ajmako

LongHaul wrote: The DAC coming out and saying "I will not approve a MBC for more than 7 badges." isn't something that can be appealed to National particularly if the CAC upheld the DACs position. Well, all I can say is there's no real appeal process involved here. If my DAC imposed this policy in my district I'd simply ask him to provide me with his reasoning and the national policy that gives him the authority to do it. It's not hard to guess I don't agree with the idea that the ACP&P gives him that authority, which means we go to the next step. Without much difficulty we can get an

My council doesn't have merit badge days. We did once, when I was 13 or 14. I went but didn't get anything out of it. The fact is, merit badges are supposed to be individual study, where a Scout and a buddy or parent meet with a mentor and actually learn the subject. When I went to that one merit badge day, just for one merit badge, I never actually met the counselor. I filled out a sheet, sat and listened to him talk for a while, then I had a chance to work on a couple requirements while the counselor was busy signing off the two or three requirements he covered during his speech. There

Beavah wrote: Can/should a district do anything if a SM is the counselor for every MB earned in his troop (or earned by his son, or...). I read some people as sayin' "no, nothing can be done, everyone is bound by the two sentences in ACP&P." Beavah, As one you probably read as saying "no" my answer is: yes, the council/district can do something to discourage this sort of thing. The council/district has the responsibility of 1) recruiting qualified merit badge counselors, and 2) training them. Noted in my other message was the list of qualifications for a merit badge counselor, which

longhaul wrote: "What most people are failing to realize is that the above sentence does not say a person can counsel as many badges as they want. What it does say is that the Council Advancement Chair can at his/her discretion approve a person to counsel as many merit badges as the Council Advancement Chair feels they are qualified to counsel." I don't want to nitpick, but that's not what the ACP&P says. It says the Council Advancement Chair is responsible for approving merit badge counselors and publishing a list of approved counselors. It says the Council Advancement Chair can dele

So I guess I've put this off long enough. It's time to introduce myself: My name is A. J. Mako and I've been doing this Scouting thing since I was 7 years old. I earned Arrow of Life as a Cub, went on to Boy Scouts where I earned Eagle (2 weeks before turning 18). I served as ASM (Troop 1 and Troop 38 Great Trail Council) for a while, as well as being on Roundtable staff and OA Chapter Chief. I got my first chance at Scoutmastering back in 1984 (Troop 38/86). That lasted four years. I got my second chance at Scoutmastering back in 1997 (Troop 381). That lasted five years. In between I ser

dluders, I haven't seen the latest Advancement Committee Policies & Procedures manual, so it's possible this has changed, but I doubt it. My advice is based on the following quote from my copy of the ACP&P. Before taking this advice you should find the latest copy of the ACP&P you can and make sure the policy hasn't changed. "There is no restriction or limit on the number of merit badges an individual may be approved to counsel for. "There is no limit on the number of merit badges a you may earn from one counselor." (ACP&P #33088C pg 13) If the other districts in

Kudu, my friend, once again you've let your evangelism get the best of you. You made a nice argument, but unfortunately the people you have an argument with are long gone. While it might be quite interesting to see how the BSA circa 1910 was different than B-P circa 1910, no one should have to point out that the BSA has changed quite a bit since then. Many of the things you find so egregious are no longer the way things are done today in the BSA. Granted, the BSA still misses the point in some ways, but the same can be said of other Scouting organizations. So what? We can fix that by bein

gigibw, Did you report the incident to the police? The reason I ask is you can certainly report the incident to the SE, but there isn't anything the SE can do. Since it happened at a non-Scouting event there's nothing for the SE to report to the authorities. If you reported the incident to the police and you mentioned the Scouting connection, then you should at least notify the SE that the police might contact him during the course of their investigation. Otherwise it's just an incident between two parents and thier children. As a COR I would certainly be concerned about this, but

Ea. I don't think you're splitting hairs (or should that be "splitting heirs"). As I remember it--I don't have the entire contents of B-P's writings on Scouting memorizied--Scouting isn't about making men out of boys, it's about helping boys become the right sort of men. That can be made gender neutral--helping young people become the right sort of adults. To me, the distinction is important. Lots of activities can turn a child into an adult, but not all activities result in the right sort of adult. What we, as adults, do in Scouting should be focused on building from within, not imposi

Volley6, The question arises, what is the point of reforming patrols if those patrols are just going to be reformed again for activities? You end up with two patrols that aren't real patrols. They're just groups of names on a roster. The Patrol Method only really works when the patrols have permanence and independence. That is, the patrol exists beyond the paper it's written down on, and the members of the patrol identify with the patrol as their patrol. A real patrol goes to camp under its own leadership and every member of the patrol works toward the its success. When you're reb

So the question is, what exactly does doing push-ups accomplish? Forgive me, the question is rhetorical. Speaking only for myself, one who once believed firmly in something called "Scout Law Push-ups," I have found there are far more effective means of reaching a young man. Doing push-ups certainly focuses attention on the offender, showing that there are dire consequences for bad behavior. But then we run afoul of that whole thing about praising in public and criticizing in private. Doing push-ups certainly works toward one of the three aims (or an aspect of the one aim if you're inclin

kittle: I know that boys will be boys, but do they have to be rude also? Kittle, boys may be boys, but Scouts aren't just boys. If their behavior is rude, inappropriate, or even offensive, they are just boys, not Scouts. What can be done about it? My advice is to sit down with your son and make a list of the things that bother him. Look over the list and evaluate each item according to the Scout Oath and Law. Anything that doesn't pass all twelve points of the Scout Law and all of the parts of the Promise, is un-Scout-like. Take your concerns to the Scoumaster and talk to him (your s

SWScouter: I always wonder what one who constantly cusses says when they really need to cuss? If expletives are constantly spewing from one's mouth, how do I as a listener know that he/she is trying to accent something or just speaking normally? Back when I was young and stupid and I was firmly convinced cussing was the thing to do to show I was grown up, I resembled the above remark. Yes, even in Scouts and my private Catholic school. In school such language was not tolerated at all. It was a good way to get sent to Sister Dorothy's office. As a result such colorful language was used "un

Kudu: Finally, someone who writes longer posts than me :-) What? Hey, after I got a quick look around, I thought really long posts were the order of the day around here!

I don't know. I guess if what we're looking for in a Patrol Leader is the Scout who can be most trusted to do the job then there are problems with both having elections and SM appointments. Imagine, if we want a patrol to be independent, to function on its own led by the PL with as little interference from adults as possible, then having an adult appoint the leader starts things off on the wrong foot. The SM certainly knows which members of the patrol grok what it means to be a leader, but will the patrol actually follow that guy's lead when they don't have much say in who he is? Don't ma

>>Diversity is first an attitude of openness toward others outside a group and secondly it is a legal mandate that provides for that openness. When both parts are not in place, then diversity is little more than a limited action that prevents it from ever happening.

After reading this thread so far I sort of feel like I'm at a district committee meeting--everybody talks and only half listen. But of course I have to squeeze into the conversation, hopefully striking some sort of compromise between what I guess we'll call the BSA way and what my sometimes-friend;) Kudu calls the B-P way. Squeezing a few words in edgeways, it's not really difficult to make this Scout Spirit stuff work. The first thing that must be done (something you'll find quoted in one of Kudu's posts) is establish the expectation. That is the BSA SM makes it clear what he expect

Boy, I remember being 11-12-13 years old. Let's just say calling each other names, using foul language, engaging in incessant conjecture about other people's sexual preferences, put downs, unfortunate nicknames, all of it was "normal" behavior. Joking, yes. And worse. Is it bullying? Sometimes. And even when it's not meant to be bullying, it can be painful to the person on the receiving end. This is boys being boys but that is absolutely no excuse. When it was me dishing it out or being dished upon, it was all part of trying to emulate adults without actually knowing how. It was all about

kahits, By my count you have six active, participating Scouts. That makes one good patrol. Don't worry about a PLC or SPL. Don't worry about anything you don't need to worry about. Form a patrol of the active, participating Scouts and let them plan what amounts to a patrol program. Focus on that and doing Scouting. Worry about PLC's, SPL's, and all that when you have more than one patrol. As far as the older Scouts are concerned you'll have to review where they are as far as advancement is concerned and ask them what their plans are. If they have the participation and position requireme