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BSA doesn't though, unless you're lucky enough to be in the right unit in the right council. It couldn't keep my sons interested long term, and they are intrepid outdoors kids. My oldest just went to Svalbard by himself on a trip he organized solo over spring break.

Ok thanks. I don't think that's what I was thinking of then. Someone like Sebastian Junger or someone like him is attached to it.

This documentary is one of at least three that have been in development for some time. One was Leave No Trace, which aired last year on Hulu, this one on Netflix, and there is a third but I can't remember who it is affiliated with or when it will air.

I think that was part of the local politics of the site. The project was meant to boost the local economy of the North Jeolla province so local enterprises were given priority. We have the same construct here, it's just generally some entity steps in when there are looming deadlines and cost overruns on a high profile project. Also, this site wasn't just being developed for WSJ, there are/were plans for other future large scale events to be held there on an ongoing basis, so their timeline in some regards extended beyond WSJ. As far as the US and the WSJ involvement, though, anyone reading an English language Korean media outlet in preparation for the event would have known some of this. The site has been controversial for decades, first and foremost because there were lawsuits and court cases trying to prevent the area from being filled in in the first place. It was formerly a critical estuary system that was a breeding ground and flyway stop for hundreds of thousands of threatened and endangered bird species and as such has long been on the radar of many increasingly dismayed people in the conservation community.

There are some apps that track this. I just started looking into it myself so I can't recommend one yet but I am looking for one that gives an audible signal, not just something I have to keep looking at on my phone. Merlin is enough of a distraction.

As a kid, I never heard coach jokes or priest jokes, but I sure heard scoutmaster jokes. Abuse in scouting was pretty widely known and pretty much batted aside as just another humorous woodland hazard like wet socks or a nosy bear. If it took lawsuits to change that mentality, I think that says more about scout leadership than lawyers, frankly.

Relieved to hear they are all evacuating.

I would say the traditional charter organization model, except for a few outliers, is heading towards extinction. It just doesn't work from either an operations or a liability standpoint in today's environment.

The context for his letter and the quote were, as I cited, the hundreds of lawsuits that had been settled, gone to court, or were still pending at that time and were what pushed BSA into bankruptcy. BSA's liability for the child sexual abuse cases had been definitively established by 2019, which was why the organization had to file for bankruptcy. However more you may want to try and minimize the BSA's admission in a letter that was already expertly crafted by lawyers and PR advisors to minimize and deflect that responsibility, the fact remains that BSA does have an established history of covering up for child predators and it's documented in that letter.

In a May 28, 2019 letter to Congress Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh admitted that BSA did allow credibly accused child abusers to return to scouting. That is covering up for them, and it was exposed multiple times in many of the lawsuits that were resolved or pending prior to the bankruptcy. It was reported upon in multiple places as a follow up to his earlier December 2018 letter to Congress in which he had denied such events ever took place.

The information is conflicting but at this point it doesn't seem like that would be helpful. The Korean hosts wanted WOSM to end the event before the closing ceremony so the best courtesy towards them might be to stay away. A lot will depend on how the weather forecast unfolds.

They are 120 miles away at Camp Humphries. It's not possible to hike in if that's what you mean.

Document what you have experienced and present it to not just the CO but also the Council and confirm that it has been received. Kids who are being bullied or hazed by adults or other scouts are kids at risk from more than just psychological harm. A side effect of bullying/hazing is that it can lead to poor decision making and bad or ill informed judgements in safety situations. Leave, but do your best to protect the scouts you leave behind as you are thinking to do.

Wisconsin and the Illinois area are represented only because they are the most recent regions. This has been working its way through several regions over the past couple years. I think NY state and Massachusetts were a year or so ago if memory does not fail.

It has nothing to do with predator recognition, more a comment on how it is a reminder of abuse cases where adult men lured scouts through various activities involving undressed states. I saw that statue in WDC as a kid and even then audible jokes were made by people viewing it.

I don't think there is any issue with nudity in public art because it's everywhere. I think the issue with nudity or near nudity in the DC BSA memorial statue is due to discomfort because of the history of child sexual abuse in scouting. Seeing a large near naked man looming behind a boy scout in light of today's situation is uncomfortable for many.

That's the national scout memorial in Washington, DC, lol. If I remember correctly, it was installed in the early '60s -- which in scout years, would be like the 1930s -- so I guess that's why it is evocative of the imagery of that nationalistic era. The male and female are supposed to represent the support of American man and woman hood in scouting. Poor choice of depiction in my opinion as well but at least there are a lot of other statues of male boy scouts to view if you don't like that one.

There have to be more than a half dozen bronze statues around Bechtel, most depicting men or boys doing something scout like, such as hunting, biking, falconry or at least hanging out with the eagles, fishing, etc. The only statue, and the first statue, they could think of to depict women scouters was a mythical one? What is the symbolism of this? All the male statues are showing people already enjoying the scout ideal; is this female statue inferring that scouting is something women are aspiring to when they are already doing it? It would have been better to show a show a female scouter hiking -- or actually rock climbing without needing action hero wings to do so.

School based means school based, so they are not outside entities. Frankly, I understand it. A lot of schools are being overwhelmed by a fire hose of requests for access to students and facilities.

It's a good book. It changed my outlook on the topic and made me take a hard look at the advancement and youth leadership development process in scouting.

I've seen the opposite occur when the program unduly values extroversion over introversion; a significant percentage of less extroverted scouts eventually leave. There's a good book I've recommended here before -- Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking.

We and other groups were allowed to meet but not recruit. One of the issues at least where we are is that the number of organizations that are seeking to use the school community as a marketing channel for their offerings has increased exponentially over the past 5, 10, 15 years. Schools cannot handle the onslaught and many districts feel the volume of messages can compete with their own important school related news and events directed at families. Many manage it by saying no to everyone that isn't school based. School based clubs and sports, yes. Outside organizations like scouts, no.

Vaya con Dios, Fred. You've always been a kind and thoughtful presence.

I think the quote and some additional history regarding BSA's early involvement with the Klan can be found here under a thread with the rather problematic name of Just Ku Klux Kluxin Around. It's under scouting history.

The reason that makes sense to me is that it will give BSA a larger infusion of cash at the earliest possible date. It also will also allow them to obfuscate the membership total and boast of a large membership bump as registrations come in through the new scheme. They don't care too much right now about impact on the local units, they are trying to survive nationally. This also allows them to claim membership retention for as long as they want to extend the national invoicing window disconnected from local reality.