yknot

I'm sure we'll come out of a shutdown for a time if things start to look better. But then I expect we'll go back to some version of it because the virus does not show signs of being containable or seasonal. The amount of effort that is going to be required to deal with the fall out of it are going to be substantial and limiting for many aspects of our daily lives. Unless there are clear cut medical recommendations indicating it is completely safe for children and adults to gather in significant numbers, or there is some kind of medical breakthrough fast tracked on either the prevention (vaccin

This is where BSA is missing the PR boat. We absolutely have tons of engaging online content and plenty of ideas for at home activities that could introduce non scout kids and families to scouting. Some of them might be interested enough to sign up when this is all over. I don't know why this isn't showing up on lists of things to do with your kids at home in major media. Why BSA isn't pushing any of it out on social media platforms (that I can see)? There is no risk of a child predator while doing a fun cub or scout activity from a rank achievement list or merit badge at home, and there are a

I don't think it's a good idea to have youth in a food establishment. They are trying to hang on with takeout orders, and food safety is paramount. No one other than essential and trained personnel should be on site. Right now is a perfect time to work on Bird Study. We're in the middle of spring migration. Most people live along a fly way. The lack of foliage right now and for the next couple weeks in most parts of the country means that many species are more easily viewed. Given how migration works, even the most urban setting can wind up with an amazing variety of species between now

I think we are over thinking this. Up to 100 or 150 years ago, most kids grew up isolated on the family farm with just parents and siblings. Some of the greatest human beings known to man grew up this way. I don't think a few weeks, months, or even a year of this is all that bad. We'll get through it. Wouldn't it be great if the long term benefit of this pause in our overly frenetic lifestyles is that kids learn how to think and concentrate again instead of living in our non stop ADHD world.

I think the best way we are all being told to help our community is to stay home and help our families get through this. A lot of these ideas are well intended but sending scouts out into the community in any way right now is a bad idea. Older scouts can help entertain younger siblings while mom and dad try to work from home. All scouts can get on the phone every day or on Skype and talk to grandma and grandpa and break up their boring day. Or a neighbor's. Older scouts can offer to do online or phone tutoring for younger kids that are having trouble with the new distance learning.

My apologies, BAJ. Bad day yesterday and I took your post the wrong way.

For crying out loud, we have more things to worry about than scouts getting advancements with made up community service projects. The best community service is to stay home and help your family.

I think the answer is that you are not going to have them. We all know how far out many of those well visits need to be scheduled even in normal times. The idea of, once this is over, being able to get an appointment in a timely manner is probably not realistic. I know camp deadlines are approaching and many people are in a quandary. I see two options: 1) go ahead and make plans despite the unknowns as long as there is a refund policy in place at the camp or 2) accept that a decision to camp will need to be made at a later date than normal give all the unknowns. The next couple weeks to

We've never had this kind of situation before and I think summer plans could be really disrupted. Health officials are talking about an 8 week containment period, which puts us into mid May. A lot of K-12 schools and colleges are planning to be closed until the end of the year. It is not clear whether distance learning will work and in some cases, where labs or facilities are required in order to complete coursework, it won't. It is not clear if COVID 19 will demonstrate any seasonality, i.e., get knocked back by the warmer months. Certainly it's circulating pretty well in the Caribbean, so it

I really wouldn't worry about rank advancement at this point. What's happening right now is going to be very disruptive to kids and families. Just focus on maintaining a sense of community and fun and keeping your kids connected to scouting. If they don't finish Bear requirements, for example, they are still going to be Webelos. If there is a huge disruption in scouting, BSA will have to allow an extra grace period for attaining Eagle. High school and college kids right now are faced with not being able to complete pre-requisites that will affect their academic courses. Scouts should be focusi

Because it's an outdoor program, I'm seeing ways to continue getting kids out of doors even if it's not necessarily advancement related. Camping is out but hiking isn't. You can easily maintain social distancing on a day hike. A lot of parents are going to be home with kids so two deep shouldn't be a problem. Buddy system can be parent and adult. Bird Study. Forestry. GPS & Orienteering badge components can all be worked on, some of it even in the backyard. Getting outdoors and away from other people may actually be the only recreational pursuit open to many Americans in the weeks ahead. I

It seems to me this unfortunate national health crisis could actually be an opportunity for some positive PR for BSA among the public at large. There are going to be about 50 million parents looking for activities to do with their home bound kids over the next few weeks. They should be made aware of and invited to google "BSA" and peruse its prodigious online resources. There are plenty of cub scout activities and scout merit badges that are fun and can easily be done at home or in the backyard. Whittling animals out of soap bars with a plastic knife, making trail mix with whatever snacks you

I can't find that brochure anywhere else except at that specific council website. Do you have a BSA original source for it?

I read all of the FAQs and still don't follow this logic. It is not unusual for Troops and even Packs to help guest scouts from another troop to join up in some configuration for desired activities that might not be available in the home troop. These arrangements by default can result in an ad hoc leadership role for a guest scout for the duration of the activity. These situations can include provisional camping, hiking miles, leadership opportunities like a Den Chief, etc. BSA does not have a policy expressly excluding girls from any of these opportunities based on gender. The only requ

I think the only sensible course is to leave the SPL position in place. You cannot remove a female SPL from a joint position that was previously given to a male SPL until the term runs out. You have to consider the optics on that. More importantly, the impact on the scout. However it happened, pushing the idea now that children are being irreparably harmed by having a female SPL for a few months is a potential PR debacle. I can see her being interviewed on CNN now. You'd have to be pretty process blinded to not see that. Also, I would not be so sure that National would have a cow over

You have the right to refuse but that doesn't make it defensible and will only be the cause of the next set of negative headlines for scouting. Imagine if a DL refused a special needs DC or a DC of a different religion. It doesn't fly.

I am not understanding why a female scout can't be a joint SPL? It's a leadership position in linked troops. Assuming all adults follow YPT and youth follow all tenting requirements, there is no violation that I can see. It's discriminatory and not defensible. Can a female scout be a den chief or troop guide for a boy den or patrol? Of course.

The metal slides are a safety hazard because they can fall off and into things. We have been at outings where we have been told by the venue to leave them home or take them off on site for this reason. They are also a continual source of revenue for BSA because many cubs can't seem to hang on to them for more than a few meetings and they are another piece of the cub uniform that unnecessarily drives up expense. It's not thrifty. I'm all in favor of dispensing with them. There's a para cord version my son made and he wears that as a scout if he feels he needs a slide.

No. It's out of control. My son's advancement for a single rank was held up for more than a year for something not even part of the requirement, but scouters who are check box mad can do that. Since we're not rank, merit, or Eagle driven, we kind of ignored it. But in the meantime, he lost whatever enthusiasm he had for scouts and almost quit. Thankfully a new scout master has come on board and he's having a better time.

I think this is where I wonder if it really is over for scouts. I'm aware, given BSA's use of the term "youth" rather than "scout", that there is an expectation that scouters follow YPT whenever and wherever they are involved with youth, scouts or not. However, imagine telling a non scout parent that you cannot take a group of kids to a movie or let your son have them over to your house unless another adult is present because you are involved in scouting. The inference is that you are not to be trusted because you are involved in scouting. I have taken BSA YPT, and similar training thro

Yes, wash your hands long and often. However, scouters are among the most hand shaking people I know, so cease and desist for the time being. Little is known about this virus. Most recommendations are being extrapolated from data collected in connection with the SARS and MERS corona virus outbreaks. However, this new virus is demonstrating some unique behaviors so prudent caution is advised.

Just at a COH this weekend where everyone, very scout like, shook hands. Please tell your scouts to stop this for now.

I'm in a high cost area so that sounds dirt cheap.

Skeptic, I heartily agree. Just had someone contact me to day to buy bluebird boxes from scouts because they assumed we sold them as a fundraiser. We don't. Why aren't we doing that, and becoming known for that, instead of ... rip off popcorn that has nothing to do with any scout value, oath, or law?

Eagledad, I think you are largely right. However, things change and if scouts manages to survive the bankruptcy, I will always believe that some scouting, even if it is a morphed program to fit new times, is better than no scouting. There are kids out here that love this stuff and I hope there is always a place where they can find it.