InquisitiveScouter

Also, no insurance policy or indemnification clause provides coverage due to negligence. Plaintiff's lawyer could argue the CO was negligent in selecting abusing leader, since the CO's representative was required to approve the application. The court will have to decide 1. Did the CO have a duty of care in selecting appropriate leaders? (I think we would agree, Yes.) 2. Did the CO breach that duty in selecting the offending leader? (this one will be hard to prove, unless the plaintiff can present evidence the CO somehow knew.) 3. Did the CO's breach cause an injury? (once 2 is proven, this domino could easily fall.) 4. Were there, in fact, damages as a result of CO's breach and subsequent injury? (3 and 4 go hand in hand, but must be proven in court.)

@markT262, The Scout earned Cycling, so completed 150 miles. I think you are saying that, in addition to Cycling MB, this Scout also completed another 100 miles above and beyond Cycling MB, so has compiled a total of 250 miles. 1. This Scout has met the 200 mile riding requirement in requirement three. (Basic award is 200 miles.) 2. If the Scout wishes to earn a first gold device, the Scout must ride an additional 50 miles over what is already done. So, the total mileage personally completed at that point would be 300 miles. 200 miles (for basic award), plus 100 additional miles (for gold device) for personal total of 300 miles. 3. Second gold device would be at 400 miles, as you deduced.

Snowplow parenting mode...good on the Dad for realizing it and putting the responsibility on his son's shoulders. Our community is rife with this parenting style. (snowplow, helicopter, lawnmower...choose whatever machine you wish )

The more I think about this, the more I think I will advise our COR to recommend this to our CO. The BSA already does (or is supposed to do) background checks on leaders. Most CO's don't do this, that I know of. Some states also require additional background checks and information. The CO's may not be informed of the background provided in these checks. This may remove an element of info they could/should use in selecting leaders. I believe the original paradigm intent was for CO's to select leaders from their own membership to serve as adult leaders in a Scouting program they used as a service to their local community. This model was not followed in most units I have been a part of... I can't ever recall a COR or CO interviewing me before signing my application as an adult leader. But, my circumstances may have been different, due to my profession...

No flaming or down votes. Most of us feel a level of frustration with this. I hope it isn't as ominous as it seems to be from this stop-start rollout.

Wow, reading the comments at the link above...sheesh...much worse than here...lol

Our District Advancement Chair put out the plea yesterday for counselors. I'll wait until the requirements come out to inform my decision. ---------------------------------------------------- Dear [DISTRICT] Merit Badge Counselors, Advancement Coords, Com Chairs & Unit Leaders, I am sure by now you have heard that as of January 1, 2021 a new Eagle required merit badge will be introduced called, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It will become required for Eagle effective May 1, 2021. There will now be 14 Eagle required badges and 7 electives, still totaling 21 required for the rank of Eagle. Although Scouts can begin taking the badge on Jan 1, there are two important issues that will not make this possible: 1) The requirements have not yet been released 2) There are no approved Merit Badge Counselors in our District The reason for sending you this email, is it to get out in front of this upcoming need to support our Scouts. As they say, Be Prepared! The link below will take you to a 6 minute video explaining much more about the new merit badge. I would hope that one of you may volunteer for counseling this badge or using your network to find individuals who would like to. https://youtu.be/gbnKVnRqVQQ I will share more with you as information is released from National. Also, be sure to subscribe to Bryan On Scouting to receive that one email per day that will most likely be one of the first vehicles to introduce the new badge. My wishes for a Healthy and Happy New Year. [DISTRICT ADVANCEMENT GUY]

Ask, and you shall receive...??? You can now transfer and multiple between units using your My.Scouting account National 11/16/2020 Now users are able to transfer from one Scout unit to another without having to take a new application into the Scout office. On the “My Application” tab you can transfer yourself as an adult volunteer or your youth member from unit to unit. Unit leaders will be able to transfer youth by going to the new “Roster” feature in “Member Manager” and “Organization Manager” and select the youth who need to be transferred, then click the “Transfer” icon. This will create a transfer application which will be sent to the new unit with the ability to be approved in “Application Manager”.Transfers will take 48 hours to sync with the new unit. The “Roster tool” also allows unit leaders to email other leaders in the unit directly from the tool. Editing youth/adult profiles, and printing rosters/membership cards is also available in the updated tool.

This goes to the lament of our brethren to the north.... The Scouter.com equivalent in Canada posted what went "wrong" with Scouts Canada. https://scouteh.ca/about.php https://scouteh.ca/rally/rescue-rally-pamphlet.pdf

After being involved with the program since the late 70's, and earning Eagle Scout myself, I always, I mean ALWAYS, smh at those stories of "Scout earns every Merit Badge" Sorry...off topic... Do you think the gender separation is what has kept BSA on life support these past few decades? https://virtueonline.org/canada-death-canadian-scouting

About 10 years ago, some families (US citizens) living in Ottawa, Canada, (who had a member working at the US Embassy) wanted to have a Girl Scout troop. (Lone Scouting with BSA is alive and well for US citizens there.) They called up the national office in Manhattan, NY, to inquire about it, and were told they could not start a GSUSA unit there. The staff at GSUSA suggested they all join Girl Guides of Canada (GGC). The parents pushed back, citing GSUSA units at other embassies around the world, through USA Girls Scouts Overseas https://www.usagso.org/ A staff member (who wished to remain anonymous) revealed that GSUSA has an agreement with Girl Guides of Canada that GSUSA will not sell cookies in Canada and compete with GGC https://www.girlguides.ca/web/ The parents asked if they could start a unit, with a written agreement with national office that they would not sell cookies. Their girls wanted to camp, hike, and earn badges...not sell cookies. The national office agreed. It is all about the money. Unfortunately, three years later, the Troop folded when the only parents who would take them camping transferred to a new assignment.

@CynicalScouter, good read, thanks. I do believe they have a strong case. If the court decides in their favor, one could also then make the argument for a new Scouting organization, with application for a Congressional Charter, which would be open to all, regardless of sex or gender. If Congress denied the charter, one could sue under the 14th Amendment's equal protections clause. Of course, the sad reality in our country is that access to the justice system requires prohibitive sums of money.

From the GSUSA Charter... §80302. Purposes The purposes of the corporation are— (1) to promote the qualities of truth, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness, courtesy, purity, kindness, obedience, cheerfulness, thriftiness, and kindred virtues among girls, as a preparation for their responsibilities in the home and for service to the community; (2) to direct and coordinate the Girl Scout movement in the United States and territories and possessions of the United States; and (3) to fix and maintain standards for the movement that will inspire the rising generation with the highest ideals of character, patriotism, conduct, and attainment. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title36/subtitle2/partB/chapter803&edition=prelim One could make the case that, even by marketing to girls as "scouts", the BSA is infringing on the Congressional Charter of the GSUSA.

“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” – Mahatma Gandhi A good first step would be eliminating the labels. For the most part, I endeavor not to use them. It is a pernicious system that has taken hold in our society...this labeling. It is in everything we do, including on our applications for Scouting. I think I'll take my own advice (and Gandhi's), and to help reduce discrimination, I will stop answering these questions everywhere I encounter them. Using these as metrics for demographics and to force diversity only perpetuates using them.

@yknot, thanks for letting us know of some of the consequences. I briefed our Troop Committee tonight on this, and, although here in these forums I have fervently expressed my personal views, I did present this in a neutral and diplomatic manner to them. There was a mixed reception, as expected, and the dialogue exchanged was exactly along some of the lines presented here...understanding a need, but not accepting the implementation. I asked them all to reserve final judgment (as I am doing) until the MB and rank requirements are formally released, which I guess we all expect within the next nine days. We may get a product then that is somewhat different from what we see now. I also have not seen the rank requirements, nor the MB counselor notes. I would ask that you all keep your ear to the ground and share any official developments as they come in. According to my faith, I wish you all a blessed Christmas. If I could put a vaccination in your stocking, I would! See you after the holidays, Inquisitive Scouter

You also show that you do not know what "civil discourse" means. I am trying to enhance my understanding of the requirements for this Merit Badge, the motives behind it, and it's intended purpose. Reading for comprehension is essential to enhancing your understanding of someone's point of view. How about another point of view? Would you listen to Dr. Thomas Sowell?

It's a metaphor. And "...a portion of what remains..." does not mean the entire organization. Please read for comprehension. It is vitally important in order to relate to others. Any arguments are welcome, as long they can back up positions with facts and logic. Otherwise they are just opinions. And opinions are like a certain part of the anatomy...everyone has one, and they all stink. And Dr. Jordan Peterson is a "darling" because he uses research, facts, and clinical experience to back up his arguments. In other words, he follows the science, instead of using feelings and perceptions as valid evidence.

You will see this happening more frequently in the future.

Everyone is different from them.

And don't forget the left-handed!! https://dailyillini.com/uncategorized/2020/02/27/left-handed-right-handed-world/

You forgot ability, ethnicity, faith and financial background. And that is the crux of my point. In listing some groups, you are showing bias against others. Ultimately, the badge is hypocritical. The "important" (sic) terms of "diversity", "equity", "inclusion", "bigotry" and "intersectionality" are all based on the controversy whirling around a current social agenda. "There are real problems with this agenda, however. The first is that it’s dangerous, in exactly the manner it is hypothetically designed to fight. The argument made by those who are truly prejudiced has always been that the differences between groups are so large that discrimination, isolation, segregation and even open conflict–including war and genocide–are necessary, for the safety of whatever group they are part of and are hypothetically protecting. Why is it any less risky for the argument to be made in the reverse manner? The claim that group-based differences are so important that they must take substantive priority during hiring and promotion merely risks validating the opposite claim." https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/blog-posts/lie-of-diversity/ This merit badge is a poison that will kill off a portion of what remains of the Boy Scouts of America.

I'm not really sure you are being serious. If so, why bother with the MB?

And Duty to God is one of the Ideals of Scouting. Ideals – The ideals of Scouting are spelled out in the Scout Oath, the Scout Law, the Scout motto, and the Scout slogan. The Scout measures themselves against these ideals and continually tries to improve. The goals are high, and, as they reach for them, they have some control over what and who they become. BSA has not changed the ideals. This Merit Badge attempts to. And, since earning the MB is not required of Scouts anyway, unless they wish to attain Eagle Scout, I'm more interested in the rank requirements they are talking about, which haven't been released yet.

Yes, but there are no wrong answers to these questions. A Scout and her parents define her duty to God, and you cannot contradict her in any way.