CA_Scouter

Sorry to hear of your tough times. Many of us have been through similar situations. Some of us have a passion for this program that others do not share. Its frustrating at times but we need to keep things in perspective, otherwise WE are the ones who lose out.

Regarding out of pocket expenses...

We as a troop will subsidize each scouts summer camp fees to the tune of about $30. We had a kid come into the troop some years back and the mom just assumed that we would provide a 'campership' for her son due to their financial issues. We told her participation in fund raisers (scout bucks) would help and we would provide her with a link to the council web site to see if they had a campership program. She did neither but amazingly he still attended camp that year.

Former SM forked over bucks one year for a scout and got the same Disney pictures in return. All donations of that sort ended after that incident....that's why we have fundraisers and scout bucks.

I've helped out with campsite fees on occasion, or paid for the scouts portion of the fuel cost, but not much more than that... that's why we have fundraisers and scout bucks.

Parents

Yes, some parents should have their cards revoked. Nothing new there...

How do you find the balance?

YOU have to find the balance. You are too far in... get some help, enlist others, delegate and share the load. Not everyone will do it the same as you want it done, so you'll have to manage your expectations and let things ride...

Coaches/Band Directors

You may think they expect too much but they may think the same about you (idiots like the football coach don't count, they are just idiots).

BSA is still the best program around. You know it is too. Stay the course, find your balance and things will get better.

A Scout is Obedient.

A Scout follows the rules of his family, school, and troop. He obeys the laws of his community and country. If he thinks these rules and laws are unfair, /*he tries to have them changed in an orderly manner rather than disobeying them*/.

So I'm in the software development industry and can state a few facts that may or may not have bearing on this situation.

Software development takes time and lots of testing to produce reliable and efficient apps. Though it may seem that the kid next door can build a video game in 2 days, its a hack job that will only work for the way he uses it - its not a commercial grade application that has to support half a dozen different browsers (and the 2 dozen different versions of the same browser floating around) or an unlimited number of mobile devices.

I might also venture to guess that the BSA does not want to put out the funds to support a large development effort, so what you get is some people with good intentions that volunteer their time until they get to the point where they decide they've spent enough time on the job and they stop. ie.. 'close enough for government work'.

And a word about recent college grads: they are recent college grads, which means they have little experience in real world application development. To illustrate a comparison, would you want a 'recent college grad' to operate on your colon? ;-)

Keep in mind that many council websites are run by volunteers, so they won't be as well maintained as a commercial site.

Hope that makes sense.

'fried shorts' - is that something taught in Wilderness Survival?

;-)

I thought Santorum suspended his campaign??

Helping an 11yr old? The HORROR! Now if a 14yr old kid lost his book, I'd feel differently, but how does an 11yr old know what to do without at least SOME help from an adult leader?

As an ASM you are supposed to guide the young-uns so that they can learn to do things for themselves. The expectation that a new 11yr old scout will 'know' exactly what to do is unrealistic, IMHO.

This is in no stretch of the imagination a 'helicopter parent', at least not in my experience.... I could tell you some stories... ;-)

I wanted a general answer so I could speak intelligently at our next Committee meeting. We have a Committee member who has been involved in scouting for many years and tries to present herself as the all-knowing authority, to the point where it rubs people the wrong way. She often speaks before she checks her facts and I just want to politely inform her that her statement is incorrect.

We have done many many backpacking trips over the years so this is nothing new, there was just a change in plans due to a scheduling problem with adult leadership so we had to change the date and location of this particular trip.

This is great information and much more than I expected. Thanks very much.

Backpack the Na Pali coast and Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai.

Son was SPL for 2 consecutive terms while I was SM. Good at some times, not good at other times.

Story: SPL/Son gets ready for campout, SM/Dad sees no sleeping bag in the car. I (Dad) throws it in there for him but I hold onto it until 9pm at night before I give it to him. Hopefully I've taught him a lesson. WRONG. Next campout, same thing, except this time I (SM) do not throw the bag into the car. SPL/Son has to sleep fully clothed until a blue tarp the entire weekend. Never forgot sleeping bag again. This time we BOTH learn a lesson.

I cannot locate a resource that spells out what exactly the responsibilities of the Troop Committee (I am away from home this week and don't have access to the printed material at home). I've found descriptions of the responsibilities of the various Committee positions but not an overall description for the entire Committee.

What is prompting this question is I had a committee member come up to us last week and ask for more information on a specific backpack trip we had planned 'so the Committee can approve the activity'.

We've never had the Committee 'approve the activity' in the past, but perhaps they did and I just wasn't aware.

IMHO - 10 miles is too long for a first hike, especially for that young an age group. You want them to enjoy the experience immensely so they come back for more.. I'll guess that the majority of them will be in sneakers, not well fitting broken-in hiking boots so 10 miles will beat up their feet pretty good.

You've probably already thought this through but a succession of hiking related skill bases ( footwear, foot care, hydration, clothing, etc ) would help to prepare them and build up the excitement.

$0.02

Ditto the date....

I was working for Lockheed at the time (in Sunnyvale/Silicon Valley). Pretty somber mood at the workplace....

I have a dream...

I have a dream that my sweet niece who has covered her chest and neck with tattoos will find some other way to draw attention to herself.

I have a dream that persons will express their individuality by not doing the same ... thing ... everyone else is doing... (boing!) (Corollary: "Yes, you are special, just like everyone else.").

I have a dream that we will one day live in a nation where persons will not be judged by the design of their tattoo but by the content of their character.

$0.02

If this is your only complaint then you are in pretty good shape.

Terms to add:

STAKEHOLDERS - this is simply the people who are interested in your project

THE ENTERPRISE - No, not Captain Kirk's vessel, this is your company.

PRODUCT CHAMPION - the guy who requested the project

RASCAL: One of the best outings we had was when the SPL was leading the hike and made a wrong turn at one of the trail junctions. We adults followed silently knowing full well we were going in the wrong direction. After a while he realized he was off track and we had to retrace our steps... we got in an extra mile, perhaps two that day. Great workout!

Yea, so I didn't include every minute detail of the situation otherwise I'd be writing a bunch of pages, ya know?

Kudu, it was an overnight backpacking trip (discussed in a previous thread over a year ago). Group A was the older guys, Group B the adults and younger scouts. We planned to hike in the same area, the groups would be a mile or so apart.

BSA - The District Exec also commented on the email. He also said it was not permitted. I well aware of how the SM position works, thanks. I choose to work closely with the Committee and this works well for us. We have a very good and active program and they support me tremendously. We just hit a speed bump on this one. Besides, defying them would simply mean they would pull their kid from the activity. I also think that advising the scouts on how to circumvent BSA policy is not a good idea. As I noted in my original post, some of these guys have already done it on their own.

Not permitted. I tried to arrange one kinda like Beav indicates (only Life Scout and above), but the Committee went bonkers and emailed the District Camping Chair and I was told in no uncertain terms that we could not do so.

For me, there is just a huge inconsistancy. They cannot do an overnighter by themselves when they are under 18, but as soon as they turn 18 they become an ASM and the restriction is lifted. Several of these guys have done overnighters on their own btw.

I was almost 4. I remember seeing my Dad and Mom cry while watching the television... and my Dad never cried. And he did not like Kennedy.

On 9/11 I was commuting to SF very early in the morning and did not hear about anything until my sister sent me a frantic email. I work on the 32nd floor and she urged me to leave right away ( I didn't ). Later in the day we heard that fighters were escorting some jets into the airport as they were over the Pacific when the order came to land... a lot of people did not come into work that day..

Rules? BSA needs MORE rules? Must we have a rule for everything, even common sense and courtesy in the outdoors?

I kinda have an issue with the public sometimes.. I recall one time we were in a large public campground and our neighbors complained about the boys being too loud... this was in the evening after dinner, not late at night or anything like that.. they were playing touch football.. I guess the sounds of kids laughing and playing was drowning out the sound from their satellite television...

We typically backpack now so this is much less of an issue...

Generally the best advice is to jump up and down, wave your arms in the air and scream loudly.

Oh Wait.. .sorry, you were talking about earthquakes, I thought this was a political thread...

Here in SF Bay Area, if the shaking is less than say about 20 seconds, we just yawn a little. Over 20-30 seconds, it gets worrisome. The Loma Prieta in '89 was an E-ticket ride I'll tell ya...

My son-in-law has a cousin who insists that the flu vaccine is actually a ploy to get a government controlled electronic chip embedded in your body.

I wonder what would happen if a lesbian nurse gave you that shot.

No ban on dwarf tossing, eh... hmmmm, the activity booths have been a little slow at the Independence Day parade last coupla years... this could be a new revenue stream...

funny...this same thought popped into my head today...

Ditto ScoutNut. Except for the basketball comment.