acco40

First of all, what I stated in my earlier post wasn't "my way" of doing things, it was the BSAs preferred way of how things should be done. Why is our society making so many judgements that things must be wrong because they may be difficult? Helping out at a den meeting is very difficult to do when one is not at the den meeting. What value does a den chief add at a pack meeting? Most dens may meet three times a month (once a week except for possibly the pack meeting week). So that's three hours a month - a total of 18 hours for a full POR if no meetings are missed. What does

Arghhhhh! No, shoulder loops do not help to hold up a merit badge or Order of the Arrow sash unless you really do something funky with your uniform. Epaulets do that for you. Shoulder loops are helpful indicators to tell if one is in Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, District/Council position, etc. They should not be viewed as one being better or worse than one another.

For some reasons putting in poisons in the water to kill the living organisms in it doesn't pique my interest in drinking the water. Yes, some of the chlorine turns to gas and is gone by the time of human consumption but still . . .

One good way to reduce the stress, especially for the younger Scouts, is not to refer to it as a "swim test" but as a swimming classification or swim check. For summer camp, nobody "fails" the swim test. They are just classified as a beginner or a swimmer or a non-swimmer. Being classified as a swimmer allows one to go into different areas of the lake. Being classified as a beginner still allows one into the lake, just into different areas (i.e. shallow areas). Yes, there are some who are fish in pool but freak out in a lake. I've never failed a swim test as an adult but I do find

In my 15 or so years as a Scouter as both Den Leader, Scoutmaster, father of two Scouts and as a Unit Commissioner, I found that a den chief was one of the most bastardized positions in Scouting. First of all, some Scoutmasters view the den chief as a "first" POR for a young scout. Some Cubmasters view the position as requiring a well seasoned Boy Scout who has mastered leadership. Even rudimentary den chief training states that the primary duty is to help out at den meetings so stating such things a "I don't think they need to attend all the den meetings" show a weak understandin

Come to the realization that life isn't fair. There will be parents that offer to drive to every event and other parents who will find an excuse to not drive ever. After driving Scouts to and from outings for seven years as a Scoutmaster, I was offered gas money only once by a Scout (oh, yeah, my mom said to give you this). I didn't blame any of the Scouts. Now, for pure numbers, we had the same type information on our permission slips as Kudu and also had a line with "Can you pull the troop trailer" (plus a database on insurance coverage for each automobile as required by the to

The question isn't really about water purification it is about responsibility. Before the trek, figure out as a patrol how water purification will be done as a patrol and then share the task, load and equipment. We had a similar issue when we went backpacking with no clean water source in New Mexico. We had three adults and six youth. We carried two steripens and three water filters (pumps). Earlier dry run trips we used a miox water purification and different types of filters as well as tablets. As adults, we took the lead wrt water purification methods because we were aware of our w

He agreed to meet privately and quietly with BSA leadership. I would not call that showboating. I'm a member of a catholic church and I don't support the current policy. So your statistics are hollow.(This message has been edited by acco40)

It is easy. A Scouter (and Scout) should strive to be properly uniformed. To do that, they should understand what constitutes proper uniforming. Also, uniforms are not a barrier to joining the BSA - they are not mandatory (please don't bring up Jambo). There are many folks more than willing to help out with proper uniforming. However, when a family can provide their son with Air Jordans, an iPod and a smart phone complains to me about uniform prices I generally roll my eyes.

Again, he is doing exactly what the Scout program has taught him. He is following the Scout Law and working within the system to implement change where he sees injustice. I'd be proud of any of the Scouts that I've had the pleasure of mentoring would act in such a fashion. Now to back pedal a bit, I don't know this Scout from Adam so I'm not giving him a blanket endorsement but I see no issue with this particular action. Also, at age 20, he is performing this as an adult in the eyes of the BSA.

The Sunday breakfast is always an interesting meal for young patrols (I am a firm believer in age or peer based patrols). The boys sometime eat what they like first and not what was planned on a per meal basis. Well, that morning, the last meal before departure, the patrol wanted to make pancakes and they had very little mix. So, they opened up the new large bag of Oreos, gave them a twist, scraped off the icing with their teeth/tongues and threw the "shells" into a mixing bowl. They then crushed the cookies and mixed it with the pancake mix more than doubling the quantity but produci

Remember, as a Scoutmaster, you are the public figure for the troop and a role model for the youth. Once, at summer camp, I was asked to help out the camp staff in reviewing medical forms. One thing they taught me was that we were not to challenge the signatures on the medical forms. I agree with that stance. However, as a unit Scouter, I sure would not condone that practice in my unit.

Yep, most got this correct - (all violations except for #5). Now, my mea culpa. As a merit badge counselor, I made an arrangement to meet a scout at his house. I knew his father (a Scouter from another troop). So, I went to his house after work and went over his paperwork (worksheets for the Personal Fitness merit badge). After about 10 minutes with the Scout I noticed that it was fairly quiet at his house and casually asked if his mother or father were home (or a sister/brother). No, just me he answered. Well, I didn't make a big deal of it but did tell him that I wasn't supposed

For the life of me, I just don't get adults signing up to be be leaders and signing an application promising to deliver the BSA program and then immediately going in the opposite direction and ignoring the program. One may caveat and rationalize away until the cows come home but why not just follow the program?

The unit Advancement chair was very well organized and with a lot of experience in the job. Also he is an Assistant Scoutmaster. So exactly how does one dual register as a committee member and assistant scoutmaster?

Webelos? I can top that! Our troop and one other troop from our area were invited to attend the West Point Scoutmasters Camporee put on by the cadets. Our two troops were combined, similar to a national jamboree, so we would fill a camp site and also a bus (held around 60 folks). The boys in my troop were a little aghast at the way the adults in the other troop overshadowed the scouts and my oldest, the SPL in our troop and around 16 at the time took a little umbrage when I suggested that the SPL from the other troop act as the "combined" troop SPL - not because he was better, older or

Other Committee Members weren't available to serve at the BOR at the time it needed to be scheduled. Needed to be scheduled? A good learning experience for the Scout is to see what happens when he butts up against "deadlines." I have approximately 30 engineers who report to me and the fact that a proposal is due on June 12th doesn't mean that they have until the 11th to conclude their analysis. With red team reviews, blue team reviews, gold teams reviews, configuration management, etc. they have to get used to the fact that their work needs to be completed two to three weeks prio

but the CC has more power cause they CAN replace the SM/CM with approval of the COR. Please back this up. One of the responsibilities of the committee is to see that good leaders are recruited and trained. The committee may not remove leaders. The committee, the Scoutmaster or complete strangers may lobby the charter organization to remove adults leaders but only the charter organization may do so.

I agree, if a unit is struggling with "who's the boss" the unit is doomed. I don't disagree with you providing, as acourtesy to the committee, your ideas for program. That helps grease the wheel for getting their support. However, I do feel that it was a courtesy, not mandatory. It is not the committee's responsibility to approve or disapprove the program that the youth, in conjunction with your guidance, develop. The only extent of their approval/disapproval is to make sure you are carrying out the policies and regulations of the BSA. I had a great relationship with our CC. I used

Boards of Review for Tenderfoot through Life ranks should consist of not more than three and not more than six troop committee members - period. If you don't have three committee members - you can't be a troop! So I don't understand the new caveat that was added In units with fewer than three registered committee members available to serve, it is permissible to use knowledgeable parents (not those of the candidate) or other adults (registered or not) who understand Boy Scoutings aims. So, may you serve on the BOR as a unit commissioner for that unit? Only if you were a committee memb

A key distinction should be made in my book. I feel it is inappropriate to do this during a troop meeting because at a troop meeting, the activity should involve everyone. That's why I didn't do Scoutmaster conferences during troop meetings. Would I have done it during the outing? No. What I would have done is to have the SPL conduct the troop meeting as usual, and then, during the closing ceremony, announce to all that those who had found all the markers stick around for ice cream and to review photos of the outing. That would not be cruel and would provide encouragement to th

I was a Tiger, Wolf, Bear and Webelos den leader. It seemed the more effort I put into some den meetings, the less interesting it was for the boys. Some of the most spurious events I dreamed up were the best. I was also a unit commissioner for some time. When packs would hold a join scouting night, I would talk very briefly to the pack adult leadership (beforehand) and then let them meet with the parents and I'd watch the boys. Simple things like pairing up two or a maximum of four boys (two to a side) and placing a ping pong ball on a hard surface table and then telling them to try a

Shoulder loops, shoulder loops, shoulder loops! Not epaulets, not tabs. Sorry, a pet peeve of mine.

Not to be argumentative, but I've seen many folks state But by the book, he answers to the Committee Chair who is actually over the whole shooting match at the unit level. Maybe it's the Scoutmaster in me but I've never interpreted any BSA book to state such. The troop committee does it's "thing" on behalf of the chartered organization. The chartered organization approves all adult leaders. The troop committee's primary responsibility is to support the Scoutmaster in delivering a quality troop program. The committee is supposed to make sure quality adult leaders are recruited and trai

A troop should do what works for them but I feel strongly that the Scoutmaster should make every effort to attend all troop outings. The primary purpose of the Scoutmaster is to train and guide the boy leaders as well as be the key "youth facing" adult in the troop. That's hard to do if one is not present on troop outings. Yes, a good Scoutmaster delegates and also helps to train his successor (though it is not his job to choose his successor). (This message has been edited by a staff member.)