HashTagScouts

I'd be having a conversation with the Camp Director, now. Make it clear to them- you're open to THEIR suggestions on how to share the use of the latrine, but explain in exactly the terms you outline here why only having the outside facility is not acceptable. It's a true public health issue if you and your troop cannot wash hands at times during the day. And, you're troop is paying the same as that troop, so it is not acceptable to you. If moving that troop to adjoin another site that has a female troop is a better option, then let the camp do so.

Poor forecasting is an understatement. A big problem is location. Not near a major airport, so using it for training opportunities is pretty darn tough. We've got municipal airports in the northeast that dwarf Raleigh County Memorial Airport, and you can't get flights to it without zig-zagging around the US from some destinations. I suspect that is why things like the annual meeting, OA national committee meetings, etc. are not often making the rounds to be held there. There is limited onsite hotel accommodations at the Summit, but to me, we are in a camping-oriented program, so use it for NOA

If you tried to replace the collar tag with something like the "Officially licensed by boy Scouts of America", obviously crossing into a different area on trademark. Some Scout Associations around the globe use third party uniform items, and some use "official" items which could probably more easily be swapped out with something non-official. Official uniform for Scouts UK: Scouts Uniform | Scouts Section | Official Shop Some have official uniforms which are more activity focused, Like Scouts Australia. A number of those SAs don't wear as much bling as BSA does. Official un

Do what is best for the YOUTH- always. Trust your gut here.

Roll with it. Begs the question on that disclaimer "Youth who are not registered in the unit may not accompany parents or siblings in camping programs of Scouts BSA, Venturing, and Sea Scouting." If the intent there is to not have non-age appropriate siblings (that is to say, they can't join the unit because they are only say 8 years old), then why not say that? Otherwise, if you had a 12 year old register Scout and their 14 year old non-BSA registered brother (or sister, if they are both female and we're talking about a GT) were to attend, you'd jsut take the "encourage to become" exception t

How sure do you feel about "Your insurance coverage was exactly the same"? Have you asked your Council that question? When a new youth comes to attend a troop meeting, we spend time talking with the youth and parent about how we operate, expectations we have, etc. Usually that gets the parent to give us feedback on what they see as areas we need to be aware of- whether it is allergies, is their child introverted, do they tend to gravitate to kids their own age, or are they more inclined to want to cling to adults, etc. Can't say it is a common thing, but we have had conversations with par

Not having time to gain some working knowledge about a youth can be problematic. We had a youth join several years ago, and went camping with us like their second week in the troop. Saturday afternoon the kid was off the wall (amongst other troubling things, he was making suicidal ideation comments to the other Scouts). Come to find out, med form was inaccurate, the kid is on meds, and parent did not say anything to us nor sent his meds with him. It's not a situation that we would want to take on that someone off the street comes on an overnight with us. I couldn't name one troop in our Distri

The issue I took on this thread was "segregated events". NOAC was not segregated. Were there optional sessions intended not as "put on a pedestal" but rather as social events? Yes. And the point of those - can't speak for the sessions, as I didn't intend them, but understood the context of the planning- were to bring together individuals attending NOAC together and to hopefully learn how the OA (and BSA in general) could better include them into the program. Female youth in particular are an issue that our Lodge, and those in our Section, have had issues to contend with to assimilate them into

It's in the G2SS (sort-of): Youth who are not registered in the unit may not accompany parents or siblings in camping programs of Scouts BSA, Venturing, and Sea Scouting. Too much liability for us.

We wouldn't allow a youth not in Cubs to attend any activity other than a troop meeting (and, depending on the agenda for a troop meeting, there potentially could be things we wouldn't let them participate in- knife making night, probably not; knot skills, OK) without being actively registered through the troop. They don't really know us, don't really know our expectations (and neither does the parent), and we don't necessarily know enough about the youth.

We could flex the six MBs sewed to the long sleeve shirt exception to pants I guess...

Correct. The FAQ here is helpful on what positions are permissible: Youth Protection and Barriers to Abuse FAQs | Boy Scouts of America (scouting.org)

I was in Minneapolis a few months ago. Huge "office" there. I think they even had an indoor rock climbing facility. Hinds is appropriate for PTC. Took Daniel Webster a while to realize Camp Carpenter was appropriate for their HQ as well.

Sounds reasonable to co-operate, at least for a time, and that may allow folks to not get overly worked up about "the change"- if they understand it is potentially short-term, there could be less of a feeling of dread. I've been through a Lodge merger when councils merged, and the first year was a miserable experience of (mainly adults) negativity. I wish I had bought a few dozen copies of Who Moved My Cheese? and handed them out at the beginning. You mentioned trying to make equal use of both schools. I would just do everything you can to make a calendar about what nights you are at wh

I would recommend talking with the leadership of the new unit and solicit advice on who her contact should be going forward for the whole process as though she hadn't actually begun. Councils can have different procedures they desire be followed on the whole approval process (our Council requires the youth contact the District Eagle coordinator with a rough outline- similar to what is in the project proposal section of the workbook- after meeting with their Coach but before engaging to obtain any signatures, for example). As much of a pain as this can be right now, she will be working with a w

I'm sure this is the part that got the GSUSA council upset. They profit from the cookie sales- they don't profit from the bracelet sale.

Learned today from my Council- this is new National policy that will roll out this fall. YPT will need to be done every year by every volunteer going forward, it will no longer have a two year expiration.

I believe what @InquisitiveScouter is referring to is what is in the official roster in ScoutNet (my.scouting.org) versus what is in SB. In other words, what positions is this person actually registered as through Council?

No one alive today would have been involved in those actions/events. I'm sure that representatives from any tribe, or even a collective with representatives from multiple tribes, would be willing to give a proper reverence.

What our Council put out on this: Effective March 1, 2024, the BSA will eliminate the $25 one-time joining fee for new program participants in Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing and Sea Scouting. $85/yr for Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing and Sea Scouting participants ($5 increase) $65/yr for all adult volunteers ($5 increase) $30/yr for Scoutreach (No change in fee) $25/yr for Merit Badge Counselors (No change in fee. Only for Merit Badge Counselors not already registered as leaders) $50/yr for Exploring participants Youth & Adult (No change in fee)

Good grief. The museums are closing the displays to retool. The issue originally stems from displays containing funerary items and human remains, that should be repatriated to the tribes. All else, the tribes just want input to approve what is being displayed is factual and historically accurate. Most of these items and remains were taken- would it suffice to you if someone dug up your grandparents graves and just stuck remains in a display case without asking how the family felt beforehand? As for the OA, the rule put in place was to get local tribal approval on regalia. Some Lodges hav

They MUST do YPT at age 18 one way or the other, but the challenges can be many. It was a real conflict within me on this. In the troop, I would not want an 18-20 year old to "act like a Scout", and instead be an adult to mentor. Within the OA, that would be near impossible to ask a young adult officer to not talk with a 16 year old officer, or to not be considered as equal (especially if that 16 year old was Chief).

Practicality of enforcement is a whole other issue. I've stepped out of the youth-facing roles as of the start of the year- that was a decision that has many parts to the sum, but these policies were a factor. I personally would always insist a parent or other adult were present for phone/Zoom/included on a text or email exchange when communicating with a youth.

Unless that individual is getting paid to give those lessons, then the Barriers to Abuse policy would disagree: Youth Protection and Barriers to Abuse FAQs | Boy Scouts of America (scouting.org) Q. The Barriers to Abuse states “One-on-one contact between adult leaders and youth members is prohibited both inside and outside of Scouting.” What does ‘inside and outside of Scouting’ mean? A. The BSA has adopted its youth protection policies for the safety and well-being of its members. These policies primarily protect youth members; however, they also serve to protect adult leaders. Al

Sure. What concerns me is when there becomes an issue that is credible and in some way can be tied back to an error that someone slipped through, the PR alone is going to be the end of this organization, and the financial impacts for that are going to be just the icing on the cake.