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acco40

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Everything posted by acco40

  1. Another issue/question: Private online communications (texting, phone calls, chat, IM, etc.) must include another registered leader or parent. So when a Scoutmaster, alone at home, receives a telephone call from the SPL, with his younger PL brother, the Scoutmaster can't take the call? Obviously, these "rules" appear to be written by lawyers and not driven by common sense.
  2. That's hazy to me. "There are careers" - does that imply a paid position? Does that imply a full-time position? Does that imply a paid position for significant period of time? At one time, Boy Scouts could go on overnight camping trips with no adult supervision present (if a patrol outing and approved by the Scoutmaster to make sure it was a well planned out event). That's no longer allowed. Partly due to lowering expectations of our youth and more due to the allowing of female scouts. I'll admit, I haven't been actively involved with Scouting for a decade or more but I always
  3. Slow down everyone. Youth protection rules, per the Guide to Safe Scouting, only apply to Scouting activities. For example, if your 18 year old son is a phenomenal guitar play and wants to to give guitar lessons to a 15 year old - no issue. One on one contact is allowed. If however, your same son wants to be a merit badge counselor for the music merit badge, Guide to Safe Scouting rules apply - no one on one contact with minors (unless it is your own son or daughter). Now I'm not saying it's a good idea to ignore those rules outside of Scouting events but they don't apply outside of s
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. I believe this was in reference to a certain mustachioed former German leader's party.
  11. Lions? That's a blast from the past.
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. 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
  17. 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
  18. "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
  19. I respect Tillerson - who distanced himself from Donnie.
  20. I think it matters more what the position the Scouter holds than what are the activities of the troop. If a Scouter is the advancement chair and really only interfaces with the boys at BORs and COHs - the level of physical activity is not high. Keep in mind "personal fitness" is what is the priority in Scouts. Physical fitness is just one component of personal fitness.
  21. I usually only wore my OA sash at Trooping meetings when the boys voted on new members and during OA events - ordeals for new members. As an adult OA member but not an OA advisor, I really didn't attend more than one or two OA meetings. It was the one "honor" I was glad my older son received before his dad. He still remembers a year later when his dad forgot the OA "password" during his Brotherhood ceremony - okay, I've said too much already.
  22. In my council, the youth made fun of OA sash "condoms" "protective plastic sleeves to keep the sash clean while doing service - usually some sort of dirty work". In my council, a clean sash is the sign of an inactive OA member - one who doesn't provide much service. There was usually a clash with mothers (they hated to see the white sash get soiled) but I liked the fact that the kids were proud of their service. A clean sash showed an OA member was a "virgin" wrt service. ;-) FYI, our council (dating myself - about 10 years ago) had probably the best OA lodge in the country.
  23. No, blanket announcements of "I need a volunteer to . . ." don't work very well. Conversely, putting people on the spot is not my favorite technique either. One has to be a little devious but if you know the adults you should have a good idea of who may or may not be a good candidate for the position you are seeking to fill (or task to be accomplished). It takes some skill but get with that person one-on-one, talk sincerely about the need and how you think that person would be a great asset and nine times out of ten you close the deal - no public shaming required.
  24. G2SS May 2018 All Scouts registered in troops are eligible to participate in troop or patrol overnight campouts, camporees, and resident camps. Patrol Activities—A Scout patrol may participate in patrol activities. Two-deep adult leadership is required. Patrol Leaders Handbook (2010) Most patrol activities take place within the framework of the troop. However, patrols may also set out on day hikes, service projects, and overnighters independent of the troop and free of adult leadership as long as they follow two rules: • The Scoutmaster approves the patrol
  25. I'm very direct so . . . The Scoutmaster is in charge of the advancement in a troop. The CO is in charge of selecting/approving a Scoutmaster. So . . . It really is that simple.
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