HashTagScouts

Being your Pack is that small, and you mention that other parents are feeling frustrated, is finding another CO an option? Then you can all go en masse to creating a new unit. There is no rule you have to be chartered to a CO with a troop attached to it.

I have a $45 1.5 man tent that I use. Can't fully stand up in it, but can adequately sit up in it. Gives enough room for me and my pack. i use a thermarest as well. Even on OA weekends, when cabins are available for the adults, I tent by myself. I have an ENO hammock, but I'm so much more of a side sleeper than a back sleeper, so it isn't very restful for me. If you have a routine you use at home that gets you into the rest mode, try and keep that as much as you can even on camping trips. If you like to watch TV before a few minutes after climbing into bed, try and watch a few minutes of move or something on your phone in your tent.

Sorry, but you were told incorrect information. NO change has been officially made to the 2017 Guide to Inductions. Details of discussions have been coming out, but not all are firmly accurate. Regalia has only been taken from Cub ceremonies. Other changes that are still being discussed are guidelines on regalia use (must be regionally appropriate), no longer can scouts be shirtless, females may participate as principals (except for AS, which must remain male), etc.

Our Council and District social media is flooded with posts and memes about the handful of girl troops. Every single activity they do (“here’s Troop 123 learning fire starting!”, “here’s Troop 123 learning first aid!”) is noted. Great, they are doing the things THAT EVERY SCOUT WHO HAS COME BEFORE THEM ARE DOING! I’m not discouraging them from doing it, but if the desire was to allow girls into the organization to have the same experience as boys have had for over a 100 years, and that we shouldn’t think girls can’t do it, then stop making it THE focus. They are here, now go and get scouting. Units have been started for over a century, and other scouts have come and helped them- that is nothing new, so put the focus on that fact, and just let this time become just yet another chapter, not a separate novel.

The OA is unique, that both members and non-members vote on who can be eligible to become members. Unfortunately, it isn't perfect, and some kids will vote for who they are buddies with, not necessarily those who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law. I ask if a representative of the Lodge was present, as I know in some areas units run elections without the Lodge (though that is not supposed to happen). Lodge election representatives are supposed to give a short talk before the election on what the qualities are that an Arrowman should be expected to represent. That doesn't mean it keeps it from being a popularity contest, but it could. As Qwaze stated, each youth who is eligible to vote can vote for as many on the ballot they want. If there are 7 kids on the ballot, they can vote for all 7 if they want.

Was a representative from your Lodge present and running the election? As far as a Scout getting on the ballot who doesn't want to be elected, it happens. They are not actually part of the OA after election, they need to go through the Ordeal weekend within 1 year of election to be considered members. As far as there being "already OA" members, are they actually truly members? Or, were they elected last year and did not complete Ordeal?

I agree with you that balance and not putting advancement as the most important thing is the ideal scenario. Advancement and uniforms are, sadly, the most visible thing to parents who are not in the program, and often all they fixate on. When the adults begin to bow to that, then it becomes the troops focus, and the outdoor program does indeed become less about adventure, and more of a grind than fun. Advancement on a scouts terms is fine- I don't have a problem with a young teen becoming Eagle, if indeed a) they did the work for themselves the same as a 17 1/2 year old would, b) they recognize Eagle isn't an end game, and their purpose now is to give back and mentor the next crop of Eagles, and c) they had fun on the journey, and want to continue to have fun. Most kids who drop out of Scouting will say it was because they were not having fun. And, probe them, you will find it is because the program they were in was doing the same things over and over. That isn't very adventurous, if you just follow the script from last year, or the year before. It makes Scouting "workmanlike", and if it is workmanlike, they would rather be off doing something else.

I'm generally more concerned about their field uniform shirt having appropriate patch placement than their sash. I don't know why my brain does it, but I just naturally begin to scan photos on scouting social media pages, Boys Life, Scouter magazine, NESA magazine, etc. and my eye always gets drawn to the person who doesn't have the purple World Crest, and then the person who has 4 patches dangling of the pocket button. I don't like to be the uniform police, but just general following of the insignia guidelines to me fall into the "a Scout is clean" category.

I have no problems with it. Tried jsut now and worked fine.

To me, the requirement is intended to teach that GPS navigation is valuable for certain situations, but is not quite superior to compass/map. Smartphone GPS especially is reliant on satellite and cellular signal triangulation (and in most cases, internet signal to download the map). If you are in a backcountry area with limited to no cellular signal, it can be pretty widely imprecise. A dedicated GPS unit is typically more reliable. This requirement itself is just a basic learning experience, so I wouldn't ask a youth to use the GPS and locate a spot 5 miles away and walk the route. I have used it within a scout camp and within a local park and had the scouts pick a spot that was perhaps a 15 minute walk, which gave them some perspective (much like with a compass/map) that as much as they need to give attention to the GPS, they also have to lift their head and watch where they are going. I have a pretty high-end GPS unit, with topo maps for most of the Northeast loaded- I used to do geocaching, but haven't in a bit- but most basic GPS units don't have full topo maps included. So, lesson learned that just because the GPS says to go directly north for 1,500 feet doesn't mean the GPS understands that there is a ravine ahead, or a river, or a building, or a jungle gym, etc. I would, in your shoes, not sign that requirement, but offer to the scout we'll take some time on our next campout (or, even offer to meet them and their parent on a Saturday morning at a local park) to do this exercise to get them their sign-off. Encourage them you are glad they had that experience, as they now understand the basics of how the GPS navigation works, so this will be an easy requirement for them to complete when you get together.

a better choice of wording to the requirement would be helpful. As first Class scouts aren't going to be typically of driving age, and that the navigation requirements follow a progression from previous ranks, I would say the intent is land-based navigation and plotting course. if you read the first part, I feel the author of this requirement was trying to distinguish from using a car navigation setup: 4b. Demonstrate how to use a handheld GPS unit, GPS app on a smartphone, or other electronic navigation system. Use GPS to find your current location, a destination of your choice, and the route you will take to get there. Follow that route to arrive at your destination.

i still asked mine "have you asked the other adults before you came to me". In some situations I would also have to ask "are you asking me as dad or as adult leader?".

Or, state restrictions on who can carry and dispense medications. New Hampshire, for example, requires all summer camps to have medical personnel (RN, NP, PA, MD) on site, and requires that all medications (prescription or OTC) be held in that persons control. Under the law, you can't even keep ibuprofen on your possession or in your troop first aid kit (not to say that doesn't happen...).

To be clear- the BSA itself, and more importantly its units- are not covered entities under the law, so there is no necessity to be HIPAA compliant. If you thought of a hospital, not all the employees working within the hospital would be covered entities, but the hospital itself would be. That doesn't mean you would give training to the janitors or the receptionists on data safeguarding practices. That might be what you are looking for. Yes, the BSA could contract someone to put that together, and it would probably be a 20 minute online training. Would you need to require everyone to have to do it? Debatable. You could say that units must have SM and CC need to do it yearly. You could make it part of the "trained" designation too. I don't think you need every adult in your unit having access to these forms- having just one works, if that person is on every event. Obviously having more is ideal.

Troop had a locking mailbox (similar to the one at the link below) mounted inside the troop trailer. We kept the medical forms in a folder locked inside. Adults knew where to find it, but it was pretty much out of site out of mind and no one really went into it, except the one time a year we collected updated versions. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Indoor-Outdoor-Wall-Mount-Locking-Mailbox/703729362

To your first points about youth skills instructions, I would add units becoming too dependent on summer camps to teach their scouts basic scoutcraft, as well as never actually making that a part of their regular programming- thus not actually requiring their scouts to gain proficiency. I'm encouraged by the number of folks here on this forum that Scouting actually does still exist. In my neck of the woods, far too many units are the car-camping--and-only-when-it-is-dry-and-warm clubs, that happen to wear uniforms (and usually nothing more than the uniform shirt - "$7 for a pair of socks?! How ridiculous! Here, can you hold onto my sons iPhone 10 for him?").

@Eagle94-A1 exactly correct. They are so disinteresting. My son had asked in the fall why the Chapters were still expected to do these scripts skits. He and another Chapter Chief wanted to write a new, non-NA themed script, and the inductions adviser got huffy that they were even suggesting it. I think my son wants to be VC to just end the Lodge offering the service altogether.

My son did his last one of the season Monday. The pack wanted AoL ceremony only as the kids have already crossed over (we'll put aside that hot mess for this thread). Quite literally was 7 minutes, start to finish (we spent almost an hour driving to get to the ceremony!). Our lodge had used a script that had a narrative of Akela in past years, and that ceremony was about 12-16 minutes long, without the bridging. Length of ceremony itself is not important, but that there is some actual "ceremony" in the ceremony is, and the new AoL script is a rambling mess. I have seen no AoL scout, nor parent, express any comment of a nature that shows the ceremony was meaningful to them this year. In years past, there would always be at least one scout/parent that would go out of their way to approach the ceremonialists with a positive comment. My son is thinking of running as VC of Inductions for next year, just to put these scripts out of their misery.

Agreed. A lot of over the top assumptions on what is being culturally appropriated. Wearing war paint, doing chants, that could be cultural appropriation (especially if the chant is nothing but actual gibberish, if even the words are truly from a native language). I still maintain that what the OA needs to do is reign in the usage of regalia that is based on anything other than Lenni Lenape- the principals in the ceremonies are LL; not Sioux, not Seminole, not Tacoma, etc. That gives a far greater opportunity to have consistency in application and instruction, so that we don't begin to go outside of the lines.

Anyone else find it odd that the spruce Venturing shirts are actually embroidered, but the khaki were glue on letters?I wonder if the new Scouts BSA khaki shirts are actually embroidered.

"Today, your journey in our Pack ends, but your journey in your Troop begins." Cubs are still Scouts, so I would spend less focus on what kind of scout they are, just defer to describing as what type of unit they are/will be in as a compromise.

I can understand the concerns that this statement itself could represent. I wouldn't read it as members of the Church are not allowed to help facilitate it, just that the leadership itself cannot do so. I liken that to a company that is diversifying and selling a division to a rival- the senior leadership is going to keep going with running the day-to-day, and they are going to have a transition team to handle that transaction.

@ParkMan Perhaps there is misunderstanding of how scouting has worked to this point for LDS? For LDS units, scouting is a youth ministry, not just an “activity”. It would be like the Catholic Church directing each parish to charter units, and having those incorporate Catholic religious education into the unit program- thus allowing scouting to fulfill the religious education requirements for our faith. After December, LDS youth (and adults) can continue in scouting, it just no longer fulfills the LDS Church requirement of ministry. It will be just an activity a youth can take part in, akin to soccer, band, karate, etc. And an individual ward (parish, in the Catholic vernacular) cannot be a CO of a unit post December. I see no issue there. The LDS is not saying no, you can’t be in scouting, they are simply saying they are not going to be the conduit to scouting as they have been. I am sure there will be plenty of LDS Church members buying popcorn, candy bars, etc. from scouts after December, so the support of the members is still there. My councils’ President is an LDS Church member, and he was part of a non-Church troop for years with his son, so he isn’t going anywhere.

I don't really take it as they are being unfriendly to Scouting with intention. I see it as an issue that they want to avoid confusion at the moment amongst the church membership.

Go to the more general. If you have a large wooded area- state or national forest- nearby. Look at the tree species first. A Red oak or shrub oak is definitely different than a white pine, lodgepole pine, etc.; and then a fir tree (any type) is distinctly different than a white pine. You should be able to find 3-4 tree species fairly easily in most parts of the US, and those are the easiest to point out and scouts to remember. Then you can start in on some of the more obvious things like a fern, or even a dandelion. If you are trying to point out the differences in various arborvitae, you're overthinking it. Also don't be afraid to tap on those park rangers- they are usually pretty cool about spending time with scout units explaining the park they work in every day.