C-BOLT

Your ceremony sounds different from ours.

Alot of the scouts sit in the audience. The rest are either part of the ceremony, meaning guys who light the candles, flag ceremony, etc etc.

Our leaders regulate or cooking so much that we never have any problems with things going wrong. However, our troop has a very bad habit of over purchasing and we ALWAYS end up with extra stuff that we just end up giving out.

Maybe not something the BSA can "regulate" but I think Troops should be more boy led.

They are indoors, either too scared to go outside because of fear of predators, or they are playing video games, watching TV, etc.

I do a bit of all of that, well except the band, I don't think you'd want me in any band after me attempting to bugle one summercamp.

Our terms are for six months, the required amount to fulfill the leadership requirment for Eagle.

We do Troop elections for all of the "lesser" positions like scribe, quartermaster, etc etc. The scouts are elected by their peers. For the SPL position, our SM will nominate 2-3 (usually 3) scouts who he believes are best qualified to run for the position, and its usually the life scouts who are on their way to Eagle. In the past, the troop has voted for the SPL, and the SPL then got to choose his ASPL personally. The chosen ASPL was almost always the person who was also running for SPL.

Well, when it was my turn to run for SPL, I also ran against a friend, and another scout. Well, our SM knew that if one of us were to win, we would choose the other as ASPL, so he made it so that the second place scout gets ASPL. Well that fell through, as I won by a blowout and my friend got second place, making him ASPL. After our term, the second place vote wasn't used again.

As far as duties go, its pretty simple. You show up to the meetings, lead the flag ceremonies etc, etc. Pretty standard stuff. Oh, and if there is an Eagle Court of Honor during the term, you get to MC the ECOH, something I've been able to do. As far as planing goes, we have our SPL meeting at the end of the month, where we go over and discuss the current month, and get ready for the next one. The SPL always runs it, but basically the PLs and all the other leadership positions do all the talking. I've gotten an earful at one of these meetings for something stupid that I'd rather not get into, but thats about the only trouble I've encountered.

Now I also got to be SPL for summer camp, and I'd say I did a pretty darn good job. The upcoming first years were in a word, babies. Its probably because most of their parents are over protective, so they weren't ready for some of the things that we all love about summercamp. I knew that these scouts were going to get picked apart by some of our older scouts. Its not that we have bullies in our troop, no, but they just like to tease, and sometimes teasing can go too far.

So when the first years were off to get medical checks or something, I gathered the troop and basically told them "Remember what it was like when you were a first year" and something along the lines of "if you want to pick on them, you have to go through me first." I guess that worked, because we didn't have any problems.

I left out some stuff, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

The adults in my troop carry a Totin Chit.

As for knife legnth, like others have stated, it varies and alot of times debated. As a scout whose owned more than enough that were not "scout legal" I just made sure that none of the staffers/leaders saw me with said knives. I think that the counselor cutting of the corner for that is a little harsh, but I guess you can't get rid of every rat.

Well, I don't know about the first question, there are probably a thousand legal reasons.

As for leaving early, why don't you just ask the scout at the next meeting why they left. Sure, its not courteous to just take off, but maybe they had homework to finish, things of that nature.

For one reason or another, cars have never really been a problem in our troop.

Well in our Troop, behavior usually isn't a problem. If it is, the Scouts usually get a talking to, which can range from a "hey, just don't do it again" to a "one more time and I'll send you home" (although the leader who said that wouldn't have the gana to do it).

As for punishment, its usually in good fun. A scoutmaster will make a scout pick up trash, collect firewood, clean, etc. The real problem is, some scouts not listening to certain leaders in our troop.

After the BOR. The public can careless about who signs what papers.

In all honesty, our Jamboree Troop was made up of "troublemakers."

What do I mean by that? Our head scoutmaster was also SM of his home troop. Our District (or council) sent 4 troops to the Jamboree. Well our SM took alot of the more "active" scouts from his hometroop and put them in his jambo troop. I found that interesting, because it was the exact opposite of what the SM of my home troop did. He took all of his "golden boys" and put them in his troop. Sure, it could have been a coincidence too, but I doubt that.

And as a leader, I understand what you say. I know that you have to be responsible for scouts, because you don't want them to misbehave too much, and of course that is totally acceptable. My dad is also a leader, so I see some of it from his point. He agrees with me sometimes, that the leaders can get too "intense."

But how to get our Troop to ease up on things is a tough one. Thinking back, my OP might have been more of a rant, because we have alot of old fashioned leaders in our troop who probably won't change their ways.

But in other news. I actually contacted my old Jambo leader, and talked to him about it. He talked to me about joining his home troops venture crew, so I'll probably end up doing that. I made friends with a bunch of people on the jambo that are actually in that troop, so that is definately a positive.

How did our unit get like this? Overprotective parents. At parent meetings (i dont know why i was in there to begin with) a leader brought up a camping trip. The first things that were asked were IS IT GOING TO BE COLD, things to that extent. The parents want the leaders to do everything for their kids, well the majority for that matter.

And at first, I just thought I was getting paranoid, etc, singled out. But I began to ask other scouts, and they seemed to agree that some of the leaders were a bit too aggresive. I realize now, that its not so much that they yell, but like you said the volume. The constant nagging is really what it is.

And about the boy led troop comment. My Jamboree troop was a boy led troop, I was a PL for a bunch of guys who didn't get along at first, yet in the end, they were all friends. If you're going to take a shot at me, look elsewhere.

I couldnt for the life of me figure out how to edit posts.

I read some guys post about a cubscout seeing a troop wearing jeans etc. Its not so much the fact that I don't like wearing the uniform (at scout outings), its the fact that our leaders have a cow if one little thing is wrong.

And there is a difference between letting scouts have fun, and letting scouts swear at eachother. You don't always have to be a rah rah type leader.

Although this board, and scouts for that matter don't seem to be big sports fans, look at the Colts, more importantly their coach Tony Dungy. He is a man of God, not the typical coach who yells at his guys, a calm man at that. Well last month his team won the superbowl.

What I'm trying to say is that as a leader, yes there are times for discipline, bu t you dont have to constantly get on your scouts about the smallest thing. I'm sure alot of people read my OP and took it the wrong way, its understandable, I do it alot too.

But again, I am not complaining about having to wear the uniform, or the lack of "phantom" swearing in our troop. No, I am just saying that sometimes the leaders in our troop need to back off a little, not too many scouts respond positively to yelling.

And to the person who brought up leaders who are too laid back, and almost lazy. As stated earlier, those were our Jamboree leaders, in fact, they even admitted that they were laid back guys. Guess what, we didn't have any incidents, and our troop was composed of alot of the guys who were somewhat troublemakers in their home troops. Not everyone likes to get yelled at, and usually, it has a negative effect.

Look I know that you think I'm coming off as a complainer, but our troop is too strict. And its not just me, I go to summer camp every year and see other troops having fun, I talk to scouts of those troops and compare leaders, and we always have the strictest ones. Is it nice being a "disciplined" troop, sure, but at some point you just have to let your scouts have fun.

I get yelled at enough at football and basketball practices, I don't need it at Boy Scouts.

I read the article. I was surprised that it was objective.

I expected to read another "Video Games are the Devil" type thing.

Well, I see your point. I just get sick of people always trying to blame video games (not talkinb about people on this forum).

But why did you guys allow them to bring them? Of course there are going to be a few who would still bring them, but if they are so bad, talk to the SM about this.

I wouldn't like the idea of a shakedown. Although there are probably a ton of scouts that are sneaking video games with them, it would give the scouts another reason to complain about the troop.

But back to the topic, VIDEO GAMES ARE NOT BAD!! It's the addiction that is!!!

Like i said before, I play like them, but I also make sure not to get too caught up in games, or anything for that matter. Its all about balance, but you can't solely use video games as a scapegoat for everything that is wrong in scouting.

I'm an avid gamer, but I also do alot of other stuff.

The trick is to not get obsessed with one thing. And believe me, scouts playing games after a meeting is alot better than these idiots in Korea who end up dying because of sleep deprivation.

Just don't go on the warpath and try to eliminate games completely, like some have tried in the past.

Thats a good story. Our Troop produces a ton of Eagles, and this year is no exception, but I like how they all made a pact and stuck with it.

You should let the boys go spelunking.

If you were to deviate from the original plan, it may cause some scouts to be unhappy, and ultimately, would defeat the purpose of a boy led troop.

All I know is that if I was looking forward to a cave trip for several months, and found out we had to go on a campout instead, I'd be unhappy.

I sure got screwed by the ides of march today

On the topic of Eagle and how it will help you in life, I just got rejected from a college. Not the end of the world, as a scout is always prepared etc.

Oh well, from a scouting POV, I probably would have broken quite a few of the scout laws had I ended up going to said school. =]

I've heard the driver license thing before, it wasnt used on me but people in the troop.

And as for the new car, I asked just for kicks, but unfortunately it didn't work.

Congratulations.

I recently earned my Eagle, and will be having my CoH in a few weeks. Our Troop is like an Eagle factory. Well, its probably because the parents force the kids (mine didn't) to get it etc.

It's good that the scouts continue to return to the troop meetings, not only does it show that they are good scouts, but it shows that the leaders have done a good job in making guys want to come back. Our leaders, kind of scare us away, which is why I won't be returning to very many meetings. I've tried to deal with it, but I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

The knife story is interesting. We had a scout in our troop, who pulled a knife on me for yelling at him. It was a long time ago, and for whatever reason I was "acting" SPL at a summer camp. We had to send our dinner crew down to the dining hall, and a certain scout wouldn't listen to me. I kept telling him, but it wouldn't work. So I yelled at him, basically saying my way or the high way. He pulled out his knife, but before he could open it I pushed him to the ground and kicked his knife away from him. I said some things that I probably shouldn't have said, and then our SM finally saw what happened, came over and broke it up.

Well, this is what happened. The scout who pulled the knife on me has a father who is an ASM, he was at camp at the time. This scout, gets 2 excuses, first the "HE'S A FIRST YEAR" and also the "ADHD" thing. I also got it from the kids dad, telling me not to yell, and be "scout like." Instead of arguing I just ignored him and went back to doing what I was doing. My SM just told me not to yell at him and what not, and told ME to cool it. As far as punishment, there was none, and it seemed that the leaders were extra nice to the boy who pulled the knife on me.

To this day, I don't get along with that ASM at all, and choose to "respectfully" disagree with him.

^^

The part about sports is arguable, very.

But back to your point, Scouts can be cruel. In my days, I've noticed that more often than not, theres always a scout in an age group that takes everyones you know what. Why does this happen? Probably because they are different, but it happens all the time. I've tried to stop it, but it seems that if Scouts have it out for someone, they won't stop. Somewhere along the line, I'm sure they will grow out of it, but what they do leaves an impression.

I was part of an age group where the majority of us didn't like a certain scout. I was young at the time, first year in fact, I felt bad for him so I just left the guy alone. Eventually people stopped giving him a hard time, but I'm sure he is still mad (he has every right ot be).