DeanRx

Well, you could have no members, I guess. Here's the prickly part of the eqaution. I'd say the larger the unit, the more opportunity for disharmony, discord, and drama. Bottom line, you can't please everyone all the time (even when you do your best), and the more folks involved, the better chance you are going to rub someone the wrong way or visa versa. The solution is in HOW people handle themselves and others when differences of opinion or outright fights for control arise. If everyone were Trustworthy, Friendly, Kind, etc... it would be a non issue. Both parties would sit down

NancyY- Hello and welcome. My first thought about your post was, WHY do you feel the need to change it up? If your fear is all you'll hear all night is "where's the haunted house?" Then obviously, the haunted house is a HUGE hit with the boys and its what THEY want. After chairing my 4th Pinewood Derby, I was ready for something else. But the boys (even the older ones) really get into it and remember, its practically brand new to the wolfs and will be for the Tigers!!! Before you go changing the program, you need to assess WHY the change. If its because the boys are bored w

I like the 3-up / 3-down question myself... What was the last Troop outing you attended besides a Troop meeting? What are 3 things you liked about the outing and what are 3 things you would change / improve if you had the chance to do the outing over? Another insightful question is... What things bother you the most about the troop? If you were SM, how would you change that? I guess a view the SMC mostly about how the lad is getting on in the Troop and what he would change if he was in charge. Gives a good deal of feedback AND gives me insight into a scout's line of think

Instead of "free-time", call it "open-time"... then we usually have 2 to 4 "optional" activities to choose from... i.e. soccer, tag, horseshoe toss, fishing w/ parent, etc... Give them some guidance, but let the youth CHOOSE what they want and make the activities something YOU don't have to run or supervise too much. As for adventures - we have had a BLAST with a "survivor" type event based on cub scout skills at various ranks. We split the boys up with 1 Tiger, 1 Wolf/bear, and 1 Web1/Web2 per "team". Then have a start and finish point with stations in between. First team to complete

Hyponatremia eh? I'd bet my last 5 years salary it was NOT EAH. Not sure of your quote about 10-30% of endurance atheletes being over-hydrated. The military recruiting illnesses and deaths, yes they are documented. I was active duty Army at the time. There is more to the cases than simple over-imbibing of h2O. Here's the thing. Unless the kid had some type of compromised kidney function, the likelihood he could be drinking enough water to cause an electrolyte imbalance is pretty much nil. Especially assuming he consumed SOME type of food in the same day. Anything, trail mix, j

Dremel and hand held sander are banned ?!?!? I think every cub scout uses these (or at least watches their dad use them) to make every pinewood derby car I've ever seen! Dean

Went to an annual planning meeting on Saturday with scout son for his Troop. Boy led, they have some challenges, but all in all its a good group. Well, they start in deciding what the unit wants to do over the course of the next year and a half... Many times, the adults in attendance had to stop the lads and ask them to THINK about how realistic the activity was or how much it would COST and how the funding would appear. I think much of the time with adults as well as kids - people wish to do big things. Its great to plan and dream big. If you don't, then you'll never really

Yeah, Just another District guy showing up, stirring the pot, then handing the heavy lifting work off to the unit level volunteers. Your lucky the CM didn't either quit or come across the table at you. If the unit leaders didn't have a back to school night round-up set-up there might be a good reason for it. Its their unit, their school, and their turf, so back off! If I was the CM and unable to make the round-up night (on the date that YOU decided for him), and it turned out you doubled the size of my unit (with or without enough adult volunteers to go with the enrollment

Don't forget the packets of Top Ramen and boxes of Mac-n-Cheese... a staple of both backpackers and college students !!

The largest obstacle to den chiefs is TIME. The Boy Scout is already going to at least ONE scout meeting a week for his troop and likely at least ONE patrol meeting every other week (or sometimes once a week). Then you have weekend outings with the troop at least once a month. Trying to ADD on an additional meeting two to three times a month for a pack meeting and den meeting(s) means the Boy Scout has at least a meeting every week and most likely multiple meetings every week! Add in one additional extracurricular activity (sport, band, drama, debate, etc...) and the Boy Scout is o

Yeah, it was OGE incognito...

Tim, Welcome and thanks for the reminder. To many long time posters, we tend to forget how some banter may appear to a newbie or a lurker on the boards. That said, I have seen very little in the way of put downs or personal attacks on these boards. There used to be a couple folks, but they have moved on to other endevours, or they got their accounts closed down. With that said, I like the fact that there is spirited debate on these boards. Especially in the controversial topics of the big 3 (gays, girls, atheists) for the BSA. It involved passionate beliefs on both sides of

You're in a very tough spot, no doubt. One thing with regards to the SPL position... what about ASKING the BOYS? Ask them the pro's and con's of the current method and the pro's and con's of an election (I would suggest a vetting of candidates by the adult leaders) by the scouts. That way the scouts get to decide, but the adults get to make sure the scout(s) being voted on meet the 1st class requirement AND have the maturity and willingness to do the job! Its one step closer to boy led (which it appears in the direction you would like to go). The other issues... IF (and its a big

I think a couple of you might be overstating the facts a little, but yes, the diagnosis is on the rise in the past generation. ADD/ADHD, OCD, ODD, whatever label you'd like to use, is likely over diagnosed in a lot of cases. You get a lad who can't sit still in class, has his recess and PE time truncated by an overburdened and underfunded school system and we sonder why these cases are on the rise? The other facet is BOTH the parents and the school system (and society at large to a degree) are quick to absolve a youth from RESPONSIBILITY once a diagnosis is made, "Oh, thats just

Where were these kids 40 years ago? They were there, just a different label applied to them, I would guess. One of the problems with defining a disorder, is that while it helps to categorize treatment options, it also can have a negative effect on acountability for anti-social symptoms. Just because medicine has defined it, does NOT absolve one from the consequences of the anti-social symptoms. Alcoholics are not absolved from the consequences of drunk driving, nor should they be. Diabetics are not absolved from the consequences of poor diet and blood glucose control. Folks w

Oh Beavah, Don't you know that once you start talking about people's naughty bits, all common sense goes out the window? If you even THINK that it MIGHT look a LITTLE like abuse, you MUST call the cops or YOU are a felon on the same level as the alleged abuser!!!! This is WHY YPG sucks for BSA. The pendulum for many people has swung too far to the other extreme that rational adult thought and judgement are not even part of the discussion any longer. If it has to do with naughty bits, you MUST report it. You MUST demonize and slander and liable someone's reputation and scoutin

I put this into the category of... If they're not upset enough to let me know about it (and then I stop right away), then it must not be upsetting to them. Nicknames are just that, unless they are derogetory. Who gets to say they are? The person who's nickname it is!! I supervise several people at my job. I HATE it when you have someone come to you and state, "So and so thinks x,y,z... but they'll never come to you and tell you about it." Well then, its NOT an issue. If its not a big enough deal for them to come to their supervisor about it, then they shouldn't send a proxy

yeah, this is where the ADULT LEADERS really need to do their job. If we're in camp and someone (anyone - camp staff or otherwise) walks into our camp area and I don't know them, they are going to get a, "Hi, how you doing? Is there anything I can help you with?" from me pretty darn fast. Its part of that whole mentally awake thing in the oath. I had a guy show up at a unit meeting in uniform with a unit commisioner patch on. He introduced himself and I told him I had not received word from him or from district or council that he would be attending our meeting that night so would

Yeah SP, Shoulda, coulda, woulda.... Here's the thing. If you confiscate, inform the parents and maybe the camp director (if its a council ran camp), then fine. If you inform the SE over some porn found on a unit campout, its overkill. If the kid is found out months later to be producing the content, then you deal with what you know about at that time! You can't be blamed for not acting on what you didn't know about. Its a HUGE assumption to jump from porn (either 1-2 magizines in print, or some images on an electronic device) to a producer of under-aged smut. I wou

Hey, quit coming in and out of the house to use the bathroom! You need to go, go in the bush... Oh, you need to go #2, then just in Tom's yard.... PRICELESS

Sounds like Basement has a lot of good ideas and expirience in this area. I'd just be careful not to try and make the program into something that its not. Offering to feed folks is a worhtwhile idea, but if it is the only reason people are showing up, then it is really just you running a soup kitchen, not running a scouting program. If you unit wants to do this as a service project, then great. It will likely open their eyes to something they never think happens in "their" town / city. I had some expirience with this doing outreach medicine while in college. Couldn't get folks to

I reallty think all this boycott stuff boils down to this... 1) Chick-fil-A... maybe you agree with their CEO's comments or maybe you don't. I'll eat there because its in the area when I'm hungry and want a chicken sandwhich. Its a decent meal at a fair price. period. They get their prices too high or quality too low, I'll go to the competition. 2) Dixie Chicks... here's the thing, yes most country fans are extremely patriotic. But in general, most US folks don't like to mix their politics and music / entertainment. Just becuase you have a microphone and can sing / dance / act /

Yeah SP, I agree we are TRAINED to BSA stansards, but the adults are also supposed to use good JUDGEMENT. I'm not suggesting that one ignore the YPG rules as published by BSA. However, I do believe the regulations are written in a broad sense for a couple reasons. The first is to try to cover as many varried issues that they can think of (and some they haven't thought of yet). The second is to leave it open to interpretation and discretion of the ADULT LEADERS involved. That is the whole point of being the ADULT leader!! I do NOT think that we do any good for anybody boys or BSA

That's a nice thought Beavah, but there's a slight problem with it... You start your own organization Scouting USA or such. Fine. Problem is, you are LOCKED OUT of all program materials, ALL uniform standards, ALL ranks in use by BSA to include the Eagle. BSA owns copyright on ALL of those things. Not to mention the fact BSA would likey refuse to allow use of BSA camps (even if you paid for them) for a competiting organization. Local option is just asking for the same consideration for local units that want inclusion (whatever that inclusion may be - gay, atheist, female,

We have co-ed units from Mexico at our counicl scout fair every year in San Diego... I think it would be a good thing. Doesn't seem to affect the scouts from south of the border. Most of Europe already operates this way. No sure about Canada, but I do know USA is in the minority not being coed. Dean