DannyG

The best way is assign somebody the job and watch them handle it. Volun-told, we call it. Then do nothing? If they don't have a den leader to plan a meeting, they don't meet. Sorry to say it. Unless current leadership steps up to fill the gaps, it sounds like a dying unit. If they refuse to run a den meeting now, who is going to lead the unit when the current leadership moves on? Our dens meet at the same time for this reason. If there isn't coverage, first it falls on the Cubmaster, then we will combine dens if we have to. Once the scouts earn the requirements, and still no paren

The $60 cost to BSA for adult leaders to register is for the background check and training (theoretically). They are throwing their money away if they don't do training. My unit told me I would not participate on overnight trips if I did not register, pay the fee, submit to the background check... And we are sponsored by a Catholic Church, which also has their own VIRTUS training and background check. Yet it seems your unit still has adults participating without registration... Can they register with BSA, forgo the Livescan, so they won't be fully registered in the state but at least

When I was a youth, my troop would schedule one or two camping trips per year as "family" events. It would be a fun trip: to the beach, an amusement park, something light and easy. As I remember the scouts would set up camp and operate separately from the parents and family, then we'd join together for the day trip. That's how we ran. My current troop doesn't schedule any family overnight campouts. With our litigious society, I can understand the danger. I know. Crazy how we got onto the subject legal settlements and abuse from family campouts and YPT.

BSA wants all of the adults registered and background checked before camping overnight with a scout troop. Unregistered parents are permitted to observe up to a point; they can attend day programs but must leave camp once scouts go to sleep.

Ok. Then I admit it's a regional difference. My Cub Scout Pack is a family pack that attracts entire families. That means there's a gaggle of cub scouts, parents, and siblings around at our meetings and events. The adults don't openly want to volunteer either. You have to ask.

So you are saying in response to @dangale, original post: Stop right there. Cancel the family campout entirely??? In other words, by conducting this event they are violating more than YPT guidelines? I understand your response. What I am saying is they need to conduct this campout outside of the scouting realm. Groups of friends and families can go camping together, especially at a public KOA campground. They need to be certain all attendees know this is not a scouting activity.

Maybe there is a generational difference. When I was a kid, parents just dropped their kids off at Cub scout meetings and left. I suppose they had hoped a few adults would stick around as volunteers. Today's parents want a program they can enjoy together as a family. Lions and Tigers work together with an adult partner. I find this acclimates parents into the program, especially if they were not scouts as children. By the time their kids are Wolf/Bear they are giving back to the Pack, and at Webelos/AOL they are leading. So these adults are ready for leadership roles if their kids decide to j

Agreed. But there are units that have a history of family campouts in their program. National should know. Their reqs don't seem to cover that. Except for Cub Scouts, who are strictly family-camping only. Should there be something in-between?

Would any of the moms on the camping trip like to become registered leaders? Please note, as @ToKindle96 posted: Parents cannot camp overnight on a scouting activity unless they are a registered volunteer. If this is an unofficial gathering of friends, that's different. Then everyone is just camping out as families. It is not a sanctioned scout event.

YES! Wouldn't it be great to have a program for these young adults with similar interests in the outdoors to mingle, to plan their own trips, and further develop leadership skills as an adult? The scouts aging out of the program have so much value to give back to the youth. Even more so than the adult leaders of these aging out scouts. Instead we just let them go, hopefully to find their way back years later with their own youth.

I feel your frustration. As a volunteer leader I feel like I have to shield my unit's parents from this negative part. Let's just focus on building the best program for our youth. The rest will work itself out. Kids will want to join if you are out having adventures, having fun! FWIW, new registration process was very unpopular at our latest Roundtable too.

Depending on whom I spoke to, the next national jamboree will be in 2025, 2026, or 2028.

I echo the comments in here. It is really intended for a bugle, or a trumpet or cornet playing open notes. I would not allow a trombone, tuba, French horn, or even a mellophone because they would be playing out of key. If the scout has experience playing any brass instrument it will be easy to switch. I am also lucky the troop has a bugle to lend out, and I know of a scout or two over the years that can lend one out too.

I am sure they do. This is always been a part of the scouting program since I was growing up. "I will do my best to do my duty to my country". "to keep myself morally straight". A scout is Loyal. Obedient. Friendly. Courteous. Kind. Brave... Etc. It is all there in the scout law and oath. Scouts must know their place in the community, the nation, the world, and in society. Especially for the ones that want to advance to Eagle. All of the fun stuff is good for them too: the camping, fishing, shooting. All that stuff is great. Perhaps that is why they joined scouts in the first place

I should add: using the patrol method will find a place for those scouts to fit in. Put the quiet scouts in a small group with 5 or 6 of their peers, give the patrol a job to do, and they will find ways to share responsibility amongst themselves. If they are always in a room with dozens of boisterous scouts, then yes the quiet ones will retreat. You do have to find the group your scout works best with. Not all units are the same. I'll have to find that book. Sounds like an interesting read.

I agree with this. My son went through a similar phase, after a 2-year gap between swim lessons, he got frustrated and didn't go back to formal lessons. But as he got older and stronger, and he swam more with his friends, he has developed more skills on his own. He is still stuck at 2nd class because he hasn't progressed past the Beginner test. But I think he finally realizes he needs to work at it, and I think he'll get it soon.

The quiet scouts will eventually find their place in the troop. It's not even that they are being left out... Introverted scouts revel in going with the flow. It's not even worth pushing them to be more outgoing. Let them be and they will find a place. Early on, I was in ear-shot of my son's new scout patrol putting together a mealplan on one of their first camping trips. My son let GM plan an entire weekend of meals he didn't like and he didn't say a word. Instead he went from patrol to patrol on the campout trading away food he didn't like for something else. Scouts will find a way.

Cash donations and mileage are certainly deductible. So are property donations, uniforms, and expenses for volunteer work. https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/02/14/tax-time/ I guess it all depends on your accountant.

Parents communicate with parents. Scouts communicate with scouts. There are announcements at the end of every troop meeting that parents may attend. A weekly email is sent from the Scoutmaster to parents with details of upcoming trips and other events. The rest is up to scouts. If Troop PLC plans a physical fitness activity, tells all the scouts to wear sneakers to next week's meeting, and the scout fails to remember to wear the proper shoes... Then that is a hard lesson for the scout to learn, unfortunately. I wonder if the scout could participate in some partial activities in crocs: pus

BOR is never denied. It is postponed until the scout is fully prepared.

Nothing is around from scouts from my youth. I did not earn Eagle. I earned Arrow of Light in Cubs and was 1st class in Boy Scouts.

Is it worth adding my youth member ID to my profile? Apparently mine is so old the local council cannot find it. It was before online records.

Leaders set the example. Scouts will follow the leaders. Make sure your SPL and LC are always wearing the proper uniform. Once leadership is onboard, scouts will follow, if reluctantly. Announce to the troop what a proper uniform looks like and continue to remind them the purpose of wearing the uniform. Your ASMs may be easier to convert, especially if they are former scouts. Make sure they are on board and they are wearing the uniform properly. It may require an adult leader meeting to discuss uniform protocol, what patches they should be wearing and where they are placed, etc. We have a

It is your unit, you can decide what's best for the troop. There is much we don't know about the scouts and the situation to decide which one is best for the position. Your scouts should decide. I would leave it up to PLC to make the decision. As it is written, a responsibility of ASPL is to lead when SPL is unable to do so. A Troop Guide assists and counsels new leaders.

Regarding new scouts: I bridged up last year from Cub Scouts with my son. We started Cub Scouts in 2017 and continued through the COVID years. Enrollment was way down in 2020-2021 during the height of pandemic. New recruitment was practically zero. We also lost Cub Scouts that dropped enrollment during the pandemic. So keep in mind new scouts at summer camp this year may have started as Lions/Tigers, missed a year or two, then picked it up again as Webelos. A lot of them are having trouble adjusting to the older program. Some families feel they aren't ready to spend an entire week in the wild