TMSM

In the midwest it is hard to make backpacking a core activity. Our scouts do enjoys it but its a good 6 hour drive to get to any decent trails that allow backpack camping.

Sounds like you have a passion for scouting but you should focus on the boys for now - If your son wants to go to a troop with fun activities let him, volunteer to be ASM for 2 years at your sons troop, recruit everyone of his friends out of the old troop. Just because the troop has been around for a while doesnt mean it deserves a charter. After 2 years take skills learned back to the girls troop which is the best way you can help your daughter.

Venturing dropping like a rock. Our troop has doubled in the last 3 years. We focused on getting into the Weblos heads early that the boy Scouts program is awesome and then focused on doing the program the way it is said to be done. Forget about focusing on girls (or gender) - focus and program and access to webelos and we will be fine. National or Council needs to sell the value of the outdoors and scouting to parents. We need more positive publicity and relavance so where is it? Our District cant even hire a DE!

I think the real questions here is "why give the SM the power to put scouts on the ballot or not, even if they meet the criteria?" it should still be merit-based, not just a blanket "no first-years allowed" rule. The SM should decide on an individual basis, not a group basis. The SM in this case can make any rule and most likely over ride his rule as needed when it is not written. In true scout spirit the SM should work with all the scouts to help them know what is expected and what guidelines he has for being on the ballot. A true leader should alway be upfront about the

This is not an "arbitrary" rule - that would mean it was random or based on personal whim. SM has the power to determine to who is on the ballot - its as easy as that. The SM should know and understand what OA is and make sure that scouts are both ready and worthy. For some troops this can become an issue because the SM has bias or plays favorite but this is rare. Am I missing something? Is there a rush to be in OA at age 12? If any rule seems random then attend a committee meeting and ask for rules to be written and have the SM explain his vision of the program. Sometimes first or secon

I wonder how many of the 8000 are in a venture crew or were patiently waiting to join Scouts. The real number to watch for the next few years is new girls 10-11 year old joining.

As SM its my perogavitve to to put scouts on the ballot that meet the camping rule, rank requiremnt and have the right scout spirit. Its also important to have a chance to talk to each scout before creating the ballot so there are no hurt feelings or misunderstandings. I would like them to show the troop some maturity, be a leader a few times and show that they can teach camping skills. I have been consistant with this and have denied my own son this until he was in eighth grade. I always discuss who will be on the ballot with my committee before the OA elections and why and we discuss if this

Why create bylaws? its right in the OA rules that the scout master has to give approval - At the time of their election, youth must be under the age of 21, and hold one of the following ranks corresponding to the type unit in which they are being considered for election: Scouts BSA First Class rank, the Venturing Discovery Award, or the Sea Scout Ordinary rank or higher, and following approval by the Scoutmaster, Crew Adviser or Sea Scout Skipper, be elected by the youth members of their unit.

In my opinion 2b and SC 2e can be interpreted to mean any campout, 2a refers to 1b. As SM I would look at these based on context.Are you prepping, cookng and cleaning outside? The point of these requirements is to get used to doing these things in the outdoors so if you are cooking by dutch oven and hanging out in the cabin waiting for things to cook this should not count. If you are using the sink in the cabin to clean it should not count, prepping in the kitchen it should not count.

The scouts specifically asked for a pin so I ordered these - http://www.medpins.com/store/p/759-First-Aid-CPR-AED-Trained-Emblem-Pin.aspx It seems to fit what they asked for. I know its not official BSA award but these boys are paying the class themselves, were self motivated and may need to save me at some point on a high adventure so good to keep them happy.

These scouts will age out before 2 years but I understand your point. They do get a patch that says they are both CPR and WFA trained - it would be great if our council would get these custom made to have the date on the patch.

I have 6 older scouts interested and registered to take both CPR/AED and Wilderness First Aid. Some of these scouts enjoy bling and have asked me to source a pin for WFA. I am not finding any pins online so thought maybe this group might have a source for this pin. They do get a temporary patch but they asked me to source this pin so I am searching.

Where I am from most of the fun is at the den meetings. Why not reduce the number of pack functions you attend.

I am anti girls in scouts but I am encouraged by seeing a handbook based on gender. I also see less of just girls and more of a mix in most of the marketing stuff that come across my desk. I also think the boys are tired of seeing this too (first girl this and first girl that, girl patrol beat boys patrol etc). Lets move on and have fun scouting.

No doubt the boy has been punished enough talk to the SM. We don't usually suspend kids for thier first "lord of the flies" offense and the period beteween ages 10 and 12 are pretty big for charactor building.

My older scouts have very little interest in guns, not sure why. What they do like to do is to roll their own advetures so maybe encourage them to do a Patrol campout/ mini HA. We will do SeaBase this year and Philmont the next but it seems that they want more. I think they would love the mountaneering with the ranger school.

No doubt we have and that is going well - they dont always know what other troops do and love to hear other cool ideas. Then if they want they can take on those items too.

We had an age gap in our troop for many years but we have been slowly rolling to where we now have HS juniors and many more high school scouts. If the have been SPL and/or are Life scouts and have everything but the Eagle Project to do we allow them to move into an older patrol if they wish. Next fall i'll have 8 or 9 in this patrol and would like to keep them engaged and happy. The have asked if they can be the judges for patrol competitions, set up the games we play, we have them do one off projects like putting on new axe handles. They all wear and instructoer patches and have divided

Swimming and First Aid - both can help you get far in advancement during your first year. Then do fun ones, Some camps only do 3 or 4 some allow up to six. Make sure your scout has free time to hang out, go to the trading post or whatever.

"If you build a fire, the most important consideration is the potential for resource damage. Whenever possible, use an existing campfire ring in a well-placed campsite. Choose not to have a fire in areas where wood is scarce–at higher elevations, in heavily used areas with a limited wood supply, or in desert settings. True Leave No Trace fires are small. Use dead and downed wood that can be broken easily by hand. When possible, burn all wood to ash and remove all unburned trash and food from the fire ring. If a site has two or more fire rings, you may dismantle all but one and scatter the

Agreed, most scouters would step up and difuse the situation, move the boys to another location, thank the vetran for his service and ask to be let alone. They reason I heard that the stayed was that they were waiting for a bus but they seem to there for over an hour.

Lets make this relative then - I always tell my scouts (who are boys) that they need to always act like a scout when wearing the uniform because people are watching ( I know they should always act like a scout). Someone is always watching and everyone has a camera. These Catholic boys did a good job being respectful and wondering how many are scouts.

Because it would make great news if something happens. I don't know these boy but I think they did a great job at handling the situation, they did some high school spirit chants to the drum beat, they didnt show anger and they arent looking for a lawsuit. There is nothing wrong with showing support for any president and the first amendment provides this freedom. I saw nothing but peace and patience from these boys and only saw provocavation from the indians.

When I became SM I convinced the CC to throw out all troop rules and go by the book the way the BSA said to do things. Almost all disputes are solved by looking up the rules in GTA or GTSS. This allowed comittee members to give feedbook based on the rules and less on personal opinion. I also provide a "state of the troop" discussion on a quarterly basis to let the committee members know how well we are doing at the patrol method, what challenges some of the scouts are having and to update them on what I have learned (or taught) at RT. I always ask for feedback which can be painful sometimes be

Is this true? I dont see any reference to this in BSA publications. Do you have a source?