gblotter

Interesting Podcast. That is my first introduction to ScoumasterCG. There is definitely some good content, but nobody will accuse Clarke Green of being too succinct. I suppose his nugget from that 28 minutes is that Scouting should be a discovery that the boys make on their own, avoiding the interference of adults as much as possible. Got it. I don't know anything about Clarke Green. He seems very experienced and has obviously invested a lot in Scouting (his ScoutmasterCG website being only part of it). Many of us are very experienced and we can all learn from each other - I'm fine with t

Gained through a lifetime of experience, accentuated by a terrifying backpacking incident that taught me to not be casual in my approach to safety. Sure, and death teaches some hard lessons too. I draw a clear line when safety is involved. No apologies from me for that. We did sit down and wait for the sprinters to rejoin our group. But that was not contrived - it was just the common sense thing to do. I do believe in teaching moments, but a fake leg injury was not needed in this situation. I have a real-life experience to teach that lesson even more effectively.

Time will tell. I have three daughters. Especially during that age (7-10) they get invited to LOTS lots of all-girl play dates, birthday parties, and other outings. One mom formed a Brownie Troop to put some structure around her daughter's social circle. Joining was a natural thing for my daughter to continue developing those friendships. I can definitely envision the formation of all-girl Cub Scout Packs in a similar fashion. The introduction of boys into the mix would completely disrupt their existing social circle.

Preparation is a valid point. As I mentioned before, the decision of my sprinters was not premeditated or preapproved. With excess energy, they just took off without a word and without even a map. That is not a situation that defines preparedness, so I requested them to regroup.

Agree to disagree. Yes, I do believe a 58 year-old Scoutmaster has better judgement about safety than a 13 year-old SPL. Although training is a good idea for everyone (boys and adults), it has more to do with maturity and life experience. The main difference might be that an adult recognizes when he is getting into a trouble situation, whereas a boy does not until things have gone terribly bad. Not every adult, of course - there are some adults who do not have these life experiences to learn from in the first place. There is a difference between caution based on fear, and c

I will take the time to listen to the podcast after work. I'm sure it must be interesting material. Yep - I get what you are saying about subtle steering. Often that is the most effective method, and most times I am not very good at it. I picture myself more like a benevolent drill sergeant. With our group of sprinters, I realized we needed to regroup when converging on the intersection of five trails. I had no idea which of the five trails the lead group had taken. A flashback to backpacking terror made it an easy decision to request a regroup. As it turned out, they did t

We will have to agree to disagree. When it comes to safety, I draw the line in armchair philosophizing about boy leadership. Informing a parent that their son is dead because I didn't want to interfere with boy leadership ... no, I'm not willing to go there. From personal experience, I tell you that these situations can spiral out of control very quickly. Disasters can be averted by modest adjustments (like requesting the SPL to regroup). This is not helicopter parenting - this is the difference between life and death. Sorry for jumping to the nuclear option with examples of dead Scouts,

Yes - getting lost is definitely a safety issue. Unfortunately many Scouts have died over the years as a result of getting lost in such situations. Years ago, I was on a Scout backpacking trip where part of our group got separated and lost because we were too spread out on the trail. It took multiple days and the help of professional search and rescue experts to reunite everyone. Helicopters and Park Rangers on horseback were enlisted. The story was featured in newspapers and on evening new broadcasts. Believe me - that is not good publicity for Boys Scouts. We were relieved that no lives

This very well describes how our troop operates. Our troop has an annual planning/calendaring meeting led by the SPL. We are a small troop, so everyone gets to vote. The boys choose our camping destinations with the understanding that dates may shift around based on the availability of campsite reservations. Adult leaders are the ones who take that information and go make the actual campsite reservations. If changes are needed, the boys vote again on a new plan (example: this year the boys voted for snow camping but unfortunately there was no snow). For campouts, the boys always do t

So much wisdom in this statement. During my time as SM, I have worked with two outstanding CCs who understand their responsibilities and take the job seriously. They are invaluable to me and the success of our troop. They lighten my administrative load and back me up when needed. In addition, I will rely on a good CC as a sounding board and honest observer to tell me if I need to shift my approach as SM. My CC is not a rubber stamp for everything I might want to do. With enough mutual trust and respect, the relationship functions a bit like a marriage where they aren’t afraid to tell me b

I see this too, but mainly in our older Scouts. I'd love to use them as mentors for the younger Scouts, but they never show up for anything. These older boys are distracted with sports/girls/cars/homework and rarely participate in campouts or other Scouting activities. And when they do show up, it is under pressure from parents. They give minimal effort to troop leadership assignments - just lip service, really. In our troop, that is where I see the quality problems surfacing.

I did the same this year. Our merit badge signups for camp are happening right now. There are four merit badge class periods during the day. I suggested each Scout do three merit badges and leave the fourth open as free time. So far everyone (including my own son) has ignored me and signed up for four merit badges. Part of it is that these boys all want to be together in the same classes. Their friendships are tight which is certainly not a bad thing.

I agree that summer camp is a terrible place to offer book study merit badges (Eagle required or otherwise). When I see camp schedules listing Citizenship in the World MB and Communications MB, I think what a waste. Perhaps one exception might be Environmental Science. That merit badge is rather bookish, but earning it at camp seems to be most effective because of ready access to so many resources. I'd hate trying to earn that one at home.

Oh, yes - lots of professionals are involved.

We have a similar Scout in our troop. He came on one campout last year, but he arrived late and kept to himself most of the time. He declined opportunities to share a tent with others - preferred going solo. He stayed in his tent while everyone else was cooking, eating, having fun. We finally got him out of his tent by telling him we needed his help for a service project. That campout was the last time we saw him at any kind of Scouting function. His parents say they are struggling just to keep him in school, so we shouldn't worry about his Scouting involvement for now. I'm aware of sever

Good points.

Our district MBC list is quite long, too. I know some names have been on the MBC list for literally decades, so who knows how involved these folks are at the present time. Many parents sign up as a MBC to help out when their son first joins a troop. I'll bet many would be surprised to learn their name is still on the list so many years later. This happens A LOT in our district/council. I have made exceptions, but I confess to being "that guy" who prefers to work only with my own troop.

Yep - my son has a good buddy who fits this description. They were tent-mates during their first year at summer camp, and they remain good friends now. His friend will never reach Eagle and that is just fine with everyone - nobody is bothered that advancement is not his priority. He still enjoys the campouts and friendships as much as anyone. This friend helped quite a bit with my son's Eagle project and was asked to be a presenter at my son's ECOH. From everything I can tell, both boys are having quality Scouting experiences (although obviously very different in some aspects).

It's really interesting that the online MBC training does not get advertised at all by our council - only the in-person training. I can only assume they want to introduce a gatekeeper function with the in-person training. I know from other situations that our council is generally focused on trying to improve the quality of merit badge counseling, so perhaps their emphasis on in-person training is part of that.

Our council is quite lacking in online training opportunities (so ironic given that we live in the heart of Silicon Valley). I only see the monthly in-person MBC training offered in the regular council advertisements. Regardless, the MBC listing for our council is extensive (more than 100 pages long).

Analyzing external vs internal motivations is interesting (and complex). I get what you are saying, but I try to reconcile that with my son's experience earning the Railroading merit badge. He took that class only because it was offered at a Merit Badge Midway. It was definitely externally driven. He had no prior interest in trains, but he gained an interest because of the excellent merit badge instructor. He's glad he didn't miss out on that experience, even though he never would have gone down that path from a purely internal motivation. Yes - he has had plenty of externally driven merit bad

In our council, a monthly in-person training class is offered to become a new merit badge counselor. At the conclusion of that class, attendees are given the paperwork to be added to the MB counselor list. That seems to work as a gatekeeper process. Unless you are transferring in as an experienced Scouter, I don’t know how else you would get added to the list (in our council).

Perhaps not surprisingly, my son's favorite merit badges have been ... Horsemanship, Small Boat Sailing, Motorboating. And surprisingly ... Railroading. His instructor for Railroading was a train buff who sets up a huge train display in his front year every Christmas season. My son has no particular interest in trains, but the instructor's expertise and enthusiasm made the merit badge interesting.

Sadly, there are some Scouting leaders who just don’t get it. They shirk training opportunities and just wing it. They take shortcuts and follow the path of least resistance. Why do they behave this way? Maybe they were assigned a job they never really wanted in the first place. Maybe they are inexperienced and operating in ignorance. Maybe they are following the bad example of others and assume this is how it works. Or maybe they are overburdened, lazy, or just don’t care. After these bad leaders are installed and bad patterns are established, making changes can be slow and dif

I read so many threads with very experienced Scouters speaking quite negatively about merit badges and rank advancement. There is so much disparaging talk about Eagle mills and merit badge factories. Focusing on merit badges and the trail to Eagle means you are missing the point of Scouting and not having a quality experience. You are only a true Scout if you are in it for the fun. Some have even advocated for eliminating merit badges classes entirely from troop meetings and summer camp schedules. In the minds of some, advancement seems to be at the root of all that is wrong with Scouting beca