acco40

Let me be very plain - were the adults in question "Scoutmasters" or "Assistant Scoutmasters" and were they Scouters in your son's troop? Assuming they were either SM or ASM and a member of your son's troop, I'd talk with the COR, CC and/or the SM about your concerns one on one if possible.

I'm allowed to censor. Terry is allowed to censor. Twitter is allowed to censor. Facebook is allowed to censor. The USG is not allowed to censor. It's a really simple concept.

FWIW, I don't see anything at all wrong with the shirt. It brings to mind a hike we had at Double H (New Mexico/Backpacking) a couple of decades ago. One of the adult Scouters had on a pair of hot pink shorts (and I mean really short shorts). He wasn't in our trek but our boys couldn't resist teasing me (their Scoutmaster) and insisting I get a pair to match! It was all in good fun and out of earshot of the other group.

YPT issues are shared with the Scout Executive and all reports should be held in confidence. However, maybe I'm old fashioned but I would not characterize this incident as a youth protection issue. Was the Scoutmaster wrong in his behavior? Quite possibly. When you state your son was bullied by "two Scoutmasters" - did you mean the Scoutmaster from two different troops (quite possibly none of which belongs to your son's troop)? Or more probably, by two Scouters that were either the SM and/or an ASM of your son's troop? If that was the case (all parties were members of the same troop), I

Around 15 or so years ago, our Boy Scout Troop attended the Dorchester International Brotherhood Camporee in Ontario, Canada. At the time of course, the BSA youth was all male but Scouts Canada was co-ed. When we attended I had some interesting conversations with Scouts Canada adult leaders about what they thought the plusses and minuses of "going co-ed" were for them. About the only negative they sited was the difficulty in finding female Scouters to attend camping trips. An intended benefit I saw from the boys in my troop were that the younger Scouts (not yet really interested in

The best way to get involved is to talk to the Committee Chair and ask what areas the troop may need assistance from wrt a Scouter. If the response is "we're covered", well that could be a possible red flag. If the response is "we need help in the xyz area", determine if that is something you want to get involved in. What you don't want to do is go in being demonstrative about a bunch of changes needed (even if they are) right from the get go. IMHO, as a Scouter, do you want to work with the Committee behind the scenes or do you want to work with the youth in concert with the

I believe this was in reference to a certain mustachioed former German leader's party.

Lions? That's a blast from the past.

Summary of comments Troopmaster ≡ Scoutmaster (correct term). The Scoutmaster is in charge of Advancement in the troop. FYI, Troopmaster is a software program. Merit Badge Counselors are not allowed to have one-on-one contact with Scouts (unless they are the legal guardian of that Scout) therefore the "at least two Scouts" rule which you may have conflated with "two merit badges." One does not need two adults to counsel merit badges. There does need to be two-deep leadership for outings. So if an outing is used to meet a merit badge requirement, two-deep leadership is req

A few decades ago the "Issues & Politics" thread was created for the specific purpose to house many of the controversial areas of Scouting. Therefore, as a moderator, it was my belief to be slightly more tolerant of behavior that I thought was questionable - that is, something I may take an issue with in "Advancement" would get more of a pass in "Issues & Politics." But just like I tried to discuss in a Scout like manner on this forum why I thought the decision to ban avowed homosexuals was incorrect before the policy was changed (we could debate if it really ever was an offici

Scouting events shouldn't be used to promote gear. I've taught certain Scout courses, to adults mostly, where we bring samples of what we own and give "pros" and "cons" to certain equipment but we don't have a vested monetary interest in what others will decide to buy. I'm not aware of any vendors at scouting events that I've attended other than those having a general store at summer camp and vending machines with logos. We don't want to go "Mar-a-Lago" like or "Bedmister" like and mix scouting with for personal profit motive in our actions. We already have enough of that in our coun

Who may sit on a BoR (for a troop)? A board of three and no more than six troop committee members, all of whom must be at least 21 years of age. Unit leaders (Scoutmasters for a troop) and assistants shall not serve on a board of review for a Scout in their own unit. Parents, guardians, or relatives shall not serve on a board for their son. The candidate or his parent(s) or guardian(s) shall have no part in selecting any board of review members. For an EBoR (Eagle Board of Review), the Council may make additional rules - via their advancement committee. At the troop level, at least on

Keep in mind the folks that say you can't "retest" are sometimes misleading. If a Scout rank has a requirement to tie a clove hitch, a BoR can and probably should ask the Scout to tie a clove hitch. That's perfectly allowable. The key is why? They should do it not to test the Scout, he has already demonstrated proficiency to his "leader" if the requirement has been signed off. The purpose is to test the Scoutmaster, who is in charge of the advancement program within the troop and see if he (or she) is doing a good job. Heck, I don't remember if I can still tie a clove hitch knot anymor

Folks, go back and see what the responsibilities are of the BoR members. One is to make sure all of the requirements are met. How do they do that? They look to see if the requirements are properly signed off. If the Scoutmaster has signed off on requirement 5 (While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community.), then by definition the requirement has been met. Also, before a Life Scout begins his project ... Your Scoutmaster, troop Advancement Chairman, and a representative of your Di

"We" don't show leadership. The Eagle candidate should show leadership. If the Scoutmaster signed off on his requirements - to the Scoutmaster your son has shown leadership in his POR (Position of Responsibility) and has give leadership to others in a service project according to his Scoutmaster. You may suggest to your son to confer with the BOR and Scoutmaster and see why there appears to be a disagreement on his "leadership." I've seen issues when a Troop Committee has issues with a Scoutmaster and Scouts get caught in the middle. I have no idea if your son's case falls into t