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Bridling the urge to reject BSA or the reform it.


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First and formeost, let me say that I love being a scoutmaster and I love the idea I have of what Boy Scouting is and should be.

 

But I often feel as though BSA needs a major Reformation.

 

Since I began six years ago as my older son's Tiger scout Dad and Tiger leader to today as my two sons Pack and Scoutmaster, I have come to be of two minds about scouting.

 

I am ahopeless romatic, and long for the scouting of yester-year (if it ever really existed). I think of Frank Capra's movie, Mr. Smith Goes TO Washington, and his Boy Scouts back home helping to save him from the trechery of a corrupt political machine.

 

I think of Fred MacMurry's Character in "Follow Me Boys."

 

I look to the art of Norman Rockwell as a guide as well.

 

My troop is one of the few fully uniformed troops in my part of Illinois. We are the only troop I know in our area that still dons the Camapign Cover. (Armybarracks.com for $29).We have an absolute ball scouting the way we do- but it is not BSA scouting most of the time.

 

I bristle every time I am around BSA units other than my own. My District Exec believes that it is inevitable that BSA should head toward a European model of COED and less uniformed scouting. He thinks it peculiar that BSA still keeps girls out and that the venturing model should and will prevail.

 

The push to sell pocorn, to have pinewood derbies and earn patches and badges, the arts and crafts and Den Mothers and Snack times all seem to me to be extraneous to what I think of as scouting. I look to Daniel Beard, and Ernst Seton, and Even Baden Powell, and I wonder if they would'nt have some interesting if not critical commentary on where BSA has moved to.

 

I understand NO TRace camping- but I don't like the great emphaisis put on it all the time. I don't appreacite all the empohsassi put on Native American rituals (Which seem really phony and hoakey) as well.

 

My unit was given by a nice family a 30 acre place to be scouts. We cut down trees and build everything from teepees and briudles to a fort and a dam.

My Scouts learn sepmaphor and Morse code. We build telegarph devices, pvc rockets, potato cannons, PVC padded pugil stick and pugil sabres (And shields) and learn military formation of Romans and Greeks. We march in formation, salute each other, refer to each other by either rank or Mr., and our guiding priciple is the SCOUT LAW.

 

My scout Families are all in the know as to what our unit does. And they also realize that what we do is mostly not Kosher with BSA. THey realize that our activites are OK with the CO, but not with BSA. ANd they are fine with that. They think that what we do is more what scouting should be than what the area troops are doing.

 

Am I a rogue scout leader? Yes, I suppose I am. I wish I weren't. I feel like I am more of an anachronism.

 

My two ASMs are also on board. One is our Town ecominic planner, a very reputable citizen and great with kids. My other ASM is a former Marine and baker and he is fabulous witht he boys. He is happy just getting the boys out hiking (as am I).

 

Our unit is all about teaching our boys what we call |"manly arts" and getting them outside doing rough and tumble Boy stuff.

 

We do not adopt the Boy-Run model, but instead we are a top down chain of command organization. We run very much like a military unit. But all of our projects are done to keep the boys excited about scouting, and learning how to be prepared.

Our boys are given leadership responibilites all the time. ANd becasue the boys are briefed often, they know why we do what we do and how they are differnt than other units. Many of my scouts have migrated to us from other units.

 

As you may guess, I and my unit are seen by fellow scouters in my area as a pariah unit.

 

But I can tell you that in the greater community it is my troop that has earned much recognition and as being the essesntial "brand of scout" people like. Despite being told by our District Exec that it is against BSA rules to do so, we march in formation fully uniformed in every parade. (Other units, if they are in the pardes at all, are usuualy wearing scout shirts with blue jeans, often untucked, and walking with no military bearing. My scouts have been trained to march with eyes front. They never wave. This has the result of impressing upon the communbity that we are a disciplined unit- which they admire.

 

We are asked every year to hold banners for veteran organizations and to appear at differnt civic events.

 

THe Elderly and Veteans especially love our unit becasue of the old-fashioned scout uniforms and the fact that our boys are in line.

 

What do we get from the other units? We are called "freaks", "paramilitary", and even "Hitler Youth" (By the local college crowd who hate all boy scouting but especially us).

 

My scouts know how to throw a tomahawk, make a homemade rocket engine from fertilizer and sugar, make an electromagnetic and battery, along with the great stuff in the boy scout manual.

THey are proud to be called scouts, and they wear their uniform with pride every time we meet- which is a minumum of two hours every Wednesday immediatly after school. Every meeting has a Scout run uniform inspection, scout run 30 minute to 1 hour Physical Fitness whci often includes running obstacle courses. MAny meetings involve just hiking and playing Hide and seek games in the dense brush by our CO.

 

I would be interested to hear if any other scoutmsters out there ever feel like to make their units fun they have to buck to system a little and soemtines travel outside the BSA reservation ad if this ever makes them feel like BSA should in any respect be reformed.

 

Happy Trails and

Long Live Scouting

 

Pappy

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Hi Pappy,

First of all, I'm having trouble understanding why you posted this under the "Venturing" program forum.

Venturing is the most flexible of all of the programs of the BSA. There is no requirement to be coed. Some crews choose to be all male, all female, or coed. You will never find two crew exactly alike. Some are very specialized, some are very general.

You talk about traditional Boy Scouting? Well there are Crews who specialize in reenacting the old Senior Scouting programs of the 40s and 50s. Or how about the crews who are focused in military reenactment of the Civil war? There are other area for Venturing; Sports? High Adventure? Arts & Hobbies, Even Youth Ministry. It's all there.

Have you looked at the Venturing program closely? Have you checked out what was involved in earning some of the recognition awards like the Ranger? If not, you might be surprised in what this program has to offer. Far too many people know nothing about Venturing except by rumors or hearsay.

Venturing is a great program that has much to offer out older youth if it is done properly. It is not "Advanced Boy Scouts with Girls." It is much more than that!

Venturing pulls much of it's current identity from the early Explorer programs.

A Venturing Crew is what it's members want it to be. Uniforming included.

 

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My mistake,

it was my first new post and I somehow did something to get it onto Venture Program Thread.

 

THanks for your input about Venturing. I will take it to heart and consider it an option. But it doesn't really change nmy thoughts about the weird and unfortunate direction BSA has turned. Scouting in our neck of the woods is highly inneffectual at both recruiting and retaining boys.

And when you consider the choices boys have these days compared to what our local BSA council is offering and how it presents itself it is no surprise. Weird product, horribly marketed, and not really sold at all. My inclination is that scouting is a hemeroging organizatin - and it is a tragedy.

 

For all the faults some of the contributors to this site have had about the Mormons, I'll have to give one thing to them, making BSA their official youth program takes brass balls and it heeps the LDS numbers up around here.

Our Parish Priests love our scouts, and they plug my troop whenver I ask them to from the pulpit. But it is a tough sell. A really tough sell.

 

But it is a tough sell to be a Christian as well.

 

Long Live Scouting

Pappy

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