Back Pack

Explain the financial goal/need.

 

Allow scouts and their families flexibility  - scout pays (has jobs), family pays (opt-out), and/or scout participates in troop fundraisers.

 

Fundraising fatigue is real. Many of our unit parents want one upfront unit fee/year and pay as you go for activities and awards. Can't understand them, our unit has only six different fundraisers a year, oops forgot FOS, seven.

In our unit parents under 40 can't be bothered and just write a check. Parents over 40 force their kid to sell or get a job.

ROFL, tell them no money no activities. Done.

Anyone have a unit that refrains from posting pictures of the kids on social media because of privacy concerns for the children? Or is it not even a thought? With all the Youth Protection Training and Cyber Chip training the BSA pushes, you'd think that posting photos of minors on social media like facebook, which 1. has to be public to comply with YPT so anyone and everyone in the world can see the photos and 2. subjects the boys to facial recognition software, identity theft, etc.... using facebook to share photos of the boys would be discouraged, or at least require parental consent. Thoughts?

 

There's no way to hide anyone's identity anymore. There's too much out there and if someone wants to track down someone based on a photo they can.

 

That said, you can limit exposure and comply with the BSA social media guidelines. Don't tag anyone in photos. Don't use full names if you use names at all. Keep your group closed. We asked for clarification from BSA because their policy says no closed groups, which is exactly what our district has. It's also what most websites like ScoutBook or SOAR are. Same with google drives or photo sharing sites like Shutterfly. They replied back with "as long as the site is open to the parents of the unit and follow the BSA two-deep policy" we can use such groups.

 

I'd recommend you contact BSA to get them to tell you this too, but we use closed groups and follow their policy to the letter.

 

If you have any parents who are concerned ask them if they post to social media or if their kids have gaming accounts. I'd be willing to bet any steps you'd take to secure the boys' identity is far greater than the average parent takes to do the same.

This term "cultural appropriation" is something I have not known about for very long, in fact I think I first heard it in this forum.  For those who actually use and it and "mean it", I don't think "appropriation" is meant in the neutral sense, I think it is uniformly meant in the "negative" sense, i.e. appropriation = stealing.  That being the case, I think that what is meant is DISrespectful use of cultural elements, not respectful use.  So drinking green beer on St. Patty's Day if you're Italian or Polish, or eating at Taco Bell if you're Jewish (or, I suppose, eating a bagel with lox if you aren't) is not "stealing" or "disrespecting" anything.  Some uses of Native American cultural elements, may be.  (I express no opinion on the OA, it has been eons since I participated.)

You need to spend more time on college campuses.

 

You're disrespecting Mexicans if you call Taco Bell Mexican food. One local college was forced to end their concession contract with them because of such rants from those calling Taco Bell shameful for stealing Mexican heritage. Ironically the reporter covering the protest was of Mexican decent. Had the kids she interviewed had never been to Mexico nor could they identify what was non-Mexican about Taco Bell food.

This was announce back in 2014 and whitely released this Jan. They have a course at the Scout Museum in Irving.

 

http://www.usscouts.org/mb/mb159.aspm

They don't the uniform isn't even required, but try going to Jamboree without one then you'll hear about it.

Well maybe not a code but there's an insignia guide for a reason which states who and how the patch can be worn. I suspect the intention there is that people, if wearing the uniform, wear it correctly. Otherwise they wouldn't have one.

I suspect it's much like leash laws. Most adhere to it because it's the law. Others do what they want and don't care.

I'm curious about something. If you support Boy Scouts going coed, why do you feel the need to wrestle open BOY Scouts? Can't you just start a Venturing crew and change THAT organization the way you want to see it? I mean, if you want to change something why kick over someone else's sand castle. Why not build your own out of the skeleton that exists in Venturing?

Why have a uniform code then?

FWIW, the only youth I've met who has read (a translation of) Scouting for Boys cover-to-cover is my female exchange student from Italy.

Did she think it was a guide to finding boys?

 

Good for her. I would have found it too dry as a teenager.

You can rotate adults in and out all week long. You only need two: One 21+ (registered) and an 18+.  Have the 18+ fill out an adult application and keep it "on file" for the week.   See who's available what days/nights and develop a schedule.  We've done it for years.

Well that's not entirely true.

 

- You must have a minimum of one "trained" adult SM at all times. So that means an ASM that has IOLS and Leader-specific training. In some councils and camps they also need other training.

- According to your tour plan you need one person on site at all times with first aid training, weather hazards, and cpr/aed.

- You have to keep a 1:10 adult to Scout ratio. I've seen camp require 1:8 or less.

- All adults must have valid YPT. Some councils require face-to-face YPT. Some camps require a minimum of four adults.

 

As long as you have these points covered with folks rotating in, you're valid as far as BSA is concerned. If not, well, let's hope nothing goes wrong. I've seen adults and troops kicked out for not having these things.

I have no doubt the recently large drop is due to the membership change. But I have no idea how this will effect things in the long term. Yes, it's been bad for 3 years. But I'm not talking about what has happened in the past 3 years. I'm talking about what has happened over the past 50 years. The numbers have been going down for one reason or another since the 60s even though the population has gone up nearly 40% in that time frame. I don't know what the scout membership was in the 60's but it's a lot more than now and it should have been going up, not down.

Well there's more stuff in school and sports and church to be involved in. There's select sports. Heck Rec sports essentially don't exist because everyone now is "select". There's a bowling alley, arcade or other type of venue on just about every corner of suburbia. Your TV 10,000 channels. If that's not enough you have Netflix and Hulu. Oh, and your TV is now handheld and you can carry with you everywhere, as they guy watching the ODU game in the stall next to me to Wing Stop can attest to. Gaming is now a profession. Should I go on with the changes to free time that have exploded in the last twenty years that would take away from Scouting?

 

Folks simply have too much to choose from. Scouting -- and simply being outdoors -- simply is seen as boring compared to all of this stuff. If being on top of the Tooth rafting down the New River doesn't make one's heart beat faster you're probably dead...or a gamer.

Someone on ScoutBook had good advice. If the hours would qualify for the service awards below, then they would apply for rank advancement.

Have not found any official distinction.

 

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/OutdoorProgram/ConservationAndEnvironment/Conservation_Awards_and_Recognitions.aspx

I find it ironic that many of those who push for "just" or "fair" causes continue to advocate for other divisive policies. If we are going to give true equity a chance (allow girls to make Eagle), then let's remove all other barriers as well. No more college apps that require sex, age, race, religion or other such questions. Take people based solely on blind scores and outside activities.

 

Why won't that ever happen? Because they want to suppress those they fear are "privileged". Do that and I don't care if you open up Scouting. But we all know that will never happen. This movement is about taking down religious, male, conservative institutions.

 

https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/equity.jpg

I'd leave. This is far more problem than it's worth and it's affecting the pack. Anyone who'd let a den drop from 15 to 5 does not have the boys' best interest at heart. Find another pack as a den. Let the pack die. It will anyway.

Yeah I'm not a fan of things that take away from guy's doing all this during troop events. Sounds nice and all but seems another way for guys to avoid going camping outdoors. I'd prefer our guys do it while camping.

“A house built on lies has a weak foundation.â€

 

― Brom, Krampus: The Yule Lord

 

I think this the core of the argument that the future of BSA is going to build upon.

 

Drop the "BOY" from BSA and go co-ed and get honest with scouting once more.  This halfway position built on lies continues to crumble into a slow death anyway.

I thought you were quoting that guy Krampus that used to be on here.

If you said the Scouts should get off their backsides and earn the money to go where they want, I would agree, a Scout is Thrifty.

But if a Unit is not running properly and the adults are unable/unwilling to make the changes to run the troop correctly the perhaps it is time to speak with the Unit Commissioner or District Executive and have them explain troop operations to the committee.

Try to find other troops willing to let your boys tag along. This may solve the problem. We always allow other Scouts to join us.

But, is the SPL wrong? How? By being cost conscious? What seems like a couple of extra bucks for some can break the bank of others. Save $ on summer camp = one more weekend camping or working on an MB to offset what the cheap cussing camp doesn't offer.

Pro tip: When told "all of the boys" want X, a good working assumption is that your son and his closest friends want it, the rest are probably ambivalent. To the boys, "Tough. Next time elect an SPL who will respectfully dig his heels in and represent you to the committee."

Boys do planning, not adults.

 

Camp too far, have a fund raiser to pay for gas.

 

Adults leaving camp and not sleeping there, are the covering two deep and the proper ratio?

 

Adults too lazy to give up a week? Go as a contingent with another troop.

 

There's all sorts of options here which does lead to Adult Scouts of America ruining what should be a boy led program.

LOL...if they had attempted a coup we would have gladly handed them the keys to leadership and saved outlrselves 30hrs a month of volunteer time.

It's called Boy Scouts for a reason. The troop committee missed the memo. They're wrong.

The way I run the Merit Badge is to have an hour preparation session where they plan the "outdoor" menus and develop their shopping lists, a one-day session that runs from 8:00 until 5:30 where they cook three meals in the outdoors.  For breakfast, we cover knife skills and make bacon and egg omlets / scrambles.  Between breakfast and lunch we discuss and demonstrate.  For lunch, we grill sausages over a fire.  After lunch, they start cooking dinner.  The dinners involve a dutch oven main course and a dutch oven dessert.  Selections have been chicken pot pie, Italian short ribs, barbeque spare ribs, vegan chili, lasagna, beef stew, chicken caccatori and more.  Desserts have been apple pies, brownies, chocolate layer cakes, cheesecakes and cobblers.  The sides have included home make cole slaw, apple sauce made from apples, caesar salad with homemade dressing (including anchovie paste), cornbread, biscuits, noodles and linguini.  We then have an hour follow-up meeting to cover the career requirement (and anything else we didn't cover).

 

I give credit for any backpacking cooking they have done previously -- they just need to do the menu.  If they haven't gone backpacking yet, they have at least two opportunities a year in the Troop.  They also need to cook for their parents and turn in that menu.  At that point, they are done.

While a nice idea, where's the eating as patrol? To me this sounds like shoe horning the requirements to fit a one day session n

Money bet he's one of the Council folks who voted for the change. Big surprise.

 

Let's poll his COs and members to see how they feel.

Who are we to not honor what people want to be called? Wouldn't want to marginalize anyone.

 

BTW, I feel like royalty, so for now on you can address me as, "My Lord". It's how I feel. 

Now THAT'S funny!

I've read the pages and not sure what the topic is. Did I miss something?

@@Sentinel947, if one uses a new scout patrol run by an adult (which is the case where I live), that's not Boy Scouts, that's Cub Scouts. So there are cases where the type of patrol would matter, no? That is if one wants to be true to the concepts of Scouting.