DeanRx

No, it really isn't a line in the sand issue. Just a question about if ti could be done or not. I guess I see a BIG difference between stating up front, "Our pack doesn't usually do this BL, because (insert reason here)." and a leader who would after being presented a BL request from cub and Akela say, "no I won't award it." With regards to the video game BL - I'm all for the former and would NEVER do the later. As for the poster who asked about the CO, well we are the "concerned parents of pack xxx", and as stated in our bylaws, the CC is in fact the COR, and thus the CO for the p

Scoutfish- A couple of thoughts for you. I'm in the middle of my 3rd year as CM, so I know how you feel and I've been where you've been. As for the CM minute. That's just it. Keep it to 1 to 1.5 minutes if at all possible. Anything more and it turns into a lecture. You do NOT have to have one every meeting, so don't be too hard on yourself if you can't come up with one everytime. I try to tie the CM minute either into the theme for the month, OR just the month on the calander (I use the calander more than BSa monthly themes). Last month, it was a reminder to have fun, but

Perhaps I was somewhat vague in my OP. I would never withold or refuse to give an award that a youth has earned. My question is: Can an individual unit (based on ANY criteria - but in this case an outright disagreement with the substance of the award) pass a policy that states in effect, "In Pack XXX we will not recognize, nor award x,y,z because we feel it doesn't fit with the aims of scouting, regardless of whether it is endorsed by BSA national." We already do not promote the Video Game belt loop (I personally and many adult leaders in the group feel it is the exact opposite of what

I know it is specifically stated that a unit or leader cannot add or delete from requirements. However, can a unit choose to not recognize a given award that is outlined at BSA national? I am thinking specifically of the "Video Games" belt loop (and a couple other of the 'new' belt loops in the program). I personally (as do the majority of our unit committee) think this belt loop is absolute B.S. on the part of the BSA. I cringe when a scout finds out about it and wants to earn it. Now, I know LDS units are permitted to "tweek" the program to fit their specific needs. Does th

Amen !!! Preach it Brother Eamonn !!! Ooops - I probably offened someone with that

I should probably have my membership in BSA revoked at this point. Judging from my interpretation of the FIRST "is this skit inappropriate?" question AND the fact that we had this very skit performed at our PACK FAMILY CAMPOUT this past weekend. It was performed by (gasp) the WOLF den !!! I personally approved the den's skits prior to the campfire. Bad, Bad Cubmaster. They used a 'stick' (not from a live tree, but one found on the ground) as the 'gun' in the skit. I suppose it would have been OK if they had pointed the "gun" above the fire-ee's head. Then we could re-name th

OK - so now I'm a racist, bigot who doesn't care? I doubt it. I've been called a LOT of things in life and accused of some things. Being racist, a bigot, or insensitive is not one of them. To claim you care and I do not, well its just untrue. Don't state that was not your intent, because your statement of, "I care" implies that those who do not agree with you must not care. I don't make those types of claims against you, so I'm not sure why you feel the need to make them against me. I can agree to disagree. I understand you might want to err on the side of caution with regards

BDPT- First, I'd like to thank you for taking a couple of sentences of my entire post and using them completely out of context... great job, you must be a jouralist type. Did you NOT see the part of the post that stated, "Unless it is sexual in nature, racist, prejudiced, or blatantly unpatriotic - I say leave it alone". Easier to back-handedly call the poster a racist, bigot than have to disagree and argue your position on merit, isn't it? What my post said, and most REASONABLE people probably read, was that you should not go around tip-toeing on egg shells for fear of offendi

"When in doubt, throw it out"?!?!? REALLY ? Unless this skit had ANY overt sexual tone to it at all (spraying on the butt, privates, etc...) I do NOT see how it could be considered inappropriate. The participants all knew what was coming, so its a sight gag for the audience, the same as a pie-in-the-face or a prat-fall type comedy. Maybe it wasn't delivered very well, but a poorly performed skit does not make it inappropriate. I see skits and songs all the time at camps, council events, Webelos Woods that are worse than this: Eddie Bauer, the Lemonade stand skit, God Bless My Und

That's a sad story and really too bad. However, he should have no trouble with his rank. He put in the work, even if there is little to show for it. At least it was an "Act of God" that had his project meet its fate. A friend of mine when we were scouts planned and executed his Eagle project for the city's parks department. On the north end of a lake park in our hometown, he devised a plan to build a shelter belt of trees along the northwest corner of the park. After all the work, the trees (small sapplings from 5 gal buckets) stood for all of three years. Three years later, a n

AMEN to lone ranger... Largest hurdle I see is between the Webelos I year and the Boy Scouting expireince. Hard to keep the Webs going when most of what they want to do BSA will not let them touch until age 14. Cope - nope .22 cal - nope firebuilding - maybe BB-gun / recurve archery - yes, been doing that since Wolf year While I understand BSA's commitment to safety, I often wonder how much the lawyers and litigation minimizers have undermined the "adventure" part that BSA promises? One generation ago, my pool at summer camp HAD a diving board and one of the highlights o

The OP is not about pack family campouts, rather 'webelos' camping. Per my WELOT (now OWLS) training last srping and per our Council's guidance (I assume it comes from national, but haven't checked b/c all I can about is if council will aprrove the tour permit)... 1) Webelos dens CAN den camp provided.... 2) Two-deep leadership is observed at all times.. 3) All adults on the campout are YPG trained 4) At least TWO of the adults in the group are WELOT / OWLS trained 5) At least ONE adult in the group has a current CPR certification As an aside - our council strongly ad

The unit fundraiser application referenced is a good start, but it only speaks to solicitation of monetary donations. I agree if someone wants to cater for us either at cost or free - then great. What I'm still unsure of is if we can go to the local Sports Chalet Manager and ask if he wants to donate a sleeping bag or camping stove to a silent auction we plan on having as part of the B&G this year. Again, its not a direct donation of $ and its not a raffle and thus "gambling". However, through the silent auction, any goods / services would be converted into funds for the unit's

OK sages of the virtual campfire... Waiting to hear back from my DE on this one, but thought I pose it to the group... Can a unit accept / solicit donations for good or services as a one time gift for a specific unit event? Example: B&G banquet this year... if I (as a leader) am approached by a resturantuer who after speaking to a parent of one of the scouts WANTS to volunteer to cater the B&G for us this year at extremely reduced or free cost, are we allowed to accept it? Example #2: Is my organizing committee member for the B&G allowed by BSA policy to ASK f

As long as its not a ONE finger salute (so to speak), I'm not sure what the big deal is. Cubs do 2-finger, some adults (when with cubbies) do the same. I've seen either done with Webelos scouts - hard to tell them to do it "the little kid way", when the majority of their rank is LEARNING the BSA way of doing things. Why learn it and then not use it? Adult leaders in BSA, when visiting a cub gathering (i.e. DE, visiting SM, Roundtable, etc..) use the BSa 3-finger salute.

I say you trust them until such time they give you a reason not to. If not, you will not earn the subject's respect. You fail to call them on it when you have a reason not to trust and you will loose the respect of the rest of the group. As for if / when you test the advancement requirement(s), thats up to you. Its been a LONG time since I was a lad in the program, but I thought this is what the SM conference and BOR was? If the scout says he can do something or has done something, then take him at his word. If by demonstration or by questioning at the SM conference or BOR it is appe

P.S. Don't bother trying to say anything or guilt them into the idea that spending time with their son (other than dropping them off at the meeting) is the most important part of their child's life. If they don't understand this concept by the time their child is in 1st grade, then there is very little you can do to promote it. Use you time and energy elsewhere.

I hate to say it, but I don't even waste time or energy on 'those' types of parents anymore. I ask, I state the needs and I respond to those that volunteer. If someone complains, I ask them if they would like to chair the committee or plan the event for next year, if they say they'd want to be involved, then I listen, get and e-mail address and cell # and hold them to their commitment to help... otherwise they are just **** ing to **** and I give little consideration to what they have to say. My motto, either get involved or don't complain. I'm not mean about it, unless we are in th

*** Disclaimer - if they quit drugging the kids, I'll loose a significant amount of my income !! *** That being said, we are on the way to raising the 1st and 2nd generations of kids that have been raised through their formative years with a good portion of them addicted to legal speed. Ritalin and all its "me too" drugs are basically speed. Now, there are and I have seen several children that truely have a problem with attention. does this mean they need meds? Maybe, maybe not. While the increase in prescription drug use has climbed, the amount of "free time" kids have has shrun

harley - Welcome to the forum, you're in my neck of the woods. I'm in San Marcos, so we might run into each other at some council events. Enjoy the ride! Dean

4) - They don't ask because somewhere along the way, some self appointed condesending rule nazi jumped down their throat for not automatically knowing what to do, what the correct reg was, (or in most cases) HOW the uniform should properly be worn !! Yes, I think we should do things the right way with regards to uniform and requirements. However, I still see far too many adults in scouting that need to remind THEMSLEVES of the the 4th and 6th points of the Scout Law when offering advice and corrections to often well meaning but misinformed neewbies in units. The surest way to make p

I disagree that you're either all-in or all-out on this one. I do agree that you are facing an unwinnable battle if you think you are going to take this on. Is your son having fun, learning new things and progressing in his scout-career? If the answer is YES, teh only real negative I see is the loss of youth leadership development your son will not be afforded, because this troop has "adult PL's". The bottom line is this ASM will continue to run things and run over people as long as the SM allows it to happen and it sounds like the committee is more than willing to play along. I s

Do they plan to offer a Lamaze merit badge course ?! Sounds kind of hokey to me, but I'm not in that part of the country. Not sure what part of PA you are in, but couldn't they just name it after the geographical area served (i.e. the southeast PA area council)?

I think co-ed all the way. We have examples from the UK, Mexico, and other European nations that have been co-ed to build a template from. Learn what has worked and what hasn't. I see co-ed scouts from Mexico all the time at scout fair and international camporees here in SD. Only thing I've heard from US scouts is, "They have girls and we don't? Why not?" Developmentally - I think it would do both genders good as they would learn to work and interact with each other during their developmental years. This would likely make them more comfortable dealing with the opposite sex once

Just an afterthought... Be sure to have time to DISCUSS the ceremony afterwards, especially with younger scouts. For some, you will not appreciate how emotional an event it might be until they see the ceremony. Had this happen at summer camp one summer and had 7 Tiger and Wolf cubs in tears at the end of it. Glad it had such an impact, but we had to scramble to have enough adult support to discuss / console some of the younger scouts (and other adults to talk with the older scouts - so they wouldn't tease the younger ones because of their emotional reaction). Still a great thi