HashTagScouts

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.

once they cross over to the troop, they are no longer WEBELOS nor part of the pack. Not sure what you are after?

As a MBC for American Business MB, it is not an exciting badge so hard to get kids to take an interest in it. The requirements were just revised, and it now is an even easier MB to earn. There was a requirement of running a business for 3 months, so hard to get kids interested in the badge, and even harder to get them to want to have to do the 3 month requirement. With that requirement gone, this is like a half day badge at a MB college, so #s will probably go up (and that was probably the point of changing the requirements).

The implications are big, and real, true direction is what folks are asking for. To say that 4 scouts from a patrol that want to go for a hike in the town park to work on orienteering skills MUST have 2 registered adults that are 21 or over or the activity can't happen, and that is now our standard of what is OK. But, 4 scouts going to Mr. Jonson's house after school to work on Communication MB, where they will be alone with Mr. Johnson, is also OK makes no logical sense.

It is complicated, and by no means a one size fits all. Crews can come and go- all depends on the focus of the group that are in it and finding more that have that same interest set to keep it going. Our crew is mostly 18-19 year olds. They still wanted to be involved in scouting, but didn't have a great deal of interest in being part of the SM group. They still wanted to do rather than watch is how I would phrase it.

Exactly what @ItsBrian said. Many camps actually forbid staff from signing handbooks. They collect lists of the scouts present when activities are done, and give those to the troop at the end of the week. It is up to the troop to "test" the scouts on whether they have mastered that activity.

I think a lot of folks see Venturing as "competition". In reality, it can be that, but it can be a program for your older youth and implemented to run alongside your troop. Older scouts often just do not want to do the same activities they did at 11, 12, 13, etc. Nor do they often want to feel "strapped" to the younger scouts, and restricted to activities that have to involve the younger scouts. There are those things that older scouts get pulled by- jobs, dating, sports- so the time they have to give to scouting is more limited. Venturing can give them that opportunity to have their own activities. It can also be the only vehicle for keeping some of them in scouting, which I often see units go mental over. But, to me, I'd rather the kid is involved in some form of scouting than to watch them walk away completely, so give a little. Venturing can do all the advancement beyond First Class to help a scout reach Eagle, so that could be a draw for some.

The food bank

Having prospective youth attend meetings and check out the unit, and decide if Scouting is for them, is totally appropriate. One or two meetings would seem sufficient. However, at no time should their parent, at any level of program, drop them off and leave. Frankly, the units are totally putting themselves at risk for that youth. Anything they did at that meeting- vandalizing your meeting space, getting into a fight with another youth, etc.- you are totally on the risk for it. If they had a health issue, and you don't have contact info/consent from the parent, you are at risk for the decisions you make in treatment. Invite the youth, invite the parent- let the parent talk with your Membership Chair for the whole time. At the end of the meeting ask the youth and parent if they liked the meeting, suggest if they liked it, are they ready to join? if the answer is maybe, suggest perhaps coming to another meeting might help them decide. At no time would I want to see a unit treat a scout meeting like it's a community drop off child care center.

They may not be overly familiar with what the BSA insurance program is. I would be in touch with your District Executive- they are vested to help get new units chartered, and may be helpful to you in being able to explain the national insurance program, and what the council's insurance program is all about to your church. https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/alerts/insurance/

I'm not overly concerned with the current size of the troop- you note that your 5 are about to cross over, and twelve is a decent size to reinvigorate. And, you also note that the Pack has picked up momentum on your watch. Big kudos to you for your hard work there. Not sure where you are located, but in SE MA, 18-24 kids in a pack and 12-20 kids in a troop is about an average size these days. Some good advice by others here. What I would say is that this quote from your post is your main focus right now: "The 2 scouter families (me & another mom/dad, 3 of us) can not physically, mentally or emotionally keep Cubs running, revamp the boy troop completely and start a female troop." You are spot on- you cannot do it all, or you are going to be a crispy critter. You need a meeting with all the parents from the Pack, and you just need to lay it on the line that you are moving on - and that the question is are you moving on the linked girls troop, the linked boys troop, or another CO altogether. And that if any of them can step up and take on the Pack, you are willing to stay with one of those troops. If that goes positively, then I would ask to meet with the parents from the troop with basically the same message. This current SM should actually be the COR (actually, I believe it is Legion policy that the current post commander is always supposed to be the COR, and BSA rules say that a COR can only have a dual position as CC, not SM). If you have at least two other adult that can help you and step up at troop level, I would suggest you become the SM of the girl troop, another parent become the SM of the boy troop (on paper at least), and you dual register as ASM in boy troop, and vice versa. Third parent dual registers as ASM to both. The group right now is small enough that you can meet at the same day/time, at least until you can get more growth, which should hopefully bring some more adult involvement. So long as you and the other adults that step up and help out have enough other support at home, you may want to just amp up outdoor campouts to 4 a year total (for now), and have 2 joint ones, and then give girl troop one of their own, and boy troop one of their own. That lets them feel they didn't "lose their troop", they are just helping out another unit get going. Tough situation, I wish you luck.

From what I have heard, it was another senior staff member that "made the nomination" for the "award", and it was something like what you reference and not intended as a racist slur. The other "award" using the term Nazi was also significant- there are several members of staff that are Jewish, so you can understand that was pretty charged term to use. Choice of words is significant, and that's where I was going with having a greater conversation with our youth- they are generally innocent, and generally are not out to be malicious, but if those who are young adults (and in the case of this issue, where older adults- including our SE- was present) can make these error in judgements and we don't stand up to let them know why it is important we choose our words, people get hurt.

Perhaps- unfortunately, each year at the camp my son has staffed, there are staff who get dismissed for various reasons, inappropriate language, vaping seem to be the chief reasons. And from discussions with other scouters, seems to be not just isolated to a couple camps based on their observations. I'd love to be able to say the Oath and Law are universally being followed by all who wear a uniform, but I would also favor any other avenue that reinforces it.

I'm still not clear, having watched this thread grow over the past several days, that the scout referenced in the OP actually has asked the SM why he wasn't eligible to be on the ballot. I'm more focused on that part than trying to tell that SM, or any SM, how to handle themselves- if the scout has questions, it's their job to ask the SM, not the parent or us in the peanut gallery.

I often reflect on what Mike Row had to say when asked about the decision to admit girls- he highlighted the more pressing issue that the BSA, and all of those in it, should be focused on - is the BSA even relevant? If you never read this, or haven't re-read it since last May, give it a look: http://mikerowe.com/2018/05/otw-death-of-the-boy-scouts/ "If I were calling the shots, I’d take a stand against the safe space movement and everything it embodies. And I’d do it in the most public way possible. But of course, that might also require a level of risk completely inconsistent with current orthodoxy."

My council. I know those mentioned by name in this article. Exceptionally sad day for many of us. My son is camp staff at a camp outside of Mayflower, and they had sensitivity training as part of their staff week activities. He also is staff for NYLT outside of Mayflower, and they too have sensitivity training as part of their staff orientation. Why not work with some experts in the field and create age appropriate trainings to be used with all scouts? Similar fashion to how we implement cyber chip?

Welcome @octo. You will find that much of your involvement with OA will be of a "solo" nature. That doesn't mean you won't find other members of your troop participating, but it would be a rarity that if you chose to be part of your lodge ceremonies team you would be with members of your troop, or if you ran for an officer position that you would have other members of your troop also on the same officer group. Look at the OA as the brotherhood of scouts, and consider it an opportunity to be around scouts from other units/backgrounds/interests to learn and form new bonds beyond those you have with just your troop members. As a youth, I wasn't a terribly active Arrowman, but I did form bonds with a few guys from my lodge outside of my troop. Today, as a dad and seeing things through my sons eyes, most of the strongest bonds of brotherhood he has made through the OA are with Arrowmen from other lodges, which is incredible to see as a parent - and such a unique opportunity that OA has given him as a youth. How many youth organizations can you think of that would allow you to have so many opportunities to spend time with youth from different towns/cities/counties/states on a semi-regular basis? I can appreciate that it may seem daunting to take that leap, but I say go for it! I hope that you find it rewarding. WWW

The requirements for cooking nowadays specifically point to "a campout from requirement # X". You have to be sure on reading the related requirement on what it defines a s a campout.

For all the infinite good that can be attributed to the BSA, here is where I roll my eyes. In all instances, in any material being published- SAY EXPLICILTY WHAT YOU MEAN, and then those of us out here trying to make this work won't be confused If in the first part you spelled out "21 years of age or over", spell that out every time. I believe what that second part is supposed to say is: Adult Supervision Q: The Barriers to Abuse say that there must be two registered adults 21 years of age or over present for all Scouting activities and meetings. Does that include merit badge counseling? Fund-raising events? Now, let the debate commence!

i am getting a good chuckle from this. As a MBC, that is the usual response. Previously, the requirements were five 10 mile hikes and one 20 mile hike (and no requirement of having to do them in set order). I've probably had 5-6 scouts over the years that got through the 10 milers, and then after talking to other scouts about how much more strenuous the 20 miler is, give up and decide to go work on swimming MB. I like the more graduated approach under the current requirements myself.

The mention of "buddy" has never explicitly stated that the "buddy" must be another scout, let alone a scout also working on the MB. It is/was for 2 deep reasons that you couldn't have a MBC meeting one-on-one with a youth. "Buddy" could have been a parent, sibling, or another youth. Straight from the BSA's website, current language states: "Scout Buddy System. You must have another person with you at each meeting with the merit badge counselor. This person can be your parent or legal guardian, or another registered adult."

The camp my son attended and worked at had a lot of problems with some MBs, and E Sci specifically. I spent a bit of time at the nature area my first two years attending summer camp as an adult leader (mostly as it was the closest program area to the campsite, and we had a # of kids going through there working on MBs). They had two desktop computers to be used by like 30 kids working on E Sci, on top of those working on Space Exploration and any other MB in camp that needed the internet to look things up. Considering that kids today are not going to handwrite a report unless their life depended on it, all of them wanted to use the word processor on those desktops. So the kids are limited on time, and basically have to rush through it. I sat and observed kid after kid coming out, handing reports to the staffer, who just checked their name off on a list, and never even looked at what the kid handed them. They could have been typing out the lyrics to their favorite song for all he knew. I spent a fair amount of time helping out at work weekends when my son went on staff, and learned from some adult leaders from units that attended camp on different weeks than us that they had stopped letting their kids work on E Sci at camp for those same reasons. Finally, after three years, the camp put a limit on the # of scouts that could work on E Sci in a given week last summer, and the AD became the only counselor for it on his staff. It's tough, you want to have options for scouts to work on while at camp, but generally I think aside from aquatics, no Eagle required badges should be offered. Why would any unit expect a scout to have to work on Camping MB at a summer camp??? Can't say a whole lot about their unit if their scouts feel that is a need IMO.