Armymutt

In the case of Cub Scouts, an adult will always be present with them. However, that adult is unlikely to be YP trained, and in our case, Safe Environment trained. If the BSA and the Catholic church both feel that these are critical classes for adults to be around youth, then it seems to me that leaving kids with untrained adults who may not be their parents is outside of the intentions of the policy. I would have a tough time explaining to a parent or council how a child under my responsibility became a victim because "I was present on the property". Older Scouts can defend themselves, or at least be trained to do so. Cubbies tend to be far less aware of these things and less likely to say something.

No. Two deep leadership is two deep leadership, right? So if we only have two leaders present for the activity, then we can't send one off to work a station. We already have violated the female rule. My daughter (Tiger) went camping last year with no female leaders present. Just me and the CM and a couple other families. Since she is always with me, I'm not super concerned, and I'm sure other packs have the same issue. I know troops do.

Sadly, I see two violations of the US Guide to Safe Scouting on the Swedish page. Maybe if we didn't have a society angling to become rich off court cases, we'd have kids lining up to have fun.

I understand the idea behind it - keep things cheaper, but for the Cubs, it is incompatible with G2SS and YP. When our Pack goes camping, we have 2, maybe 3, registered leaders. So if one of us goes and runs a station for an hour, the rest of the Pack has to sit at the station in order to comply. We can't send parents of anyone who is below a Wolf. Most of our parents lack initiative, otherwise, they'd be wearing a uniform. Sending them to run a station would result in chaos.

This is my concern too, especially the loss of Scout Shops. While no merger was involved, our local shop (a national one) was closed. Now we have to drive an hour to get patches and advancement, or pay to have them shipped. Getting parents to uniform their kids is a challenge since they now have to drive so far to get them. Large councils with satellite offices and shops would work and be reasonably cheap.

We've never had a den bigger than 7. My son's den had 2 Scouts as a Tiger and a Lion straphanger. The next year, we added one core and three sometimers. Got up to 7 as Bears for about 3 months. That's our biggest den. My kids will always have a den leader. The pack will survive until at least my son moves to a troop. We'll reassess then. At our leader meeting - open to everyone - on Saturday, we decided that I would be the Wolf DL. Meetings will be on Saturdays at my house. My wife is a registered Scouter, so we meet YP requirements. We have two parents who have attended the meeting in the past, but neither ever responded to calls for leadership. I flat out asked them if they would do it. Explained that it's actually pretty simple with the Den Leader Experience. It lays out everything - you just have to read ahead a bit and gather materials or task a parent to bring something. A quick side vote with the committee and we agreed to pay their fees - normally we ask that the first year be paid by the volunteer, but that was under the pro-rated system. They agreed, so hopefully we'll have applications tomorrow night.

I don't know that voluntelling people will work. I've tried telling them that the den will cease to exist if no one steps up to run it. It's a Tiger den - both kids have to have their parents present anyway. Not sure why it's such a problem for them. I guess we can just do independent study and each parent can input the advancement as it is completed. Not ideal, but if it accomplishes the mission, ok. At this point, I'm tired of pulling the pack along with me. My son is friends with his den, so we'll stay until he's finished with AOL. My daughter's den is hit and miss. I'm at the point where I will have no issues with dropping this pack and moving to one that is closer. We came here because we go to church at the CO. The CO isn't very supportive anyway. Lots of un-needed frustration for me. We definitely won't be joining the troop here.

We meet on the same night for YPT and convenience reasons already. How do you assign someone to be a DL? There is money, training, and an application involved.

Our pack has an age old issue, but I've never seen it this bad. Last year's Lion Den has two members. We told the parents that someone will need to be the DL next year. Well, next year is here and neither is stepping up. Last year's Wolf den lost its leader in February. He had finished up all the requirements. The parents have had 8 months to determine who the next leader will be and none have stepped forward. Last year's Tiger den has three members. One of the Scouts has a dad as the CC and mom as the treasurer, The other two sets of parents will not step up, so the CC will be running meetings on Saturdays at home because he's 600 miles away during the week. At least that den is covered. What do we do about the other two dens? I reminded the parents in July and got no response. At this point, the leadership is pretty much done with this unit. The Webelos DL has two years left. As does the CM and secretary, unless their youngest can start behaving. CC and treasurer have a few more years, and the ACM has a Lion coming onboard.

I suppose it's only a coincidence that the two people in my vet school class who had no problem mastering surgical knots and large knots used in controlling farm animals were also Eagle Scouts. While the rest of the class was doing the bowline step-by-step for the 5th iteration, we were challenging each other in a sort of knot version of HORSE.

You can't get blood out of a turnip. You also shouldn't be squeezing the blood out of a program that is for kids. So no, I don't think that pain and suffering from an organizational level is appropriate. It should come from the perpetrator. Unless BSA went through and vetted every single perpetrator and supervised them, then there should be no monetary claim against them. I didn't get money from KIA, even though they knowing sold a car to a guy with a drunk driving history. I don't get money from the state even though they knowingly let a guy with a history of drunk driving out into society. I don't get money from whatever company made the intoxicating beverage, even though they know it is abused. As was stated above, these payouts affect the cost of Scouting and effectively deny participation to kids who really need it. Now, how did we get here from a thread about family camping? Seems like an odd way to twist things towards oneself.

This whole family camping thing after Cub Scouts just sound weird to me. The only time my family came camping with me was when we went to Kandersteg. My mom and sisters stayed in he lodge with other family members. My stepdad was the SM, so of course he stayed with the other adults in their campsite. The families joined us for a dawn hike, but otherwise, were nowhere around. I can't imagine having my mom along on a normal camping trip with the troop.

I got nothing beyond expenses after getting hit by a drunk driver. A piece of my exhaust pipe punched a hole through the top of my foot. I have arthritis and a permanent limp. The only money I got in my pocket was to pay for the bike and other equipment. The bad guy got told not to do anything bad for three years and sent on his way.

My son hit Webelos this year. I took a look through the available adventures and saw some really good ones that are retired. This weekend, we tackled Fix-it. My autistic 8 y/o loved it. I haven't seen him this engaged in anything outside of books, Legos, or something on the computer, ever. I think having a huge menu of tasks to pick from really made him feel empowered. Getting his own tool set just added to it. He was super excited to push the cart through Lowes to the tool aisle. We went around the house fixing some of the things that needed fixing and creating issues to fix for those that didn't need it. He loved it. I found a site that appears to stock the pins still. I think we're going to do Looking back, looking forward and Project Family next.

The only way someone would know you were a gay leader is if you told them. My favorite leaders were both life-long bachelors. We don't know their sexual orientation. We know that they were excellent leaders. Like I said, it wasn't until someone decided that their personal identity was more important than Scouting that we had issues. A bit of tongue in cheek. The kids of military members are not considered civilians in our world. Civilian kids don't get uprooted by the government every few years and have to restart life in a new place. No one is saying that people aren't welcome. It's more of a hyperfocus on special groups that think they deserve special recognition that is the problem. When one makes special, and politically motivated, identification patches, it sends the signal that maybe all are not welcome or at least not considered equal.

I don't recall race or sexual orientation ever being a part of any Scouting discussion 30 years ago. We just did Scouting - whether you were White, Black, Hispanic, or Asian in the troops I was in. No one discussed sexual orientation, so I have no idea how anyone felt in that manner. Religion-wise, we had Catholics, Mormons, and Protestants. We even had Brits in one of my troops. No one cared. No one even remotely thought to mention it. No one felt left out or cheated because their special group wasn't held up for recognition and separation from the others. Now all of a sudden, it is a big deal, mostly driven by the Left with the intent to drive a wedge into what was a unified organization based on a set of ideals. You either subscribed to them or you didn't participate. Maybe my experience is a product of the community I was in. The military is pretty diverse on its own, so it follows that Scouting would be as well. Luckily, all Scouting is local, so we don't get this national-level insanity in our District. Scouts are just Scouts - even the civilian ones. Frankly, I wish there would be more focus on how to get parents to actually do something in Cub Scouts Packs besides treat it like a baby sitting service. That's where the energy really needs to be expended.

We (CC and treasurer) have stopped doing much beyond popcorn sales. Can't get anyone else to step forward and do anything else in a competent manner. Our kids make enough in popcorn to fund themselves for 2 years. Our spring fundraiser is Scout cards. We took out enough to have every Scout sell 20. None did because no one set up a site for them to go sell them. Parents actually asked us if we were going to set up a place for them to sell. We don't have a fundraising chair because no one will volunteer to do it. The 2 families keeping the pack alive are out of steam.

That was my question. Normally a meeting is a discussion to reach a conclusion. This sounds more like an expensive briefing on how things are going to proceed from here. That could be published rather than spending thousands of dollars that the organization doesn't have to spare. How many units could have been stood up in poor areas for the amount that was spent?

Just received an email from our council. Note that there is no mention of national covering insurance for adults. We still have to pay our $12 insurance fee on top of the $60 national fee. Dear XXXXXXX Council Scouting Family, Thank you for your continued involvement in Scouting! The values we teach in the Scout Oath and Law are the foundation young people need to address and overcome challenges in their lives and the issues facing their generation. So, as we continue to deliver the Scouting experiences for our Scouting family, we wanted to share information concerning the National Membership Fee. The National BSA’s emergence from bankruptcy represents a pivotal milestone in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The court’s decision to approve the organization’s reorganizational plan solidifies a path forward for survivors and the Scouting movement. To preserve its mission, the BSA has had to take some extraordinary steps over the past three years to reposition the organization for the future: streamlined its professional staff and volunteer structure, reduced overhead costs while maintaining essential services to support the local councils who were critical partners during the bankruptcy. However, further measures are needed to position Scouting for the future. The BSA must increase the national annual membership fees for both youth and adults. This was a difficult decision that involved the engagement of key stakeholders, but is essential to building a strong, safe, and vibrant Scouting program for our nation’s youth. Effective August 1, 2023, the BSA will implement the following national membership fees which were approved by the National Executive Committee: $80 for Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing and Sea Scouting participants ($5 increase) $60 for all adult volunteers ($15 increase to cover increased general liability insurance cost and enhanced background checks) $25 one-time joining fee for new program participants in Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing and Sea Scouting (Not prorated and no change in fee) $30 for Scoutreach (Not prorated) $25 for Merit Badge Counselors (New Fee applies only for Merit Badge Counselors not already registered as leaders) $50 for Exploring participants Youth & Adult ($5 increase) $100 for a unit charter/affiliation fee (no change in fee) $15 for Scout Life magazine BSA will no longer prorate fees for New Members beginning August 1, 2023 Beginning August 1, 2023, all new youth and adult members who join Scouting will be enrolled in a 12-month membership cycle and BSA will cease prorating fees. Both youth and adults will pay the full annual membership fee and will renew their membership on the anniversary date of joining Scouting. All proration of membership fees will be eliminated. Each registered member of the BSA will receive an email notice with a registration renewal link beginning 60 days before the anniversary date they joined Scouting. Unit leaders will receive a copy of the email and should stay engaged in the membership renewal process just like rechartering. Please note: The XXXXXXX Council’s annual youth fee of $54 will remain the same as last year as will the $12 insurance fee for all registered youth and adults. Thank you for what you do in the service of Scouting for our community and youth.

Not enough information, but it sounds like she's not aware of the buddy system.

That's not national though. Perhaps the PA fees should be higher to account for laws in that state rather than charging everyone the same. Since most parents are not volunteering, why not just add that increased cost on to the youth fee? People shouldn't have to pay more to give their time.

None of the volunteers in my pack have submitted fingerprints. Doubt anyone in the council has.

How many of those youth activities charge the adults who are serving as coaches? That's the crazy part about BSA. Charging people to volunteer their time. A background check and insurance can't possibly cost $60. If you lose the volunteers, the program dies. That's one of the main causes of lost units in my area. My pack will most likely die after my daughter crosses over, unless we get a parent coming behind me with a high level of passion.

This is going to be a CF on a large scale. It briefs well, but the reality is different. We're now going to have to spend time randomly to get parents to pay for their Scout to recharter rather than do the annual drive to get them to pay? How does this streamline anything? We're going to have to have someone dedicated full time to tracking when every Scout is due to recharter rather than a bulk effort at one time.

I wonder how often this happens compared to the old days. Seems that the increasing competition for social media attention and college applications makes parents slough off integrity in an effort to get their kid rank. I have seen some questionable stuff in Cub Scouts, like people earning 70% of their rank in a weekend. Even had one claim that a kid earned AOL despite having attended one meeting and a day (not night) of camping.