bearess

I mean, this could be said of any war or historic event— first person accounts are fascinating. They are also ephemeral. I don’t feel sorry for younger generations who wont have first-hand accounts of WWII any more than I feel sorry for myself to have never heard a first person account of WWI.

Sure! I don’t know all the details, but here is what I do know. He is no longer an ASM, but is still a member of the Committee. He accompanies the Troop on campouts as a parent, but that’s all. I am glad I reported it— the Scoutmaster said that it really “empowered” him, whatever that means.

I wonder how much prior scouting experience matters, really. My dad is an ASM for my son’s troop. I bet my dad is a pretty typical former scout for his age (born 1947)— he did a few years of Cubs, was in Scouts till he was in early HS (maybe 14 or 15), enjoyed camping, etc. He remembers his cousin being SPL, but not who was in his patrol, other than a few friends. I don’t think his scouting experience makes any difference in how he is as an ASM. He follows the guidance of the SM.

Talk to their parents, use the name and pronouns they prefer. A Scout is kind.

CoLDS=Church ofLatter Day Saints

LatinScot, I appreciate you taking the time to answer. I understand the basics of the LDS beliefs. My comment was in response to those who said LDS units are run differently— to me, Troop leaders and camping are big differences. I understand the LDS method is based on your beliefs. I happen to disagree, but that’s neither here nor there. As gblotter said, the departure of LDS will result in greater program fidelity. I’d say that the fact that such significant changes to BSA had to be made for LDS units means the program was never a great fit.

LDS troops also limit camping for young scouts, rarely have elected PORs for scouts, and are often known as Eagle mills. There are many differences. Personally, I think the partnership with the CoLDS has been a net negative for BSA. I think their willingness to bend/change the rules for one group has negatively impacted the program, making it exclusive and divisive. I think BSA will be better for this change. For the LDS Church, I think it’s a loss.

I bet being a CC at recharger is miserable! Trying to do online trading is bad enough!! But a parent who shows up for events with a duration of less than 72 hours doesn’t need to register. Your unit may require that, National doesn’t. Frankly, if an adult is committed enough to show up to an event of over 72 hours, I bet they are willing to be a MBC. I agree making a parent register and do YPT before any volunteering is overkill. But a parent who is going on a longer trip? Call me a helicopter Mom, but I see nothing wrong with a background check.

But the parent dropping off or chaperoning a day hike doesn’t have to register, per National— only parents spending more than 72 hours with a group have to. i don’t understand, at all, why a group would have to go home on Wednesday if parents were required to register— register the parents as MB counselors. No cost to the Troop or parent, and you are in compliance. Plus your Troop gets another MBC. Win/win/win. Same with the unregistered cops/social worker going to Canada. Sure, they probably have nothing to hide. So register them. YPT takes 45 minutes, maybe— I did it while folding

Huh. I hadn’t seen the custom fit option before. I wonder what the turn around time is When my dad found the Den Mother dress, he also found a sewing pattern for Den Mother dresses. I’ve been meaning to look at that, as well as try on the dress, as his mother was built like me— I suspect she sewed or altered the dress to accommodate her bust.

My experience is that one of two things will happen— people will withdraw themselves from the activity, or the background check will find out important info. As I said, I was stunned that parents with sexual convictions signed up to chaperone field trips, knowing we were doing background checks! But they did. By following the rules, the camp gains information. Where is the harm?

Why is it a stupid rule? I’ve worked in public schools that required background checks for parent volunteers/field trip chaperones— honestly, when we began to do background checks, the things some parents were convicted of shocked me. And these were people volunteering to chaperone and be background checked! I would not knowingly send my son to a camp that flouted this rule. I also can’t see the benefit to not registering adults. Running background checks strikes me as something with no real downsides.

Oh, come on. There is gender— there are separate dens/troops. And there have been different uniform options for women for ages— my dad was cleaning out his house recently and found his moms Den Mother dress, circa 1957! Personally, I wear a tan shirt, and it is terrible. I’m large busted, but petite everywhere else— so a youth large would fit my shoulders/waist, but I wear an adult large to fit my bust. It looks awful. I don’t see any reason not to offer girls clothing that fits well and is flattering.

So, the SE called me today. He was actually very clear about next steps— he’ll meet with the ASM (along with the SM and COR) on Monday. He said if there are excuses made, or it happens again, he will pull ASMs membership. So! There we go.

Well, I made a YPT report. I had conversations with the SM, ASM, COR beforehand, and felt it was the right thing. We will see what happens— my bet is absolutely nothing!!

We currently have six girls who are already meeting/planning. Active committee (setting up financials). SM is a longtime ASM who is easily the most skilled backwoods camper in the Troop! Also have an ASM lined up— 25 y/o, Venturer. They are ready to roll! We are recruiting the same way we recruit boys— word of mouth, mainly. Flyers. Community service events. I suspect they will be up to 10-11 girls by February.

Yes, thank you for articulating my feelings. I’m not thrilled by the situation, and if my son was upset, or didn’t want to continue, I’d be livid. But...he’s not. What he took away was that, yes, ASM loses it and it’s not OK, but that other adults saw it and intervened. He said the SM got him a sandwich so he didn’t have to go in the dining hall crying, said it was OK, that flags get dropped every year, everyone knew it was an accident. SM also told son he was “going places”, which thrilled son to no end. I’m doubtful, frankly, that talking to the ASM will be effective. He has a long

I think all of that is the right thing to do/say— but it’s challenging. The guy has a son my son’s age, also in the Troop. So removing him as an ASM wouldn’t necessarily achieve the goal of removing him from Scouts—he’d still come to everything with his son. Me going to everything isn’t possible- I don’t have the vacation time to go to camp and a weeklong summer trip (which they do every year). I’m a Den Leader for my younger son, and those meetings overlap with the Troop meetings. Here’s the trouble— my son likes Scouts and likes his Troop. Any other Troop would be 15-20 minute driv

Sigh. So son went to camp last week. He had a great time, loved it. But, the first day, I guess there was confusion about who was supposed to be carrying the flag. Son was carrying it, he went to hand it to someone else and dropped it. Oops. Son was embarrassed, all the boys acted quickly to pick it up, everyone clearly understood it was a mistake. Well, ASM/former Cubmaster was there and apparently screamed at my son in front of everyone until he cried. Another ASM and the SM were there, they took son aside, calmed him down. The other ASM called me about it once they got home. Appar

My son has a boy in his Troop who always tents with his dad (Dad is an ASM, don’t get me started). It’s odd, and the other boys notice, but I don’t think anyone is bothered by the fact that he’s advancing thru rank. As someone said, the rank requirements are pretty clear— none of them require doing your share of work in a patrol, or sleeping in a patrol. I don’t nderstand the “deal” the SM made— it seems like he’s adding to the requirements. Leaving camp without telling anyone is VERY problematic. I would have to think very hard about how to proceed from there.

Same here, although it isn’t linked to Blue and Gold. Obviously the Crossover/AOL joint ceremony isn’t as common as I thought. However, I do think that it’s common enough that having the option of joining the scripts into one cohesive ceremony would be nice.

Yeah, I’ve done Baloo. I feel confident that I understand Patrol Method well enough to lead the Cubs thru AOL. I’m also trying to involve Boy Scouts whenever possible (have a Scout or two come teach knots for the Wolves, that sort of thing). Finally, I’m trying to gradually give them simple responsibilities now— they will vote on their electives this year, they choose their campout menu— to transition them to Boy-led when they are you, rather than jumping into that with Webelos without any preparation.

Huh. Maybe I’ve just always been to weird troops, then! Crossover and AOL are always simultaneous round these parts!

I’m a den leader, and I agree with whoever said that it seems superfluous at this level. I’m sure it’s a good training, but.....I don’t feel I need leadership training to run herd on first graders! I’m my son’s den leader now, and I’ll stick with that for four more years. After that, I’d like to go back down and be a Tiger Leader in perpetuity. I’d even do Lions! I just don’t feel that a ton of training is needed for that......

Statements like the really get at what makes OA so challenging and so easy to be done poorly. There is no “Native American mystique”— the tribes of North America are/were so diverse that there is nothing common to all of them. Some lodges, I’m sure, work really closely with the local tribe and put on a fantastic, authentic ceremony honoring the tribe in their area. Most don’t. In another BSA forum I’m on, an Arrowman stated that his lodge didn’t have any Indians nearby, as the three reservations in his state were far away. Through random professional contacts, I happen to know about a lar