Cambridgeskip

I am British and I too struggle with this. I am a devout republican (in the British sense, which generally but not exclusively tends to mean liberal/left politics) and want an elected head of state. At a guess though I'd say it boils down to a number of things. Firstly comfort. It's what we are used to. The monarch never causes us any aggrevation because she is strictly non political and is not allowed to express an opinion on pretty much anything. Pomp and ceremony. The fact is that the population does like a good old fashioned parade and the monarch is kind of tied in with all

Twocubdad - It's ok, Brits are also very difficult to offend (except the Scots. They get offended by pretty much everything) I am very proud of the lad. There is a big emphasis at the moment in UK scouting on getting scouts to engage in politics. TSA are running events at the conferences of all 3 of the main parties with the opportunity to grill politicians and in addition I got to take 3 of mine to a reception at the Houses of Parliament last month where they got to meet and question politicians from all 3 parties. These events are becoming increasingly popular and are a lot of fun.

Two things on mobiles. First they are here and not going to go away. Second, if scouting is about anything it's about preparing kids for the real world, so why not emrbace them? My troop has a code of conduct drawn up by the PLs. One rule says "phones - pocket and lock it" Basically scouts are welcome to bring phones to scouts and camps but they stay out of site and don't get used ay inappropriate moments. They get one warning and then they are conifscated. In the real world I switch mine off during meetings at work, when out for dinner with Mrs Cambridgeskip, in church and all

I discovered earlier this week that one of my former cubs from my group this side of the pond is now working for the Obama election campaign. Depending on your affiliation and the result in November feel free to thank me or throw rotten fruit at me for my gift to your political system. *puts on helmet and flack jacket*

Just a small aside, almost the opposite to this problem, but still a parent issue. And I swear this is a true story. May 2004 when I was a cub leader we were on camp at Gilwell. It was a hot day. All the cubs were told straight after breakfast to make sure that they put on hats and slapped on sun screen. Leaders kept an eye to check that they did it. One cub was going near the sun screen. I cornered him and told him to get on with it, he refused saying he was alergic to it. This sounded odd as I had checked all the permission forms and no one had any allergies that I had noticed. So

I hadn't realised that the USA had gone just as paranoid about knives as we have in the UK. Knife law here is absurdly restrictive. But here's the deal. If I really wanted to stab someone I could walk into the nearest pub or off license, buy a glass bottle of beer, carry it round perfectly legally before smashing it and using it as a really nasty weapon. Most knife law is passed on an absurd knee basis.

@cubtrails Thank you! There's more where they came from. Someone gave us thousands of old slides that over time we are trying to get scanned and uploaded, those on line are just a few we've done so far.

Yup, it's fear. Too many people are completely unable to comprehend the real risks on life to wrap their children in cotton wool. The fact is the most likely cause, far and away more than anything else, of death among children in the western world is being hit by a car. Hence the most important thing you can do for your child is teach them to cross the road safely. Yet compare the coverage in the media and the hysteria from parents about peadophiles compared to road safety which gets minimal attention. If you've not read it this is well worth a read http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/R

I've carried on following this thread with interest since my attempt at war and peace and I think Shortridge has nailed it, you have to look at what the scouts want and sell it to them. You have to do both and it's the scouts themselves that matter more than the parents. Kids these days have options, far more than they did 50 years ago. Last year was our group centenary and we had an old boys day. (Some wonderful old photos provided by them here https://picasaweb.google.com/102300161421707243528/ReunionOldPhotos# Talking to them it was clear that when they were 12 being a scout was just

My side of the Atlantic the British Heart Foundation is plugging the continuous compressions route. The reason being mostly that a lot of men in particular are out off trying anything by the thought of giving the breaths hence BHF reckon that something is better than nothing. There is also the point that doing the breaths wrong can result in the diaphragm being popped out the wrong way which unless you are already on the operating table is basically instant death. But the odds of actually doing that are miniscule. Over all though it is better to do the compressions and breaths at a

Thought I'd chime in as the point about a Chief Scout as per the UK was mentioned..... The fact is that BSA is exactly where the UK Scout Association was back in the late 90's. We had a massive problem with falling membership and needed to turn it around. I don't know if the problems you have are exactly the same as ours were but what I can tell you is that the solutions to it ran to something far more fundamental than just appointing a chief scout. It was part of it but not all of it. So what did we do? Before I get started, a massive caveat. This is NOT some liberal Brit tryin

Jonathan, my apologies for misunderstanding! My troop have been developing links with the Anne Frank Trust here in the UK to act as peer educators and we are going to try and tie that project in with this.

I think that's a little dismissive of you Jonathan. BP himself was passionate about world peace and his words following the First World War are incredibly inspiring. This scheme comes from WOSM http://www.scout.org/information_events/events/joti/2011/theme_1/mensajeros_de_la_paz Personally I would like to see far more of this sort of thing.

I agree with most of what's been said above. I've seen this film before and the only way to deal with it is the "straight bat"* approach. It is at times like this that "youth led" may have to go out the window. The adults take charge and that means putting toxic scout in his place. And that doesn't mean getting into an argument with him. In fact I would avoid Qwasze's approach altogether. An argument with you is exactly what he will want. When he is caught acting like this he is dragged before the troop leaders, told his behaviour is unacceptable, second time parents are informed and he i

Do BSA have a different verison of the scout promise for non US nationals? In the UK non UK nationals can change the "to God and the Queen" to "God and the country in which I am now lving". This is quite useful for my troop as I currently 8 different nationalities present (including the girl born in Denmark to Italian and Argentine parents, moved to Brazil when she was 1 and moved to the UK when she was 7!).

My favourite is one you need the right kind of tent for, it only works if you have a nylon one with the inner going up first with the fly going over the top. If you are quiet it is possible to unpeg and detach the fly sheet while someone is asleep before turning it through 90 or 180 degrees so that the doors of the inner and fly no longer line up. Truly hysterical watching the occupants trying to get out! (best not to pull this one on anyone inexperienced in case they get a bit panicked on trying to get out!) Our troop also has Norman the Gnome. No one, not even me, knows where he co

It's only when you go to a proper international jamboree that you begin to appreciate the diversity but also unity of scouting across the world. I took a group from my district to Eurojam in the UK in 2005. There were about 15,000 scouts from 68 different countries. The sub camps were arranged so that no two units from the same country were camped next to each other. On one side of us were Italians and the other side of them an Irish unit. The other side of us were Polish with Israeli the other side of them. Across the walk way from us were Dutch, Swiss, Portuguese and Ugandan units. Elsewhere

A couple of years ago I took a group of scouts the shot hop across the North Sea to Amsterdam. We had arranged to stay in the HQ of a scout troop there. We had a map of how to get there and pictures of what the building looked like and had been told that when we arrived a group of cub scouts would be in there but were expecting us. So we turned up, followed the map, found a building that looked exactly like what we were looking for with some cubs in, looks good to us. I went in and introduced myself to the leader who spoke next to no English. This should have been the first clue as we had

Other side of the Atlantic but I suspect issues are the same. For us it varies from trip to trip and what effects it is very varied. If it clashes with a school trip somewhere parents tend to side with the school and send them on that. Not much you can do about that. Some times it's just not popular. This summer we have a white water caneoing trip. Very popular and we have about 80% turnout and a caving trip which only a small number want to do with only a 20% turnout. It can clash with sport fixtures, or family holidays or all kinds of things. I like to try and get da

Just thought I'd throw this out there....... http://www.justgiving.com/12th-cambridge-scouts-Sun-run-2012 It's our annual charity extravaganza in aid of our local homeless shelter, feel free to circulate the link among all and sundry. All major credit cards accepted Previous years have seen us do this for an orphanage in Sierra Leone http://www.justgiving.com/12thCambridge-sunrun-2011 And a children's hospice just outside Cambridge http://www.justgiving.com/12thCambridge-Sunrun-2010

Bevah A couple of things here.... First while the "official" view of those religions you site is to consider homosexuality a "sin" the reality is that within all of those religions there is a significant and growing liberal wing who disagree with that view. This is particularly so within the Anglican communion where there is a growing and I believe an almost inevitable threat of a split in the church over the issue. Second I don't think it is fare to compare the issue to that of slavery. Yes, once upon a time slavery was legal. But we are talking about 2012. Can you find me a si

I wouldn't read too much into this. UK HQ have denied it http://www.scouts.org.uk/noticeboard/440/no-plans-to-change-scout-promise This is mainly just the NSS trying to kick up a bit of trouble. I am a republican (in the UK sense!) but have no problem with an oath to the Queen as under our constitution any duty to the Queen is a promise made to the population as a whole.

Tampa The more I hear about DC the more interesting it sounds. All we really see of it in the media here is politics based whihc doesn't really turn anyone onto tourism! Bath, Winchester and Cambridge (I am biased!, And PM me if you want a tour guide!) are great days out and well worth going. Portsmouth though..... to be honest if you are here a short time there are much nicer places to go. The historic dock yard is interesting, particularly if you are into naval history (fun fact, HMS Victory, despite being hundreds of years old and in dry dock there is still officially a commission

Wow! Thank you for that very quick response, lots of ideas there. I don't think I can reply to all of you but to answer a few general points..... Yes, I am thankfully aware of how vast and diverse a country the USA is. So no one can say they have been to one city or state or even half a dozen and say they have "seen" America. I remember at primary school having a student teacher from the USA who was from Indiana explaining that Indiana was just one of 50 states, and not even one of the bigger ones and it had approximately the same area as England. In terms of what we'd like I think a

Forgive the typo in the title, should have been "in" not "is". Sorry.