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FireStone

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Everything posted by FireStone

  1. The BSA does provide some guidance, although some of the steps are kind of vague. They advise the following: Action Plan 1. Stop the abuse, bullying, or policy violation. 2. Protect the Scout/Youth 3. Summon assistance needed from other leaders, authorities etc 4. Take corrective action 5. Notify council Scout executive when warranted 6. Check back with the target youth to insure the problem behavior has stopped
  2. Bullying is a Youth Protection issue in the BSA and there are guidelines that leaders must follow when it is reported. As with all YP issues, leaders should take it extremely seriously. That said, it doesn't need to escalate to extreme discipline right away. Those guidelines start simple, with a talk. Sometimes that is all that is needed. The guidelines do suggest elevating the issue to a scouting professional at the district level if warranted. But before that, steps should be taken to stop the bullying and hopefully handle the matter within the troop to just put a stop to it. If th
  3. My understanding is that we're not supposed to do this. We can't solicit donations, even when they come with a bag of popcorn. We accept donations when offered, but our Pack's resident legal/financial guru has really hammered us on never asking for money. We sell products to raise funds. I suspect that units doing meat sticks or other cheaper fundraisers see a lot more of the "keep the change" sales. I'd love to hear from anyone who has direct experience with this, how profitable cheaper items end up being in practice. The risk of cannibalizing higher-priced sales is for sure a ri
  4. When they grant official licenses to companies like ClassB.com to make and sell BSA-branded goods, that message is getting a little muddy. They decide who to give a license to, and when they allow a company with a name that contradicts brand messaging to have a license, I'm thinking they're not really that serious about that policy.
  5. We're supposed to get Council approval for fundraisers? 😁 We didn't get approval for our spring fundraiser, we just did it.
  6. I'm a little confused on how the report of drug possession was basically blown off and ignored. Or was there more to it? unless I'm reading this wrong, he told other scouts he had weed, it was reported to the SM, and... nothing happened? He possibly had drugs at a scouting event, in camp, and was allowed to stay without consequence. What am I missing here?
  7. There's a weird thing going on in our justice system lately. This all reminds me of the case of that college kid who was given a 6-month sentence for rape because of his student athlete status and the judge's belief that he's not a danger to anyone. The idea that judges are now passing sentences based on some sort of personal belief of future life potential rather than the facts of the case is disturbing. Especially when the facts of the case, such as this Eagle Scout case, seem to suggest otherwise. The kid not only bragged about the assault but he seemed to be proud of it, based on the
  8. My Wolf den this past year completed 10 adventures, out of the 19 available. We met for den meetings once per month and asked scouts to complete some requirements at home in between meetings. Usually just one or two requirements, or one project for the relevant adventure. With a pretty light meeting schedule we knocked off half of the belt loops. I have no doubt that doing all 19 is entirely feasible, and honestly not all that difficult. I've heard leaders say that a den would have to meet weekly to do all of the adventures in the book, but I don't believe that to be true. On top of
  9. Yeah, but we're not going to change to a night event. Think I might test clipping a blacklight over the track. Or just put one over the "on deck" area where the cars are set up pre-race.
  10. Here's a shot of the tracks. One of the things I've been trying to figure out for our next Pack derby is how to get black lights set up along our track. We run our derby in a school gym with lots of windows, so I'm not sure it's possible at a day-time event. Been wondering if a couple of black light tubes on each side of the track would work. Now that my Pack is allowing those black-light-sensitive wheels, it would be fun to get them glowing for the races.
  11. One other quick note: The organizers of this event were great. Super helpful, generous, and ran the event very well. One thing that stood out to me, and this is purely based on my observation and not on anything I know to be factual, but I'll say it anyway. They gave awards for car designs, one category being "Most Patriotic". I remembered earlier in the day seeing a car that was just amazingly painted, stars-and-stripes done perfectly in what I can safely assume was not painted by a scout. And that car was not the winner. The winning car was a different car sporting a very well-done pain
  12. Hahah. yep, it's one of those. The majority of participants were from the local host council and surrounding areas within driving distance, but I'd call it a national event at least, though not a "world" event. On the race results screens I frequently saw competitors listed from greater distances than the NY area, including Ohio, California, Florida, Arizona, Kentucky, etc.
  13. Neither did I until my son qualified. After the district races our CM told us he could enter the World Championship and I said, "The what??" We also didn't have district races last year, so no scouts in our Pack could have even qualified. The World Championship has a rule that qualifying scouts must have placed top 3 in their rank at a district or council race. They used to actually run this event outside in Time Square, but it has since been moved into the Marriott Marquis. Which is still phenomenal, it's a huge venue, right in the heart of Times Square. I highly recommend going i
  14. Thanks for the tip. Mission accomplished, patch acquired.
  15. Anyone else at the Pinewood Derby World Championship in NYC today? My son qualified and we went for the first time. It was a fun but long day. Lots of waiting in long lines. No trophies for him or our other Pack scouts, but we celebrated with some really expensive ice cream cones in Times Square. I was honestly kind of surprised at how so many parents and scouts arrive with huge toolboxes of gear, extra parts, tools, etc. We had a backpack with a derby car wrapped in a rag. But then I felt like a real amateur when my son's car failed inspection (rule difference between pack/distri
  16. That's a problem. Minimum 3 unrelated individuals should have admin rights to any unit social media accounts or unit website.
  17. If attendance at activities is an issue, that seems like a pretty easy jumping-off point of conversation with a CC. The CM should attend a minimum XX% of Pack events/activities (insert whatever number seems reasonable for your unit). If the CM can't fulfill that, they should step down.
  18. Does anyone else have access to the administer the fb group? It shouldn't be one person with total control over it, so things like this can be deleted.
  19. For an organization that supposedly prides itself on the outdoors, including being knowledgeable and respectful of the environment, we have a weird habit of producing way too many printed materials and unnecessary junk. I'm fighting this battle in my own Pack often, trying to eliminate the 20-page Welcome packet we print out for new families. At the troop level, scouts are good at finding whatever info they need, especially around camp. I don't think they need a map, camp info, packet, etc. And I agree with the previous comments about the gateway, if the scouts want to participate, t
  20. Thoroughly disappointing to see the road she's gone down since being given a path to Eagle. I was a support of hers. No longer.
  21. I recently bought one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HGW4TBW and used it on 2 outings so far. Worked well, packs itself into the rear pocket/storage with a zip enclosure, weights 7.68oz, currently priced at $27.
  22. That is indeed horrible. If, hypothetically, the tables were turned and the BSA was suing GSUSA and advising BSA volunteers to shun GSUSA, I wouldn't do it. I certainly could not ever imagine turning away a unit leader because she was affiliated with GSUSA. That's insane.
  23. Is there anything in the BSA first-aid materials about self-treatment? At a glance most of the rank-related first-aid stuff is practical application of skills/techniques to others in need of help, but I don't know if it is ever mentioned anywhere what to do with a self-treated injury/wound. Short of anything in the books about this, I'd say a general unit rule about "all injuries involving use of first aid supplies must be reported to an adult." Aside from the obvious need for this kind of reporting in this case, it's also a practical matter of maintaining the troop first aid kit. If
  24. Maybe I'm naive about the court system, plea deals, etc... but this seems like an open-and-shut case to me. They have a blood test that shows the driver was drunk, more than double the legal limit. He's given statements admitting his role in the accident and resulting injuries and death. And yet despite his claims that he won't prolong the family's suffering, he is pleading not-guilty, going to trial, and trying (unsuccessfully) to suppress other evidence. Kind of hard to believe that he's truly remorseful when his actions since the accident contradict what he says.
  25. There is a difference, but not in what the scouts want to do. It should always be about the adventure of scouting, at any age and level. But you're right, the focus shifts at the troop level to leadership development and patrol method. It's almost like at the Cub level we're playing a game and not keeping score, so the focus is always on fun. We have advancement, but it's not as strict and serious as Scouts BSA advancement. We go from not keeping score to telling kids that in a troop they have to make sure they check every box, and we're definitely keeping score then. I don't know wh
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