HashTagScouts

Aquatics guide is now available digitally: https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/Outdoor Program/Aquatics/pdf/Aquatics_34346.pdf?_gl=1*o4y99g*_gcl_au*MTQ1MzU5MzYwOC4xNzQ5NzM1MDgw*_ga*ODM0ODQ1MjkxLjE3NDk1ODQ2OTI.*_ga_20G0JHESG4*czE3NTI1MTMyNTAkbzMkZzEkdDE3NTI1MTMyNTckajUzJGwwJGgw&_ga=2.213894036.1402502429.1752513250-834845291.1749584692 All swimming and activity afloat must be supervised by mature and conscientious adults, age 21 or older, who • understand and knowingly accept responsibility for the well-being and safety of youth members in their care, • are experienced in the particular activity, • are confident in their ability to respond appropriately in an emergency, and • are trained and committed to the nine points of Scouting America’s Safety Afloat and/or the eight points of Safe Swim Defense. The Den Leader, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, crew Advisor, or Skipper who accompanies the unit on an outing is responsible for the first and last bulleted points. However, Scouting America policies do not specify that the unit leader must be the one who satisfies all of the above criteria. Under appropriate circumstances, the unit leader may delegate responsibility to others. For example, a Scout troop at a water park with trained lifeguards on duty need not assign separate unit personnel to perform water rescue. A Venturing crew on a whitewater excursion may rely on a licensed outfitter to provide the necessary equipment and trained guides. As the above examples demonstrate, a unit can participate in fun and challenging aquatics activities even if unit leaders lack the knowledge and skill to conduct the activity themselves, provided leaders ensure that others, such as venue staff, provide the required components. On the other hand, a troop on its way to a jamboree need not forgo the use of a hotel pool just because the facility does not employ a professional lifeguard, provided unit leaders are properly prepared.

Don't disagree with you on when they could have messaged. Does seem to be desired to use NAM as the showcase the past few years- but that could be self-serving trying to get more people to attend ((BSA makes $ off the registration fees for NAM).

I think the roll out timing post NAM 2024 was a little late to see immediate impact - AOLs would have already crossed over at that point. Waiting to give measurement now that they have seen numbers for the pilot units that took on crossovers this spring, plus seeing what recruitment numbers look like for those units as they approach back-to-school recruitment events, you should see a better picture.

In the two years of fumbling it took us to get enough girls to start a girl troop, we lost five kids (two sibling pairs + 1 friend of of one of the families) from out of our own pack to a neighboring town because they had a functioning linked boy troop and girl troop. We managed to get our stuff together to charter a girl troop with minimum #s that next year, but by year's end one aged out and one of our female adults moved. We were down to four girls going into 2024 and knew one would age out over the summer, so the mixed gender pilot was the saving grace for 2025. Very doubtful that BSA is going to drop that, and would bet the farm that by 2026 it is just one of the membership options that any unit can use.

NAM 2024 they announced pilot for mixed gender troops. My former linked units merged to single mixed gender unit for 2025 re-charter. NAM 2025 briefly mentioned it- no immediate plans to fully incorporate it as a full-fledged program option yet, but as I understand it, the plan is to expand the pilot in additional councils in 2025. https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/NAM/2025/0 - Opening General Session.pdf

beascout.org can display multiple units with the same number- we have a number of examples of this within our council. A single CO can also sponsor more than one troop of the same gender- again, we have examples of this in our council. Several years ago now, Lodges were asked to do a clean-up and synch to National by updating/adding unit OAIDs from National. With those IDs in place, Lodgemaster can synch some unit information to the National database. We never had any issue with Venturing crews that were 0###, 00##, or 000#, so i suspect there is actually two fields in the National database- the actual unit ID as assigned by National, and then whatever ID the local council is using to identify.

It does, indeed: 10. Following the Leave No Trace Seven Principles and the Outdoor Code, participate in at least three backpacking treks of at least three days each and at least 15 miles each, and using at least two different campsites on each trek. Carry everything you will need throughout the trek. @ScoutsMama I hope the Scout enjoys this weekend, but don't get bogged down of whether "it counts for anything". Many, many youth in the program don't even experience more than a single overnight backpacking these days, so take the experience as an "intro" to backpacking of sorts, and cherish it.

I have a vintage sash that was fairly grungy when it was given to me. I didn't want to get it pristine white, but I did want to take out some of the mildewy smell from it to be able to wear it without everyone knowing I was there the moment I walked into a room. Your sash is probably the gauze like material, with the merrowed border all around- I would avoid using a washing machine on it. I took an old travel mug that had a top that sealed on well, and filled it about half full with a solution that was three parts warm water and one part bleach with a small dash of Tide- rolled the sash up like an Ace bandage, put in the container, put the lid on and agitated it for a few minutes and then let it soak for about an hour. Pulled it out after and just ran it under cold water to rinse and then let it hang over the shower curtain rod to drip dry. It's fairly white now. I would suggest this method before resorting to anything more drastic.

Yes, I would agree that only having half your staff as lifeguard cert is a concern. In the specifics of this tragic event, under the BSA aquatics policy, having the aquatics director as the sole individual over the age of 21 then would place them as the "supervisor". But if that individual isn't in actual position as to truly observe the operations and movement of that motorboat, is it really actually supervision? Knowing Hidden Valley, the swimming and canoe/kayak/rowboat area is on one side of the lake and the motorboat launch is on the opposite side (that is at one of the lakes, they also have a waterfront on a different lake that was mainly for small boat sailing). Then there is Camp Bell (both together, Hidden Valley and Camp Bell make up Griswold SR), where the main waterfront is a good distance to the opposite end of the lake. ultimate question is how many staff 21+ do they have at each of the waterfronts? I'm sure that is the angle this attorney is going to use in arguments, if that aquatics director age 21+ was on the other side of the lake when this occurred, then to the family the camp is negligent that it would be unreasonable to assume they could observe and react to what is happening several hundred feet away.

Can't speak to all parts of the US, but there have been several examples of Councils in New England trying different things. Narragansett Council effectively transferred ownership of their properties to an "outside" group- Rhode Island Boy Scouts, which in turn leases the properties back to the Council. That also allows RIBS to explore opportunities that can use properties for non-Scouting programs. One example they do at one property: Camp Norse Co-Op Spirit of Adventure Council, Daniel Webster Council and Narragansett Council are partnered to run weekend "Base Camp" half-day and full-day programs at various properties, which are open for sign-up to both Scouts and non-Scouts. Knowing several folks who have worked these weekends, their feedback is attendance could be higher if it were allowed to have one adult bringing their child and say 2-3 of their friends, but to ensure they are compliant for youth protection each youth has to be accompanied individually by an adult.

Too few adults, and resulting drop in expectations resulting by BSA are not a good combo. Not that many years ago, it was a requirement that at least one adult leader on a Scouts BSA overnight outing had to be IOLS trained. That is no longer the case (why the requirement that there had to be someone BALOO trained for Cubs, and not any requirement in Scouts BSA, IDK). IOLS can be run poorly, but by and large in my experiences those who staffed the trainings I was involved in knew what we were doing (at least within a certain skillset- I was usually woods tools and knots myself), and were dedicated to make it as fun and informative as we could, while emphasizing the real objective was to demonstrate the Patrol Method. I'd love to see some reports from a national level on just how many units don't have someone who has been IOLS trained. If you have units rolling with adult leaders who don't truly get the program, it's a big ask to who may have been the only willing volunteer to be a Commissioner and expect that person is going to impart anything onto that adult. Most of the Commissioners, whether they be Council, District, or Unit that I have interacted with in the last decade+ have been retirement age, long since been active to a unit, and often have been pressed into it. The results often were mixed, especially in light of the later part.

I'm glad you'll welcome comments. Membership started steady decline after 1999. Gay youth were not openly admitted until after 2013. How do you explain those years? “Good riddance,” SmartyPants might say. But the straight kid’s smile is the same as the trans kid’s smile when he learns to swim. But the straight kid is not at camp. Momma said, “Sorry kiddo. We’re not doing that.” 1 - 9 = -8. Don’t erase boys. Apparently, your presumption is that gay youth are not "real boys". As a youth, my son was a Scout. My son is an Eagle Scout, Vigil Honor recipient, spent years on camp staff, spent years as NYLT staff, Lodge officer, served stints as Den Chief, Quartermaster, Scribe, ASPL, and SPL for his troop. My son is also bi-sexual. He never hid that, it was never an issue that he felt was a necessary topic within Scouting and felt the same for anyone who is straight/gay/bi. That is who he is, and he who he has always been. Period. I would say your "smiles at the waterfront", while holding a bigoted view of those youth when you are away from the waterfront is far more of a problem than someone like my son having been a part of the BSA.

We may make more of that than is needed, just because many of us were around before and after the change, and we're more trying to find our own way on how adjust. Each country has their own flavor on how they have set up their program, but the comparable program to what many of us have known as "Cub Scouts" and "Boy Scouts" are just "Cub Scouts" and "Scouts" to them. Scouts UK Scouts Canada Squirrel Scouts 4-5 years Beaver Scouts 5-7 years Beaver Scouts 6-7 years Cub Scouts 8-10 years Cub Scouts 8-10.5 years Scouts 11-14 years Scouts 10.5-14 years Venturer Scouts 15-17 years Explorers 15-17 years Rover Scouts 18-26 years Network members 18-25 years Scouts Mexico Scouts Brazil Cub Scouts 6-9 years Cub Scouts 6.5-10 years Scouts 10-13 years Scouts 11-14 years Walkers 14-17 years Senior Scouts 15-17 years Rovers 18-21 years Pioneers 18-21 years

We'll get t-shirts and hang out in the lobby

I was thinking they were just not putting Venturing/Sea Scouts and Exploring on the plot line, but that was where the difference in the final numbers were. Slide 16, if expected total membership = 1,500,000 for 2028. Slide 17 Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA = $1,380,858 for 2028. Then expecting Venturing/Sea Scouts and Exploring to grow from ~37,000 in 2024 to 119,142 in 2028 I guess? The math ain't mathing.