InquisitiveScouter

Anyone dare email the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer and point them to this discussion thread for input? https://www.scouting.org/program-updates/proposed-eagle-scout-required-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-merit-badge-delayed/ I do not email National any more. They have skewered me more than once for my questions, and it has been a factor in reprisals by my local SE, I believe.

How do you learn to make good decisions? By making some bad ones and learning from your mistakes! Or, as a good commander of mine once said..."Every truly good soldier has dents in his helmet." Best to let them make some bad decisions now, while the consequences are small

@CynicalScouter, Agreed, that bridge is burnt...they cannot go back Revised requirements, and possibly a name change for the badge (Human Rights Merit Badge) is the compromise we could see. But, knowing some of the history of BSA's poorly implemented changes, I am doubtful of the product they will deliver. Yet, I will remain the optimist, since they have delayed the release. I think it is a good sign of internal wrestling and compromise.

The good news with that is that teen pregnancy is down. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/08/02/why-is-the-teen-birth-rate-falling/ I think the internet and video gaming has a role to play in that, as well.

These seem to support your numbers... https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/11/gender-education-gap/546677/ https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/why-men-are-the-new-college-minority/536103/ Side note...In 1984, I went to a four year school (enrollment about 15K students) that was traditionally a teacher's college...female to male ratio was 3:1. I really enjoyed my college years

After a fifteen minute search and read, cannot find raw numbers of female/male college grads anywhere...only percentages within their own cohorts...not helpful. Sorry...spent enough time down the rabbit hole...anyone else find data??

National Center for Education Statistics data thru 2018... https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_302.10.asp?current=yes Females completing HS: 1.598M, of which, 45.2% go on to a 4-year institution, so overall, 772.3K Males: 1.614M, of which, 42.0% go on to a 4-year....so overall, 667.9K So female % of total enrollees is 53.6% Male % of enrollees is 46.4% Close approximation of enrollees, female to male is 55:45 Now I'm off to find graduation rates...

Barry, Was one of your sessions on "How to Bite Your Lip?" Or, "Recite this phrase from memory, "Did you ask your Patrol Leader?""??? It is amazing how many adults are unwilling to let them struggle sometimes. I even had a Scout show up to a trip once, and he said, "I forgot to buy the stuff we need for dinner tonight!" Me: "Well, you'll have to figure out a solution with your Patrol Leader, or skip the meal." His mother had a huge problem with that. She wanted to rush off to the store and buy the items he needed. I pulled her aside for a discussion. 1. Does your son have a medical issue such that skipping a meal would hurt him? No 2. Was it his responsibility to bring the items? Yes 3. Do you know that the grocery store is only 10 minutes from our campsite? No, but OK, I understand. 4. Do you know that there are other patrols with food who may be able to share? Oh, OK... 5. Do you know that I always have a few extra items for Scouts, if needed? Oh, OK... etc, etc, etc... What it really came down to was that she didn't want her son to be viewed badly by the other Scouts for forgetting his responsibility. "How else is he going to learn?" That was about four years ago, and he is still with us, and is one of our best... he will probably be elected SPL next week ....Sorry...post script...They worked it out with the other Patrols who had brought enough to share...

Yes, it does...most of the time you just need to have those conversations in view of someone else, as the are not supposed to be overheard. Once in a while, a Scout comes along who, for some reason or another, changes the words you say into something they think they heard, with a different meaning entirely. We have one in our unit now, who must have Scoutmaster conferences with another adult listening. It was quite eye opening to the parents that their son was hearing something vastly different than what was said, after the second adult corroborated the first adult's message.

Some do...that's why we have so many Scouts in our unit

Two?

Same here...we have still been camping and doing day trips. We rechartered 41. Lost only one due to COVID issues affecting participation. We did an historic trail hike just before Christmas, and we are camping next weekend...winter camping!! Sweet!!

Agreed, SPL (and therefore ASPLs?) is prob only one to hear of this before the Annual Planning Conference. I simply tell our SPLs that JTE are a set of guidelines (not requirements) which help us design a quality program for our Scouts. Leave it at that...no metrics, no numbers, no percentages We have distilled it down to these planning guidelines ... 1. Plan a camping trip for every month of the year. July is a week long Summer Camp. August is high adventure week. (or you can swap those) (If we have one Scout sign up for any event, we will go. We have had a camping trip with with as few as four Scouts, and it was awesome.) 2. Plan a day trip/event for every month of the year. Hikes, climbing, museum, rafting, canoeing, cycling, mountain biking, fishing, Paul Bunyan....whatever you want, as long as it is not a prohibited activity. and one of those should be a Webelos recruiting event (kind of like our own Scout show ) 3. Plan a service project for every other month. (Not for any other reason than that is what Scouts do, and who we are ) Two of those are our adopt-a-highway. So, they really only have to plan four. (Oh, by the way...PLC, do you want to still do the adopt-a-highway?) 4. Plan for a Court of Honor every quarter. One of them is upon our return on Saturday from Summer Camp. (Yes, the leaders stay up half the night making sure all advancement is recorded and approved in Scoutbook. Saturday morning our Advancement Chair back home purchases all items. We all arrive home at once, around noon, and the parents have brought some refreshments. We bang out a recognition ceremony, and everyone is happy.) Rain date is our next meeting. 5. Plan for SPL and PL elections every six months. Plan for a PLC once per month (and expect a short one after every meeting.) Plan for an OA election once per year. 6. A minimum of two of your camping trips, and two of your day trips must be Patrol-only focused. That is, patrols spread out and do whatever the heck they want, wherever the heck they want (as long as it is not a prohibited activity.) 7. Plan to conduct an ILST after each election, and after the SPL has chosen his "cabinet." You do this, and advancement, recruitment, and retention just happen... All the rest of JTE is up to adults to monitor and finesse...

No, and that is @elitts point, as I see it. It results in a disadvantage to people in an economic stratum, and is, therefore, not racism.

Yes, these are effectively the impact of economic policies. That it affects anyone negatively, I believe, was never the intent. I'm with you...build a better mousetrap, but don't call it racism.

Just spoke with our District Advancement guy... It's news to him...no announcements through any Advancement channels, and he is well-plugged-in. He is digesting the new form now. His position is, until National or council makes a formal announcement, continue to use the older workbook if you have started with that. Also, since our workbooks do not leave the district, if a Scout has already started with the older version, they may continue with it, unless there is a strict policy prohibition issued.

We will double your moderator pay!

I don't ever see the url in the editor. When I copy the url from a browser window, and paste it into the editor, it places the video there, with no opportunity to edit the address pasted in. I'll play with it and see if I can make it work.

"All you need is to like kids." to have a camping club, or Webelos III. Sad that so many missed out on the real treasure...

@MattR, thanks...sorry, but I do not know how to do that. I just copy the URL and when I paste it in the post, the whole video pops in there... Tips or instructions??

Hey, I know some Troops like that around here! xp Sad, and thanks for giving us that picture of how badly things can be run...

To reach 50% female, I believe they will have to significantly alter the program, or create a different program for females. There are physical and psychological differences between the genders. Adequate research exists to substantiate this. Males and females are built, plumbed, and wired differently. They have different affinities. The more egalitarian a society becomes, the more pronounced these differences become. Awesome debate with Steven Pinker and Elizabeth Spelke @ Harvard University... A good mind chew... [the youtube video can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hb3oe7-PJ8]

Alrighty, Scouters... Here's what your Scouts are learning in NYLT, and what your military officers learn as well... Aspirations are your "Vision" of who you want to be...the destination. Goals (steps you will take to reach your vision... the path you will take to your vision) must be SMART. Specific - you have to understand what the goal is, and why it is important. Measurable - you have to know when you have reached it Attainable - something you can actually reach (here is where the 50% females mark fails) Relevant - they must pertain to your mission / purpose Timely (or time-definable) - you need a deadline @ParkMan has a good start Just need a bit of the why there...what is the purpose of the goal, so to speak? "In order to reach gender diversity" (this is a poor purpose, imho, but it is BSA's purpose in setting this goal...see the Churchill stuff), we will achieve 30% female youth membership by 2030. What they have written...50% parity met and maintained, is probably unattainable. Sounds good, until you look at those with experience like UK. So, what happens if you don't meet the goal? or the "year over year improvement"???

But, to be honest, I don't think mine finished until I was 35 My wife agrees.

And what is the prefrontal cortex for, insofar as we know? Focusing one’s attention Predicting the consequences of one’s actions; anticipating events in the environment Impulse control; managing emotional reactions Planning for the future Coordinating and adjusting complex behaviors (“I can’t do A until B happens”) https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/prefrontal-cortex "Experience plays a role in the development of the prefrontal cortex. Teens exposed to a variety of stimuli and challenges may “mature” more quickly. However, most neurologists agree that the prefrontal cortex is not fully developed until around the age of 25." This is what Scouts need mentoring and experience with, and why Scouts from a good program fare better than their peers in adulthood. https://jech.bmj.com/content/71/3/275.full "Conclusions Participation in Guides or Scouts was associated with better mental health and narrower mental health inequalities, at age 50. This suggests that youth programmes that support resilience and social mobility through developing the potential for continued progressive self-education, ‘soft’ non-cognitive skills, self-reliance, collaboration and activities in natural environments may be protective of mental health in adulthood.