David CO

I'm curious, do you think you catch every scout who's guilty, or is getting caught the real transgression?

Neither.  

We have a zero tolerance policy.  We would kick him out.

 

And the GSUSA FAQ page about social issues:  http://www.girlscouts.org/en/faq/faq/social-issues.html

 

Excerpt:

Does GSUSA have a relationship with Planned Parenthood?  

No, Girl Scouts of the USA does not have a relationship or partnership with Planned Parenthood.

 

Is this from the same FAQ page that says that the Girl Scouts welcome male leaders?

One might argue that the girls are the winners.  They will be getting an authentic Catholic education.

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, it is too political for BSA.  If a scout may join a protest (in uniform) against a political group, than another scout must be allowed to march with them.

I just read in the Kansas City Star that its Catholic Diocese has booted out the Girl Scouts.

What about the use of squirt guns?

I would much rather have the boys using the gun shaped water toys than those 2 foot tubes with the rounded nozzles.  

Our local newspaper reported this morning that the United Way collected less than half of what they were expecting this year. Major budget cuts are planned.

I am so tired of parents that only goal is to get their boys to Eagle as the main and only goal.  The bitching and moaning about why Johnny didn't get elected a position, when it is clear that Johnny is mature enough to really be Star rank or higher.  I look at some of my boys that are are only at second class enjoying the scouting experience and actually stepping up and leading in the troop.  Sometimes I just want to get rid of ranks and merit badges, get the boys to focus on scouting rather than mom and dad pushing them to get that rank and only do enough to get the bare minimum for the rank.....

 

Sorry, I just had to vent, it is so draining.

I get tired of people asking me if I was an eagle scout.  I have been asked that question thousands of times.  

For some strange reason, many people assume that scout leaders must have been eagle scouts.  They act surprised (and sometimes disappointed) to hear that their sons' scout leader wasn't an eagle scout.  

I wonder how many good men don't volunteer to be scout leaders because they weren't eagle scouts, and they feel that they will not meet people's expectations.

It certainly does.  If I thought that existence ends with death, I might feel that I have lost a great many hours over the course of a lifetime.  Too many.

As it is, I expect to get those hours back, with many many more. 

National actually is a monolithic entity that is ruining the scouting experience.

Yes, I think this site does provide a useful and helpful purpose.  It gives us a forum that isn't controlled by BSA executives.  It  gives us an opportunity to say and hear the things that we scouters are really thinking, not just the sanitized public relations drivel BSA puts up on its website.

Bedford Falls needed the old Bailey Building and Loan, even if it was only so that they would have some place to go where they didn't have to bow down and grovel to Mr. Potter.

Wow! I appreciate the support from all of you! It isn't something I've entirely ruled out, and I'm sure I'm going to continue to waffle back and forth on it for a while. The longer the current SM goes waiting for a replacement the more likely I am to step in and offer to take it on. I think I'm experiencing the self doubt most people have before taking on a commitment of that magnitude. 

That twinge of self-doubt is actually a good thing.  It means you will probably value the mature judgement and experience of your IH, COR, and CC.

I live in the US. Ohio. The current adults and I are tight knit. I was a Scout when our current Scoutmasters son joined the troop. But that was 7 years ago.

 

Its rare in the US to have young single troop volunteers. Dating, college, working, and the stigma have something to do with it. It mostly comes from new parents or folks outside of scouting.

 

Plenty of young adults volunteering at the district and council level in my council. That's probably where I'll focus most scouting volunteering in the future.

That's too bad.  I think 25 is the perfect age for a scoutmaster.  Your unit should be thinking of moving you up, not out.

A single guy can be accused of inappropriate conduct even in broad daylight with dozens of people around.  I'll give you an example.

When I was a young teacher and baseball coach, I was accused (by a mother) of fondling myself in public.  She filed a complaint with the school, and a whole investigation ensued.  It turned out that the mother didn't know what an athletic cup was, or that they can require adjustment.

Of course, I was completely exonerated.  

The mother than started a campaign to require that all players and coaches be required to leave the field and retire to the washrooms when they needed to adjust their cups.  (Players would have to be removed from the game, as umpires will not delay a game for that reason.)

There are some women out there who just hold firmly to the notion that women are good and men are bad, and won't hesitate to make an unjust accusation against their kids' coaches and scout leaders. 

I wouldn't blame any man for choosing to not volunteer under these conditions.  I wouldn't blame them one bit.

But I think the stigma is more what people, at least this side of the pond, are concerned about. Most people can see that if you conduct yourself properly and follow the rules (eg avoid being 1 to 1 with a child) then you are not realistically going to be falsely prosecuted. The issue more is that someone makes an unsubstantiated complaint and no mater how much you are exonerated the mud sticks

In my experience, avoiding 1 on 1 contact gives a person zero protection against false accusations.  A person who makes false accusations (for malice or profit) can tell any story they want.  

The scariest kind of accusations take place weeks, months, or years after the events are supposed to have occurred. Avoiding 1 on 1 with kids can help to avoid honest misunderstandings.  It does nothing to stop the most dangerous accusers.

Ironically, the more liability insurance you have (personal or institutional) to protect yourself, the more likely you are to be targeted by a malicious accuser.

We sure have a lot of lawyers on this site.

I've never been to Oklahoma, but I understand that a good part of Oklahoma came here in '32.  Thank you kindly.  My garden is growing great.

Well my group is 5-8 years old. So yes I make up rules that keep them healthy. In hopes that it becomes a healthy habit in all of their future outdoor activities. They do get to make many of their own choices but for the time being my group is young enough that they need rules to teach them the right way

I am not going to make the same mistake twice and forget that you are talking about a campfire club, not a BSA unit. As I understand it, teaching healthy living skills is a major component of Campfire.  

I believe the same would be true of 4H clubs.

Rightly or wrongly, Boy Scouts have always placed less emphasis on this area of the program than have other organizations.  I suspect that this is because Campfire started out as an all-girl club (Campfire Girls) and BSA started out as an all-boy club.

So now they're saying that gay and transgender are fine, but soft drinks and snacks are a mortal sin and must be prohibited.  Unbelievable!

No need to apologize. I am talking about a campfire council. The Camp canoe is only one piece of what they will be funding. And I get being a little frustrated with council members. I get frustrated that so much attention is given to outdoor school programs and facility rentals ( a scouting camp hidden in the middle of a metropolitan area is a goldmine for weddings and corporate retreats) I feel like all attention should be given to the clubs

We have the same problem with our local zoo.  They've halved the number of animals, and added a wedding/reception area in its place.  Apparently, campgrounds and zoos have become popular venues for weddings.

When I was in Aloha Council, it seemed pretty standard to get access to some room after school hours, usually the cafeteria, where we could put on our dog and pony show for maybe half a dozen families, after having had fliers passed out to the students, or maybe announcements made over the PA.  This was all arranged, AFAIK, by someone on the professional staff, who secured volunteers at Roundtable to do the actual presentations.

 

In South Florida Council, I've seen a much wider variety of access.  One woman has been committee chair for a local Pack for decades, and has a relation with a few schools where she, or one of her minions (including me), had the opportunity to actually enter each classroom of 1st to 5th graders and give a little 5-10 minute sales pitch / show'n'tell.  It was awesome!  Much more common is a table at an Open House, but even that level of access seems to be based on "who you know", for instance, the President of the PTA would be a good friend to have..  By contrast, at most of the other schools I've tried to approach, I can't even get anyone on the phone, or to return my calls, or to email me back.   the exception being my son's school, when I had to see an AP for a familial reason, she permitted me to sales pitch their after-school program.

 

So, it seems to vary greatly "what is possible", given the right people and the right relationships.

Back in the 1980's, there was a lot of advertising taking place in the schools.  It wasn't just on scoreboards and concessions stands.  Advertisers were offering all sorts of free stuff to schools if they could put their logo on it.

McDonald's was hugely into this.  About half of my Health Class handouts and worksheets were designed by McDonald's, with the "Golden Arches" logo on every page.

All this free stuff was great for our budget, but many parents started to feel that their school children were being unfairly used as a captive audience for clever advertising campaigns. Schools like mine had to rethink their policies.

Parents and teachers were also complaining that too much valuable instruction time was being given over to assemblies, rallies, pitches and presentations to promote extracurricular activities (both in-house and outside organizations) and their various fundraising efforts.

Things were getting out of hand, and some changes needed to be made.  It is not easy now days for anyone to get access to our students during the school day, for any purpose other than instruction.  We feel that instruction time should be used for instruction.

If you have been "roped" into taking the chairmanship, and you feel like it is a "death of a thousand cuts", then you should not be in that position.  Your instincts are right.  Get out.

I just realized that EagleonFire is talking about a Camp Fire council (Camp Fire Heart of Oklahoma) and its camp C.A.N.O.E. (Children with Autism Need Outdoor Education).

I misunderstood his post.  I thought he was talking about a BSA council.  I apologize to EagleonFire for the misunderstanding. 

Yes, I agree that camp C.A.N.O.E. is very worthy of United Way support.  I wish him luck with his speech.

Could its proximity to a fairy knoll have something to do with the eccentricity of the scout station?