BlueandSilverBear

8 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

Historical note, 12 year old Eagle Scouts are not a recent phenomenon. Some on this forum earned Eagle at age 12 back in the 70's and perhaps earlier.

FCFY yeah, over the years our helicopter parents often had a common goal that their son would complete Eagle before beginning high school. 

Today, we see 12 year olds far exceeding the merit badge requirements for Eagle. Maybe Eagle Palms MB requirements should be 25, 50, 100?

Or maybe, Advancement needs reconsideration?

My $0.02,

In my troop growing up it was summarized like this:  If making Eagle is important to you, try to get it done before you get your driver's license as we've seen a lot of scouts get distracted past that point and never finish.  I don't think I ever saw an Eagle younger than 14. 

I always thought Eagle palms were dumb and only pursued by kids trying to one up each other.  Want to keep earning merit badges?  Cool, you get merit badges- you aren't some kind of "super Eagle."

No one has actually said anything about it, but it has disappeared from our calendar for the spring.  I have a feeling we just aren't having one.

Thanks, everyone- this is all good feedback.  Coming from a military background I want to have a squared away uniform, but with three different pants it sounds like it's almost anything goes.  I'm still young-ish and fit, and the baggy looking pants kind of drive me crazy considering my scout days pre-dated all of these.  I may just go with a pair of OD green Prana or Kuhl hiking pants.

Are these the current uniform pants?

https://www.scoutshop.org/new-uniforms/leaders/scouts-bsa-men-s-uniform-switchback-pant-olive-28-52.html

I'm formally registering as an adult leader and plan to have a uniform ready for when my Lion puts on the Cub Scout uniform.

55 minutes ago, SSScout said:

From  6 to 21 ?   Mustn't forget our Little Brothers and Sisters.   

Can start Lions at 5...

In the midst of the chaos, yesterday was a good reminder for me about why I love Scouting and all the good that it does.

Our Lions held a holiday food drive and collected four bags of canned goods to support a local food panty, and the Girls Troop at our CO just had their 4th successful Eagle Board of Review at the same park while we had our Den meeting.  

21 minutes ago, 5thGenTexan said:

Assuming that worse case scenario happens,  Does that mean one day we get an email saying cease all Unit operations immediately.?  IF the local council were to survive, would we cease all operation until that Council restructures?  

Honestly, I am worried about our Camp Rangers... they live on Council property.  This would be a huge blow to them

I just wish I had a feel for how quickly some of this will actually move.  The federal courthouse in Delaware just reopened at the beginning of October and there is certainly going to be a flood of bankruptcy cases.  

I don't think we would have to cease operations during a restructuring, but there may not be access to as many resources from the Council during that time.

I'm a Circle Ten guy too... I have so many great memories at all of our camps and losing them would break my heart.  I'm thankful that I was able to take my Lion to Wisdom this fall- my grandfather camped there a Scout, and I went to day camp/camped with my Troop/staffed Oak Leaf/did my OA ordeal there.

From a totally selfish perspective... I've never been to Philmont and my biggest regret from my time as a Scout is passing on my one opportunity (I was 15 or 16, had my Eagle, and my friends had dropped).  Should I try and go this summer through the Training Center so I can experience it just in case the worst happens?

1 hour ago, Eagledad said:

Yes, there has always been unexperienced dads joining the program, it just wasn't an issue until moms scouters increased the size of the resource pool. And, we predicted here on this forum that more unexperienced dads would join the program once their daughters were allowed. Which is ironic because the GSUSA has a reputation of not being welcoming to dads.  

I would love to actually see the data on the youth experience of dads who join with daughters.  By default, moms who joined with sons have zero youth pack or troop BSA experience.  Its a non-zero percentage for dads of daughters.  I would also expect some selection bias as far as girls who join BSA programs, in that their families were already exposed to scouting through either a dad's or brother's involvement.

46 minutes ago, Eagledad said:

I brought up this issue again when the forum got hot and heavy on the BSA admitting girls. Admitting girls will bring in more adults with no scouting experience. It's just the way it is. When the majority of scouters don't have a scouting experience, the culture is going to change. There will certainly be less opportunities for new scouters to observe experienced scouters in action. 

The plus side is that it also will bring some former-scout girl dads back into the fold.  As an old Eagle with only daughters, I wouldn't have been involved prior to admitting girls.  Now I'm a Lion Guide with a daughter who says "I like Scouts!" or "can we do that again?" after every activity.

22 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

I do not know how long you have been out of Scouting, but a lot has changed in parents' attitudes over the years. Part of it is Cub Scouts, everything IS family oriented and parents doing stuff with the kids at Cub level is the norm. But instead of letting the Cubs do more and more on their own in the Webelos years, they keep treating them as Cub Scouts and doing everything with, and sometimes for, them. Then, instead of being prepared for Scouts BSA, both the new Scouts, and especially the parents, are ill equipped to handle the big differences in programs. 

It's been about 18 years since I was active... I made Eagle in spring 2002 and probably was about done by that fall.  Girls, trucks, high school sports, and my friends moving away or dropping out... there were a lot of distractions for a 16 year old.  Fast forward a few years and I love that I get to do all of the activities with my Cub.  But I also consider Scouting to be the defining factor that built my independence and self-confidence to be able to basically be on my own in the military at 18.  That is a HUGE part of why I want my daughters to be Scouts, and not stepping back to let them do things in their patrols when they get to Scouts BSA would totally defeat the purpose.  So what if they eat some undercooked biscuits on their first campout?  You never make that mistake again, and you take more active role in patrol menu planning and cooking! 😝

21 hours ago, yknot said:

Today, it's a struggle for many parents to get home by 6; most work a lot later, or have to work from home after dinner. Most work weekends. Many travel (pre covid) and are actually away for whole weeks or weekends Most families are two career. Most kids are in some form of daycare and are not with family for most of the day. There are a lot of parents -- especially those who are attracted to scouting because they want something great for their kid -- who do not want to spend the few hours they have available for family time regularly working with someone else's kids or sitting around a camp fire with other parents.  I think if scouts wants to be relevant going forward it's got to find a middle way -- find a way to teach scouting skills while recognizing that the generation of parents coming up wants to spend most of their limited free time with their kids. 

I totally get this... I'm the last dad on the street to get home (pre-COVID work from home at least!), usually between 6:30 and 7:00 and am logged back in after the kids go to bed most nights for either my day job or military reserve duty.  Ironically, our kids are also the most involved in activities, school, and church on the street.  I think it ultimately comes down to wanting to better your community and be a part of something bigger than yourself.  Maybe I'm an outlier among my fellow Millennials, but those those things are still important to me. 

22 minutes ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

Sadly, most parents don't want to deal with other people's kids...they want to "do Scouting" only with their own kid.  I haven't really found a way to change that thinking, yet...other than exposure over time to what real Scouting is, and trying to set the example...

This is fascinating to me as it's the total opposite of what I saw as a Scout.  Unless there was a big organized activity for a campout (climbing/rappelling at a Council camp, canoeing, backpacking into the campsite, etc.), the "Old Goat Patrol" generally hung out at the campsite, drank coffee, and BS-ed all day while the Scouts were on their on their own for whatever the PLC had planned for the weekend.  My dad didn't get involved until he decided he wanted to come along on a high adventure backpacking trip one summer and had to be there for the training hikes/campouts.

I always knew we had a strong troop, but it sounds like I took for granted how great it was.

I'm in the same boat with a new Cub and I'm probably not going to be able to be super involved in OA for a while.  We're back in my home Council and amazingly they still had my Ordeal records from 2001, so I couldn't resist renewing my membership in the Lodge.  I figure my $20 annual Lodge dues are at least supporting the organization, and I'll try to pop in for the occasional service project or the annual dinner if I can.  Our Pack is really connected with our chartered organization's boys' and girls' Troops, so I thought it would be another way to support and motivate the older scouts, too.

On 9/25/2020 at 10:08 PM, FireStone said:

Have you bought your adult uniform yet? Might as well, it's just a matter of time if the Pack finds out you're an Eagle Scout, you'll find yourself "volunteered" for a uniformed position real soon. 😄

Welcome back!

Haha that’s what the lady at the Scout Shop said, too! Honestly, I’ll be happy to jump in wherever I’m needed.

I haven’t bought a uniform yet, but I rounded up a bunch of old patches at my parents’ house just in case. We’re in the same Council where I was a scout, so I’m planning on rocking my 1990s CSP and early-2000s Lodge flap. 

Next weekend we’re going to a one day mini-day camp at one of our Council camps. The same camp where I went to day camp, camped with my Troop, took and staffed our Council pre-NYLT course, and completed my Ordeal. The same camp where my grandfather went to summer camp.