Armymutt

We don't have enough parents interested in doing stuff like that. We can't get anyone to volunteer to run the PWD or B&G. It's been the same two families organizing everything for the past three years. Scouting For Food? That would require dedicating two weekends to Scouting in a row. That's too much for most of them.

The SPL thing was what I thought of last night. Of course, how many SPLs know the method by which they were elected? Even the law research one seems a bit much for Cub Scouts and parents who can't figure out Scoutbook.

I found it here: https://www.facebook.com/download/420104303799034/NEW Cub Scout Adventures and Requirements.xlsx?av=1265951650&eav=AfaVFqGFLPp1FlqxAiHQ-ZJe6oZ07HLbNXHvHpRLg9x7RxYlOvjCXPBtE74HIFKhcaw&paipv=0&hash=Acrb32VljgE1dz4_rP4&__cft__[0]=AZX52xvwZPEfzRoPqxqO_pOeUXRORQQEombH2Fo3b_QbKrlk8KHnL-ZNU0v_M58nJHwgNShDuOY0SfRjDTR2TclnksN7J0OhV4pGQejDBnFARXTHR6Th7XtB4whjBHecuRQ49kx8qIUTzCSgeSif3YMLksx9xjUNGbqsp7U_s44HFQ&__tn__=H-R

I came across a posted xlsx document with what is purported to be the new CS program. Looking through it, I came across this extremely fun sounding requirement in several of the ranks: Review your BSA Annual Health and Medical record with your parent or guardian. Discuss your ability to participate in pack and den activities. Now if that doesn't sound like an amazingly fun time for a 3rd grader, I don't know what does. The Webelos have this required gem: Learn about majority and plurality types of voting. Speak with someone who is elected to their position. Discover the type of voting that was used for to elect them and why. Choose a federal law and create a timeline of the history of the law. Include the involvement of the 3 branches of government. Participate in a service project. The AOLs have this requirement Participate in a service project for a minimum of 2 hours or multiple service projects for a total of 2 hours. Anyone been able to get a 5th grader to labor for 2 hours? I'm not sure who dreamed these up, but they lost sight of the fun aspect of Cub Scouts. We already have had kids quit because of the school-replication factor of things like discussions in the current Tiger Bites. I'm pretty sure the parents who couldn't figure out how to click on the Awards link in Scoutbook are going to be able to have a 5th grade-level discussion on voting types or seeking out elected officials. With no choices in how to accomplish a given requirement, I think the program will either get pencil whipped or stall. I wouldn't have a clue on how to find an elected official on a military base in Germany.

I'm seeing these changes as further evidence of the decline of the Scouting program. Parents are less and less inclined to get involved with their kids and their activities. If it's not easy, they don't want to do it. All of our den leaders are only in those positions because their kids won't have an activity if they don't do it. The complaint that the non-rank advancement awards were not in front of them and thus they didn't do them is telling. A 5 minute look through the tabs of Scoutbook will show you all of these awards that are apparently so hard to find. Only 4% of Scouts earn Eagle. Are we doing away with that too? My daughter doesn't wear the belt. Her uniform would look pretty empty if it just consisted of her Lion and Tiger badges. Right now she wears the Shooting Sports patch and the Outdoor Activity award flap patch. Future Cub Scouts will probably be pretty boring since there won't be any awards outside of advancement to work on. Oh well, we can always tell the kids that they will be able to earn patches for their uniforms once they reach 5th grade.

I'm not sure how this is a good idea, especially if that tribe engaged in actions that made another tribe go extinct.

I wonder how you repatriate artifacts to extinct tribes.

A 5-Scout troop is doable. I know a troop near St. Louis that hasn't had much more than that for the past 25 years. It actually made logistics easy. You'll have to coach the kids a bit more if they are inexperienced, but it can be fun. As far as resources, what do you mean?

I don't know if the schools will let us in or not. Either way, there's no one to get into the schools. I live 600 miles away. Schools near the pack aren't in session on weekends. My kids go to school 30 minutes away. Until the kids in the pack start inviting their classmates or their parents volunteer to run a table on open house nights, we aren't getting into the schools. For us, it's a pretty big factor. It's very demoralizing to expend hours in front of a store with the kids and receive very little from it. Even worse is when those who don't put in the time and effort receive the same benefits. We get the excuse of "I don't have time." I drive 600 miles, get in at midnight, and am up at 6AM to pick up popcorn, take it to the site, and stand there to sell it for 2 hours.

The CM and I had some discussions this weekend. He's also fed up with the lack of participation from parents and so-called leaders. He's considering a pack that meets on Sunday for his younger son. He has some behavior issues that get worse after being in school all day. Add in that he doesn't behave well when his dad is in charge of things, and a change of scenery might be best for them. We also talked to other pack leaders. The boys had fun. They didn't interact with the kids from the pack we are considering very much, but my son really liked hanging out with a kid who was considering joining us but didn't due to the meeting night of the week. One of my biggest issues is their fundraising policy. In our program, the Scouts gets credit for 100% of the commission earned. The pack keeps any donations. If we ever needed to buy anything, it would go into the annual budget and become part of dues across the board. We feel this is the most fair method since it rewards Scout (and parents) for hard work. These other packs are on a tier basis. One pack maxes out at 30% of the commission, meaning that in order to simply pay for the renewal, the Scout has to sell $1800 worth of popcorn. In our pack, that would cover renewal, pack dues (advancement, PWD car, B&G, end of year den advancement party, Christmas party, adult registrations, unit recharter, and a t-shirt), day camp, a new uniform, and the two council campouts each year. How do other packs recruit? We can't get into the schools. I've tried to nudge the DLs to plan hikes or something in the neighborhoods around where we meet. I figure that might generate some interest. So far, they haven't done it. Hopefully the Army moves me back home this summer and I can get a little more hands-on with things. Right now, we will probably continue until my oldest has AOL, then look to move with my daughter.

Hard to grow when I'm the only one doing anything. I don't expect every parent to be as dedicated as I am, but I expect them to at least participate when we have a pack meeting. How hard is it to cheer for a Scout when they receive an award? The only reason we have den leaders is because I told the parents that there will be no den unless they do it. Another den got ADLs because the DL failed to put in any advancement for two months. Their kids were getting no awards and they got fed up.

I wish we could do this. However, of the 5 adults in attendance, 4 are already "Leaders" - the CM, Treasurer, and 2 Bear ADLs. I really think the best course of action is to combine the units. We currently have 2 Lions, 2 Tigers, 2 Wolves, 4 Bears, and 4 Webelos, of which one will drop at the end of the year.

There are other factors. For example, it gives a sheltered person something to do besides sit on their cot all day. Adds a little bit of their normal routine back to their life and gives them the opportunity to practice the human-animal bond. The animals get to see and interact with their owners, reducing stress. Most of the people running these facilities are far too busy to be engaging in routine pet care. The intake, examinations, sanitation, and other operations take up enough time.

As yknot said, it's a liability thing, both on the side of the volunteer and the owner. As a person operating a facility, I wouldn't want to take responsibility if Fluffy slips her collar and runs off while I'm walking her. As a pet owner, I wouldn't want to be responsible if Fluffy bites some volunteer. It's safer for everyone if Disaster Response volunteers stick to disaster response operations and let the owners take care of their pets. These aren't rescue shelters for unowned or lost animals. They are places for people to house their animals while they are living in a shelter.

I was at a veterinary conference early in November. One of my areas of interest is disaster response. The state has a group of volunteer vets that respond to emergencies. One of the roles I thought of that would be great for Scouts is operating a temporary pet housing facility. The owners are responsible for the care and feeding of their pets. The facility operators simply establish it from a trailer provided by the state (sounds like a troop going camping) and process pets into the facility. At the end, everything get cleaned up and the trailer is returned to the owning entity.

I can't even get a response when asking about planning the PWD. Parents just sit. It's getting more and more frustrating every week. The WDL won't publish a schedule or even give the parents an idea of how he plans to complete the program given the concerns I have raised with him. I would love to plan some really cool activities, but I'm afraid no one will show up and those that do will just stand around expecting to be entertained.

Tonight was our November pack meeting. None of the DLs showed up. I think we have 14 active Scouts and 6 were in attendance. One DL didn't bother to communicate that he wasn't coming. I'm getting tired of being one of the only ones who cares. We have a Webelos parent who didn't bother coming inside to even pay for her son's renewal, let alone be present for him to receive his advancement. Our next meeting will be the pack meeting in December because our CO won't let us meet there for the next two weeks. I'm tired of the apathy from parents and leaders alike. I'm even more tired of having to fight people to improve the program. We drive an extra 5 miles because this pack is at our church, despite the church treating us as just some outside organization using their buildings. We have a Webelos/Scouts BSA campout this weekend. It's being championed by a pack closer to us. I like the CM and it seems like the parents are actually interested in being involved. I think this will serve as a sort of interview for that pack. The problem is, if my family leaves, our current pack will collapse in short order. I'm the CC. My wife is the treasurer. The CM lacks initiative and communication skills. The secretary is just holding a title. The ACM rarely shows up and is also the Lion DL. It's very frustrating trying to run things from 600 miles away and not getting at least a little effort on the part of everyone else in keeping this train on the tracks. I'm the one traveling an hour away to the Scout Shop to buy advancement on the Saturdays that I'm home. I've put a lot of effort into this pack and I've been reluctant to watch it fail. However, I'm growing tired of having to adult for Millennials.

Except that the program is already essentially that way. We had a campout and knocked out requirements for every den, whether it involved knot tying, out door code, leave no trace, hiking, etc. The program already had that feature. I'm not sure what's fabulous about making AOLs now spend a lot more time finishing up. There's no way a den can complete 8 adventures in 6 months with a quality program.

I like the footprint for BA tents with the fast fly capability. Lets me set up the fly in a rain storm and build the tent underneath it. That way I get less water intrusion through the mesh walls. They also are lighter than plastic and fold better.

I'm liking the idea of the Eureka tents. I've found the tents for $138 and vestibules for $50. I typically lean toward Big Agnes, but I also remember that young Scouts aren't the most careful of kids. My only concern is that Eureka doesn't seem to make a footprint for those tents. Their 2 person foot print is shorter and narrower than the floor dimensions of the Timberline 2. Guess the kids will have to do what their dad did and use a plastic sheet and tarp.

As we prepare our Webelos to move on down the line, I'm looking at tents. I still have my trusty L.L. Bean Geodesic tent from the late 80s. I believe it is technically a 3-person tent, but being in England, we kept our packs/bags inside with us, so it was a 2-person. What are Scouts using these days? I saw what looked more like single tents at the campsite we visited a couple week ago. I was thinking of getting him a 3-person.

BSA provides you a ton of literature on how to execute the plan. Volunteers are the people and fundraisers provide the money, not that you need much. I guess you ignore that whole A Scout is Trustworthy thing, right? Why bother even doing anything? Just click on the little boxes and go buy awards to hand out.

The full-year program fee transfers to Scouts BSA. They don't have to pay anything else to move up. If you are referring to the Pack dues, then that's a failure of Pack leadership to determine where the AOLs won't participate and reduce dues accordingly. Our last AOLs moved up after B&G and PWD, so they paid the same as everyone else. The next group may transition before those events, so their dues will be reduced accordingly.

Wait, seriously? You regard standards as "just words on a page"? What are you teaching the kids with that attitude? Why bother? Would you accept any professional regarding the laws or codes as "just words on a page"? Attitudes start as children. They see adults just handing out awards without regard for meeting standards and they will expect that to be the case all the time.

I think you're quibbling. Changes have been made to every badge/rank requirement over the past 40 years. I wouldn't say that my Second Class that required skill awards is different than the Second Class of today without them. Adding essentially a totin chip, a little more in-depth knowledge of Scouts BSA, and tie two more knots. Interestingly, Scouts no longer have to agree to live by the Oath, Law, motto, slogan, and outdoor code. I can't say that that is a positive change.