CA_Scouter

One of the requirements for the Citizenship in the Community merit badge is to watch a movie that depicts an individual or group having a positive effect on a community. I have some ideas, and the scouts have submitted some ideas to me, but would like to hear suggestions from the Forum, so I get a nice cross section to choose from.... I'm all ears, er... eyes.... :-)

Scoutldr, Yes, its just that AVOWED thespians are not permitted. :-)

I have this scout who is a bit of a handful... but generally a good kid. He can be confrontational, defensive, and has a habit of grabbing other kids and a little too much horseplay. He's had a pretty rough family life. I have had to reprimand him several times... So we are at summer camp, and he finds a $5 bill stuffed into the cup holder on one of the chairs. He looks at me and says 'boy I sure was tempted to take this money and go down to the trading post, but I didn't'. I looked at him and said 'You know, XXXX, you've given me some lip and I've had to discipline you a couple of times, but you always told me the truth and always owned up to your actions. You've always been trustworthy in my eyes.' He had this surprised look on his face... 'Mr. Feil, nobody has ever told me that I've been trustworthy before.' I felt a little sad about that response, but then again, I felt better knowing that our program is making a difference in this kid's life, albeit small, but I'm hoping that he'll retain this memory as he grows older and that it will help him somehow. That was a pretty good return on my Scouting investment.

http://www.streamwood.net Check out the 'spoof' section. There are also some imaginative patrol badges and fun merit badges as well ( coffee-drinking, outhouse racing, Walmart shopping, and more )...

I remember many years ago, my wife and I standing in line for a red-eye flight, and not knowing if we were going to be allowed to board, because it was a mail run too, and weight was an issue. There was this guy pacing back and forth, huffing and puffing, just nervous as heck that he might not get on the flight... I'm sure you've seen the type... he was just annoying everyone around him... So my wife, dear sweet creature that she is, stands next to the guy... he moves, she moves. He sighs, she sighs... she imitates is every more, but VERY subtle about it... never says a word... after about 2 minutes of this.. he calms down. This is a tried and true technique... BW is right on, I've used this method time and time again and it always works.. I never have to say a word. Sometimes you say more by being silent, eh? :-)

You characterize the discussion as 'heated'. I don't know if anyone else sees this, but I see a big fat RED FLAG popping up! Who gets into 'heated' discussions about a meaningless checkbox? People with way too much time on their hands, that's who. MajBob... I recommend you keep your mouth shut and ignore the trivial silliness these people are in heated discussions about...

Unless you have reason to think otherwise, I don't think you have a problem. Scouts are expected to act as gentlemen at all times, to follow the Scout Laws ( trustworthy ), and to never put themselves into a situation that could be deemed questionable by an third party observer. We had a similar situation at our recent family campout, and I simply reminded the young men of my expections, and there were no problems. Of course, I keep a roll of duct tape handy, just in case! :-) ( 'be prepared' applies to the parents/leaders as well )

" (i.e., a combination of sin and natural disaster just waiting for the hammer to fall). " Uh... wait a minute, Sonny... I don't see that California has any more sin than than the rest of the nation. It may have more MEDIA coverage of a bunch of vocal special interest groups, but that's only what you see in the news. You gotta stop basing your opinions on what the media CHOOSES to show you. Repeat after me... "All media is entertainment!" I live in the Sierra foothills amongst many, many moral, church going, family oriented people, and there are many in the major population areas as well. Don't dis what you don't know, Bro! :-)

I think AWHECK is on the right track.... Speaking from some experience, when I lived in the SF Bay Area, we had the Oakland Hills fire, which spanned multiple agencies. At the time, there was no coordination between them, to the point where the fire hydrant fittings in one jurisdiction were incompatible with the next. After that boondoggle, the affected agencies convened a joint task force and set up a regional plan where equipment was made to be compatible, standard communication equipment and protocols were issued, and monthly drills scheduled. And though I have little knowledge of the workings at the Federal/State level, it would seem prudent to evaluate potential disaster areas and do the same with the Fed, State and Local agencies.

Rpushies, if I may edit you previous response in the proper style... BUBBLE gum, good OLD fashioned, FULL of sugar bubble gum. THAT'S the ticket, BAZOOKA. LITTLE comic INSIDE and LOTS of bubbles to keep you OCCUPIED. I BET we can find some HOT AIR to fill the bubbles. :-)

Do the speech! Or you'll always wish you had. Sometimes the kids just need a little push.. my Dad gave me the speech, and it worked and I've always been glad he did. My Dad's speech was one of encouragement and motivation with overtones of duty and pleasing my Mother and making him proud. It was a very positive speech... you do it that way, and you should get good results.

Thanks for the un-clarification Gags, I think I'll go have a 7-Up now, the 'un-cola'. :-) You make a good point about checking on who exactly started the fight... will pursue that as well. My plan all along was to simply speak to the older scout to remind him of the promises he made to me regarding his anger management, and that I expect him to walk away from situations that cause him anger ( which is what he agreed to do ). I will also speak to younger brother to remind him to act with proper scout behavior. I'm not going to blow a third strike by this kid this time, but if it happens on a non-family campout, under my direct supervision, brother or not, he's getting a fast one right over the plate about belt high.

We're back to 'now say two nice things' jkhny. What do you want us to do? Quit? Give up Scouting? There are thousands and thousands of good, fantastic volunteers in Scouting, and you focus only on the few bad apples. Glass half-empty kinda guy, are ya?

I just reinstated a scout whom I suspended for 90 days due to, among other things, insubordination, vulgarity and some overly agressive behavior, bordering on violence. We stipulated as one of his requirements for reinstatement that he investigate his anger management issues, so that he would be aware of what makes him angry so he can learn to control it. He was told in no uncertain terms that any other serious infraction of the Scout Law would result in his being asked to leave the troop ( this is the very short version of the story, hopefully this is enough to give you a view of the situation ). This weekend, we had a family campout ( he is also required to have a parent supervise him at all scout outings for the next 3 months ) where he and his brother ( another Scout ) and his parents were in attendence. I was told by a third party that the mother had to break up a fight between the two boys. I've got my ideas on what I plan to do, but I'd like to solicit input from those who have had similar experiences... so what would you do?

If you were to take everything this person said at face value, then yes, the boys were out of line. Reading the article, you might get the impression that all 40,000 scouts at the Jamboree were all participating in this crazy behavior. Of course, I had to turn my monitor sideways to read the article, being slanted the way it was... Our Charter Organization ( a volunteer fire dept ) has a few members who complain about our scouts being noisy at the end of the evening. Well, this is 'game' time... Can you imagine the horror? Nineteen 12-14 yr olds playing a game outside and making NOISE!!??!!?? Point is, you see what you want to see, and all this person can see is the bad stuff...

And the best part is..... I don't see any 'best part' here at all. I don't think the victims see a 'best part' either. I can see that the author is trying to point out that this occurs outside of our organization, but it came across to me that 'thank goodness it didn't happen to us', rather than 'oh my gosh, those poor children'. Catch my drift? We are more concerned about how the scouting organization is perceived, rather than being concerned about the welfare of the victims. And this statement? "though at least we're seeing heterosexual abuse now..... " Woo Hoo, Now THAT'S great news, right? Sorry, its a sore point with me - my wife had a bad experience with a family member when she was a child and the repurcussions still echo 40 years later...

You forgot the 'inadvertant' spice. Dirt.

MODERATORS - Please close this thread. Its the same old arguments with the same old people. Nyah, Nyah, this... and nyah, nyah that... enough already!

Oh yes, I picked him up and dropped him off right at his doorstep. Hey Eagle90... how cool is that! Hey Eamonn.. you are right on the mark. I swear I sound like a sappy nut, but returning to Scouting has given me such a wonderful purpose in life, its astounding to me. ... so ok... here is my story... I'll keep it short.... My son was never interested in Cubs, so I didn't push him... I was too busy with work anyway, how could I make the time? Then my dad passed away one month after 9/11.... he was a retired firefighter by the way... and myself, my brother ( we are both Eagle Scouts, my Dad was Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Committee Chair.. etc... my mom was a Den mother,....) , and my sisters all spoke at the funeral... we all had our special experiences with my Dad, but my brother spoke so eloquently about how his Scouting experience with my Dad, that my son took notice... he came to me two weeks later and said he wanted to join up... so we did... so he's a Star scout in 2 years and SPL, and I stepped too close to the whirlpool... so now you know... and THAT'S the real story! :-) I just love this stuff!

Well, to get to this house, you have to make several RIGHT turns, and you know that an ACLU car can only turn left. :-)

This is incredibly interesting! I am SO VERY MUCH enjoying hearing about scouting in other countries. Hugolin, I see your point about homosexuals and drunkards. Hard to argue that either one is more morally fit than the other. And I echo Trevorum's question... I'm very intested in what the French scouts do for adventure. We just returned from a 3 day backpack trip to Yosemite National Park in California, where we hiked to the top of Half Dome, the last 700 feet of which you must negotiate a cable stairway. Take a look at this link: http://www.thecaliforniahikingpage.com/yosemite/halfdome/halfdome.html

I have this new scout... 10 yrs old... single mom, Dad not involved... this kid is a 'challenge' to say the least. He is a 'story teller', fabricating tales of his deeds... and a kid I have to spend a lot of time with keeping him in line with the Scout Law... ok, you get the point... Tonight I get a call from him around 9pm. His mom did not pick him up from football practice at the local high school, he could not contact her via cell phone... so he walks over to the nearest home, and calls ME! Just when you think you're not helpful or tolerant, you get a call like this! It actually brought a tear to my eye... So Scouters... keep up the good work.. your effort is ALWAYS rewarded!

"But it does give an interesting theory as to why the President may have cancelled his initial Jamboree appearance." I dunno, but I'm thinking he may have been kidnapped by space aliens. I have my theories too, ya know. :-) OK, sarcasm aside, how is President Bush's "arm-twisting" and "business as usual" any different from any other President or politician? Thankfully this article seems to be written with the intent on presenting a reasonable representation of the facts, not an op-ed piece intended to present a slanted point of view. < you may now wipe the dripping sarcasm off of your keyboards > Sorry, guess I'm in an ornery mood tonight.

Oh... you want to have some fun with this? We had an Eagle Court of Honor last weekend. The family sent out letters to our local congressmen, and our two state senators, and most of the Republicans responded, but NONE of the Democrats did. This is a true story. Go figure.

I think people just have a habit of using 'former' ... I don't think its an intentional insult or anything like that.. I sometimes even find myself saying it.. "I was an Eagle Scout"... and then I catch myself and correct it.. "I AM an Eagle Scout". But that didn't become so important to me until I got involved again in Scouting when my son joined up. And its so much more important to me now that I'm the SM... And I sure agree with Trev... I don't recall having been given the 'charge' as he describes, but I most certainly will with anyone who wants to get my approval! Gosh I love this stuff!