DeanRx

Acco... nowhere in my post did I state that backhanding a child was OK. There is a huge difference in corporal punishment and abusing a child. The use of corporal punishment is to cause compliance through a temporary, but non-harmful means of negative reinforcement. Its no different that a cop using pressure points to direct a detainee into a cell or a police car. If I tell my 5 year old not to run into the street multiple times and he doesn't bother to listen, he still does it after loss of privledges, or is difiant and goes ahead and does it again (as in a power struggle) - you b

Kinda seems the writings on the wall to me on this one. Obama gets a second term and 4 more states added the recognition of same sex marraige on Tuesday. Coupled with the fact that over 53% of Catholic / Christian identified voters backed Obama, does this mean this voting block favors Mr. O's leadership over their religious doctrine? If so, is this a de faco mandate to BSA that they need to take a serious look at national membership policies? Seems the tide has made a permanent shift with regards to acceptance or at least tolerance of gay unions. Does this threaten to cause a greater

If I was not included in the conversation, I most likely would stay mum as not saying anything does not imply agreement with which you disagree. However, if it was being directed at someone else out of hate or intimidation, or in mixed company, I would say something. Most likely, "hey, knock it off... you can think that way if you want, but others find it offensive." or one other I use from time to time, "Well, I had hoped our society had pretty much moved past issues like this, but sorry to hear that some folks still can't see past XXXX (race / religion / etc...)". Then leave it at th

I don't really have anything against the beret as a fashion issue, per se... but I just don't like them from a functional standpoint. Really, what does a beret do? It gets wet when it rains and soaks your head. It provides nothing in the way of sunblock for your forhead, ears, or neck. They freeze your ears in cold weather. Maybe approach him to thing about function before suggesting the change. They look cool when worn correctly, but they offer very little in way of function or head protection. Dean

I'm in need of some help, I guess... but what kind you're unsure of, and you're not qualified to offer. That's nice - "I know when you are outside my moral boundries". But you will offer no solution to what should be done to correct the infraction? Really, we need to justify WHY corporal punishment is OK for a parent, but not a coach, teacher, or scoutmaster? Its called they are the parent, therefore they have more right and influence over the child. I can be held civilly and criminally liable from my minor's actions, so WHY do I have to justify to some stranger the methods in whi

Yeh AZMIke, one of the many reasons I don't work for PP, however, they have their reasons for their policies (not that I agree with them). In your "what if", most if not all reasonable folks would report IF the victim is willing to back up the story. Sorry to rain on your parade, but if the victim is unwilling to report - most folks will help as much as they can and keep their mouth shut. In your "what if" - you could just as easily be sending the poor girl off to an early death at the hands of her pimp once he finds out he's been ratted out. More than likely - this senerio never

Overall great article and I'd agree with the sentiment, "Is anyone in Irving listening?" A couple of thoughts... 1) He is incorrect in his assesment that he would not be allowed to be a leader or otherwise involved in BSA. He could be a leader, but is a don't ask don't tell kind of way. Aside from that, there is nothing that states a gay parent cannot be involved as a PARENT in scouting. Just not an openly gay LEADER! I don't agree with the policy, hoepfully it will change, but he could still be involved as a "dad". 2) WHY? Do so many people (both gay or straight) invoke the

So, along those same lines of thought... I sell a PlanB tablet to an underage female in my practice (in CA, the age for reproductive medical consent is 13 - I don't agree, but I must follow the law).I am a healthcare provider, and thus, a mandatory abuse reporter. Do you think I ASK about why this girl needs the PlanB? Hell No. If she volunteers the info, then I will make a report if it is warranted. However, there is NO legal requirement for me to INQUIRE if the need is due to forced sexual activity. I'm a healthcare provider, not a cop / DA - and I do NOT need extra nooses to s

Yeah, as others have posted... you treat him the same unless you need to intervene because of a behavoir issue. He might over-react, might under-react to streesful situations. My only expirience was a youth that had WAY too much knowledge about how things worked (birds and bees wise), and for whatever reason was sharing his knowledge with fellow scouts - at about age 10. Come to find out after the fact, he had been abused - so had 1st hand knowledge of how things work. Mom didn't want to anyone to know, so she didn't bring it up. However, would have been a nice tidbit of info to have, as

I think one way to avoid the over abundance of "bling" is to instill in the youth the fact that their badges should MEAN something and a rank on the left pocket means they have already earned the previous ranks, or they wouldn't be wearing their current rank. The emphasis should be on SKILLS not on bling. Then again, we need to model the correct attitude. I get sick of going to trainings and seeing adult leaders with more knots above the left pocket than the joint chiefs of staff have ribbons on their uniform! Then add the do-dad training beads, their silver beaver, antelope, wood-

I'm not a big fan of el Presidento... but I'll give him props for a classy move. I'd agree with the comment that most folks are quick to make the distinction between scouts, their units, and national's policies that they may view as incorrect. Good for you Mr. O. Heck of a story for that youth to tell for the rest of his life. Dean

Honestly the behavoir would be inappropriate even if they were married.

Ea. I would tend to agree with you. However, When the behavoir is in direct violation of BSA policy (i.e. coed sleeping in a tent and they are not married) - to NOT act is to ENDORSE the action. When two adults in the unit have the majority of everyone else (other adults and scouts alike) concerned with thier behavoir instead of concentrating on program, then its an issue. Finally, I don't give two bits for WHY they are acting the way they do. Its an interesting mental exercise, but I'm not involved in scouts to try and help THEM figure out why they do what they do. Not m

My favorite commentary from a friend of mine on FB... I can't wait for the political ad season to be over so we can get back to decent commercials about erectile dysfunction, feminine hygeine products, and toliet paper.... I will feel so much better watching them instead. Pretty much sums up my thoughts. Dean

I have never looked at the numbers, but I would think it would be cost prohibitive. If the issue is having enough passenger room / cargo space... you can RENT a couple econoline vans and get most of the troop and gear into two vehicles for the weekend at a fraction of the cost of maintaining a bus and keeping both vehicle and driver cert.ed and liscensed. My Troop used to use the church van to haul kids and one parent with a big ol' dual wheeled pickup with wooden side racks to haul all the gear. A whole Troop of 15 kids, plus leaders could go for a weekend in 2 to 3 vehicles.

The sleeping issue, I thought, was only an issue known to the other adults on the campout. The adult patrol sets up camp far enough away from the other patrols for it to not be an issue. However, mom of SPL spoke with me at the Troop meeting. Mentioned that her son and ASPL from campout were both discussing the sleeping arrangements - as both had noticed it at the campout. So, it IS a known issue to at least some of the older boys... I assume (maybe incorrectly) that if the older boys know about it - it either is a topic or will be a topic of discussion throughout the ranks very soon.

Ok, so putting this in Program, because I frankly don't know what other topic to post it in... We have two adult leaders in our unit male and female (both single - well we think the one has a divorce pending / finalized, not sure but he his no longer with his wife)... that have begun a dating relationship. The beginning of said relationship resulted in both leaders (one was the SM at the time and the other ASM) being asked to take a leadership hiatus by the CO and COR, because the soon to be ex-SM's wife stormed into committee meeting with accusations of adultery (CO is a church). Upon

TwoCub... It is already a witch hunt !!! That poor volunteer. Bet she wishes she would have taken a couple more seconds to take a 2nd leader with her to go looking for the lad. The rules of the road nowadays is - don't EVER allow yourself to get into a position for someone to make a claim. Buddy system works for leaders too... Dean

At the risk of feeding the trolls... WasE61- 1) You have an extremely narrow view of BSA's policies. We are now REQUIRED to report to authorities ANY time there is suspected misconduct of a sexual nature - period. Its been that way for over 20 years now in BSA. 2) If you are that concerned about our "good old boys" network - then either pull your son from the program OR get involved in you kid's life and VOLUNTEER to attend an outing with him!! Also one of BSA's policies - any and all activities are open to ANY parent at ANY time. 3) If I am your boy's "only chance at su

This is EXACTLY why a unit needs by-laws. Our cub unit went to individual "cub bucks" accounts (against my objection) while I was the CM for the unit. I insisted that the unit by-laws be ammended to clearly state WHAT was to be done with "cub bucks" when a scout departs the unit. Age out of cubs, cross over to Boy Scouts, or just up and quit or transfer to another unit... all "cub bucks" were reverted back to the general unit fund to be used by the unit as the unit sees fit. Period. A scout had 30 days from transfer to another unit or cross-over to Boy Scouts, to redeem his sc

The 3 things that make this bad for BSA: 1) The public perception that BSA was / is loose with their youth protection. Not being defended very well in the media by BSA national right now. The appology from the nations SE was a start, but they could have highlighted CHANGES to the YPG program that has made things better in the past 20 years... maybe even point out that this was 20-40 years ago and that in many of the cases, the PARENTS did not want to press charges. Even by today's standards and IF you are in a mandatory report state, how many leaders are going to go against a PARENT's

I don't think the BSA is getting off lightly. 1) The BSA has already paid out what, 15.8 million in one of the cases... the release of the files will no doubt lead to follow on lawsuits and the precedent has been set. Many lawyers will make their living off the BSA in the years to come. Much like Mesothelioma suits, once the data pool is there and the first verdict sets the tone, the wolves will feed. 2) While the BSA fought long and hard to not allow the release of the files (you can debate the wisdom in that ad nauseum in another thread) - they at LEAST had files and EVERY adult

Nice to see someone from across the pond inject a little perspective into the situation... So what. WHY is he telling you? Is he doing it to test the system... then explain what is likely to happen if he does, he will more than likely eventually bump into someone (unit, district, council, national) that will show him the door because of it. This may or may not happen before he earns Eagle - assuming he is trying to do so. Does he want to assume the risk? Is he asking for help to com out to his parents? Well, then either offer that help or refer the lad to someone better prepared

My son is on the receiving end of some of this type of "leadership" right now as a junior boy in his troop. It sucks and it KILLS younger scout's interest. Some SM's (including my son's) approach has been to discuss with the Sr. leaders regarding living the law and oath, but also to inform them that failure to lead also means they will not receive leadership credit for that term! You cannot just "mark time" in the POR and expect it to be signed off. I assume, maybe incorrectly, that most of these boys NEED the POR as part of their advancement? If not, then hard to use it as an inc

Tampa Tutle writes, "I think we will see some guys dismissed unjustly. There will always be some injustice in that kind of system--On what side of the scale should we err--the Scouter or the Scout?" Yup, that pretty much sums up the attitude. Tis better to tarnish the grown man and loose a leader than to perhaps second guess a child because what might be happenning is soooo terrible, one must defame the adult to protect the child. I don't really disagree with that stance, up until the point its you or your close friend / relative that is being accused. Then the perception changes prett