DeanRx

Eamonn- I find it funny: 1) Gays allowed - Most all European, Scouts Canada, and I believe Mexico - this is a non issue... they already allow for either gays or local option. 2) God in the oath... well most of the European scouting organizations are already much more progressive on this front. 3) Co-ed - YUP, have a scout fair day every year here in San Diego that has Mexican units showup. All co-ed, down to the 1st graders. I believe the same is true for Canada and many of the European countries as well. I agree the change will come. I agree that no matter what le

Beavah- Its also because of the inherent bias in the situation... If you speak out against the draconian practice of suspecting everyone... then you yourself must be suspect! (as was pointed out in the OP thread). After all, its about protecting kids, so WHY would you be against it unless YOU want to hurt them !! or at least don't CARE about them as much as I do... goes the thinking. Its akin to making a logical statement against a minority (even if its supported by data) - you must be racist. Or more timely - the razor blades in Halloween candy scary we put in our kids al

Yeah Beavah- I came up with 1 out of 1000 and 90% that were actually abusers with the 10% being false positives... that would mean somewhere around 0.09%, actually less than 1/10th of 1%. I think that for all the good the BSA does in getting the word out to be vigilant and have mandatory training - it does an even better job at scaring the crap out of everyone. There needs to be some "common sense" applied. Or maybe some role playing senerios in which a good response is discussed. I have seen YPG violations. Most very minor. Everyone I've ever seen, the person was unawar

OK, throwing some non-BSA approved liquid fire accelerant on the proverbial campfire here... Fred, What ya gonna do when Johnny shows up to the scout meeting with Mom's BOYFRIEND driving him because he lives with the lad and mom is working late or home with a younger sibling? Dude is NOT related to the youth, not even as an extended family member. What ya gonna do on cub scout family campouts? Gonna require everyone to bring in a copy of their marriage certificate before you allow the youth to tent in with the family, just in case mom's boyfriend comes along on the campout? Yo

Yeah, The G2SS is all over the place on this one... as I read it, their intent is to NOT have scouts pointing firearms or simulated firearms at another human, well, except if they are part of a re-enactment or part of a ride-along training with law enforcement... squirt guns are supposedly not allowed - but my son has attended both district and council events in the summer that had water gun fights as part of the program ?!!?? Just about as clear as the mud created by the squirt gun fight if you ask me! I understand WHAT BSA is / was trying to do with the policy, but you can't h

Yeah, The G2SS is all over the place on this one... as I read it, their intent is to NOT have scouts pointing firearms or simulated firearms at another human, well, except if they are part of a re-enactment or part of a ride-along training with law enforcement... squirt guns are supposedly not allowed - but my son has attended both district and council events in the summer that had water gun fights as part of the program ?!!?? Just about as clear as the mud created by the squirt gun fight if you ask me! I understand WHAT BSA is / was trying to do with the policy, but you can't h

Poncho liner + OD green wool blanket + sleeping bag bivy sack = great night sleep in almost any weather. I add an emergency blanket on top if need be when its really cold. I also take my closed foam sleeping pad (only ounces and my back is getting too old for being right on the turf). Use that and a tarp with my hiking poles as a lean-to for most packpacking situations. 6 lightweight tent pegs for tiedowns... Total weight for sleeping and shelter is no more than 4 and 1/2 pounds. Nice thing with the lean-to, I have built a reflector fire up against a boulder on a really cold (

I don't know about a quilt, but I have a poncho liner I've had since my active duty days and I rarely go camping without it. Even in warm climates and temps, I use it as a sleeping pad or roll it up and use it as a camp pillow. dean

There's a very easy solution to the issue: "Thank you for making me aware of the issue. Please have the parent(s) contact me directly at . I'd like to be able to address DIRECTLY any concerns they might have with how I am running the MB for xxxx." If they call, be polite, but be ready to answer questions about given requirements or WHY you do things the way do you. If you never hear from them... then keep on doing your best at being a good MBC. Maybe do a self review to make sure you are not inadvertantly "adding" to a requirement, adn adjust acordingly if need be. D

jeffrey H- I agree completely... However, the pendulum of "safety" has swung so far to one side that we might as well bubble wrap the kids and only let them look at pictures of outdoor adventures... When little red wagons and squirt gun water fights are off limits, something is far amiss in the "keeping kids safe" category, IMHO... dean

With my appologies to the OP for pulling this thread more off topic... Yes, BP and SP, I agree with your assesment regarding classrom vs. outdoor adventure - it is a huge issue. The BIG 4 issues I see affecting BSA enrollment and retention: 1) Lack of recruitment access, due to many factors. However, mostly due to school's increased policy regulating who and what can be sent home or who can come on campus. This is aggrivated by BSA's recent reaffirmation of its non-inclusive membership policies. This leaves civic organizations and churches as places to recruit. 2) Lack o

Baden- I hear what you are saying, but folks at national and pros of all ranks at the council level NEED to here this. They NEED to understand and appreciate WHAT the national stance on addimitance DOES to units at least at SOME of the local levels. You can debate the merit of the policy all you want, but the truth of the matter is national's policy DOES cause trouble for local units, and not just in the liberal area(s) like California. I will not be quiet and I will not stand down until BSA changes its policy. While I do not agree with the "lifestyle", I neither agree with di

MBC for 5 badges.... 3 of them the citizenships.... and you wonder WHY you never get a call? While I completely support the intent of the citizenship MB's they are the most boring, crappy badges out there. If they were not eagle required, I highly doubt any scout would do them. While the content is important for a scout to know, the method is terrible - just more classroom homework = the last thing a scout wants to do. As fort the OP - I'll have to look at the website when I get home (no FB from work), but I find the whole para-military / scout connection humorous... being that the

Baden P writes, "Have you tried talking to your DE about approaching the schools for you? It was one of my duties as a DE to talk to school administrators each year so the volunteers or I could set up a display table at lunch or after school and pass out flyers. The DE represents the National BSA and school leaders were always open to talking with me. In some schools I had my GSUSA counterpart with me and the schools allowed us to actually hold an assembly just before lunch where the kids could see and touch some of the equipment, crafts,PWD cars, badges, etc. that they would earn as scou

Just to clarify... He was doing store-front sales, not going door to door. I was within 5 feet of him, sitting in my camp chair, reading a book when both passer-byes happened to drop their comments. They were both snarky, but didn't stop walking, so I figure they just wanted to get their dig in, feel good about their opinion, and move on with life. That's fine. Son just kind of stammered, "Ok, thanks anyways..." to both of them. I chalk it up to a life lesson and a door openned for a good conversation with my kid. My larger concern is for scouts who may or may not be

So, my scout (11y/o) first year in Boy Scouts, Tenderfoot was doing store front popcorn sales this weekend. Had TWO seperate individuals snidely comment to him on BSA membership policies. His sales pitch, "Would you like to buy some delicious popcorn to help support local Boy Scouts?" Met with, "When BSA supports equality, then I'll support the Boy Scouts." and "I don't support prejudiced organizations." Now, most everyone on the forums KNOWS my personal feelings on the subject. I'm all for local option and wish national would just let the issue go to save face and remove all

I don't see the big deal with doing SOME requirements of a MB at a meeting, if your meetings have patrol time worked into them and a particular patrol wants to meet with a MBC for their time, then fine. Or even individual scouts meeting with their MBC to check-off achievements for a particular badge. I don't see why a scout can't set-up / talk with MBC about the planning of the MB at the scout meeting. So long as it doesn't turn into a "classroom" meeting with a MB lecture for all scouts, although that might be a good way to trudge through the 3 Citizenship MB's for the most part...too

Eagledad - "See NJ, the frog doesnt think the water is hot. Barry" Not sure what this means, I guess I'm the frog? qwase - "That said, if your profession is not one where you'd bring your kid, you probably have some thinking to do" Really, the cop should take jr. to the homicide investigation scene? The surgeon should take Jr. into the OR? The corrections officer, the pyschologist that counsels suididal pateints, shall I go on... not sure of the correlation there... Tampa Trutle - "I realized this once when I was starting to go to a *ahem* "special store" for a cert

I just figure the unit missed out on a sure-fire way to increase attendance at committee meetings and I'm sure there would be no problem getting more boys FATHERS involved in the unit. Can't wait to see their Pioneering projects at the Troop level I always find it iteresting: 1) BSA is anti-gay, but also bemoans men (adult or otehrwise) viewing females as objects of desire? teenage boys are horny, who are they supossed to fantisize about then? Don't way you didn't as a youth - or you're a liar. 2) Everyone is so quick to jump on the "mom" in this situation, but as admitted

Yeah, I wouldn't want my cub son visiting a stripping CM mom at work, just like I wouldn't want him visiting a CM that was a big banker and took TARP funds to pad his own lifestyle, or the CM that's a real estate agent that sells folks properties he knows they have no way of affording, etc... god forbid the CM is a local politician, we KNOW they all have no morals and are sleezy. I see where you are trying to go with this Eagle, and in general I agree. However, when does it stop? Am I an unfit CM because I dole out birth control or Plan B to women who need it in my medical

RichardB- Sorry if I sound a little harsh with regards to the training. Yes, I have helped out with training at both the district and council levels for BALOO and WLOT. Thats why I found it amusing that I was required to do IOLS when I transitioned from cubbie leader to ASM for my son's troop. Seems like a rehash of stuff I've already covered in previous training dates. I also take issue with the "every two years" rule with regards to YPT, safe swim, etc... I don't disagree that the training is needed, both as a safety issue and to minimize BSA's liability with regards to untrain

I'll tell you this Richard... A mandatory safe driving test / class would make more sense than the crappy IOLS class I was just mandated to retake (even though I just did WLOT two years ago) just to get "trained" as a new ASM. Especially since I've been camping for 30+ years and could have done a better job of teaching the class I took. I suffer through YPG, safe swim, safety afloat, and CPR renewal every two years even though the likelihood of me every running across a child molester, a water rescue, or the need to use CPR or an AED are miniscule compared to the chance of being cut

So really the training is to cover BSA'a butt, not make us safer? Even with OPI, I figure on most outings the most dangerous thing we do and the the thing with the statistically highest likelihood of KILLING a scout is the ride TO and FROM the event. Seems BSA should maybe concentrate on the big high risk things first... just a thought. I'd like to see stats on the last 5 years and how many injuries / deaths of scouts were due to car accidents, compared to all other types of injury / deaths in other activities the scouts engage in?

Question just came to me... we have tons of training, some required and some "additional" in order to participate in various activities. We have safe swim defense and safety afloat that a registered leader must take once every 2 years to put any scout on a boat in water. We have hazardous weather training online, etc... WHY is their not a requirement for anyone driving boys to and from an activity or campout (other than a scout in their own parent's car) to have an online Safety Driving training? You know, limit distractions, no Alcohol, don't drive when sleepy, etc...

Hey SP, sorry you got caught in the traffic. I guess the gridiron isn't your cup-o-tea. A couple thoguhts, First of all, I don't think the NFL players are killing, dismembering, and consuming Christians as part of the game, eh? Little tough on your analogy. Football players are entertainers. They are not gladiators, nor are they warriors. The gladiators are from a different time and place. The warriors are a tad bit south of you at Joint Base Lewis-McChord when they are not deployed to some far off land. Folks want to take their kids to a football game, good for them. I wonder