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DeanRx

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Everything posted by DeanRx

  1. No offense Trelienne... but how many MALE leaders did you EVER have in your GSUSA unit?
  2. This is a big concern for the folks in our troop, the SM, ASMs and Committee Members (along with COR) have discussed and continue to discuss it. We have several points of view on BSA4G units from "its great" to "this is the end of scouts".... but the real rub is IF our CO moves forward with forming a parallel female unit... where does the leadership come from? There is a fine line between offering support, in the form or meeting space, shared gear, and adult leader manpower.... But our support staff (ASMs and committee members) are sometimes spread thin supporting the troop. Example - i
  3. So, can you show me in BSA guidelines / G2SS / YPT or any other place that states we are only responsible for scouts IN OUR OWN UNIT ? You state that because she isn't a member of the troop, she is not the troops responsibility? Ok maybe... So, if I'm an adult leader chaperone at a weeklong summer camp... and I see a YPT violation involving a camp staffer and a youth (gender does not matter), but that youth is NOT a member of my unit, its not my problem? But, according to BSA - I'm expected to act as a mandatory reporter... If I KNOW said female youth IS registered with BSA in a u
  4. I'll add to the mess with this.... Co-Ed Cub pack with limited leadership has a family campout planned. Maybe realistic, maybe not... but IF the pack cannot wrangle up at least ONE registered, female leader over the age of 21.... Do you cancel the trip? Tell half your pack (all the girls) that they can't go on the family pack campout? Fudge the rules and say "well, there's a couple unregistered moms along.... that meets the spirit of the rule"? Do you hurry up and submit an adult application for one of the moms (that may or may not have a completed background check and current YP
  5. Hawkwin- I never specifically said a CUB girl... say you got a boys troop and a girls troop. Sister A is a registered member in the girls troop. She tags along to the public park for her brother's patrol meeting that happens to be attended by only 2 male adult leaders over 21 (which is another dead horse issue that needs continued beating)... So, must the adults call in a female registered adult? Ask the young lady to leave the immediate area of the park? Or is it of no concern of theirs because even though she is a BSA registered youth.... she doesn't "belong" to THEIR uni
  6. I have no problem with background checks... for "active" adult leaders. The issue I take is the fact that even if you sign folks up as MB counselors, then a couple things happen: 1) The council will put them on the roster... they may or may not actually be willing to be a MBC. So, you're screwing up one roster to circumvent a poor policy 2) You've obviously not served as a committee chair at recharter time. I have. The LAST thing you need is a bunch of registered adults who are not really registered and not really active to try to get rechartered. Its hard enough to get the actu
  7. Barry, as a non pro scouter (I don't know if you get paid to wear the tan shirt or not).... this is what concerns a lot of long term volunteers... BSA4G is not a bad thing. Especially IF both boys and girls have a CHOICE in what type of unit they participate in.... some will want gender separate, some might want gender mixed. IMHO, BSA national could have accomplished this in a much more constructive way: 1) Make Jr Venture crews . They were /are already co-ed... just take the program down to the grade school level and let the girls play too. Change the upper ranks of Venturing to
  8. Proof to the contrary is non-existent? Maybe so... but can you show any proof that confirms the fear is valid either? Is there some study out there that BSA national based the "thou shall bring an adult female" rule when female youth are involved? Are females inherently at higher risk for abuse when the adults are all male? If this is indeed true (scientifically), then why the hell would BSA even risk allowing girls in the groups in the first place ?!?! The rule should be all female units must only have all female adult leadership. Seems to me its a selling point to folks that are no
  9. Not to go off topic... but I find it ironic that national has an official position that states they would prefer no or at least minimal fundraising for the Eagle Project.... yet the scouter magazine had an online article not too long ago spotlighting an Eagle project a lad had completed to place a fountain statue memorial to a classmate in a park. The scout raised over 15 K for the project ?!?!? Like a great many things, BSA national can't seem to keep from contradicting themselves...
  10. But, when you register every possible adult... there is a nice fee that national collects... and they can force all adults to take the online YPT (even if all they ever do in scouting is drop their kid off) or else threaten to hold up the recharter. Seems its a move to increase registration fees, mandate training compliance, all window dressed as increased concern for safety. I agree if you are going to chaperone a unit to summer camp with presumably 99% of the kids will not be your own offspring, we need some due diligence and background checks are supported. If you are talking abo
  11. My two largest concerns with the new training: 1) The new Scouts First Hotline.... might as well call this dial 1-800-witchhunt. Remember, if it gets to council... their job is to protect the brand and mitigate liability of the corporation. It is NOT the best interest of the scouts involved. Its kind of like getting HR involved in a workplace dispute between coworkers. Its not about resolution as much as its about making sure BSA national won't get sued. God forbid a unit leader hears something on a campout, says "hey knock it off, we don't talk like that to each other and here's why
  12. Anyone know of any additional guidance from national on how to abide by the rules and still run a unit? 1) regardless of any personal feelings on BSA4G, why is there specific requirements for at least ONE adult leader to be female if female youth are involved? There has never been a requirement for a minimum of one male leader when a all boys unit meets / camps / etc... I had a den mother and assistant den mother and it was never questioned. What about gay youth? Do we need to have a least one gay adult leader if any youth in the unit are openly gay? 2) What about "family scouting
  13. I've read it, have a copy and often recommend it to a few parents.... it makes some great arguements for WHY we have such a heli-parent problem in this country. As someone who works with / employs college aged kids and our SM is a college professor... I can tell you first hand the spill over parenting from the "fear" point of view has in a young adult's life. IMHO - Last Child in the Woods should be mandatory reading for ALL parents of scouts. Dean
  14. I agree with the comment that you can't save a kid from their parents... happens in other youth activities too. I don't know if or what it says to other scouts that actually do the work? Maybe part of their learning process is that life isn't fair. Maybe its understanding that just because another scout wears the same rankas they do (in this case Eagle) - it doesn't always mean the same work was put into the achievement. To me - the Eagle (or any rank for that matter) is a matter of personal pride in the work done to achieve a goal. In scouts, as in life, some people will attain more whil
  15. They don't really fit a standard raingutter... the boys would have to make the catamarans towards the inside of the rig to fit. However, BSA sells a blow up (mini pool type) raingutter kid that it fits.... its actually worth the trouble to invest in a couple of those for your pack. They are much more stable than a raingutter on a set of saw horses. IMHO
  16. TAHAWK, Sounds like a local problem for you. Just got back from a week of camp as an ASM, I signed a ton of blue cards as did the SM and other ASMs. From what I saw at camp, most of the MB counselors were young, but knew their stuff. WE had several scouts (including my son) who came home from camp with partials either because they failed to complete the prerequisites PRIOR to going to camp, or the camp didn't have time or the correct facilities to complete a given requirement. Swimming was one of those MBs, as the camp was a lake only place and was not deep enough for safe surface or saf
  17. Kudos to officer Hurst... Great area and Great council... Schiff , you from there? I grew up in Hastings and spent several summers at Camp Augustine on the Platte River....
  18. Do what you are comfortable with. We are all volunteers. There should be no expectation, nor should you assume responsibility, for someone else's child with allergies. We have scouts that are REQUIRED to have an adult family member on outings with them (i.e. Autistic). If you feel comfortable taking on that challenge, by all means do. I am a licensed healthcare provider and if the food allergy is that severe - I'd opt for a famlity member to accompany and they cook their own stuff. I agree with the poster above that speaks of the risk for cross-contamination. We can try to accomodat
  19. I understand your concern, but in reality the largest risk ANY of us takes on ANY outing is getting in the car and driving to our destination.
  20. I agree it is poor form, however - it goes on probably more than you would think. I have attended district and council dinners (adult award / pat me on the back / see my nifty kilt I made to go with my adult scouter wanna-be 3rd world general uniform). Several had scouts (both Eagles and non) in attendance as color guard and buffet servers / busboy type taks. They have had a cash bar at some / others have been 'dry' (non-alcohol) events. Additionally, our council has at least one to two Scouts night at the Padres games.... they serve alcohol at the stadium. Some of the scouters have a beer, ot
  21. "Deserve" the Tiger rank... Hmmm, thats a tricky question. As a CM for 3+ years on a couple of occasions, I had parents (usually a DL or ADL) broach the idea with me that a scout in their den was not active and thus did not participate enough in the den activities to complete the rank requirements, yet the parent of the scout had signed them off. I even had one parent go so far as suggest that to award a scout the rank when everyone "knew" he hadn't completed the requirements "cheapened" the award for the other boys.... Here's the sticky part. In Cub Scouts - the requirements in the
  22. I would be cautious about crossing early... Do you want your 10.5 year old in there mixing it up with 16-17 y/o? Huge age difference. It makes it a ripe envorionment for being bullied. It might turn him off to Boy Scouts if the troop is off doing things that he is not physically up to doing yet (i.e. 10 mile packpack trip for a 10-11 y/o is pretty demanding). I don;t want to be a sick in the mud, but as an ASM, I tend to agree with your older son's SM. I would advise to find ways to make Web II more exciting (i.e. WEB only den campouts, some more challenging camp activities / etc...
  23. dang double posts... almost everytime ! Dean
  24. We charge $15 / month dues. You can advance pay or go month to month if you choose. However, the last line on ANY permission slip to go on ANY monthly campout or outing is a line to be initalled by the treasurer. It states that the lad is up to date and paid in full for their dues. If not - they cannot go on the campout - period. That solves the problem with being cash poor at time of recharter. They pay installments every month along the year, or they don't get to participate in troop activities. Its a good incentive for the lad to coordinate with their parent to make sure their dues are up t
  25. The GOOD reason to create a crew is that one of the easiest ways to keep boys over the age of 14 interested is to have girls over the age of 14 in the program
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