yknot

I feel for you. I have the same issue as do both my sons. There is a shirt style I bought a few years ago that is 100 % polyester that both did OK with. It was very soft and pretty breathable for polyester. We mostly can't wear anything but soft cotton, certain kinds of polyester, and cotton lycra. I don't remember if they made youth sizes because all of mine are men's, the smallest being men's small. I would bet you would be able to find in hand me down bins in one of your other local troops if you explained your problem and asked or maybe on ebay. The other thing I tried to do with those scratchy stiff cotton shirts was to wash the heck out of them and again look for well worn hand me downs that had softened up a bit. The uniform is one of my issues with scouts. It's expensive, often uncomfortable, and mostly impractical for what these kids are doing. Good luck.

Bear behavior during the supposedly dormant months doesn't have much to do with locale but rather other factors such as ambient temperatures and the health of the bear. Black bears are not true hibernators but enter a state of torpor from which they can readily awaken. A January thaw, ill health, or stimulation can entice many bears to wake up randomly and seek food. We all have that image in our head of bears snug in a deep cave during winter months but in reality a black bear den can simply be a depression under a fallen log or thicket. Even slight human activity in the immediate vicinity can awaken them. As bear populations increase, increased caution is a useful consideration.

Also worth considering is that black bear populations have increased dramatically over the past couple decades especially in the east so what has worked in the past may not continue to work as bears get more habituated to humans and smarter about accessing food. We live in bear territory and supposedly bear proof measures for trash or livestock often don't work. Bears are one of the reasons why I would like to see some of the emphasis on cooking and food lessen in the program for both cubs and scouts. The less you pack the less they can smell.

I've been thinking about this. Starting at the cub level, things like knife skills, fire skills, camping skills, citizenship skills, etc., are taught. A cyber chip has been added. I don't really see anywhere though that we specifically teach the basic tools of leadership which is kind of core to the program. The program creates leadership opportunities and situations but there's nothing about what is a team, what is leadership, what do you do when not everyone agrees, how do you run a meeting, what is compromise, etc. Older kids that seek out the training can get some of this through ISLT and NYLT but that's not every scout and pretty far up the line. And it doesn't help new scouts who are facing their first real experience trying to work as a team in a patrol. It seems like some of these skills could be taught at the Webelos level, with some stepped components through Tenderfoot, in order to help new scouts better navigate the patrol process and learn from it rather than quit. We might be getting off topic with this discussion but in a way it relates back to the OP topic of civil protest because these are some obvious issues we are having with our youth. Polarization. An inability to tolerate different views. Youth who have no idea how to compromise because it hasn't been part of their upbringing. This is noted in the educational system and to a lesser degree in other youth organizations like sports where some teams have dispensed with team captains or rotate the position for each game. Peer to peer leadership has become really problematic. Schools and sports are shying away from it but if it is that central to the patrol method, why don't we teach it.

We run the financing through the Troop as a pass through account but the trip is wholly the responsibility of the crew from the get go. Someone from the crew has to front the money and if someone backs out they are either liable for the funds or need to get someone else to take their spot. The problem is that you need to reserve these spots well in advance and things happen. But that's why we are hands off. It's an elite experience open only to those who can afford it or are willing to put significant time into fundraising so we don't underwrite anything other than leader training.

That's my point. From the comments on this board, its clear we were all raised that way. I was free range. I roamed the neighborhood and local woods with a large pod of kids. We had drama, crises, fights, danger, you name it. We worked it out among ourselves. No parent involved. No parent even knew unless someone squawked. We learned how to interact with each other. We had bigger families and learned how to handle sibling relationships and responsibilities. Kids are not growing up with those opportunities and skills anymore and that's why I think it might be useful to look at whether scouts needs to look at ways to teach those skills. The current patrol method kind of assumes kids come to us already having some of those skills but from what I've seen, they do not. Simply throwing them into the fire or the deep end of the pool without any kind of road map and hoping they figure it out is possibly one reason why we lose so many 10 and 11 year olds. It might be worth looking at.

This is a very interesting discussion. The patrol method is integral to scouting but you almost wonder how it can possibly work in today's environment. David CO mentions the trend towards individualism in education. I agree. And that is exactly why many scouts, and even more importantly their parents, have an issue with peer leadership. Kids today are not taught to work in a team or in a subordinate position to anyone else, they are taught and raised to do what they want and what works for them. Tahawk mentioned trauma. The trauma I'm talking about is when you've got a room full of kids taught that their individual rights, opinions and interests are what are most important and not anyone else's. The loudest rule the room; the more laid back hang back in misery and quit. We also have Den Chiefs and Troop Guides who are supposed to teach and manage this process. However, these scouts are generally not promoted to these roles because of any particular talent or training. They are in them because they need to fill a POL. They are often ill equipped to handle a diverse group of kids. Troops that have great adult leadership will instinctively know how to deal with this. Other Troops will just recite the mantra that it's scout led and ignore it. Yet others, without training or any kind of guidance on how to deal with these situations, will hover in and run the troop for them. These are all reasons why I think having some kind of step by step process spelled out for youth leadership might be a good idea.

I agree with you. I think difficulty in navigating the patrol method could be a possible reason why so many kids leave scouting within a year or two of crossing over. There is no road map on how to do it and most of the recent crossovers I've seen have been traumatic. The patrol method is based on the idea that scouts come into the program with some basic skills. However, it's pretty accepted that today's kids do not have the opportunities to develop the same kinds of interpersonal skills that are so necessary for the patrol method to work. My school district, for example, no longer assigns group projects because kids cannot handle conflict resolution and consensus building. Most kids today, and more importantly their parents, also do not accept peer leadership and yet it's a cornerstone of the patrol method. Troops that have really excellent adult leadership who can model these behaviors and monitor appropriately from afar can do well with it but not every unit has those skills. So I think looking at whether this a program area that could be given more structure might be really useful.

This explodes the idea that the outdoors going public, scouts included, can rely on limited, high impact, marquee destinations like premiere National Parks. There are too many of us trying to crowd into the same spaces. Scouting, as an outdoors oriented organization, could do a world of good in trying to leverage every tool available to keep local green spaces available to scouts as well as to the general public. Local unit, district, and council campgrounds and reserves; municipal and county parks. I so wish scouting would become advocates for keeping camp grounds and open spaces viable and available to all for all the things we love to do in scouting as well as to keep America's youth in general interested in the outdoor lifestyle.

I don't think it's a badge of honor if your program ultimately does not appeal to the 75% of the youth you are lucky enough to sign up in the first place. We need to be able to retain more kids and recruit more among those youth we missed at the cub level. I don't think the problem, as your comments suggest, is that scouts is too hard or too elite for modern day scouts to cope. I think the real problem is that the program has been shaped too much by national marketing and corporate interests and we've lost our focus on the youth engagement that makes it fun as well as the character aspects that help us 'grow' better kids.

Don't spray stainless steel items with bleach or they will rust.

Whoa. I think you misinterpreted what I said. There is no issue in my mind with having LDS Chartering Organizations and units. LDS units, as any other religious or community contact, should be completely welcome in scouting, and I have often said I hope many of them come back in time. The issue is how the core scouting program was adapted over the years to fit specific LDS needs. The program, with perhaps minor tweaks to fit local circumstances, should be largely the same for all. I disagree about the structure. I have my own theories about why the Catholic Church and Scouting have both been particularly vulnerable to infiltration and then enabling of child predators. The franchise like structure of both often leaves no one really in charge and does not foster communication or collaboration. Both organizations are bureaucratic, hierarchal, insular, and prone to allowing their most local manifestations to operate in a silo that can become almost a personal fiefdom for a few individuals. Problems result. Most other youth organizations are not run this way. "When children choose" is perhaps your key comment and one that I appreciate most. I think that's what we need to focus on, and not on what parents will choose. In another post, I talked about how many scouts we lose within the first year or two after crossover. Most love cubs, but the focus on Eagle and aggressive advancement, that appeals greatly to parents, and the weakening focus on outdoor adventures, at least in my opinion, is why we are not appealing as much to children. I hope as we go through this process that BSA does focus on want children want.

Yes. The prime reason scouting is in such a dire place is because of deep rooted, long term internal problems. BSA should never have allowed a single religion to run a shadow program within a program the way it did with LDS. BSA should never have limited its managerial talent pool largely to people within the organization. BSA should never have shifted its focus to marketing and membership instead of remembering that it is a movement focused on service, citizenship and character first. And the out of doors. BSA should have never allowed its organizational components -- national, council, unit -- to become so distinct from each other so incapable of collaboration on a common mission. Stuff like that.

Our Council is the same. In our area popcorn is pretty much dead except for the folks who like to do it online. Food sales of any kind are getting increasingly hard to do because of all the allergies and preferences based on either health or ethical concerns. Our Council also pretty much lets units do whatever they want to raise funds short of asking for outright donations. Parents also increasingly no longer have the time or interest to spend a half a day in front of a store somewhere, especially on top of fee increases. People are either working long hours or multiple jobs or if they have the money they'd rather just "buy" their way out of fundraisers. Things that combine an element of fun or service have been the most successful in our area.

I am starting to see more and more of them. From legal entities and now the court ordered advertisements by the BSA. The difference between the legal "documentaries" and the BSA spots is that the "documentaries" depict victims who appear teen to young adult while the BSA spots generally use older talent to depict their victims, closer to middle aged. The "documentaries" are reinforcing the public perception that significant abuse is still occurring in real time to present day youth.

A few random thoughts: Wouldn't your scout fall under the extension option if COVID has affected his timeline and he is close to aging out before getting Eagle? I'm aware of some cases similar to this and the real issue was that while a scout may have held the position for X amount of time, it was in name only and they did not actually do anything in the role. The SM, with the backing of others, might actually be using the delays as a stick to get the scout to actually fulfill leadership in a leadership role. However, in such times as COVID, even if this is possible, it really seems a lot of leeway has to be given if scouts have been unable to meet this. I also know of units where there has been similar push back, right or wrong, when a scout has attempted to piece together the requirement vs. meeting it continuously. In my experience, it has usually been a conflict between the anti-sports scouters, who see it as a scout cherry picking roles at his or her convenience to accommodate sports schedules while the "real" scouts are perceived as being more committed. Finally, in some of the cases around here, parents have had success hiring a lawyer to send a letter or threaten to get a lawyer involved. It's a nuclear option but I can tell you from observation it does work remarkably well in getting you what you want because most volunteers don't want to be embroiled in a lawsuit.

All our CO does is provide us with space and benign support. It's a church with an aging and declining congregation. All they know is that we meet in the basement. We avoid bothering them for anything. If we asked them to get involved in anything like this they would be incredulous lol.

The same for us plus big local dues for total fee last year of $200 and likely to increase a good bit again this year. At the same time, all the youth organizations around here have refunded or discounted rates.

We've discussed this elsewhere. All these requirements can be met in a properly administered test even in a backyard pool as long as it has the appropriate features. Not ideal, but the letter of the requirement can be met. It says at least one turn, not that you may not turn more than once, so almost any larger pool with a true deep end can be used for the test. Competent test administrators have discussed how youth must complete turns without touching or pushing off from sides. As long as the swim is continuous it is achievable even in a non Olympic sized pool.

I just watched one of those hour long infomercials running in my area that pegs BSA potential exposure at $1.5 billion.

Congratulations to you and your son. Wishing him all the best.

I don't know about that. Is Eagle really the penultimate reason why most kids join scouts, or is it something BSA has used to market scouting to parents? I remember standing with my final AOL den of very excited cubs at crossover listening to welcoming words from our new scoutmaster. They couldn't wait to be scouts. Until he started talking. Sure, he mentioned Philmont and Seasbase, but then it was mostly all about advancement. All about walking the Eagle path. All about what that would mean to help them get into college and how it would help put their resume at the top of any pile when it was time to get a job. The parents loved it. The checkbooks couldn't come out fast enough. The AOL scouts, on the other hand, were not that enthused. Almost 100% of the scouts in our unit -- and most of the units around here -- achieve Eagle. Maybe one or two each year don't out of an entire unit. However, while we usually cross over huge classes of AOL scouts (for us), we lose about 75% of them after the first year post crossover. For many youth, the advancement path to Eagle seems boring. A lot of them are not interested in some of the required merit badges because a lot of them are like homework. The advancement to Eagle path in our unit works great for parents who want their scout to be able to put Eagle on their college application. It also works great for the kinds of achievement oriented boys who truly enjoy the advancement process and all that that entails. But for a good number of boys -- like the ones I mentioned in another post that I was so happy to see yesterday, walking around town with fishing poles, on their bikes, and rock skipping -- it is possibly a turn off. I have been gratified to see so many impressive young men work their way towards Eagle, the best of them under their own steam and not handheld by parents or coaches. I know how much the process has meant to them, and how proud they are of their accomplishments. On the flip side, I've been deeply saddened by the kids we lose because a focus on advancement is not for them. Some of the best scouts I know -- ones that to my mind truly embody the very best character traits of a scout -- have just found the program unappealing. Some of the worst scouts I know have been pushed through to Eagle and the boys see that. I think we need to consider this. I have more I'm going to post in response to your long but good post above in a bit but I wanted to share my thoughts on this specific point. Eagle scout? Is it really what scouting should bet its future on? We often reflexively view it as the gold standard, but I'm torn. Maybe focusing on it is part of our problem.

I'm not sure Lone Scouts will fly. It might fit the kid model of fun, which I've endorsed elsewhere, but Gen X and Millennial parents are looking for something different. A good hybrid of Lone Scout (which would need to be renamed because it sounds like Lone Wolf and an army sniper program neither of which are PC today) and as a Covid/Rural option for scouting might work under the umbrella of a larger program. Parents today want kid showcases and accomplishments for the time they invest as families. The only thing saving scouting right now apart from those who love the outdoors aspect or the service aspect are the die hard parents who want to push their scout through to Eagle so they have something to put on the college app.

You know what? This summer I have seen the closest thing to the way I, and it sounds like you, grew up. Yesterday driving around town I saw multiple pods of kids on bicycles, with fishing poles, hiking around parks and skimming stones in places I usually never see kids. It's not as bad out there as we think. The problem is BSA has no idea on how to reach these kids or any mechanism or true desire to modify its program in order to do so. I'm not a kool aid drinking scouts person. I got involved with scouts because I want to see kids outdoors, because that's what I love and is what I think is good for kids. The endless merit badges and advancements pressure and religious/social rigidity and uniform nazis and homework like programming is not where my head or heart is at. This summer, for the first time in 30 years, I've seen kids out of doors in numbers. All I know is that I'm going where the kids are. I hope BSA figures it out and follows because I think that is truly the only way to be relevant and survive.

I don't know if scout units would be interested in these but I had proposed putting them together for some programming I was working on for our local schools and parks department. They were green lighted but then we lost funding so I can't give feedback on how they worked: - Bird study -- cheap binoculars, field guides, and Audubon and Cornell University educational materials. There are also some free apps you can download so printed instructions for those. Everything laminated. - Water study -- nets, buckets, specimen boxes, field guides, educational materials from local watershed associations. - Fishing -- fishing poles, nets, buckets, bait and tackle box, field guides, educational materials from local trout unlimited or fly fishing chapter. This kit will fit in someone's donated baseball or ski/snowboard equipment bag. - Animal tracking - field guides, cast making materials, clay casts or posters. I found that local watershed and wildlife associations and local Audubon chapters would work with you in providing materials. You can appeal to local birding groups to donate old bins for the kit.