Ranman328

The Scouter Forum was a place I could come to for advice in Scouting, sadly, lately all it has become is a forum to bash others and to turn their words around to bash some more. I am sad that all the changes in Scouting have resulted in other Scouters feel the need to berate other Scouters and make fun of their posts. People would start a post talking about one subject and others would make sure they change the subject to enable them to push their views. God forbid you site a BSA Regulation or Policy. That will get turned around into something that doesn't look anything familiar to what your post was. I hope things change on this page as it was a good place to get help. I will not be coming back as I have been beat up enough and for some reason the moderators do not feel the need to step in. Good Luck to all you Lifelong Scouters out there that truly love and enjoy the program. I for one will continue to keep my Troop moving in the direction that Lord Baden Powell envisioned.

First off my name isn't "Dude" Please show some respect and no I am not joking!!!!! I never said what he said I did and the Quote proves that as he still has not showed where I said that. I said disciplinary regarding the revocation of a Membership. I said nothing about a knife violation or two scouts getting in a fight or not agreeing with their patrol leader. I am so sick of you people taking everyone's posts out of context and adding your own spin and then bashing them. I thought you people were Scouts and Scouters. You act like a mob culture. Again Show me where I said it!!!

Please show me where I said that!!!!

They should have already been contacted immediately after the incident!

Well according to my documentation from our District Scout Executive that @David CO says I should not follow because it is unreliable, yes, you should have notified your District and Council that you revoked a Youth BSA Membership. This apparently protects them as well as others from them re-registering. Makes sense to me but apparently not to @David CO.

So you are telling me I should not contact or use the “PAID PROFESSIONAL SCOUTER” because they are unreliable? That is a ridiculous statement. Who do you recommend Adult Leaders Contact?

Never said they couldn’t revoke or suspend a Scout, I did say they had to notify District and Council.

Where are you getting this. I never said any of which you have stated above. I don’t think you would suspend a Scout for a disagreement or a knife incident or not cooperating with youth Leadership. You obviously have no training what so ever if you are going to put something like that in writing and maybe that is the reason why your Teoop would suspend a Scout for that. I suggest you read the Guide to Safe Scouting and review the forms in the back. I never said anything about notifying Council about any disciplinary decision. I said Revoking a Membership. Please read what I wrote before commenting!

@qwazse why do you always pick and choose partial phrases to fit your narrative. I NEVER said council was to be involved in the suspension process. I said they have to be notified of a suspension.

I am very sorry you went through this. As a Scoutmaster and former Unit District Commissioner, I think some Adult Scouters jumped the gun. Ok. Unless there was a previous incident, they should have sat down the Scouts involved with the most Senior Scout and fixed it at camp without sending plScouts home. Suspension is uncalled for. I suggest you move in and find a troop that actually functions in the Patrol Method.

Per our District Scout Executive the Guide to Safe Scouting states that if a Scout's membership is revoked for any reason and yes a suspension counts as a revocation, you are to notify Council immediately along with providing the Youth Protection/Membership Incident Information Form.

Per the National Capital Area Council, which is my council, you must notify District and Council of any disciplinary actions taken by the troop to a scout. Not sure what area you are from but this according to them has been BSA Policy for years. If a Scout is a first time offender or is involved in a fight, I find it sad that a Troop would just suspend that scout without sitting him and his parents down for a discussion first. Just my opinion.

Yes, I agree, some of these responses are scary. Already knowing from your previous post what happened, I think the punishment was quite drastic and severe. I don't know any Troop that suspends a Scout without having District involved. Most problems are handled in house and based on the Troop Guidelines, there should have been at least a warning and discussion with the Parents. Being removed from Camp early is also a punishment. My question would be was the camp notified about the removal? Was your District and or Council notified? If not, that is another problem. Maybe this Troop is not that well run with properly trained leaders. I would never want to just dismiss a scout with no help. Kids today, NEED Scouting. My two cents would be to go visit new Troops. Your Son's membership shouldn't have expired until December 31 anyway so they should be able to pull the records back and get him in the system like there was never any interruption.

I disagree. If BSA wants to push the Girl Programs, they should be ready, willing and able to assist in supporting these "Inexperienced Adults". Pushing more responsibilities onto the already stretched "Volunteer" Scouters is irresponsible. They knew this was coming out over a year ago. They should have planned better and got these adults signed up trained and put into already established Troops to shadow how things are done. This thread is about an already established Troop with inexperienced Adults that have come in and think they know better than the years long scouters. Honestly, you can't compare the 1907 Scouting Program with the 2017 Scouting program. That is disrespectful to the thousands of Scouters, Adults and Youth that built the program. I have been pestered relentlessly about a Girl Program at my Charter Organization. My answer: I can't get enough adults to come out to my events now, I certainly don't have time to start a new girl Troop. Again, poor planning on the Councils and Districts. Maybe if they spent less time on beating up Troops about donating more to "Friends of Scouting" and more time on the new Girl Program, we wouldn't b in as bad of shape.

ok whatever. You just don't get it!

When I was in a Pack, the Pack paid the dues of the leaders. It was only $15 then. The Troop I am in now, the adults pay their own way.

Here is the problem. One of your other posts you say there is "No Liability" but the above post suggests you don't always follow YPT rules. That was my point. Be careful because BSA will leave you out in the cold the first chance they get if you don't follow the YPT. I know this first hand. Our old SM/ASM was forced to quit Scouting, Retire from his Government Job and spend thousands of dollars to defend himself in court. BSA didn't lift a hand to help. Just be careful. My $ .02.

@qwazse, I never said he violated anything. What I did say is that if it was @CodyMiller351 and one other ASM, it would be a problem. I do not agree with this new YPT rule as I feel if you are over 18 and can serve this country then you can run a Troop or Pack. I am not sure what the letter of the G2SS has to do with this.

@CodyMiller351, I am going to have to agree with @David CO. According to BSA regulations you must be 21 years of age to be the Scoutmaster. With the new YPT2 rules, you wouldn't even count toward the two deep leadership yet as the rules state "two 21 year old registered" adults. I understand you are doing the job but there is a risk involved. Trust me when I say this, if something happens and there are only two of you, BSA will not cover or protect you. I know this by personally watching it happen to an Assistant Scoutmaster with over 40 years of experience in BSA. You can get a lot of advice here on this forum but I would encourage you to read up of the rules and regulations of BSA before going out. I only have 15 years of Scouting Experience and I am learning something new all the time. Good Luck.

Our Troop uses Coleman Sundome 3 ($39 each) and Sundome 4 ($47 each) tents. I have three Alps Mountaineering (Merimac 2 and 3 and a Taurus 4). I love the Alps Mountaineering for having two doors but the thin floor material worries me if we used it for the Troop. We just had to do a Troop re-training on how to maintain equipment. Each of our Patrols (we have three patrols with 8 Scouts each) has one 4-man and five 3-man tents. They are responsible for maintaining these tents, which they didn't. Now, we have four tents that were not aired out and have mold in them. Guess what, the PL now has to assign a scout to take it home and take it to Laundromat to get the mold out and make sure it is dry before returning it. The Coleman tents work great for us are several years old and you can get replacement parts cheap. Many times three boys will stay in one tent and use a second for equipment and changing.

I have been a stickler for years to wear the uniform. Now I do not think everyone needs to go out and buy the $40 Scout pants from BSA as I feel they are over priced. In our Troop, we refer to "Scout like " pants. These cargo type pants can be purchased at Walmart, Amazon and various other places for around $15. Once a Scout gets to First Class Rank, they should think about wearing the complete uniform. In our Troop, we have Scout Accounts and many fundraisers for the Scouts to earn funds. We allow the Scouts to be reimbursed for equipment and uniforms items as we know not all families have the funds to purchase these items.

Is it me or does it seem like this is becoming all about getting the Eagle Badge. I do believe Lord Baden Powell said "We must change boys from what can I get to what can I give" I think that says it all. I am uncomfortable with all the talk about how fast can I get my Eagle. Maybe go out and learn some very important skills and learn how to become a good leader and quit worrying about what can I get. Just my $.02

I will have to agree with denibug72. Our District just had a scout complete his Eagle Project and it was a Flag Retirement Ceremony. His Father already had over 75 trash bags filled with flags in his garage. If you google Eagle Projects, you will find some very "thin" projects. Another Scout in our District installed a single flag pole with 36 bricks in a circle around it. I think if done right, this project could turn out well. I do wonder if the old rule about how it helps out the Charter Organization still applies. But then again, if you have a large Troop, you can only do so many projects. I have three Eagle Projects coming up and they all depend on the other project being completed.

SFF, I would appreciate it if you would not take my comment out of context. I never said "ALL" boys would do this. You are going from one end of the spectrum to the other. The fact is that this was not just one Scout. Several other Scouts sat by watched and did nothing! These other scouts are apparently in the PLC. Please retract your statement. Thank you!

This is kind of where I was going as how are these Scouts going to treat others. Apparently @SFF doesn't like the fact that I have grouped these boys into a group and has berated me for it but I find it upsetting that an SPL and the PLC would conduct themselves in this manner. You appear to think along the same lines as me as this can become a behavior and would have probably become worse had they not been caught.