CA_Scouter

Heartfelt condolances to the family. You all will be in my prayers tonight. We lost a scout two years ago in a traffic accident and we drive past the spot nearly every day. Tough to get past stuff like this...

How would this 'deliver the Promise'? sounds like adult shenanigans to me...

Why don't sharks attack lawyers? Professional courtesy.

I know to what Beavah is referring... its the underlying attitude in some posters responses that the person is wrong or should be ashamed, or should leave scouting or his/her current leadership position. I know to what Beavah is NOT referring, and that is to dangerous actions, complete disregard for BSA policies and procedures and things that could result in liability issues. These issues should continue to be pointed out and strongly discouraged. The vast majority of posts, however, are fellow scouts with noble and honorable intentions who are doing their best in their local troop. Let's try this: let's assume that the person making the post is trying to do his or her best to deliver the Scouting program to these young men. Let's assume they are looking to these forums to get advice and encouragement from fellow Scouters around the globe so that they can deliver a better program to these young men. Let's assume that we are talking face to face with the person and that you'll have to look him or her directly in the eye when you speak to them. Let he who is without sin cast the first Scout. :-)

I received a PM from him a few weeks ago.

We just did Christmas trees last month, grossed about $1500. We got a permit from the forest service for 100 trees ( $2 per tree ), drove up and cut 'em ourselves, brought 'em back and sold them from between $15-30. We are toying with the idea of a yard sale this spring also.

We've made it so that the adults do not run the COH in our troop. The SPL and PLC share duties and we are called upon to speak when our spot comes up in the program. We certainly help them plan it out, but I really like to leave it up to them as much as possible. This is so perfect an opportunity for the scouts to show what they are made of to their parents! ( Yo, Calico! )

Several times we have gone to Grover Hot Springs ( Markleeville, kinda near Lake Tahoe ) where they have natural hot springs. We setup camp and go for a dip in the 105 degree water, then for a quick dip in the hot-spring heated swimming pool, which is about 80ish degrees. Other times we've rented snow shoes and hiked in a short distance from the road to do our winter camping. Tried to take a hike one time by one of my ASM's started a huge snowball fight which took us 1 1/2 hours and drained all our energy. SM's were nursing sore shoulders for the next few days ( but we won! ). :-) Tips: always change into dry clothes when you sack out for the night and wear a beanie. Makes a huge difference is the heat factor...

Ditto Vicki. The act of forgiveness requires no action by the other person. It requires action from you. ... and congrats to you and your son!

As indicated in my original post, I already have taken responsiblity for this scouts lack of leadership skills. ( as you might imagine, there is more to this story but is really not applicable to this discussion - but it happened on my watch so I'm responsible ) What I'm trying to do is to figure out a way to get him those skills now. Beav's suggestion #2 is the approach I favor at this time. I'd like more ideas on how to train him if you have 'em. I've tried to get these guys to go to NYLT but our council charges $180 and it takes two weekends. Nobody from our troop wants to go...even when the Committee offers to pay half.. What has worked for you guys?

Clarification... I didn't mean to imply I would require him to hold another position, and I certainly don't want to add to the requirements. My intent is to be sure he can actually do the project without an adult walking him through every step and making every decision for him... this is my concern with this scout... .. and what is OATR?

In my troop now we have 6 Life scouts, several of which have most if not all of their rank requirements done and want to start on their Eagle project. I put out a note to my asm's this week indicating that I would not want any of them to start on their eagle project without first demonstrating appropriate leadership skills and initiative. For example, I have one scout who just recently was able to do the opening flag ceremony without asking for help. This scout has earned his merit badges rather quickly ( he just turned 14 ) , has done a good job in his POR ( scribe, librarian ), but had a very difficult time being the ASPL this last 6 months. Very timid, has to be told what to do and how to do it, etc... In his defense, he stepped into the position when our previous ASPL moved out of the area, so he really didn't have a lot of training to fall back on. I'm getting pushback on one of my ASM's ( his father ) who seems to feel that the Eagle project is where we teach leadership as part of the process. I am of the opinion that if a scout can barely lead a flag ceremony, he certainly cannot lead an Eagle project. Now I dont' want this thread to get into a discussion of the lack of training for the kid... that's OBVIOUS. We as the adults leaders have already identified this as an issue in which we have not done a good job and this is one of our goals to improve upon this year.... What I do want are your opinions on the purpose of the Eagle project. Am I out of line to ask for competent leadership BEFORE starting the project? ( just competent, not outstanding )

I am the SM of the troop and I thought it best to delegate my son's Life SM conference to an ASM for exactly this reason. However, for the Eagle SM conference, I will participate but will still ask at least one ASM to sit in and we'll do it together.

Merlyn, A good point. I'm guessing that Mr. Evans deliberatly and purposefully ignored the two deep leadership rule in order to be alone with the youth members. I'm thinking that sexual deviants of his like will do illegal and underhanded things in order to get themselves alone with children. I don't know that the BSA had any prior knowledge of Mr. Evans alleged pedophilia. If they did, then they were certainly lax. If they didn't then perhaps they were lax in not hiring a psychic to forsee this possibility with Mr. Evans. In any case, it seems you are more determined to blame the BSA for this incident rather than Mr. Evans himself. How odd.

It bears repeating: ( paraphrased ) Trev: "However, as has been observed previously, in this forum your combative and accusatory style of dialogue invariably loses you any points that you make on substance..... not because of WHAT you have to say, but because of HOW you interact with other posters. "

These kind of accomplishments/breakthroughs are possible only through the guidance and dedication of leaders such as yourself. Congratulations. I've been working on establishing the patrol method and have been coaching my scouts on taking charge and exhibiting leadership. We've had some good progress, but sounds like you hit the jackpot on this one! WooHoo!

A Scout is Brave....

Hey... let's discuss the other side.....

... or we could celebrate the reason for the season... Let's see CHRISTmas... hmmmm... why was it named so?

Adults by example, we have some pretty awesome meals on the trail, and then we share a little with a few of the scouts to whet their appetite. We've done meal contests now and then, winner doesn't have to do dishes, and we've done some skillbases on meal planning, cooking, etc...

We have a kid who is mildly autistic and has similar issues. He gets very anxious when he is in new situations, so we do our best to keep him informed and comfortable with whatever we do. That seems to help a lot.

We lost a scout almost 2 years ago, still think of him a lot. Prayers to you all.

"The US was founded on religious freedom, while the BSA practices religious discrimination. " What religions does the BSA discriminate against? Unless atheisism is a religism. ( don't bother responding Merlyn, its just a play on words ). "The BSA is not at all in line with the beliefs and practices the USA was founded on. " The BSA is not in line with SOME of the beliefs and practices the USA was founded upon. I submit the BSA is in line with MOST of the beliefs and practices the USA was founded upon. However, the BSA is not at all in line with the beliefs and practices the United States of Merlyn was founded on. Volker, your points are all well taken and spot on in most circumstances, especially FRIENDLY. However, your quote "So you're basically telling me that the majority of BSA members either doesn't care what their organisation does or thinks that discrimination is a good thing. " tends to paint everyone with a pretty wide brush. As discussed in other active posts, we all don't all necessarily agree with BSA policy 100%, BUT we find a lot of good within the organization that is worthwhile.

For our meeting tonight, I've invited some local veterans to attend and briefly speak of their service to our country. After that, we are going to have all the scouts personally shake their hand and thank them. Thought it would be a nice gesture. We are also raising the colors at our local rural cemetary today, as there are a significant number of vets interred there.

.. or perhaps its an indication that despite the ruckus regarding the BSA policies, there really is very little demand for an organization of this type.