jsychk

Thanks for your comments.

Yes, I have checked their requirements. Both leaders are qualified for either Den Leader Training Award/Unit Leader of Award Merit or our District Rattler Award (that requires a more personal written recommendation from the nominator but I can do that myself). I heard the District Rattler Award has only 20 spots each year, which is more "valuable." Yes, when the Pack/Den leaders cross over, one usually gets some plagues or makes walking sticks as an appreciation gift.  I do see that Unit Leader Award of Merit is required to be submitted by the Committee Chair. I am not sure if she will do that because she is new to our Pack. Also, I kinda want it as a surprise for both leaders. I feel that they are quite ready to cross over next February...in my 7 years of being with the cub scout, I found that the dedicated leaders are usually burned out after 3 or 4 years. 

Hi, I am the Award Chair /Coordinator for our Pack. I  would like to nominate our Webelos Den Leader and Cub Master for some merit awards before they will cross over to Boy Scouts next February. I looked at the Council web site and there are many choices. Between Den Leader Training Award/Unit Leader of Award Merit and our District Rattler Award, which one has higher honor?

I am grateful to have our Cub Master who stepped up 3 years ago (while nobody did) and he has been planning all the Pack meetings, den rotations, hiking/camping & all kinds of activities for our Pack. He is helpful to a lot of parents and supportive to the den leaders. Due to the new BSA policy, our church does not want to sponsor our Pack anymore. Without much support from the Council Executive, he found us a new church (they are ending our sponsorship at the end of this year too).  He is a father of 3, holds a full-time job as a physician and devotes so much time and effort for the scouting. I really think he deserves a merit award at the end of this Cub Scout journey.

Meanwhile, I also appreciate the Webelos II Den Leader  who spends a lot of time, money and effort for his den of 20 scouts. He really makes it fun and disciplines the boys like his own. He is a strong leader and excellent role model for the boys. He organized several service projects for our Pack and put on a lot of positive energy to his den (that's why it attracts so many new scouts over the years). 
 

I would like to know which award is better fit for their positions and contributions, thanks!

Ok, I clarified the eating part with my son this evening, whether they denied his food or not. He said no and yes. They let him to go through the food line. He got the fruit(s). When he asked to go to the salad bar, he was told to sit down. He said the whole troop knows that he only eats fruits and salad at the camp. He was hungry for 2 days (and also didn't sleep for 2 nights). He said he knows how the kids in poor countries feel about hunger. So, I told him how lucky he was because at least he knew where it would end but those poor kids would not. Of course, after he got back home, I fed him real good. To my knowledge, I don't think anyone have starved to death in America so I am not that worried. 

After the incident, my husband drove several hours to take our son home. Few days later, my husband had a brief meeting with the troop leaders when the troop came back from the camp. I don't know if this considers a "paying a visit"? Overall, it's mostly handled by phone calls between the leader(s) and my husband. Another thing is...my son said he was given no food when he was put in a place alone while waiting for my husband to pick him up at the camp (the camp site is 8 hours away). Although he probably missed a couple meals, I thought it's kinda strange. However, it may give him a taste of real hunger because he is a picky eater (with a certain food allergies).  

The leaders told my husband that my son hates the kid repeatedly. After "discussing" with our son, we asked him why he doesn't like the kid. Here's what he wrote:

"Why I dislike the kid, I guess the best explanation is jealousy, because I can't put "I have no idea why I dislike the kid." I admit I was jealous of the fact that he had a lot of stuff I didn't, and I, like some other people, thought he was a little too "pampered." We also found him rather annoying. I know they say just stay away, but for some reason, he (the kid) followed us around; and it kind of built up over the months. Some scouts, me and another boy included, noticed his parents are more protective than ours, and found it unfair that they fought his battles for him (figuratively, of course.). While in this case, it's obvious that they have to step in, they sometimes step in for things as silly as an argument about who's tent goes where. The scout movement supports independence, but in my own and several other's opinions, his parents shouldn't be so heavily involved in scout's affairs. Again, this is only an opinion and I am not telling his parents how to parent their kid, as I (obviously) have no experience in this area. I am simply stating my opinions as asked. I did not exclude him because of his differences, because then I would have to exclude everybody, as everybody has their differences. I am aware that most of you reading this don't believe a single word of this, but as I said at the beginning, I don't know why I don't like him and  I can't write a paper on that. I had to write something, so I wrote the most logical reason why I dislike him."

We also asked my son to write about the incident earlier. It's rather long, but I think my husband sent both copies to the troop leader before the verdict...just let them read my son's side of the story as the one-on-one interrogation didn't show that.  
 

Thank you so much for each of you who take your time and tell me what you think about my situation. I really appreciate it! Although I am in CS for 7 years, I have no idea how the BS works. I have a few things I would like to respond:

• Since my husband handles the case with the BS leaders, I don't know if the Council investigated the case or not. In fact, my husband didn't ask any question when they told him the verdict over the phone. I would like to know whether my son can do any service project or go to merit badge university?! I don't think suspension is a good punishment because my son is probably fine staying at home and reading books. I think they should still allow him and the group to join the activities but use their free/fun time on the site to do some extra work, like moving rocks at the river or building a fence, just do some labor work that benefits others. I do see this as a learning opportunity for him because I rather see him making a mistake at 12, not 22 or 32. 
   
• "Key is to make sure he is truly sorry and willing to make amends, not just sorry for being caught" is so true. After the incident, my son has created a booklet to keep track of himself doing 10 nice things a day. He said this will help him to make it as a habit. I hope that's genuine. At home, he is responsible. Over the summer, he did all our laundry, put up dishes, take the dog out several times a day, mow the lawn. Sometimes, he even helps his brothers with their homework. He did it with good attitude. Therefore, getting a call from the troop was very shocking to us. We asked my son to write  his statement of the incident, he did tell the boy who tackled the kid to "let him go" and the boy did. At the end, my son is one of the two who got kicked out from the camp. The other one is the one who tackled the kid. For the rest of the group (about 10 boys), they called their parents. 
   
• "the Scout who was the victim in the issue had his parent, or parents at camp, they may have had influence in the tenor of the investigation" ~ this is what my husband thinks because the victim's parent(s) attend each one of the camp. In the past, my husband said something like the kid is fine himself but the mom enables him to be annoying and not fitting in with others. Due to the popcorn, I had a brief encounter with the mom last year. I think she is an older mom who has only one son, so she does all she can to protect the kid and rescue him in all occasions. 
   
•  "you really need to ask if your son will get a fair shot later and if you trust the leaders to treat him fairly.  If you do, then work through the issues.  If you have doubts, look for another unit." That's a really helpful insight and advice for me. I told my son that if he decides to go back after 6 months, he has to be extremely behaved in every action and earn back the trust from everyone in the troop. It's not gonna be easy, but I think it's up to him. Since my son doesn't have a phone, I do let him to use my phone and have some contact with his scout friends. I just hope he won't give up scouting after 6 months. 
  
  It's been a long day since I have a Pack meeting to prepare for today. Thanks again for your insight and support. Good night to you all...

Hi, I am a mom of 3 scouts. My oldest is in Boy Scout and the youngest twos are in Cub Scout. My oldest has been a scout since Tiger, and I worked closely with him for 5 years as one of the Pack leaders. After he crossed over, I asked my husband to keep a tap on him while I focus on my two younger ones with the Cub Scout. 

My oldest had been going to camp out every month for 1.5 years since he joined the troop. This summer, he went to a week out-of-state camp. In the middle of the camp, the troop called us and asked us to pick him up. My husband drove several hours to retrieve him and brought him back. Next we know, it seems there are my son's version and the leader's version of the incident. 

The incident is about bullying one kid. After the incident, the leader interrogated each involved scout in the tent alone. At the end, the leaders concluded that my son and another scout (along with other scouts) lured the kid into the wood with sharpened sticks and want to do something to him. Few weeks later, we are told that my son would be suspended for 6 months. 

Actually I have heard about this kid quite a bit from my son because my son complained that he got so much privilege from his mom at the camp. For example, when the patrol burned the food and everyone got nothing to eat, this kid's mother delivered him a meal. Or, when every scout slept in the hot tent, this kid stayed with his parent in an "air-conditioned" tent.  I don't know if this is the norm, but I think some boys gradually didn't see it fair and excluded the kid naturally. 

My son ensured that nobody planned to hurt the kid at all. At the camp, the scouts played with each other as usual. After being told not to climb trees, they decided to run a club, created races and set up trials for the club. Out of a sudden, one scout played with an idea of asking the kid to join, knowing that the kid would probably fail all the trials. The kid happily accepted the invitation and went along. At the end, he failed all the trials except "sharping the stick". The kid still wanted to join the club, so the others continued to play (with) him. At some point, they played a game and asked the kid to hide inside the tent, and the others tried to catch him out of a surprise. The kid escaped and one boy tackled him. Then, the adults got involved. In the process of the interrogation, my son said the leader repeatedly asked the same question until he agreed to it even he knew nothing about it.

I understand the BS is taken after the military, but is this the procedure to punish boys in this situation? For half a year? We talked to my son several times and he said he learned his mistake. Until few days ago, he still couldn't sleep well and had nightmares about it. I asked him if he wants to change troop. He said no because he has friends there but I don't know what he will face after 6 months?! Need guidance please....

I thought I was the only one who thought this issue is overreaching. After reading the headlines and flipping the pages, I lost interest and threw that issue into my recycle bin immediately. I don't think including the girls are in popular demand. In fact, BSA is starting to sound more like GSA.  

As a scout mom of 7 years, I am against girls joining the BOY Scout of America. If they like BS's program so much, they should advocate GS to follow it.

As a cub scout leader of 5 years, I am against girls joining the CUB Scout. It's hard enough to recruit volunteers because fewer dads step to the plate now. Also, the more the moms volunteer, the more the Pack looks like daycare. Adding the girls will make it like GS. It's truly ridiculous to have girls in different ranks but the same den. Each rank has its own achievements to accomplish so how do they design and run the den meetings by how many den leaders they need? 

As a boy scout mom, I am totally, absolutely, 100% against girls joining the BOY Scout. My breaking point is, once CO co-ed and they go camping together. We will give up everything for the Eagle and go to Trail Life USA. After all, I just want my boys to have some fun memories that they can look back and smile.