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Sentinel - you are absolutely correct, that is what people are telling me. But what they are not telling me is what rules they are breaking. They are telling me what they do not like, what is distasteful, what is obnoxious. So far no one has put forth any credible actionable information to show anyone breaking any rules. RedEdit post and Google searches will not hold up for that, unless they lead to specific information. If you want to make a rule banning boys from taking off their shirts, the please do so. If you want to make a rule banning regalia, be my guest. If said rules make sense, I'll

Turning a blind eye? That is more than a little insulting to people who care about scouting and scouts and are trying to make sure things are done right. And you become indignant toward people willing to help when: You can produce no names of abusers or victims no location of abuse no date of abuse no location Your only claim is to say Google it, you will find it There is just nothing you have pointed to that is actionable. That is like trying to find a specific grain of sand on a beach.

No Mic-O-Say is not associated or recognized by BSA or the OA. They are somehow affiliated with that camp, just like other organizations are affiliated with other Scout Camps, like ROTC units, Boys & Girls clubs etc. While what they do my be annoying or even offensive to some, as long as they don't break rules or policies, I am not sure what BSA can do without getting into more legal issues. I had already visited that site you linked to and I went again to see what I might have missed. There is nothing on that site that comes close to what you describe, at least not in recen

Normally when someone makes a claim with no references and tells me to go look it up, I ignore it. But, this is a serious subject so I did as you requested. As for Mic-O-Say, it is not associated with the OA or BSA. what they do I am not aware, nor how they manage being involved even tangentially to BSA camps. As for photos, I found nothing like you described. The closest were a couple of photos from 2014 where the scouts had loin cloths over shorts. I even searched Mic-O-Say's FB page and Googled them. And just in case I was missing something I turned off safe search in my br

I work with several national staff and national OA on a regular basis, I can guarantee they would want to know and it would cause an immediate reaction, particularly given the current headlines regarding BSA. I was on a 3 hour call last night with several national OA leaders, inductions and ceremonies were all we talked about. This type behavior would be hammered. Again, if it is being done then it needs to be spotlighted. Here is the thing, I visit Lodges frequently, I speak with leaders around the country. I am not seeing or heading of anything like this. So, if it is happening, p

I agree, this is violation of several policies. Please provide those locations and dates and I will gladly take it to national myself.

Ultimately that may come down to any limitations set by NOAC and what you Lodge needs in terms of its contingent. Initially, in 2018 there was limitation on number and ratio of adults to youth. Eventually, that was relaxed and maybe even removed. If that turns out not to be a consideration, and you have never been as an adult, it might be worth attending with the contingent to get a feel for the event from the "other side". There is also discussion on participants having an opportunity, or even a request, to volunteer a certain amount of time to ear the participation award. As

Only you can determine what is too much for you. That, or if you end up dropping the ball and others need to scale you back for the sake of the program. But, you certainly should not feel bad if you start to feel that way. You should strive for quality of service, not quantity. I have overloaded myself before by not saying "no" when asked to do something. Learn to say NO and not feel bad. Again, quality not quantity. When asked to take on a new role I ask myself a series of questions; Does my current service load feel to heavy (overwhelmed), is just about right, or cou

Will definitely be there, as will my son. Depending on his college schedule next fall it may be his last event as a youth, as he ages out a couple months later. So I am looking forward to being there with him. It is an outstanding event for fellowship. You will meet Arrowmen from all across the country (including from overseas). You will get exceptional insight into how the best ceremony teams perform. A very broad selection of training (NLS and DYLC are great, but more narrowly defined that what's at NOAC) Great Shows Plenty of activities for youth and adult -

Perhaps this is how your council runs, though I have my doubts. Many scout family's cannot afford FOS and other giving, and they do not. Even among those who can afford it, very few do give anyway. As for endowments, ours is no where near enough to run the council without any other funds, I suspect there is no council in that position. Yes, the fundraising does go to cover the professionals fees, but not just the DE's and SE. They go to cover the salaries of the registrar(s), accounting, rangers, program support. As for Scouts getting nothing for it, no in our case. The

What's in the past is in the past. Nothing will change the status of the paper Eagle. We had a similar situation in my council, we found out too late so the young mans Eagle status stood. However, if there is proof the Scoutmaster is still doing this, the council can and should disqualify him from continuing. He is failing BSA's mission "to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law." If they SE chooses not to take action they are failing the mission as well.

Curious take on your part considering many think you take on CO's is fringe/fanatic. Really, I have never hear of an IH that was not the head of the institution. But that does explain a great deal about your over zealous take on what a CO is.

yknot, I don't know what to tell you, it's a classic example of circular argument. Here, I will use your logic. I made a statement that you made a circular argument. You replied to explain/defend that it is not a circular argument. You doing so only proves you are wrong. That is a logical fallacy and a circular argument. But that is fine, we will just have to agree to disagree. Yes, the numbers have dropped. There are numerous reason that have been enumerated on this site and others. More dual income homes, more sports options, increased time spent in sports, more cl

That's a nice circular argument. So if you say something I disagree with, by posting a rebuttal I prove you correct? Here in lies the problem, youth have always had problems to deal with, they may be different problems, but that have always had issues starring them in the face. Do you think it was easier on the youth of the 1920's and 30's who lived through a depression, where the very existence of food and shelter was a daily question? What about the 1930's and 40's. where climate change was so bad parts of 3 states where just blown away by the wind, the constant thread of war. The 1

No we do not cancel for bad weather. We change plans for dangerous weather. No one has said there is never a reason to change or if need be cancel an outing. Being prepared is just that, being prepared to deal with bad weather and if necessary use alternative plans if weather is dangerous. No one said "never cancel". And it's a bad analogy. A coach can't say "we have a game scheduled 60 miles to the East, but there is heavy lightning there, so instead we are going to go 60 miles to the West where the weathers is great and play the game. A well prepared Scouting unit can. Fana

And who says the youth can't make the call to cancel? I know of a local troop that is big into hiking, their kids take great pride in it. Another that is into canoeing, and a crew that is big into backpacking. It's what they are excited about. The troops youth tell visiting cubs what they are about. Some of those cubs join that unit for that very reason. Other youth avoid them because it is not their thing. I know of a unit that has been keeping track of hiked miles for decades. They have board in their meeting place with milestones on it. Once a youth hits a milestone his name goes up o

Based on your post I am assuming it is a new or relatively new troop. You have some options. 1. Ask a nearby troop or crew to come and teach your troop skills. Older, more established units routinely do this. It helps their scouts meet requirements and it helps your troop out as well. 2. Ask the OA if they have some youth that would be willing to visits and teach skills. 3. Adults can teach with youth assistance. I see you are a Wood Badger, so you should have access to a number of adults that can come and train your scouts until they are ready to take on the training th

Oh, yes. We definitely had boys not prepared physically, But most still knew what they were getting into by talking to their troop mates. Girls just currently do not have that built in knowledge base for the most part. Additionally, most of those that were surprised we the adults - those that have had very little or no scouting experience prior to joining their current troop. Since they do not have other adults with OA experience, they just seemed to be taken off taken off guard about what the Ordeal experience is.

As we near the end (hopefully) of the bankruptcy and abuse case I want to look forward to where Scouting goes from here and what we, as volunteers, can do to help Scouting recover and hopefully thrive. Moving forward we will clearly have a leaner national structure, and most councils will have leaner structures as well. Some councils will not survive and be merged in with other councils. I am a firm believer in the Boy Scouts of America’s mission, aims and methods, and the Oath and Law. I don’t think there is any organization out there that does a better job of building character and

First, I was speaking of teasing between youth and youth, not adult and youth. Secondly, while boundaries are critical I would still disagree. I played college football for a team that is less than popular where I live now, over the years many of my Scouts have teased me about my team. Of course I tease some of them back about their team. No one is disrespectful and no feelings are hurt. I joke with some others in different ways as well, but they all know I support them ALL. Context is critical. I do not deal with every scout the same way. I am a cheerleader for some, quite me

It is true that youth are different today than 20 years ago, and 20 years ago they were different from 20 years before that, and so forth and so on. They are also, very much the same. What makes them different? My opinion is they are different because of the events of their times, or more accurately the adults reactions and attitudes towards the events of their time. Including the lack of reaction or even over reaction. I believe BSA has dutifully followed suit by over reacting in some cases. BSA has redefined once common activities such as youth only patrol hikes, certain pi

Not necessarily, the number of merit badges need, the number and mix of required merit badges have changed many times over the last 100 plus years of Eagle Scouts. Even Eagle projects only became required in the 1950's or 60's. (I cannot remember exactly when without looking it up)

Equity has indeed become a loaded term, and upstander is a relatively new term. One concern I have, as a society, we have started changing or expanding the meaning of terms and creating new terms as if that some how advances addressing a problem, and in the end we do very little to actually do so. Or even worse, these new, expanded and newly defined, terms become part of social and political tool boxes that have agendas attached to them that have little to nothing to do with solving the "targeted" problem. I frequently refer scouts and scouters back to the Oath and Law. If we

We have had 20 or so Girl Troops across the Council. My daughter was in both Troop and Crew at the same time. (so was my son). I would say the results have been mixed, just like Boy Troops. Some do well and some do not. Some observations of Troops I saw. Age distribution was very much a divide. The vast majority of the girls were with 11 or 12 (from Cubs or new) or they we 16 or 17 (coming from Crews) . Very few fell in the 13-15 age group. As a result there was a natural divide that made it difficult for some troops. Most of the Scoutmasters were females that came up th