Hawkwin

Agreed. So, can anyone tell me how cutting up a card (in and of itself) in any way creates discipline? Does a scout learn to properly use a knife the moment you cut the card? Are they automatically cured of their lack of discipline? Are they a safer scout now that they have a cut card? If not, then might there be more effective ways to teach discipline? If there are more effective ways to teach a scout discipline (if you still have to educate the scout after you cut the card), then perhaps the cutting of a card is more about the scouter and less about the scout. YMMV of course.

Pain? Let's use a bit of hyperbole. Would it be OK to cut off the top of their socks as a means of keeping him from slicing their hand open? Would it be OK to make a scout cut off their shirt tail (the tucked in portion) as a means to keep them from slicing their hand open? Why stop at a corner? Why not cut up the card entirely into tiny pieces while everyone watches? What's a little pain between scouters if it keeps them safe? If you and others can agree that there some actions that cause emotional pain and that would take things to far, then you have to ask yourself if any "pain" is app

Huh? I think you have me confused with someone else.

Well so end my short tenure as DL, heh . I could maybe pull my wife in as the ADL but this is one heck of a hoop if we are going to require a TRAINED female leader over the age of 21. Simply having female present that has complete YPT seems like it should be sufficient. My wife WILL NOT be eager to complete the hours of online DL training that would be required to be in compliance.

I don't think lack of complaints means it is correct. Some of the arguments for cutting the corner reminds me of another topic being discussed these days - privilege and bias. I read a recent comment from a person that stated that they never felt privilege for their skin color in the same way that many argue that they never felt that cutting a corner is hazing. In both cases, the wrong person is being asked. I've personally been involved in both receiving hazing and giving it to others. When I gave it to others (and I've done some mean things), you can be sure I didn't think at the t

LOL! Too late!

Oh ya, we meet. Just had our leaders meeting and our first pack meeting. There are no other girls in the pack (they would be in my den per the rules as I understand them). Great advice! I have had very limited discussions about the district/council coordinating some all-girl activities but I need to follow up on that communication and own it if I want to make sure it happens.

This is the first time someone suggested a new card - and I would be more OK with that solution but cutting the corner cannot be repaired or replaced as you eluded to earlier. You don't need a scar to have your card revoked or a corner cut, and if a scout did something bad enough that actually resulted in a cut/scar, cutting a corner after the fact would not have changed that - and again, it teaches nothing that would prohibit a scar in the future. It is a form of permanent punishment, it isn't education. I fail to see why corporal punishment of card is deemed an effective

Why isn't cutting the corner of your chip more like the police officer cutting the corner of your license? A point or two for speeding eventually goes away. You never regain the corner of you chip. Because it is permanent. What other "punishment" or corrective action do we take in BSA that leaves a permanent mark? You can never regain that cut corner. It builds resentment and does nothing, on its own, to teach better skills. Cutting the corner of a card is as an effective method of corrective action as making someone sing for their stuff back. In thinking about this, I considered

From 2013: Ask the Expert: Is cutting corners off the Totin’ Chip allowed? https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2013/08/13/ask-the-expert-is-cutting-corners-off-the-totin-chip-allowed/ Note the first comment: Well looks like for Cub Scouts, Cutting Corners from the Whittling Chip is now forbidden. Page 69 of the 2017 BALOO Syllabus states: "Describe how the Whittling Chip, if revoked, must be re-earned as a complete unit in order to again carry and use a pocketknife. The corners cannot be cut off from the Whittling Chip for infractions—the certificate must be treated as a s

They didn't. It was a promotional photo. Read the comments on the link.

So imagine for a moment if you will. You are a father of a child that wishes to join scouts and there is not a pack in your area. You contact your District leadership and inquire about any packs that plan to open up to your child and they tell you they are considering the option. You wait a few weeks and you contact them again and nothing has developed. You contact them again a few weeks later (it is now late February early March) and they tell you that no packs in your area will be open for your child. So now you widen your search. You ask that same leadership team if there are packs in anoth

In light of the communication requirements, I would think phone calls to be prohibited since you cannot easily incorporate another adult in the conversation. I tell my scout to always email and copy me. It also gives us a record of his outgoing communication. For some reason, we have a real hard time with getting adults to be responsible in replying to email so by him sending such, he has a record of his attempts. He recently emailed a Nova Counselor to start one of the projects and after their initial reply with agreeing to help, his last three emails to them have gone unanswered.

Agreed, but on the flip side, we violate the other tenet of coed scouting in that the other boy-only den didn't sign up or agree to a girl joining all of their den meetings. We will be doing some activities with them (by invite) but I am cautious about our intrusion. We are going to try and take advantage of the opportunities we have with them and perhaps do multiple den-only requirements when we are with them.

Ya? Ya think?

And as a father of almost a Lone Cub Scout now, I can certainly relate as many of the activities and requirements are geared around a Den or a Pack. We worked on Maestro over the weekend and found the requirements basically impossible without a Den/Pack: Do two of the following: a. Teach your den the words and melody of a song. Perform the song with your den at your den or pack meeting. b. Create original words for a song. Perform it at your den or pack meeting. c. Collaborate with your den to compose a den theme song. Perform it at your pack meeting. d. Write a song with words

"Liberated" from the Bryan's forum because the forum is effectively walking dead (and I am hopeful it gets a quicker response here as I want to know too): https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/forums/topic/national-outdoor-awards-auspices-boy-scouts-america/ Okay, in reality, I think what that phrase “under the auspices of the Boy Scouts of America” means is reasonably clear and I’ve always taken it to include patrol, troop, district, council, or national activities. Yet…. Look at the hiking award. The phrase is in requirement 4: Complete 100 miles of hiking, backpacking, sn

Ooh, me first... "Experience is the hardest teacher. It gives the test first, then the lesson." Ha! I really like the quote. It may not be "motivational" but it strongly fits with our family motto of "Be Kind and Persevere."

I wonder why no official announcement anywhere on this. I would think it would be a big deal on the various blogs.

Vin Diesel is so tough that when this style of jokes first originated with him, people found them too believable so they change them to Chuck Norris jokes to make them funny. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Norris_facts

Yes, in our area, dens cross over as a single patrol. Occasionally, if a single scout crosses over or a small den crosses over, then they will be combined with an exist patrol.

My son's Troop (son not pictured); Tiger to Eagle as a group. Eagle Scouts remake photo taken 10 years earlier as Cub Scouts https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2017/01/05/eagle-scouts-remake-photo-taken-10-years-earlier-as-cub-scouts/

Wow... Why even have a water balloon if they have to be that small? Can a balloon that small even pop consistently? Either really small balloons or the rubber would have barely stretched with such little water. I didn't see Tomahawk toss on either list of permitted or banned activities. Where does BSA stand on such? I think we have one annually at least at one of our camporees.

@The Latin Scot does it this way too IIRC. I was intrigued by that change and I too think there would be some benefit in this. In hindsight, I think my son would be better integrated with the Troop and that the patrol method would likely have worked better during his 1st year.

How common is it for a COR to have both a pack and a troop? In my area, it doesn't seem that common. We have about 5-10 packs (all with various CORs) organized geographically by elementary schools and just two troops - one of which is organized by a church (I don't know how the other is organized). My pack went "troop shopping" because we really had no other choice. Our Troop has scouts from at least three separate high school systems, and probably a dozen different intermediate and middle schools. While switching troops is certainly an option, I wonder how many scouts simply quit be