dhendron

Hi all. I could use a bit of advice on an issue that occurred a few days ago. One of the scouts in my Venturing crew is also in our sister unit, a local troop chartered by the same church. During the troop's Court of Honor last week, my scout apparently struck a scout in the troop in what I have learned in called "sack tapping". This is a recent fad among teenagers where they strike or slap another male's testicles in order to cause some level of discomfort. It is a form of hazing. It is dangerous and there hundreds of videos on YouTube showing this, as well as many news stories documenti

What you should be reading here is that there are plenty of right ways to handle the crew uniform, and a couple of obvious wrong ones: using the Boy Scout uniform as previously mentioned, and allowing anyone but the crew to choose their own uniform. One thing to consider as well is using both the official uniform and having a less formal t-shirt, polo or whatever. The bottom line is the crew chooses their uniform, or whether they wear one at all. Our crew has chosen to do both. Again, there is no right or wrong way, it is up to you. One fun thing our crew did was to design their own

In 2007, I was the scoutmaster for my troop. I took Powder Horn on a recommendation from a friend who was involved in the program. I had been involved as a troop leader for many years and my son had already made Eagle and left. I figured it would help me with my troop program. I went to the training and was amazed how much fun it was. I got to do things I had not considered in the scouting program! I ended up using the training (and other training) to start a Venturing Crew. Lucky for me, the youth chose high adventure as a focus of their activities, so the training and experience

"Provided that position is voted on by the committee to establish it as a policy. The CC cannot establish policy on her own." Except...the committee does not make Crew policy. The Crew does, and it is written in the code and bylaws. If the CC wished to have the Crew include this extra requirement, she would have to take it to the Crew officers to mull over, and if they agreed, they would take it to the Crew for an amendment to current policy.

I whittle a neckerchief scarf for each Eagle Scout. Each one is unique and has an eagle pin of some type on the front of it. My current set from Walnut (hard to whittle, but it looks great when done) with a pewter Eagle. They are fun to make and allow me to express my appreciation of their dedication, skill and scout spirit with a little elbow grease and imagination.

Hi all: I am a current scoutmaster and just started a Venturing Crew. I cannot believe the interest...we already have 17 youth members! Our crew is a co-ed crew that is interested in high adventure. The youth have elected their first set of officers, and chose to elect them just for a two-month term to get us started, get the bylaws and other detail stuff done, and begin setting a calendar. The next election will be held in January and the Crew wants to work on six-month terms. Since our Crew is new, we are starting from the ground up. I will be holding a Crew Officer's Briefing in

My first scout summer camp, probably about 3:00 AM. I am a light sleeper, and I can hear when the boys get up to head to the latrine and whey they get back to their tent. So, I am laying there and I hear a stirrin' nearby, then the sound of a tent flap opening. Shortly thereafter, I hear the telltale sound of a scout taking care of business NOT in the latrine. I poke my head out and shine the flashlight in the direction of falling liquid. Sure enough, he is standing there (fully dressed, of course) at the entrance to the tent, peeing out in front of it. I said quietly, "Justin, the latrine is

An update: The scout in question completed all of the requirements he had left. With a very rocky finish, he was able to get through the SM conference this past weekend. His extension expires today. He may still face some tough questions at his Eagle Board of Review. Thanks to all for the advice and comments.

In my opinion, not only can he be denied his Eagle, but if the facts are accurate, then he should be. The Eagle rank is not a gift. It is earned through dedication to Scouting and his ideals. The SM is the first line of defense for preventing this kind of problem. Since it is beyond that point, the SM has a duty to appear before the BOR and give them the whole story. For my part as a SM, I would also include a recommendation against the rank. If the SM is not inclined to do that, the CC should. Concerned troop representatives and/or parents can also write to the BOR with their own recomme

Sorry, I missed the question about who was consulted: No one at the troop level was consulted. When I spoke to the rep from the Eagle committee at council, he said they assumed the troop endorsed the request and did not think it was necessary to consult with the troop. No one from district was consulted either.

Thanks for all of the comments and replies! The scout in question has completed the bulk of his Eagle Project. There is some detail work left to be done, but it should not present an issue. He is now in a leadership position. This is still pretty weird to me having an adult in a scout leadership position. I got him into the Instructor position because he is an adult, has two-deep leadership issues as a result of that, and because it forces him to lead in a goal-oriented fashion without the need for frequent one-on-one work such as might be needed as a patrol leader. He has been chall

I start by reviewing his uniform for completeness. It is going to have to be ready for the EBOR anyway, now is a good time to look it over. I then review the Eagle application, his Eagle Book and other materials that must be submitted to council and then to the Eagle Board. I cover some scout skills, NOT as a retest, but instead as a gauge of how we did in teaching them. Funny that the guys always bone up on their scout skills prior to the SM conference. I ask about his experiences, good or bad, what he feels is the most important thing he learned or experienced in scouting, s

To address some of the comments: Although I took over as SM formally in January, we began the turnover last September or so. I started monthly or better counseling sessions with the scout in question in an effort to get things going. The Eagle Project, MB's, etc., all were addressed. For whatever reason, he held the work until he had the extension in hand plus then a few weeks after. Whenever I asked about his progress, I received excuses ranging from "I've been busy" to "I hadn't thought about it." When March rolled around and I found the extension had been granted, I asked again about t

Thanks for the comments so far! I think I can sum up my biggest issue with this, which is a scout who does not start to work on the majority of his Eagle requirements until after he is 18. The behavior issues are gone. I think of all the boys who struggle to get their work done before they are 18 (and those who sail through will good planning and time management) and wonder why someone without a good excuse (and believe me, his excuses for not getting his work done were highly questionable) should get extra time. If he had worked on his merit badges or his Eagle Project during the last si

Greetings: I have an issue with a potential Eagle Scout that I wanted some opinions on: The scout in question had a lot of issues last year. For brevity, I will say they were serious scout spirit issues and leave it at that. A week after he turned 17.5, he was given a SM conference for life scout and passed. That unfortunately (for him) left him one week too late to make Eagle Scout. The SM conference occured with the previous Scoutmaster whom I replaced in January 2006. The scout (through his mother) appealed to the council's Eagle committee for an extension. Nothing was heard