects that had been approved. What I got back doesn't quite fit the title an "olympics of conservation". Following the description from National, I actually did a lot of research into our project, and worked alongside our advisor, who is the director of a local organization similar to a water conservation district.

Assuming PM's work on this site (I only created an account to respond to this), send me a PM, and I'll share the three pack level projects and three troop level projects that National sent me, along with the writeup that I did for our pack project. We earned the first Hornaday Award (of any kind) ever awarded in our council.

MaD