OaklandAndy

1 hour ago, skeptic said:

Common sense continues to take a back seat to paranoia in our society and its linked legal maze.

This is the answer to all these ridiculous changes right here. It's all about CYA with the BSA National nowadays. CYA and vague answers. 

50 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

I had a DFS attempt to humiliate me by blaming me for something  that he did at a staff meeting.

My direct supervisor tried doing this to me when I worked at the council and put it right back in her face after I showed her the factual timeline of how things actually played out. That in itself was catalyst for me to look for another career. She was the sweetest, hardest working lady in the whole office and if the office culture turned her into that, I knew that it would happen to me. That's why I left and work for a community college now. 

12 minutes ago, Ojoman said:

there are some very fine and competent SE's and councils that have them are fortunate.

Our SE has a good head on his shoulders, it's more the DE's that continue to drop the ball more than anything. 

I also noticed that "good ol' boy system with the council volunteer positions....they want the title but none of the work. 

56 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

Sadly BSA has a history of moving folks around or promoting them.

BSA already has a hard time retaining members/volunteers, let alone employees. Not surprised that it would be easier to displace the problem then get rid of it. I'm sure if it was a liability issue, yeah absolutely they'd be gone. But if they are just running a council into the ground, they'll move them elsewhere like you said. 

You can set up a group Discord. I used that a lot with my summer camp staff when I was a camp director. Easy to manage and supervise. Most youth know and use that app. 

21 hours ago, DuctTape said:

One benefit you have, is that you can "start at zero" to rebuild. I have found this useful in the past: 

 

http://inquiry.net/patrol/green_bar/index.htm

I think a lot of us had this opportunity after covid. 

I found that giving them a purpose helps. From what I've seen from other units, a leader gets trained and then what they learned remains with the card they hold and doesn't go any further. Whenever I have a leader, or trying to encourage a leader, to go to training, I have them use what they learned right away. Whether it's leading a segment with the scouts or even the adult parents. 

We, too, pay for our leaders but that's never going to be enough if I don't tell them how that training will benefit them, the unit, and how they are going to be using it soon after the training is completed. Another thing we do is we sign up and pay for the leaders at the meeting rather than rely on them to do it themselves. This usually eliminates excuses like "I forgot". 

32 minutes ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

I assume the International Spirit Award? Fantastic! We're doing it as a pack too.

Since it's so easy for me to help scouts with it, I'm helping not just my pack but another pack in town with it. I taught them not any two games but two campfire games, and it turns out that the scout promise and motto is exactly ten words in Swedish 😄

At the next campout, they will get the opportunity to cook reindeer chafing. (Vegetarian, solves both the reindeer meat supply problem this far south and everyone needs to eat problem.)

We're also going to spend more time on BP himself and the worldwide scouting movement at Blue & Gold.

If you're starting in January you already have a plan, no doubt, but I'm happy to help if I can. The other pack wanted to make it more real with a visit from someone who was a scout in a different country, and while I imagine I can't visit your pack maybe I can help make it more real for them in some other way if we put our heads together.

Yes and working on the MOP program and the same time since they share the same international objectives. I appreciate you're assistance! 

11 hours ago, qwazse said:

t is worth noting that one of the consequences of BSA’s shrinking membership — while other countries’ membership grows — is reduced input in WOSM.

Our Pack is actually starting this at the beginning of 2024. I didn't even know about it until I was doing some research on different awards for our scouts. I doubt the councils even know much about it either. I'm hoping we can bring more awareness to it and other units will participate. 

8 hours ago, Ojoman said:

What bothers me more than National raising their fees are all the councils that are tacking on 'service and insurance' fees.

Council insurance went up anywhere between 3%-5% across the country for the upcoming year.  Our council has to pay national something like $65,000 just for recharter, hence our fee going up. Council's are trying to survive too, but it's hard when National raises rates for everyone....scouts, volunteers, mbc, councils, etc. 

56 minutes ago, Ojoman said:

No one? I bet that there are programs brought in by the local police and fire departments and that the PTO has brought in some programs.

Yep, no one. Some superintendents have decided for all schools in a county that no outside organization is allowed. Doesn't matter if it's the fire department, scouts, or any other organization. It's crazy that they would throw away so many resources, but then you have groups like that Satanic After School club trying to get in your school as well. But that's another story. 

6 minutes ago, dk516 said:

ou want at least 2 full Packs for every Troop in existence in order to cross over enough Cubs into Scouts BSA.

Come recharter, there will be on 2 packs and 1 troop left in our rural county. 1 pack has 8, the other 51. 

11 hours ago, satl8 said:

All of the schools around us are very familiar with this law, They adopted the policy to not let anyone in.

Very true. The loophole is if we don't let anyone do anything, then we can say no to everyone, including scouting. 

17 hours ago, Ojoman said:

not be an arrogant and condescending person in communication

This goes for volunteers as well. Sometimes they can be just as bad. 

7 minutes ago, HashTagScouts said:

Turnover is and has been high in my council and neighboring councils for as long as I've been involved as an adult, and I would say that the majority who have come and gone that I have interacted with have been good individuals, they just have come to realize they can make more money and work a less stressful position that isn't requiring them to work on an erratic schedule that often involves nights/weekends.

 

On top of that, higher positions aren't available for DE's like there used to be. After the lawsuit, everyone had to cut positions and "do more with less". Instead of spending 3-4 years as a DE, there are waiting 5-7 years just for a spot to open up to get promoted. 

I had this issue with the parents as well, not so much with our DL's. I had the DL's take all the scouts outside for activities while the parents stayed inside. I sat on the stage and told them we needed to have a heart to heart. After letting them know if we don't get more consistent support/involvement, this would be my last year. 

Apparently that was enough because at the end of the meetings I had 1 new DL, 3 Asst. DL's, and 3 new Comm. Members. 

Had they not stepped up, I would've walked and the Pack would probably folded over time. The whole experience was becoming too stressful and volunteering, even at the cub scout level, is not supposed to be like that. 

Now we're one big happy family...well most of us! 

This is as of Oct '23. 

1 hour ago, yknot said:

That's a perception issue that the child sexual abuse history has obscured: public perceptions of overall competence and program safety is not great.  For example, this summer, some camps were desperately advertising for volunteers at their shooting ranges by stating 'no training needed, we'll train you'.  Did not instill confidence in the program overall no matter how good the RSO might have been. 

That depends on the geographic area I would think. My parents in my pack had no idea there was a lawsuit going on until I told them about it (I'm very transparent about things that go in in the scouting world). They didn't seem to care either since our program is pretty safe. It could be our small-town community feel though. 

Good District Executive's rarely stay. I like how our council relies heavily on volunteer input when it comes to decision-making. Very seldom do they make a decision without volunteer approval/input. As a volunteer, I'm on my 3rd DE in the short 5 years I've been doing this. I've also heard that some volunteers are the reason why DE's leave. They try to create a relationship, but instead get blamed when things go South and the council backs the volunteer instead of the DE. Playing devil's advocate, volunteering takes a lot of planning and some just show up and expect it to be done or wait until the last minute and the event is a disaster. Planning it out and watching it in action is all part of the fun! Plus, you can't beat the looks on the Scout's face when they achieve something spectacular. Being a DE is not easy, but neither is volunteering. 

Our council doesn't want to sponsor anyone because they don't want to have to keep track of their inventory and finances. Moreso, the relationship between the units and the council is a dreadful one and when I ask why, no one seems to have an answer. "That's the way it's always been"

8 hours ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

it's Siberia extreme.

I'm not sure any of the attendees from outside that area even thought about acclimating to the environment. Word is...temperatures differ around the world. 

7 hours ago, Better4itall said:

Surprise demands on volunteers. So I went to our District Roundtable tonight and the subject was school recruiting, sign up nights. And our district executive told us that he had been instructed by his boss to tell attendees that if a unit information form was not completed and turned in this evening that they would not be able to recruit at any schools with a deadline of tomorrow morning. Less than 1/4 of the district was present at the roundtable, and everyone there scurried to complete the damn form, but what was it all about? The poor DE could only say "this is how we know that you are ready to accept new members." and when pressed, he couldn't say anything more than "you need to have a program in place". What was this all about? Does this council not realize that that the volunteers they are threatening are the foundation of their organization? Let's see how quickly we can crush a once thriving movement for the advancement of character and values by subverting it to job preservation. Please pardon if this sounds  like a rant, but it is. 

It's amazing how the burden they put on volunteers is somehow justifiable to them. I understand they have a job to do and they are paid employees, but you would think paid employees would be more knowledgeable and show up to the events across the council in their respective districts. 

10 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

No one is allowed. Pros won't even talk to the school system.

"On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Part of No Child Left Behind is the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act, Section 9525 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by Section 901 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (the Boy Scouts Act), which applies to public elementary and secondary schools, local educational agencies (LEAs), and State educational agencies (SEAs) that receive funds made available through the Department of Education. Under the Boy Scouts Act, which became effective on January 8, 2002, no such public school, LEA or SEA that provides an opportunity for one or more outside youth or community groups to meet on school premises or in school facilities before or after school hours shall deny equal access or a fair opportunity to meet to, or discriminate against, any group officially affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, or any other youth group listed in Title 36 of the United States Code as a patriotic society.

OCR is charged with enforcing the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act. Complaints alleging violations of this law may be filed using the OCR online complaint form or by contacting the OCR office with authority to handle complaints where the institution or entity you are complaining about is located."

While this isn't a preferred method since it would cause a lot of tension between the professional and the school, this is something they can use. 

Also, I would think that all summer camps, like ours, hold daily SPL meetings throughout the week and that could provide more direction for that SPL. 

Either way, it's a great incentive for summer camps!