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Boys Life?


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I'm working on our pack's first recharter and have a question about Boys' Life.

 

I'd really like us to be considered 100% Boys Life for quality unit and so forth. I definitely want every single boy to be subscribed to it and see the value in that. My question pertains more to the adults. Do registered adults also need to be subscribed to BL to be consdiered a 100% BL unit?? Do they have an adult version of Boys life that the adults get? Or is it just a way to sell more magazines?

 

Thanks!

Tonya

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If there is a subscription of Boys Life going to each address, then the requirment is fulfilled for 100% . Growing up I had to share with my twin brother. There are several reasons that an adult might subscribe to Boys Life, but being thrifty, I just read my sons copy. He could read my Scouting if he wanted too.

If you are using the interenet recharter, when you get to a certain point it will ask you to click on a button and it will verify that you are 100%.

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I really like BL and my son has subscribed every year since he joined. But I have to ask this...why do you want your unit to be 100% BL and what do the people in your unit think about this? We belonged to a pack where nearly half the pack's members came from families with low enough incomes to receive free/reduced school lunches and while BL is great, the parents did not want to pay the extra money to subscribe and the pack didn't have the money to fund it for them. In contrast, the troop my son is in now is 100% BL but the charter organization pays the subscription fees so it also isn't an issue for the boys or their families.

 

Personally my thought is that, while BL is a great value and an enjoyable magazine, reaching 100%BL is more about marketing than anything else and that might not work in all packs and troops.

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As many of us already know, one of the optional requirements of National Quality Unit award is an increase in subscriptions to Boys' Life magazine.

"A subscription to Boys Life will go into the homes of all our Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts,and Webelos Scouts, or we will have a 10 percent increase over a year ago." The Interpretation of Commitments on the reverse side of the form recommends that "...100 percent of your pack families sub-scribe. Part of the packs annual budget should include Boys Life magazine."

 

While I would never insist that every family in every pack subscribe to the magazine, I believe it is a worth while (and relatively cheap) purchase. CC Tanya's goal of 100% Boys' Life is definatley legitimate and worth while. If there is a bugetary concern, a pack could plan for this if it is a priority of the pack (seek Committee aproval on this).

 

I had the fortune of receiving Boys' Life as a youth and I enjoyed it very much.

 

Eagle Pete(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

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One advantage of Boys Life going into the home is that if the unit follows the program recommendations in the Council calendars, Roundtable planning guide, Program Helps, etc., there will be program-related articles for the boys each month, that tie right into their unit program/theme, and in turn, their advancement. Even if the unit program doesn't follow the calendars lockstep, if the boys save the magazines, they'll come in handy eventually.

 

My son's 16 and can't advance any further; he's not interested in any more MBs, but reads and saves his BL each month, for the game reviews, adventure articles, etc. That pile of magazines is something my wife thought he'd throw away when we moved, along with his old PWD cars. He packed them all more carefully than his computer. The best nine bucks you can spend in a year.

 

KS

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When I was CM, we just told the parents that reregistration was 20 bucks, which covered national registration, BL, insurance and a little left over for the Pack treasury. No one ever complained or questioned it. We were 100%BL every year.

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I always thought the BL for younger cubs was a really bad idea, sure all little kids like to get mail, but how many Tiger/Bear Cubs are going to actually read the magazine? I know mine didnt at that age(other than look at thr pictures)

 

If they want to make membership $20 they should just do it and not try and supplement revenue with the boys life subscriptions..

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Some units include it in their dues, some don't. it really depends on the demographics of the members and the value that the leaders put on having each member recieve the subscription. I would be ok with them including it in the national dues and then just sending it out, but they have given us an option. When someone asks what the dues money goes, I explain that it goes for membership. insurance, awards, and a Boys Life subscription as well as some other items.

When I am signing up a new leader, I say it goes to membership, etc and a subscription to Scouting. Not sure if it a selling point, but I included it. Made for a nice presentation :)

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madmike

 

You're right. A Tiger Cub probably won't do much more than look at the pictures... but he may want to read some of those Boys' Lifes later. Mom or dad can put them away for him to read when he is older.

 

I know I would love to have some of those BL mags I got when I was a kid... What I wouldn't do for them now....

 

I don't believe it is a waste of money or just goes to a BSA money pot somewhere, although I am not blind to the fact that BSA does make money on the subscriptions. I don't really care. Don't some of us donate to the BSA anyway?

 

The fact is, it takes money to keep this program running. And I am not opposed to helping out... I get far more in return than I have ever donated to the BSA - be that volunteer donations, uniform purchases, literature, time, tallent, or whatever.

 

Eagle Pete

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As the husband of a 3rd Grade reading teacher, I can tell you the best thing you can do for your son is surround him with material to read. It doesn't matter whether it is comic books or the classics, find something he is interested in and provide him with age-appropriate reading material on the subject. Get him hooked on reading first, and the other subjects will follow. Boy's Life is great reading material! And it is a very good value! We just build it into our dues

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Tonya,

In answer to your question. A 100% Boys Life Unit has a subscription of Boys Life go into every home of the registered youth in the unit. If there are two or three brothers in the unit, then only one subscription has to go into the home. Adults can subscribe to Boys Life if they would like to, but it's not manatory.

David Harrison

Council Commissioner

Lake Huron Area Council, Michigan

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We just got our first issues of BL and Scouting yesterday after having filled out apps in May (for my son), July (for me) and September (replacement app for my son). We apparently had several misplaced apps because I've had other Tiger parents ask me about when they would get their magazines. Hopefully they'll tell me at next week's pack meeting that they've started recieving it.

 

I was somewhat disappointed with the quality of BL, remembering what I used to get in the mid to late 70's. Still it is nice for my son to have a magazine that he doesn't have to share with his sister, although he didn't seem too interested in it. Might be because his favorite aunt was visiting for Thanksgiving.

 

John

Tiger Den Leader

Pack 13

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We've had a problem in our District with units holding on to applications for up to 6 months (I guess they wait for recharter time, for some unknown reason). This was uncovered when the new scouts started earning ranks and the registrar could not find them in the computer. New applications should be turned in to Council within a week, at a minimum. That way the scout or scouter is registered and covered by insurance for all activities. There's no excuse for not doing this.

 

I remember the day when you had to show a valid membership card at JC Penney in order to buy any official scout items such as uniform parts. Maybe we should go back to that.

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