Hawkwin

On ‎1‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 6:25 PM, numbersnerd said:

Scoutbook is pretty to look at, but cumbersome to navigate. As simple as it is to get info INTO Scoutbook, getting info OUT of it is painful

This!

I've used Scoutbook on a personal level for my son (when he was a Cub) since it first came out and it was(is) lovely but it can be a real pain to navigate. The links and where to click are not intuitive at all. That being stated, I liked the final product much better than anything else I could use for free as a parent and a lot better than Pack Manager or whatever it was called we used in Cubs.

Once he switch over to Boy Scouts, it has a lot less utility for a parent. I can't seem to do much of anything as it all requires troop approval (which I understand but I would like the ability for me, and eventually my son, to track his own progress and activity online).

Scoutbook doesn't seem to have either the bandwidth or the stability for mass adoption but it has a lot of potential.

Also looks like the reporter didn't get the memo that the quoted girls are "Cub Scouts" not a "Girl Scouts."

On ‎1‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 5:04 PM, Col. Flagg said:

Really? You might want to check out her petition on Change.org. This goes back over two years.

Yes, I am familiar with her petition. Doesn't change the fact that she did scouts for years without any official recognition or hope of such.

On ‎1‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 5:04 PM, Col. Flagg said:

Eagle is one of the reasons.

Agreed, and exactly. "one" of the reasons. Not the "only" reason.

I can see both now. Odd.

36 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

ad thing is that NO ONE except @Back Pack and I seem to have a problem with it.

Don't assume a lack of response is a lack of a problem. I don't care for the double standard either but I also don't read every post (and I assume I am not the only one).

4 hours ago, Col. Flagg said:

In the name of complete disclosure.

Thanks for the link.

After listening to that (the host commentary I could do without), I came away with the impression that here was a young person that dedicated themself to the ideals of scouts, both boy and cub, and for which they did all the work without any of the official recognition, and now that they can become an official member, they would also like the opportunity to earn the highest award - not someone that joined up long ago to ONLY get the highest award - it was never just about Eagle, it just became also about Eagle.

Up until a few months ago, this person had done everything up through First Class without any official recognition or any idea that they would ever receive official recognition. If there was anyone that could say that they did scouts for the journey and the experience and not the swag, it would be her.

If anything, I gained more respect for her, not less.

I cant see or read what you posted. The outline of a picture flashes briefly before giving me a cut in half (I can read the top half) of a sentence stating, "Posted by Scouts magazine on Monday, October 16, 2017."

When I click the link, nothing happens. I reloaded the page a few times with the same result.

*shrug*

Yes, our local leadership was meeting to discuss which Packs, if any, were going to start now.

Should make this thread a sticky!

I still have yet to hear back from my local District. About two weeks overdue from when they said they would have a decision. I think I will call them today.

13 hours ago, cocomax said:

Look at these girls:

http://epaper.bostonglobe.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=12c84660-0428-44b3-a64b-5d1232622bd8

That article make me want to join up as a Girl Scout leader, maybe be a troop's outdoor expert.  

Looks fantastic to me, I have been reading about the Girl Scouts, they seem fantastic to me. There is a long list of outdoor thinks they can do. They are Girl lead, they have patrols.

Unlike Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts can run power tools, including chain saws. 

I am reading a lot of good things about Girl Scouts that they are actually doing better than the BSA. . .  

After reading this entire thread, and from being familiar with some of your posting history, I get the distinct impression that you are posting a topic that you don't believe in simply as a method to "rile up" the members of this board.

For example, you previously posted this:

And this:

I am calling shenanigans.

9 hours ago, The Latin Scot said:

Wait ... what?!? But, we constitute a MASSIVE portion of the Scouting world!

Not any more. Didn't you hear that LDS is quitting scouts? Oh wait, that was another rumor.  

14 hours ago, cocomax said:

Two months ago I saw a video in which a Cub Master was sitting with her son and daughter and was being interviewed by CNN about girls joining the pack and those words came out of her mouth.  I will never forget that. 

Meh. We all (myself included) are susceptible to saying dumb stuff when we are put on the spot that may not be factual or even how we really feel after further consideration. If, as you say, those quotes don't come from anyone of importance in BSA, then why give them any weight or relevance on this topic or allow them to rent space in your brain?

Besides, you probably know in your heart that it isn't even a valid statement so why allow that phrase to taint your perception of Nationals - especially when it did not disseminate from Nationals. Per this board, Nationals has enough problems already without having to own stuff they didn't even say.

Don't let "fake news" form your opinion especially when you know it is fake.

18 hours ago, The Latin Scot said:

as of now, they are officially only assessing the possibility of charging such a fee which,

Perhaps share with them that a fee increase will be easier to stomach if it is spread out over every scout as eluded to in my "$2.80" comparison instead of concentrated on such a small and select group of exceptional scouts.

Heck, they could probably even just jack up the price of merit badges by $.050 and still generate the same amount of revenue.

1 hour ago, The Latin Scot said:

they are assessing, as in they are exploring the possibility of,

LOL, to think if they had used evaluating instead. Oddly enough, their use of assessing actually has the more common definition (evaluate) than the one we all assumed it to mean (set the value of a tax fine or fee). Perhaps it was the "The fee will be $120" that trained our brains to think the decision had already been made to "set a fee" instead of evaluating one. Even rereading the quoted section my brain still automatically knee-jerks to "charging a fee" instead of "considering one."

2 hours ago, cocomax said:

"It doesn't matter what boys think, it only matters what girls want."

Wow, who was it that actually said that? Was that somewhere in this email?

2 hours ago, Back Pack said:

Actually our adults have discussed this issue with us. They’ve given the team their views on both sides of the argument and then let us decide what we wanted to do.

Sooo, you are saying they provided direction?

My personal opinion is that if your local tribe or local Tribal Org. is OK with how you run your ceremony, then I think you are provided all the coverage you need from any national criticism - inside or outside of BSA.

My hope is that all units would seek out such advice and consent. My guess is that they don't; otherwise I would think this minor controversy would quickly go away.

14 hours ago, Back Pack said:

The decision by lodges does not keep local units from still doing it. So your point is moot. Local units do stuff all the time that could get National in trouble. I’m just glad the adults in my unit allow the youth to make decisions like this.

The point isn't moot. I think you may be having some confusion over the term "direction."

Yes, adults "allow" you to make decisions but that doesn't mean that they cannot or do not provide direction in the process. If your adult leaders chose to not comment at all, then perhaps they don't feel the need in your specific situation.

Providing direction could be something as simple as making a suggestion as to how one aspect or another is more authentic (or more respectful) than another. That doesn't make it any less boy-led or boy-run. A good leader should often seek the advice and wisdom of others. That doesn't mean that the leader becomes a follower in the process.

It is clearly a method to generate revenue, but one that seems to be poorly designed.

There were something like 56,000 Eagles in 2016. There are currently 272 councils (per wiki). If we assume all councils create Eagles equally, then there are roughly 206 Eagles per council. @ $120 per Eagle, that is $24,720 in new revenue.

Compared to the roughly 2.4 million in total scouts, or 8824 average per council, they could increase the per scout recharter fee by $2.80 and raise the same amount of new revenue.

I know what option I would select if I was on the committee to make this decision. Even if my math turns out to be slightly off, the point should still remain.

50 minutes ago, Back Pack said:

And it’s sad that adults keep making excuses as to why the boys can’t make this decision by standing behind the excuse that we are likely to make mistakes or bad choices.

Some bad decisions and choices impact all of BSA and not just your local OA. If the potential fallout from a decision could result in negative national news, then perhaps adults should be more actively involved in providing direction on that issue. Again, such direction is completely consistent with the role of adult leadership within BSA and for being boy-led, boy-run.

Thanks all. We don't have a home phone and I didn't want him calling from my phone (the MBC already made a comment to my son early on about the MBC's incorrect assumption that I contacted the MBC instead of my son to start the process - must have thought my son's email was my email) but perhaps he can call from my wife's phone. If that does not work, I think the leading question about the blue card/scoutmaster would be a good way to help him find his own solution.

5 minutes ago, The Latin Scot said:

@Thunderbird Amen to that. What goes on with the Webelos sets a precedent for all the younger Scouts in a Pack. Technically, the Den Leader guides recommend that no Scout should ever wait more than TWO WEEKS to be recognized for an award he has earned. I take it that includes ranks, like the Arrow of Light. There is solid pedagogical reasoning behind it, and as a Child Development specialist, I fully grasp why - kids lose interest in awards systems quickly if the awards never come. Making a child wait longer than two weeks is basically a guarantee that they will lose interest in the system, and eventually, the program. 

Thanks for this post, I am going to create a tangent on this point and ask for some advice regarding an unresponsive MBC.

My son has completed a MB back in November, but his MBC has been largely unresponsive to repeated requests to meet to complete the Blue Card.

The post below sparked my concern that he has not only waited two weeks to receive credit, he has waited over a month to even document credit.

Should I recommend that he seek out another MBC for this, assuming there is another one? Should he instead speak to another adult authority regarding his difficulty in getting a response?

I don't want to get directly involved but I think he needs some advice on how to handle this instead of the weekly emails I keep telling him to send. I did not find a good answer for this in the GTA.

Edit: fixed typo in title.

19 minutes ago, The Latin Scot said:

In my Pack, boys advance by birthday, and we go year-round - there's no summer break, and we ignore the School year calendar. So, if a boy turns 10 in March, he becomes a Webelos Scout, and when he turns 11 he advances to the Troop chartered by our same congregation. 

I like that idea but it probably only works that well when they advance from the same Pack to the same Troop. In my area, it is common for each individual Cub Scout to "shop around" for the troop that works best for them. We have two Troops in our area and it is not uncommon for scouts from the same den ending up in different Troops.

I think I would prefer your solution as it does appear to make individual accomplishment (including simply getting older) more meaningful and impactful. My only concern with your solution is what does the AOL program look like for the Cubs when there is just one or two scouts left in it?

24 minutes ago, Thunderbird said:

they won't meet the 6 months active tenure until February-March. 

Valid.

I honestly don't know what troops do in that situation locally. My son's Pack did not have any 5th graders join during his time so they did not have to address that situation.

My son's Troop takes crossovers through the year so not all local Packs move as quickly. Perhaps the Packs work together to help such applicants find a home that better fits their timeline.