Jump to content

krikkitbot

Members
  • Content Count

    201
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Posts posted by krikkitbot

  1. There seems to be a consensus on this forum that it is very important for scouts to stay with their friends.  I find this interesting because I don't see this happening so much in sports.  

     

    Most boys choose a sports team based on the activity and the quality of the program, not on whether or not their friends will be on the same team.  In fact, most youth sports programs don't even bother to consider the boys' friendships when the divide up the teams.

     

    Youth athletes seem to be more adventurous and resilient when it comes to meeting new people and making new friends.

     

    I actually think this is one of the reason sports programs are so successful in competing with scouting.  Many parents want their boys to step out of their comfort zone a little bit.

     

    I think that's because there is this misguided belief that kids are going to get an athletic scholarship and go on to be the next millionaire athlete. 

     

    Scouting is more of a social development program in which kids hang out with their friends and learn leadership and citizenship in the process. Eagle rank might get them some preferential treatment in applications but people don't associate people's success to them having become an eagle scout. There are plenty of successful individuals who were never scouts but very few professional athletes who were not in the pee wee leagues. 

     

    My point is, that, in my opinion, it's best for the scout to have the support group of his friends as he moves from cubs to scouts. 

  2.  

    Other sports have actually increased...dramatically. Look at the total pool of kids involved in sports...not just a few sports. While kids may not be wrestling that much, the boys are doing other sports.

     

    No, Col. The number of boys doing sports overall decreased by 8,600 while girls increased by 20,000. That's for all sports not just wrestling. 

     

    So girls are getting more involved while boys are getting less involved. 

  3. As for Venturing being an option, I have some questions.

     

    How many of the boy scouts in your troops come into it without first having been a cub scout?

     

    How many venturers come into it without first having been a boy scout?

     
    While recruiting older kids sounds great, if you don't get them interested in scouting while they are young, it becomes harder and harder to get them as they get older. By that point, they will most likely have developed other interests. 
  4. Some is a relative term and even then imply a smallish number.  I applaud the ability to have this option in the realm of sports, but I would also fight hard to preserve the other option as well.

     

    Ok, here are specific numbers:

     

    "Washington, California, Texas, Hawaii and Tennessee have sanctioned girls wrestling at the high school level. There are 39 states that allow girls to wrestle on boys teams, and 11,496 girls competed in high school wrestling in 2014-15, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations’ most recent statistics." http://www.denverpost.com/2017/02/15/chsaa-sanctioning-girls-wrestling/

     

    Also, I think excluding girls from participation in programs comes with the risk of decreased participation overall:

     

    "Because fewer male athletes took to the wrestling mat and football field this past season, the NFHS' overall participation numbers indicate 8,682 fewer boys participated in high school sports overall in 2014-15, while the number of girls athletes increased by 20,071." https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/14772

  5. No reasons I can think of. I've only been Scoutmaster for two months, but yes I have enough camping nights. Maybe I will be nominated, perhaps I will not. I just want the boys who are OA to be involved and have an adult to get them to events. Too much sash-and-dash going on.

     

    I may have upset a few folks by missing events to staff a WB course twice in the last three years. WB is frowned upon, as if you are collaborating with the enemy at Council. (LOTS of ancient hard-feelings the locals can't let go of).

     

    How dare you go on and provide training and leadership for others?? Don't you know the Scout Motto? Do a good turn daily but only for your unit. ;)

     

    I think that since you were selected SM recently, the committee might be over whatever grudge they had against you... unless they chose to make you SM as a punishment. :D Either way, talk to your CC and tell them you'd like to be nominated so that you can lead by example. I think scouts get a kick when they find out adults have to go through the ordeal just the same as they do. And you will earn mad props from them if you go back to elangomat and do it all over again. 

     

    Congrats on the promotion!

  6. I could care less about OA. If they went coed it might actually make the local Lodge here work again.

     

    You still miss the point: Girls have plenty of avenues open to them -- some which exclude boys -- that are just as good or better than Boy Scouts in what they are allowed to do.

     

    So I will ask again, what is the POINT of opening Boy Scouts to girls? What does it get them they are being denied elsewhere or through Venturing?

     

     

    Speaking of picking and choosing.

    • Upvote 1
  7. I am the Scoutmaster but I'm not an OA member. Interestingly enough. I fumed-out as a scout and have been back in Scouting as an adult for 7 years, 3 with the troop.

     

    What's keeping you from joining the OA now? Your nomination does not count against the numbers. Have you camped 15 nights in the last 2 years? (I'm betting that you have camped 15 nights in the last year ;)) Have the committee submit your name! :)

  8. It is a rolling two years. So for example, if your unit election is in February 20, 2017 the two year cycle is from Feb 20, 2015 to Feb 20, 2017. They must have the required camping within that time frame.

     

    I think you should ask your OA Lodge your question. In my Lodge that would not count. You get to pick which long term camp applies; Summer Camp 1 or Summer Camp 2. They won't allow you to combine long term camps to make one whole one.

     

    The requirement is 5 consecutive nights for the long-term requirement to be met. If they don't meet that, they don't qualify...even if they have 30 nights for the year.

     

    "The 15 nights must include one, but no more than one, long-term camp consisting of at least five consecutive nights of overnight camping, approved and under the auspices and standards of the Boy Scouts of America. Only five nights of the long-term camp may be credited toward the 15-night camping requirement."

     

    Unless I'm misreading his statement, the ASM in question only camped 3 nights of the second summer cam therefore that is not long term camping. 

  9. Read what Venturing Crew can do that Boy Scout units can't. Snowmobiles, pistols, and a few other things that Boy Scouts are not allowed to do. So yes, coed units can do more than boys in Boy Scout units. Here's the list in case it was not known to you.

     

    That's kind of a backwards argument. Cub Scouts can do activities 1-5; Boy Scouts can do activities 5-9; Venturing 8-15. Boys can therefore do 1-15 while girls can only do 8-15. Just because 8-15 are the most fun, it does not mean they have MORE opportunities. They have FEWER. 

  10. Do the 15 camping nights in the previous 2 years still apply? If so, I have a question. If an ASM has 5 long term nights, 9 regular camping nights, and tented for only 3 of the 5 days at a second summer camp, does at least 1 night at the second summer camp qualify? That would give them the 15 needed to be considered.

     

    Thanks!

     

    Is this ASM going to provide service to the OA? Will he/she be an asset to the boys? If so, I wouldn't hesitate to nominate him/her. 

  11.  

    Even the world of sports still is a bastion of male/female separation that has always had the option for co-ed.  Yet, one does not see co-ed as being a chosen choice very often.  But when it is chosen, it is acceptable, net not much in the schools, community and professional levels.  I have yet to see professional wrestling or ultimate boxing pitting male against female.  The choice is there, the famous tennis match between King and Riggs was viewed more as a joke than serious sports.

     

    Some sports like wrestling are now co-ed and some girls are doing great in tournaments. 

  12.  

    BSA also has opportunities for girls. Venturing, Varsity, STEM, etc., are all open to girls, so even BSA is not being exclusive or discriminating...though many would have you think they are. They have one group, Boy Scouts, dedicated to boys. So girls, while being excluded from joining Boy Scouts, still have the SAME opportunity for adventure, outdoor program, STEM and other things as they'd have if Boy Scouts was open to girls. They can do everything Boy Scouts can do. Strike that, the can do MORE than Boy Scouts can do...they just cannot get Eagle.

     

     

    I'm not too familiar with how they are running the STEM program. The other programs are open to girls who are 14+ and even then, there are exclusions. Male venturers can join OA but females can't because...envelope please... OA is a BOY scout program and girls are not allowed in our clubhouse until they turn 21 and register as adults. 

  13.  

    So one has to ask: Why MUST we open Boy Scouts? Is it for Eagle? Is it for something else?

     

    100 years ago, there were also men's clubs and women were only allowed to hold a handful of jobs. I'd like to think we have advanced as a society a little bit since then. 

     

    Then again, there are countries now where women aren't allowed to go to school or drive a car anymore even though they were allowed to before the ultraconservatives took over. Maybe that is preferable to some. 

  14. I'm a former board member at a charter school. A charter school is a public school with some freedom in curriculum and staffing. However, you still have to follow the same rules as public schools. 

     

    Ultimately they can try to restrict membership. They can do it overtly or covertly (not promote the troop outside of the school, etc.) but I would strongly advice against it and would encourage them to consult with their attorney before doing so. 

     

    A charter school is a business. Its primary purpose is education but it also needs to attract members of the community to choose to send their kids there. What kind of message does it send to say we don't want your kids to mingle with our kids? Would you want to send your kids there?

  15. I didn't see this post before.  I guess this is going to be sort of Part 2 to my answer to your other question.

     

    A "public charter" school may present an interesting question. I am somewhat unclear on the nature of these schools in terms of public vs. private.  Are they public schools or private schools?  I know they receive public funds through tuition for the students paid for by the public school districts, but in and of itself that does not make it a public school.  If, for example, an office-supply company sold exclusively to public schools, all of its revenue would be derived from public funds, but that still wouldn't make it a publicly owned company.  I suspect that a "public charter" school would be classified as "private", but I am not certain.  If I am correct, they could be a CO of a BSA unit.  Even so, a better move might be to have a "parents organization" be the CO but still meet in the school.  I suspect your DE can be helpful in this area.

     

    As for your question about sports teams, chess club, etc.:  If it is a PUBLIC school, the football team cannot exclude atheists, nor can the chess team, marching band, robotics club, etc.  The difference between those teams and clubs, and a Cub Scout pack or Boy Scout troop, is that the BSA says its units MUST exclude atheists.

     

    Charter Schools are considered public schools. There are no prohibitions against allowing religious groups to use the facilities. The issue is that the school may not say some are allowed and others aren't. If they open the doors for one group, they must open them to all. Some schools get around this by not allowing ANY groups the use of their facilities. 

  16. What bsa policy allows an SM to ban elections totally. I'd like to see that in writing.

     

     

    The Scoutmaster or Varsity Scout Coach holds the responsibility of certifying a Scout’s eligibility before placement on an Order of the Arrow election ballot. The unit leader’s certification is as of the date of the election, and any Scout who meets the camping and other requirements as of that date should be listed on the election ballot. This approval is not one of preferential treatment or specific selection for membership rooted in the unit leader’s own vision, but one of qualifying a candidate for eligibility. By including a Scout’s name on the list of those whose names should appear on an election ballot, the unit leader certifies that: 

     

    • The Scout is a currently registered active member of the troop or team 
    • The Scout exhibits Scout spirit by living in accordance with the Scout Oath and Law 
    • The Scout fulfills all other Order of the Arrow membership requirements Clearly, the unit leader’s approval is earned through merit in Scouting. 

     

    The unit leader has two roles with the OA: an administrative certification that the objective requirements are met and a more judgment-oriented one with the Scout spirit requirement that the Scout, in his or her opinion, has been a “good Scout†and lives up to the obligations taken in the Scout Oath and Scout Law. This requirement helps to uphold the high standard that OA membership warrants.

     

    http://www.oa-bsa.org/uploads/publications/GuideToUnitElections2015.pdf

  17. My biggest challenges so far are:

     

    Being an ASM who wants to work the Patrol Method in a troop that is very comfortable with the Troop Method. (I've looked through every piece of literature and can't find Troop Method training anywhere ;) )

     

    Dealing with adults and youth leaders who eagerly will do something for the scouts because they can do it faster and better instead of letting the scouts try.

     

    Lastly, fear. Fear that if I do become scoutmaster (which is a possibility in the near future) and move the troop more to a boy-led patrol method, we will lose families who have been used to the "smooth" operations of an adult-led troop method operation. 

  18. I am not sure what "different" means in post #6.  The Boy Scouts of America requirement says:

     

    9. Show experience in camping by doing the following:

     

    a. Camp a total of at least 20 nights at designated Scouting activities or events. One long-term camping experience of up to six consecutive nights may be applied toward this requirement. Sleep each night under the sky or in a tent you have pitched. If the camp provides a tent that has already been pitched, you need not pitch your own tent.

     

    b. On any of these camping experiences, you must do TWO of the following, only with proper preparation and under qualified supervision.

    (1) Hike up a mountain where, at some point, you are at least 1,000 feet higher in elevation from where you started.

    (2) Backpack, snowshoe, or cross-country ski for at least 4 miles.

    (3) Take a bike trip of at least 15 miles or at least four hours. 

    (4) Take a nonmotorized trip on the water of at least four hours or 5 miles.

    (5) Plan and carry out an overnight snow camping experience.

    (6) Rappel down a rappel route of 30 feet or more.

    I tried to delete my post right after posting it and couldn't. I misread the requirements and noticed my error as I hit post. I tried to edit and remove it but it seems like it still posted. 

     

    Mea Culpa

×
×
  • Create New...