Jump to content

MrBob

Members
  • Content Count

    196
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    6

Posts posted by MrBob

  1. This immediately jumped out at me:

     

     

    I contacted the treasurer, who is also the spouse of the pack master to let her know.  She said she would fix the problem. One week later, the funds have still not been added.

     

     

    Is the Cubmaster's spouse providing you and the rest of the Committee with an accurate monthly accounting of all the funds in the Pack's bank account and of all expenses paid?  Have you seen the bank statements?

     

    Color me paranoid, but... I'm a unit Treasurer myself.

    • Upvote 1
  2. You can teach Scouts in your Troop, or any troop, or even non-Scouts, just about anything you'd care to.  Good on you for offering!

     

    Obviously, the registered Merit Badge Counselor would have to sign off as each Scouts completes each requirement, but there's no rule saying the MBC is the sole deliver-er of knowledge.  You'd just be the "guest instructor".

     

    :)

    • Upvote 1
  3. Adults cannot set rank or age requirements for MBs. Perhaps getting the cooking MB might inspire him.

     

    Merit badge counselors can't alter the requirements of the merit badge itself, but they most certainly CAN decline to work with anyone, for any reason.

     

    Unless he has all the T/2/1 cooking requirements already done - and if he's barely a Scout, I doubt it - that should be his primary focus, IMO.

     

     

    My son is almost done with his Scout rank and has not had any merit badge opportunities yet.

     

     

    Your son needs to make his own opportunities.  There's 145 merit badges to choose from.  Pick one.  This isn't cub scouts - things aren't going to be handed to him because he's cute and he showed up to a meeting.

     

     

    Or is the organizer just trying to weed out the younger ones for his own convenience?

     

     

     

    So what if he is?  Its his prerogative as the counselor.  BSA "frowns on" group merit badge workshops, anyways.

     

    If your son really wants to stick it in their eye, he should contact a Cooking MBC on his own, and try to complete the badge before the "group" does.

  4. Pretty much agree with the Stoshster on this one...  the only time I have more than just the "Unit Copy" piece of a blue card is after Summer Camp, and that's only because they tend to get wadded up in backpacks along with dirty socks, and then windup going through the wash.

     

    If a Scout come up to me during a troop meeting and says, "Mr. Bob, I'm done with my Hiking merit badge - here's my blue card", I pop the perforation and hand back his copy immediately.

    • Upvote 1
  5. If you want to know how a "disputed circumstances EBOR" is going to work out in the end, you need to talk to your District Executive or our council's Scout Executive.  Nobody here is going to be able to answer that, because nobody here is under your Council's reporting structure or knows the people involved.

     

     

    At the end of the day, Zuzy, you need to fish or cut bait.  Either your son goes the "disputed circumstances" route and then goes to a new troop, or he goes to a new troop and finishes up his Eagle there.  Pick one, and let us know how it turns out.

  6. That sounds nice.  But do you mean, from Day One?  So as soon as the boy walks in the door you are simultaneously encouraging him to work on Scout-to-First Class, merit badges, Mile Swim, STEM award, 50 Miler, Hornaday Medal, and all the rest of the things in the back of the handbook?  I doubt it.  Why would you?  Some things are designed to be done very early in the Scout's career.  I would encourage doing those first.  I'm not suggesting that anything the boy is eligible for should be placed off limits.  What I am talking about is guiding a young man to follow a logical path, especially if the young man is prone to distractions, as so many are at the age of 10.  Maybe there are some Scouts who can "do it all" right out of the gate.  But for most of them, I am concerned that trying to do too much at first will result in completing nothing at all, leading to frustration.  Let them get a little older and more sure of themself first.

     

    reductio ad absurdum

  7. It's one thing to permit a Scout to work on something, which as Hedgehog says, the leaders don't have a choice about.  It is another thing to encourage.  I personally don't think it's a good idea to encourage an easily distracted 10-year-old who hasn't reached the first rung on the ladder to be working on something that is a requirement for the FIFTH rank he is going to earn.  It is not a matter of prohibiting something. 

     

    I think leaders (adult and youth) should actively and positively encourage Scouts to participate in all aspects of the program.

  8. On the topic of "ambush questions"...  if your district/council has a tendency to behave like this (on occasion) and you're aware of the types of "gotcha" questions they ask, why not take advantage of that and slip a few of those situations into the Scouts Life and Star BORs ?

     

    I'm not suggesting that you intentionally ambush your younger scouts... rather, introduce the concept by asking them how they'd respond to, or feel about, a line of questioning that impunes their knowledge, experience, or capability, and then discuss how to deal with it calmly without having an emotional meltdown.  

  9.  If you ask people what the makes a boy a Boy Scout they will most likely mention camping, integrity and leadership.  A pretty good brand if you ask me. 

     

    As important to our future as strong education is Mathematics and Engineering is, I don't believe I have ever met a youth (or a parent) who joined Scouting for its STEM presence, or for the sedentary pencil-twiddling that is the first four requirements of just about every merit badge now.

    • Upvote 1
  10. Eagle Requirement 2: "Demonstrate that you live by the principles of the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your daily life...."

     

    Who signs off on that requirement? 

     

    BSA Guide to Advancement

     

    4.2.1.2 The Scout Is Tested

     

    The unit leader authorizes those who may test and pass the Scout on rank requirements. They might include his patrol leader, senior patrol leader, an assistant unit leader, another Scout, or the unit leader himself.

     

     

    "Unit leader" means Scoutmaster, in the context of Boy Scout advancement.

  11. Stosh, you haven't answered the question.  Do you advise the boys that they should give long answers to reduce the number of questions?

     

    I think the defendant has made it abundantly clear that he counsels the youth in his charge to give "complete" answers to questions, rather than simple "yessah" or "nosah" mumblings, to reduce the number of follow-up inquiries such that the review process can move along expeditiously. 

    • Upvote 1
×
×
  • Create New...