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yknot

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Everything posted by yknot

  1. yknot
    I'm not exactly sure what you are stating because I'm not sure what your "not true" relates to. I think we're agreeing that the decline in child death rates due to accidents has declined dramatically since 1970? Far fewer kids overall are dying today than in 1970 despite the youth population being essential static during that time frame.
  2. yknot
    I have also been involved in aspects of the horse industry and that is indeed a world that has changed dramatically, especially racing. However, since you bring it up, two aspects of that world that touch youth and are relevant to scouting -- 4-H and US Pony Club -- have done a much better job of adapting to change. Those youth organizations have modified many aspects of their programs, tried to make involvement more affordable, and have found ways to retain and involve graduate young adults and older alumni. I have always thought that Pony Club is a particularly interesting comparison because
  3. yknot
    I guess the answer is that a lot more of us didn't get to be adults. Enhanced safety considerations have caused an exponential decline in childhood death rates. I know we get nostalgic about how things were when we were young, but so much of it, like playground wood chips and bike helmets, is just belated common sense.
  4. yknot
    That's not surprising because I think this all depends in the council you/were are in. As someone who was involved more on the committee side for years, councils are often unable to keep track of paperwork. Lost recharter packets, lost Eagle Scout applications, lost adult applications, lost training records, no matter whether in hard copy or e format. Our latest council after a series of mergers is somewhat better but in many cases records before fairly present day are simply lost.
  5. yknot
    Gotcha. It makes sense that the Methodist Men would remain hopeful that something might still be worked out.
  6. yknot
    It's always good to have more information but it seems like the article that was posted is actualy far more indepth and complete than the press release on the MM site. What was your point of contention?
  7. yknot
    And what to my wondering eyes should appear...
  8. yknot
    This is the kind of question that Cynical Scouter would have had an opinion on and been able to parse out some scenarios. People didn't always agree with him and he admittedly would sometimes wield his pen more like a scythe but his insights were always instructive. It was good to see ThenNow back, however briefly. Wish CS would return as well. The forum is lifeless without them. IMHO.
  9. yknot
    Welcome back!
  10. yknot
    Any of us can do that but the reason you don't want to is that if someone gets hurt while doing something that is banned by the BSA and could be considered negligent, you risk not being covered by insurance. You are not really rebelling against anything, you are just shifting some of the liability from BSA to yourself personally.
  11. yknot
    I thought it was an instructive post. The last point bears repeating. I was on the board of a nonprofit that was sued by a member over something fairly frivolous. While eventually dismissed, it dragged on and required taking time off work to attend court proceedings at inconvenient times and places. One thing to realize is that operating as part of a well regarded nonprofit community organization provides some cover that is weakened if you are just XYZ nonprofit. People who might be reluctant to risk community censure by suing a local church or volunteer fire department have no such compunctio
  12. yknot
    We have a lot of local campgrounds that don't meet those criteria. No potable water, you must bring your own. No permanent bathroom or shower facilities, it's a hike to a port a john somewhere. No garbage disposal, it's carry in carry out. No permanent shlelter for activities. If it's more than a drizzle and a tarp won't handle it, pack up and go home or reschedule. Cubs don't do wilderness or extreme weather camping. I was the person who was involved in handling permits and paperwork for a linked pack and troop for years and this never came up with council or anywhere else. I am absolutely su
  13. yknot
    I was surprised by something else in that link. Further down it talks about Pack overnight campsite approvals. I've been out of cubs awhile but that's new to me and to most of our area units evidently because most of the popular cub scout camping sites in use around here would not meet all the criteria on the linked appraisal form.
  14. yknot
    There have been insurance awards for anal fistulas of up to $50 million, so even just focusing on the physical problems caused by abuse would still be staggering. I'm not sure what you mean by limiting monetary elements to actual help in the case of physical damage. Many of these things have to be corrected surgically and have comparatively high failure rates. What would be considered "actual help" for living with fecal incontinence as a result of being raped by your Scoutmaster? What is the impact on a young man, an Eagle Scout maybe, hoping to date and have a family while dealing with that
  15. yknot
    I am never in favor of price increases but for point of comparison a 12 person cabin at one of our nearby state parks would be $280 for a weekend so $200 doesn't seem crazy. And no scout discounts despite a history of service projects...
  16. yknot
    The larger property management issues you raise like logging and just general poor stewardship of scout lands is another crazy disconnect. As far as Jamborees, I mispoke. I meant all the local scout jam type gatherings and what have you. They are almost always high stress on local resources and often planned without consideration as to impact. A 50 acre field mowed at the wrong time of year can be disastrous for grassland breeding birds for example but a Council that logs isn't going to be at all concerned about a bunch of fledglings. It's sadly funny that in some places you will have greedy
  17. yknot
    LNT Minimize Campfires -- Cooking MB and extensive cooking rank requirements. In many places this becomes tail gating in the woods. LNT Respect Wildlife -- Any requirement that involves collection of animals from the wild or creating artificial congregation points or food sources. For example, Fishing Derbies -- throwing a dying or dead fish back into water is not LNT and kind of a blind spot in cubs. Jamborees? Maybe when they are in a parking lot but not at most sites I've seen them at. There are more -- easy enough to find if you look yourself. BSA has cleaned up some o
  18. yknot
    That's interesting, although I have to say it is hard to make the out of doors seem boring, but LNT gives a really good try. It's important stuff, but instead of teaching it in context with anything else, it's just presented as a dry list. I'm thinking more of BSA modifying program components in ways that would lead to partnerships or at least synergies. There are 5 animal rank names and yet nothing specifically linked to study or conservation in the ranks for any of those animals. Bears and Eagles are two head scratching omissions. The National Park Service offers a free annual pass to
  19. yknot
    It ought to be every participatory parent (meaning you attend things with your kid) takes YPT, submits to a background check, and the parent pays the (typically nominal) fee. If you want to go on and be a volunteer leader, you pay the higher fee to register. Every parent should be able to observe any aspect of the program. I have no idea why BSA wants to charge all parents $45.
  20. yknot
    What a shame both Cynical Scouter and ThenNow are gone. Their commentary on something like this would have been insightful and likely provided more context.
  21. yknot
    Sadly, it has missed a great opportunity to be the nation's guide to the outdoors, most tragically during the pandemic. There are so many partnerships that could have been leveraged with NPS, conservation groups, and reimagining the outdoors as the scouting world's classroom. So many struggling scout camps that could have become scouting branded community outdoor resources for recreation and learning.
  22. yknot
    That study has some strange omissions, like the fact that the Amazon has also lost 20% of its acreage/habitat in the past 30 years or so, but the Bird Study badge, along with many badges and rank requirements, are desperately in need of updating and revamping. We truly do need more outdoors in scouting, and what is offered needs to be more relevant, up to date, and field oriented.
  23. yknot
    It's interesting you think someone who walked away from signing an NDA and as a result left a significant amount of money on the table has credibility issues. I can't come up with any other senior BSA executive who has done anything like that in recent memory. Further, he was an expert in youth protection before he was hired, for ten years he was the first and looks like only BSA senior executive focusing soley on youth protection, and he's still a nationally recognized expert in the field. For those reasons, his assessments about BSA youth protection policies will have credibility to the wide
  24. yknot
    On youth protection, maybe start with what the former BSA director of youth protection Michael Johnson had to say on the subject: 1) Recognize that scouting is a high risk perhaps the highest risk youth activity as far as youth protection and other aspects. 2) Recognize that a significant percentage of current abuse cases are youth on youth. Older youth supervision of younger youth is a problem. 3) Remove NDAs that prevent other youth protection experts who have contracted with the BSA from speaking out. 4) The CO structure is dysfunctional as far as supervision of units
  25. yknot
    I have never known a CO or a COR that isn't absentee or at very least hands off and I have been involved with two councils that would never force the issue for fear of losing units, membership, or FOS dollars. In many of the units, the COR is just a name on paper -- they do not belong to or represent the CO because there is no one available at the CO. Many COs around here are smaller churches with declining, elderly leadership. I think this is very different depending on what council you are in or part of the country. This is a problem BSA has ignored or played footsie with for years. The CO m
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