InquisitiveScouter

If we wanted you to have an opinion, we'd give you ours 😜

To help the organization survive in a state that they want (instead of looking for ways to change it for the better), BSA professionals expel dissenters. Although dated, here is a blog which elaborates on this: (not a Daily KOS fan, in general, but I do read stuff there to learn how others think...) https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2006/3/4/191709/-Supressing-Dissent-in-Boy-Scouts-a-model-for-the-GOP From the writing: "The combination of lap dog boards and control of senior and middle volunteer management positions give the pros an immensely powerful position from which to block reform (and protect their own positions). It will take a grass roots rebellion or a determined legal attack at the top to actually reform the system nationally. Small determined groups with strong ethics and strong stomachs can achieve local results but, unless the tide shifts nationally, the system always tries to return to the old status quo."

With the CC's approval, another committee member could sign on his behalf.

Which means they would have to exceed the legal limit?

BSA using the legal system to deter other organizations from using the terms Scouts and Scouting.

Thank you for trying to do this. And welcome to another headache of mistreatment by paid staffers. If your integrity and doing things with excellence are important to you, then yes, pursue. If you are not the type to jump through bureaucratic hoops, and you have a unit leader with access to Scoutbook who will approve MBs on your behalf, then consider that option. We are in a similar situation. We have an adult leader who submitted the application in Feb. He was approved as a MBC in March (about a month later), is populated in Scoutbook, but has NO MBs associated (yes, this is a two step process.) Our Registrar is overworked and underpaid. I spoke with District Advancement Chair... since this leader is not counseling any "restricted" MBs, we told him to go ahead and counsel in good faith. He will fill out a blue card, and we will approve things in Scoutbook based on the signed blue card. Sometimes you have to "help" the system.

Recommend a different thread. I never retest the Scout. Yes, we discuss the experience. "How did you like the badge?" "Tell me about a challenge you had, and what you did to deal with it." "Did the Merit Badge Counselor require you to do anything more than the written requirements in order to receive the badge?" "Would you recommend this badge or counselor to your friends? Why or why not?" etc. The attitude here is not to play "gotcha", but to gauge the Scout's experience with the badge and counselor. So, if a Scout comes to me with a Hiking MB card, for example, I would love to hear about his 20-miler. That is no small feat! If the Scout says, "Well, we never did a 20-mile hike", then we have a problem, and I have a further conversation with the Scout along the lines of previous posts. Then I have a conversation with the MBC, or the Program Director at camp. I'm not being the Grand Inquisitor as you seem to think. But I do not turn a blind eye to unethical behavior, when it arises. That would only perpetuate the "dirty little secret". Over time, I am seeing more and more instances of Scouts not completing requirements as stated, and Merit Badge Counselors (or Camp Staff Instructors) signing off badges when they should not. "The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law." This includes the Merit Badge program...

@Alec27, He does not need the form. If you need confirmation from the "chain of command", have your candidate check with the District or Council Approving Authority AFTER he submits his proposal. See the Preliminary Cost Estimate section: "Note that if your project requires a fundraising application, you do not need to submit it with your proposal." Worrying about the form now is putting the cart before the horse. During the proposal phase, he only need answer the question: "Fundraising: Explain how you will raise the money to pay for the total costs. If you intend to seek donations of actual materials, supplies, etc., then explain how you plan to do that, too." You said, "The kid is building a deck and the whole thing is being funded by a private donation from one of our unit members who is also a parent who is also a friend of the family. " So, his answer is as simple as re-wording the instructions from earlier in the Workbook: "A member of my unit has graciously agreed to provide the funding. I will fund any supplemental needs myself. I do not plan to obtain money, materials, supplies, or donations from any other sources, therefore no fundraising application is required." And leave it at that, for the Workbook. As mentioned before, there should be an offer of a tax receipt from the beneficiary. This would be a good discussion for the candidate to have with the donor, AFTER project approval; "Would you like a receipt for your donation for tax purposes?" If the donor says "Yes", then the Scout should inform the beneficiary, provide the donor information to the beneficiary, and tell the donor he has given the beneficiary the info. This need only happen during/after project execution. Not in the proposal or planning phases. And the amount is immaterial, for receipt purposes. If a donor gives $5, the beneficiary should provide a receipt when requested. However, the amount threshold where the IRS requires a receipt in order to report the donation at tax time is $250. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/charitable-contributions-written-acknowledgments As @T2Eagle stated before, this is between the donor and the beneficiary. And your Scout should make it clear to anyone giving money, the money is for XYZ 501 c (3) Non-profit Corporation, not your Scout. If a specific amount is given beforehand, any overage must either be returned to the donor, or given to the beneficiary. Happy Hunting

To be a Merit Badge Counselor, you must be 18. A Summer Camp Counselor (staffer) is not a de facto Merit Badge Counselor. And ONLY registered Merit Badge Counselors may sign off requirements completions. You must have never read your Scout Handbook, any Merit Badge pamphlet, taken the Merit Badge Counselor training, or read the Guide to Advancement to have this all jumbled up.

G2A "There must be attention to each individual’s projects and fulfillment of all requirements. We must know that every Scout—actually and personally—completed them. If, for example, a requirement uses words like “show,” “demonstrate,” or “discuss,” then every Scout must do that. It is unacceptable to award badges on the basis of sitting in classrooms watching demonstrations, or remaining silent during discussions. "

LOL, "arm chair", for real? Climbing, caving, boating, swimming not risky? I would venture to say each one of those has far more injuries and deaths in Scouting than range sports. Have you taken those trainings? Supervision is not expertise... The trainings are not there to have the unit leader be the subject matter expert for the event. They are there to inform Scout leaders, "If you want to have this type of event for your unit, here are the points which must be observed..." Take Climb On Safely, for example... The training in no way qualifies a unit leader to take a unit on a climbing activity. It does inform the unit leader of the qualifications necessary for certified instructors the unit leader MUST have present, though, to conduct the activity safely. Or Safe Swim Defense... the unit leader supervising the activity need not be classified as a swimmer. But, the unit leader must make sure everyone has a swim classification, enforce the buddy system, have trained response personnel designated, and so on. Same for boating, caving, or your other risky activities. BTW, this past weekend I saw notes from the briefing to Council Execs on these changes. Part of the changes are to implement a training course for unit leaders, just like Climb On Safely, Safety Afloat, Cave Safely, etc. When it comes out, I'll make sure to post a link for you, so you can read it from your arm chair.

Correct. And that is why I would decline to sign the card if the Scout had not completed the requirements.

No. Please read Guide to Advancement, 7.0.4.7 "In most cases, with a fair and friendly approach, a Scout who did not complete the requirements will admit it. Short of this, however, if it remains clear under the circumstances that some or all of the requirements could not have been met, then the merit badge is not reported or awarded, and does not count toward advancement. The unit leader then offers the name of at least one other merit badge counselor through whom any incomplete requirements may be finished. Note that in this case a merit badge is not “taken away” because, although signed off, it was never actually earned. "

This. ----------------- In the National Annual Report, https://www.scouting.org/about/annual-report/year2023/ they should change the verbiage from "earned" Merit Badges to "awarded" Merit Badges. There is a difference... Consider Camping Merit Badge. (For which, even after much advice and counsel, several of our Scouts still sign up every year at Summer Camp.) Including the subordinate items, there are 30 different requirements to complete for the badge. How many are "outdoors" requirements? 5: 8 (d) While camping in the outdoors, cook ...[three meals]... [It's funny that they even have to preface this one.] 9 (a) Camp a total of at least 20 nights... 9 (b) On any of these camping experiences, you must do TWO of the following... [so, counted as two...] 9 (c) On any of these camping experiences, perform a conservation project... And of these five, I would posit that all should be done with the unit. Also, of the five, which usually are completed at Summer Camp? (I'll let you answer that one yourself.) The rest of the 25 requirements are academically oriented. Discuss, describe, explain, plan, etc... Some could be made into activities, but generally are not. Many "sessions" I have witnessed involved an instructor (under 18, so not the counselor...) lecturing to kids sitting around a picnic table, and then marking off a requirements for them. The Scouts endure this torture just to get the piece of cloth... ----------------------------- Before signing a blue card, I ask Scouts about the activities they did for the badge. I always found discrepancies for a sizeable number from Summer Camps,. When I pointed these out to the Scouts, most admitted they had never even read the requirements. They just relied on the instructor to teach them what they needed. Less than a fourth of these Scouts would take me up on my offer to finish the requirements as they were written, so that they actually "earned" the badge. Discussing this with the committee, I was dispirited that many of the parents held the same view... that if the instructor/counselor signed off on it, it was good enough. I told them I would decline to sign blue cards if I found that a Scout had not completed the requirements. The committee accepted this. But, there are other "unit leaders" who did not agree, and those leaders are the ones who signed blue cards or would mark things completed in Scoutbook. I am only responsible for my own actions. After filing about 8 reports https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-800_WB.pdf with zero feedback or questions from the camps we attended, I realize that time was wasted, and those reports went into file #13. I call this the "dirty little secret" of BSA Summer Camps... the wide-ranging lack of integrity in the Merit Badge program. The consequences of this are visible across the board, IMO. Scout skills are abysmal. Summer Camp is supposed to be about unit long-term camping and doing activities that units do not normally have the expertise to put on for themselves. Summer Camp is not about Merit Badges. But we have corrupted the "camping" and turned this experience into something it is not supposed to be. And Scouts, parents, leaders, staffs, "counselors", and professionals turn a blind eye. Why? Because Merit Badges generate revenue.

Thanks! Like I said... not my forte. Also, I was pointing out the inconsistency that BSA has no Training required for BSA unit leaders to supervise an activity here. Just the statement in G2SS, "All shooting sports activities held outside of a council’s camp will follow the program as outlined in the BSA National Shooting Sports Manual (www.scouting.org/outdoor-programs/Shooting-Sports)."

Trail Life is a Scouting program. Scouting is the movement. BSA is a business. You should really separate the two in your thinking. Otherwise, you miss the point of the article.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/boy-scouts-tragic-mission-departure-left-boys-needing-mentors-competitor-says-alternatives

We do (about) three meetings per month, with a short PLC after each. These build up to the outing. Then, the outing... The regular meeting night after an outing is a full PLC (so one per month), where they go over all stuff necessary. The other Scouts/parents get that night off to further recuperate from the outing. We have one day trip/service project per month... mostly an outdoor activity. So 4 meetings and two outings per month... 1/3 of our activities are aimed primarily at outdoors. We have the most successful Troop in the council. Most meetings (mid-spring through middle of fall) are outdoors with a game or activity (pioneering/fire building/nature walk, etc) In summer, we throw a lot of impromptu stuff in as well... swim parties, bike rides, orienteering, fishing, hikes, boating, the odd service project, etc. Seven or eight Scouts show up and we go have fun. Never the same group twice. (Ice cream is mandatory ;P)

BSA has a Safe Swim Defense, Safety Afloat, Climb On Safely, Cave Safely, Trek Safely, even Drive Safely.... where is the cert for Range Safety for BSA leaders??? Same concepts as the others for the training... you assume responsibility, here are the rules and limitations, and make sure you have an RSO and NRA Certified Instructor (2 subject matter experts)!! They could (should even) write in instructor : student ratio requirements... I think it is 1 : 5 for NRA, but Range and Target Activities, formerly know as Shooting Sports, is not my forte.

Yes, and just at a crossover recently, the new Dad invited us to their rod and gun club. They do have insurance. He joked, if we are limited to "commercial" facilities, they'd be happy to charge us $1 for use of the ranges.

LOL, thought you were talking about council/district events. Training is another matter... (Even so, training is not a unit mandated thing... those are mandates on individuals.) Disagree Sure, but if a PLC decides they do not wish to participate in these events, you should support their decision. For example, our Scouts choose not to go to many of these events because they are tired of WINNING!! For most competitions, it isn't even close. It just isn't fun for them to whoop everyone's behind. So, they only attend these things about once every three years. And we adults are fine with that. (If those events do not coincide with a unit event, we do encourage our Scouts to run stations or judge events... which they often do.) We have the capability and experience to plan and execute our own program, thank you. Most council/district events are tailored for units with little time or experience. They need the program support. We do not. And, for the record, we would operate fine without any council overhead here. We can even (and have) run our own summer camp. That is up to them... Perhaps they see those events as more value-added to their program than your council events. To each his own. I side with the units on that one.

Mandated?? A unit is "mandated" to participate in nothing. If a council ever told us we had to participate in something, we would just ignore them. You should have zero problem with this. If, by the mere location of geographic boundaries, a unit in Council A happens to be closer to all facilities and support in Council B, then there should be zero issues with them getting their Scouting groove on in Council B. Furthermore, if Council B's training and support (like a Scout Shop or camporees) are better, then units can (and should) vote with their feet. Units DO NOT exist to be cash cows for councils. Yes, you must register in the council that your CO physically resides in. Your DE is 100% right.

2 gold devices. Or here's a wacky thought... ask the Scout to read the requirements and tell you what he thinks he has earned!

A panda walks into a bar and eats shoots and leaves OR A panda walks into a bar and eats, shoots, and leaves. Let's eat, Grandma! OR Let's eat Grandma! Commas kill! Or, at least, the lack of one can cost you money! https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/think-commas-don-t-matter-omitting-one-cost-maine-dairy-n847151 Without the comma, the clause causes confusion, but grammatically belongs to its immediate predecessor only. With a comma, it would be an independent clause, and therefore an additional requirement for all. The preceding "or" makes this more potentially more confusing if punctuation rules are not understood or applied. At this point, the writer has not adequately communicated the actual requirement. This is a FAIL. When confusion exists, the only correct thing to do is to make the requirement as indulgent as possible for the Scout. When they write: "Cycling merit badge or Ranger Cycling/Mountain Biking elective and 100 miles of cycling", I parse this as such: Cycling merit badge (150 miles is sufficient for Scouts) or Ranger Cycling/Mountain Biking elective and 100 miles of cycling (210 miles is sufficient for Venturers) Look at these comma cases... Cycling merit badge, or Ranger Cycling/Mountain Biking elective and 100 miles of cycling (same meaning as previous; first comma is important, and clearly separates the two conditions) Cycling merit badge or Ranger Cycling/Mountain Biking elective, and 100 miles of cycling (now both previous sufficient conditions have an added condition... an extra 100 miles, so 250 miles for Scouts, and 260 miles for Venturers) Cycling merit badge, or Ranger Cycling/Mountain Biking elective, and 100 miles of cycling (same meaning as above, first comma is superfluous) Why not write it like this: "Cycling merit badge or Ranger Cycling/Mountain Biking elective, with 100 additional miles of cycling beyond the requirements for either." ??? BSA has never been known for clear and concise communication. The Guide to Safe Scouting is the biggest case in point. Why? I have no problem with Venturers having additional requirements. If interpreted in the strictest sense, they already have to do extra miles.

And love this one from Stage 2, Undisciplined Pursuit of More - Coinciding within this stage is the loss of key talent. “The right people” begin to leave because the organization has lost sight of its core. Mediocrity permeates performance as tenure supercedes actual performance or growth economies forgive incompetency. Either way, the organization regresses developmentally from people first to product or strategy first. The flow of cash and/or profits hide the inefficiencies so that cost growth is compensated by price increases instead of greater efficiencies through disciplined action and thought. (check, check, and check!!)