Jameson76

Not getting into the smoking pot at a meeting and on the property of the CO, which unless your CO is a dispensary, I am gong to assume they would not be in favor, let's deal with summer camp. The mom does not really get to "insist" he gets a second chance. You, from what was stated, were well beyond that. Mom comes and get him, end of story. There were certainly some issues that need to be resolved. In maybe 20 years we have sent two scouts home from camp, we go to two camps each summer, maybe 50 at one and 25 at the other, so a large group. In both cases what the Scout did was not the main issue, the main issue was disregard for the Youth leaders and in some cases the adults. The most recent one we called mom and she wanted to know if he said he was really sorry, could he stay. We advised the troop was well beyond that. It was 9:00 am, she or dad needed to be there by noon. We are a Scout troop and we want to work and build youth, challenge is sometimes we are not the correct vehicle to do that work.

We had a Scout who had while not an anaphylactic reaction did get some hives while playing a wide game, got into some vines or other underbrush. We gave him some Benadryl. One leader wanted to know what happens if they have an allergic reaction to benadryl. I told them we would give them more benadryl

RSO seems like the RSO you would get from central casting, my way or the highway. Yes safety is a concern, yes you need to follow all the correct guidelines. The parent was there, was going to directly supervise. A minute or two of quick instruction to the father could have alleviated all of this. But it was "His" range...so here we are.

Have fun and go do stuff. Oh, you have never fired a rifle, hey take that.

I always encourage typing as it can be updated. Sometimes the assumption that all youth fully understand all aspects of all platforms like fillable PDF documents because they have a phone glued to their hand is incorrect. Was working with one scout, he knew Excel and Powerpoint, but was confused by the PDF. Showed him how to cut and paste, which he commented with amazement was the same as Excel and Powerpoint keyboard shortcuts. This was a HS Junior. Sometimes the transference of knowledge and tasks is not intuitively obvious

Rank advancement is up to the Scout. His pace. His advancement. Some I have seen complete First Class really fast, then they wrap up Eagle a day prior to their 18th birthday. Others have been more journeyman and have a different journey. Your Scout needs to first and foremost have FUN and enjoy the Scouting journey. Anything else is just a bonus

We used a label maker and made a really nice looking label that fit onto the plaque. Ones we got were ceramic, not sure about engraving those.

Interesting that the question is what do we give versus what information is available. For our troop on the troop website there are links to all the needed detail. If a Scout needs or wants some detail, it is there. At camp we have an information board with camp map, the schedule the scout signed up for, troop activities, the overall camp schedule etc etc etc. If a Scout has a question, we say "check the board"

Due to the way they are made; the costs, the fabrics, the cut; not sure they are trying to kill it...however....as with many things in the Boys Scouts of America program....whomever is making the decisions (the uniforms in this case) is not really connected to the actual user of the uniforms. For example, why not a fabric like the Columbia PFG shirt. Those are literally designed to be breathable, designed to be short and long sleeve, etc etc. Even on the "Official BSA activity shirts, those are costly. Our troop gets the A4 dri-fit shirts each summer. With 2 logos (front chest and full back) they run about $11 each. That is for a small run of maybe 100. Get better gear and people will buy and wear it.

One question will be is how to make this financially viable. The first thought by many local execs, oh well the ranger can take care of that. Being a ranger and being a campground host are entirely different. Also RV's and folks need power, water, sewage, etc. Not saying it is a bad idea, but it needs to be well thought out. What impact will this have on Scouts that are camping there or nearby? Lot to think about

If a Scout claims to be agnostic - and I have had that conversation, the basic definition I fall back on is a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God My view was the Scout was in fact developing his beliefs. He was trying to define. He did not claim there was no God, just he was not really sure. We spoke on beliefs and that true, you likely could not prove the existence of God. This particular Scouts issue was more with organized religion. He did not really feel that Church was beneficial. We had a good conversation and my advise to him was to let your faith and beliefs develop, be open. Defining God is tough, sometimes organized religion is not your path.

We use it more from an engineering perspective and it concerns a wild guess Though we do hand out swag (stuff) on many occasions

As a leader you can only treat what you know about. Also I would not be too concerned about the antibiotics. That may be a CYA by the ER. Could be a good learning experience for the troop that all injuries need to be reported to the leaders so proper care can be provided. That's why we have the big honking medical kit (smaller one for backpacking) on all outings

Actually nope. I had to look that one up. Venture Officers Association Let's not forget SWAG SNAFU PDQ

For the EBOR's I have sat on and the ones for our troop (+/- 12 per year) there is not an check on that. If that is what the Scout wants, that is the religious reference.

That is the default From our good friend the Guide to Advancement: References: Must list all six (five if not employed). If not affiliated with an organized religion, then the parent or guardian provides this reference. There are no restrictions on who the Scout may list as the two other references. The candidate may list anyone, including parents or guardians not previously listed, other relatives, Scout leaders including those from the candidate’s unit, or other Scouts and friends. There is no requirement that any of the references be 21 years of age or older

Eventually....

One camp we go to has an off camp option on Friday. We do a troop event to a local natural area and hike in and swim at a waterfall.

Sad story from Colorado https://kdvr.com/2019/06/11/man-on-boy-scouts-trip-in-southern-colorado-dies-in-rafting-accident/?fbclid=IwAR0QgqI13tgJLFSUbeK-2f4xYAj1JEDWZU03adi763oM4tejycR0h2EkbGA Wonder if this was part of a Blue Sky Adventure for a Philmont trip? They offer a Royal Gorge Whitewater Rafting trip in that area

We have the C-130 come over and dump the DDT on us, works great after you get over the coughing spasm

I do not think they do, not actually. They talk about the Philmont OA trek, maybe some vague conclave experience, but it is not actual "Oh I can do that" selling point. Then they talk about doing work days and service, which is needed, but that may not be the best recruiting talking point. Some items they discussed like Philmont OA are good, but not applicable. For instance (in our case) troop goes to Philmont every two years, those that want to go have that avenue. Not a huge selling point.

Many many go into the OA, do the ordeal, and it's one and done. So the question may be, why one and done? Can only speak for the local chapter of our local lodge, they tend to be, how can you say...cliquish. Some of our guys went to some meetings a few years ago and it was not the most welcoming. Also the follow-up at the ordeal as they talk chapters etc is lost on the 13 / 14 year old Scouts. Most are asleep anyway. From a unit perspective the chapter shows up once a year, come in and do the election, show some videos, they seem to not really be able to articulate the WHY a Scout should be active. Yes the whole cheerful service deal, but what is the hook, the draw, what brings them in. What is the "program" and what will be "fun". Sort of like when we had a Venture group at our CO, they wanted to see if our older Scouts might be interested. Note we are a very active troop. So the Venture guy comes to the meeting, the guys ask, what are your next activities, and the answer was; we can do many things, join up and we'll plan some. Not a bad answer, but no real incentive to add something new. I see the same with the OA at least here. They are not good at selling what the benefit is for the Scout to stay active in the chapter, maybe pay dues, etc.

So just an observation, the youth would not have been permitted to participate in any BSA High Adventure base due to not meeting the Height/Weight restrictions

Some do not know when to leave the dance. The have "always" been the SM of unit 1234. It is their identity. Sadly they may not see ship sinking around them. Not sure how many active Scout you may have. There does, at least on paper, need to be some committee members. They are the ones that choose the leaders. Sometimes they are active in that, sometime not so much. As was noted you have some choices. Yours seems really down to a couple. 1) Get the committee to appoint a new SM and that is that. 2) Move on to a new opportunity. If you cannot get #1 done, then #2 is the only option. Unless you plan to stay for another year hoping for change. The COR would appoint the CC but would likely have zero or less knowledge of the how of the troop function

Interesting topic A point that always seems to be made is that phones are "tools". Yes that is true, but the GTSS has a whole bunch of tools that cannot be used. There are also arguments made that that the guidelines are too broad, etc etc, do not take into account all things. The bottom line is that the tool matrix in GTSS is bases on maturity and expectations of maturity. Are all Scouts mature enough to handle phone correctly? Not sure. So the tool comment is entertaining as there are lots and lots of tools not allowed. While not all are listed I doubt that many units would allow Scouts to bring generators, compressors, and nail guns to build stuff at camp. Yet those are in fact tools. @TAHAWK That is a interesting missive on taking things. There are many many things that Scouts can legally have but I believe you would not allow on outings. Air soft guns, automobiles if they are over 16, possibly compound bows. Again to be clear, unit leaders are in fact ultimately responsible for the outing and the unit. The leaders may "hold to keep secure" some items. That does not make it theft, as you neglect to note intent The phones as I noted are an interesting topic. Yes they can be useful, and just as easily that can be a distraction or even a problem. Online games, inappropriate content, and questionable contacts on social media are just some of the potential issues. Not to mention the possibility to lose or damage the phones in the great outdoors. Our unit's stance on phones has evolved. 12 - 15 years ago we had no real policy or guidelines. As these devices moved from just phones to smart phones we had to change. Our next stop on the journey was don't ask don't tell. If we saw them we asked them to be put away. Now we have arrived at the current guideline, no phones on outings. You can have them in the cars going and coming, but leave them there for the outing. That is our culture. If a family does not like that, there are other units.