Cub Scout Program Updates Starting June 24, 2024

[Eagle94-A1 2687]

Here is the link to the info.

 

https://www.scouting.org/program-updates/cub-scout-program-updates-announced/

The four areas of improvement are the Bobcat badge, Cub Scout Adventures, Webelos, and Cub Scout Awards. 

Bobcat will no longer be a badge that is earned once when a Cub Scout joins.  It will become a required Adventure for each rank and earned each year.  The requirements for the Bobcat Adventure are different for each grade to make them age-appropriate.

 

Cub Scout Adventures have been improved to make it easier to deliver the program to multi-rank dens or as a Pack.  To earn each rank in Cub Scouting will require a Cub Scout to earn the six required Adventures and two elective Adventures.   Required Adventures reflect the aims and focus areas of the BSA.  The number of elective Adventures increases.

Webelos and Arrow of Light will be separated.  Webelos becomes the 4th-grade program in Cub Scouting.  Arrow of Light becomes a stand-alone badge of rank for 5^th graders and will no longer be associated with.  Arrow of Light will be the program that prepares Cub Scouts to join Scouts BSA.

Cub Scouts Awards will be reimagined as Cub Scout Adventures.  Topics like camping, STEM, and range and target sports will remain and are reimagined into elective Adventures that can be used towards earning a badge of rank.

The changes will take effect officially on June 1, 2024. 

Edited November 11, 2023 by RememberSchiff
title spelling

[Eagle94-A1 2687]

This part really concerns me.

Quote

Webelos and Arrow of Light will be separated.  Webelos becomes the 4th-grade program in Cub Scouting.  Arrow of Light becomes a stand-alone badge of rank for 5^th graders and will no longer be associated with.  Arrow of Light will be the program that prepares Cub Scouts to join Scouts BSA.

I see very few packs in my council actually making 4th Grade the beginning of the transition. I blame current training on it because there is no longer an emphasis on beginning the transition in Webelos.  The pack that begins transitioning in 4th grade has a better retention rate on Scouts than the one that waits until 5th grade in my area. The third pack does not begin transition until 5th grade, and does not Cross Over until August of their 6th grade year. While I honestly think that is too late, their troop's retention rate is higher than the one that waits until 5th grade, and Crosses Over in March.  6-8 months is not enough time for transition.

Edited November 11, 2023 by Eagle94-A1

[FireStone 423]

Need to see the requirements to really understand how this will play out across the ranks, but my first thoughts:

Arrow of Light looks like a lot as a full six-required-adventures rank, considering that most Packs don't do a full year of AOL (crossovers happen around March).

Bear seems to have lost the 2 favorite adventures (at least in my Pack), Baloo the Builder and Bear Claws. Hope those get rolled into these new adventures in some way, especially Bear Claws and Whittling Chip.

[SSScout 1616]

I do wish they ("THEY") would settle things for more than 3 years this time. 

Cubs have been staggering along, adjusting, creating,  modifying,  clarifying,  the program  seemingly every other year....

Back when the ranks made sense, morphilogically, small mammals to bigger more DANGEROUS ones,  and literary references  (Akela,  Baloo)  could be understood,  and a DEN was a place for Cubs to live, and the PACK was to be run with 

I thought belt loops for arrow points were a good exchange.  Now, the changes were coming because "we can" and maybe they will be good for the kids (which is what it's for, yes?).    

I am reminded of a CSDC Director I worked for once ("ScoutSkills"). She said that OF COURSE the Cubs will learn and earn the 8 Knots....  I replied no, if they LEARN really learn and remember the FOUR knots I will teach in a 50 minute session, I will be successful. In the mean time, the Cubs will smile and laugh at my jokes  (I hope) and come away with some knowledge of  Newton's Fourth (little known) Law of Motion:  You Can't Push A Rope....

[BetterWithCheddar 125]

This is the first time I've seen the Badges of Rank requirements lined up side-by-side since I returned to Scouting as a parent volunteer. Obviously, there have been a few changes since I was a Cub Scout and this view is really helpful. I assume Cubs would wear the Lion, Tiger, Wolf, and Bear rank badges in a diamond? I think that will look a lot sharper than having the Lion strip dangling below the other badges.

[Armymutt 217]

I don't like the removal of Bobcat as a rank.  What's the point of repeatedly earning Bobcat every year?  We already have the Protect Yourself Rules one that everyone earns but we don't purchase.  The Bobcat currently serves the same purpose as the Scout rank.  It ensures each Cub Scout has a baseline of the Cub Program.  Where is that going to fit in now?  Are we going to just leave those in the wind?  Rank badges are a more tangible thing that the kids can sew on their uniform vs belt loops that require an additional uniform item be purchased.  Rank patches are far more visible than belt loops, especially for the girls who usually wear their shirts untucked.  Parents also like to pin their own Bobcat badge on their child as a way of shared experiences.  The child likes wearing Daddy's badge, at least for the night.

[BetterWithCheddar 125]

1 hour ago, Armymutt said:

What's the point of repeatedly earning Bobcat every year? 

I assume Cub Scouts won't repeat the same requirements every year; rather. they'll build-out their understanding gradually in age-appropriate increments.

1 hour ago, Armymutt said:

Rank badges are a more tangible thing that the kids can sew on their uniform vs belt loops that require an additional uniform item be purchased.

True, but I think a lot of Cub Scouts appreciate the instant recognition that the belt loops provide.

[Armymutt 217]

36 minutes ago, BetterWithCheddar said:

I assume Cub Scouts won't repeat the same requirements every year; rather. they'll build-out their understanding gradually in age-appropriate increments.

True, but I think a lot of Cub Scouts appreciate the instant recognition that the belt loops provide.

I'm sure there will be different requirements, but why eliminate the joining badge?  I'm curious how one set of requirements is ineffective.  What does that mean?  The kids learn the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Cub Scout Motto, CS sign, CS handshake, CS salute,  and do the YP requirement.  How was this so difficult to do?  These excuses for its elimination are so vague.  

Now we have 8 required adventures to earn a rank rather than the previous 7.  That drives up the cost of the program.  Lion goes from being $13.87 a Scout to $20.28 with taxes here in NC.  The idea that there were inconsistent numbers of adventures for each rank is a lie.  Lions, Webelos, and AOL were outliers, sure.  However, the number of requirements for many of the latter are greater for each adventure than the others.  The other three each have 7 Adventures required.  I'm also curious how we are meant to get through 3 additional AOL adventures by February without decreasing the quality of the program.  Hopefully we can continue to keep the kids who are on the current program working on the current program until they AOL out.  

[mrjohns2 582]

1 hour ago, Armymutt said:

These excuses for its elimination are so vague.  

It isn't eliminated. It is making it age appropriate. 

[Armymutt 217]

1 minute ago, mrjohns2 said:

It isn't eliminated. It is making it age appropriate. 

Do you see a Bobcat rank on that chart?  The Bobcat rank is eliminated.  It becomes nothing more than an Adventure.  

[BetterWithCheddar 125]

With due respect, are that many people going to be upset with the removal of the Bobcat Badge as a rank? I've always thought of it as a bit of an "odd duck" among Cub Scout awards. The diamond of "Lion, Tiger, Wolf, and Bear" is going to look sharp and show an intuitive progression through the program.

[Armymutt 217]

47 minutes ago, BetterWithCheddar said:

With due respect, are that many people going to be upset with the removal of the Bobcat Badge as a rank? I've always thought of it as a bit of an "odd duck" among Cub Scout awards. The diamond of "Lion, Tiger, Wolf, and Bear" is going to look sharp and show an intuitive progression through the program.

Yes.  The Bobcat has been the first rank earn for most of the life of the program.  It became a cloth badge in 1972.  It's like saying, "We don't need the Scout badge anymore."  What does the kid earn for knowing the basics of Cub Scouts?  It's a big deal for a Cubbie to earn a badge after the first couple of meetings so that they have something on their shirt.  It showed that they belonged to the Pack and actually achieved something significant.  In the old days, it was pinned on upside down until the Scout did a good turn.  Now they will be a blank shirt for a year.  For the boys whose parents can only afford a shirt, the belt loops are useless.  Same for the girls who wear their shirts untucked or with the leggings.  Frankly, most 5 y/o's don't memorize the Scout Oath, Scout Law, CS motto, etc very well.  Having them try to pronounce, much less memorize these things is going to be very difficult.  

[mrjohns2 582]

3 hours ago, Armymutt said:

We don't need the Scout badge anymore.

We didn’t / we don’t. It became the Scout rank in 2015. Things change.

[CubHerder 8]

I really like this new organization. It looks like someone has actually thought about and designed a six-year program, as opposed to the current structure that appears to be made up of one band-aid solution on top of another. I'm also glad to see Arrow of Light as simply one of six rank badges. The idea that Arrow of Light was some great culmination of Cub Scouting never made any sense to me. Any kid who joins a Pack in 5th grade and participates for six months can get Arrow of Light. Whoop-De-Do. 

I also agree about eliminating the random awards. In the past six years I think our Pack awarded two or three of them. They add nothing to the vast majority of Cubs' experiences.

Requiring eight adventures for each rank I think is a good move. Frankly, many of our Den Leaders hold one meeting per adventure regardless of difficulty or whatever. Eight Adventures means at least eight Den Meetings, which at least gets them together once per month for the duration of the school year more or less.

The Protect Yourself Rules seems to have disappeared as an adventure. This also makes sense. It is not the same thing as the other adventures, it's more like administrative work for the family. I assume it is still required but it belongs in some other bucket. Maybe families will have to take it online and get credit like YPT.

I am very hopeful that the content of the new adventures will reflect modern times and will have self consistency, i.e., that the adventures in a given area progress in a clear way (e.g., increasing difficultly) from Lion to Arrow of Light. We will have to wait to see however.

Being able to show parents a very consistent plan like this on a single sheet of paper could really help families understand that there is a well-thought-out progression of growth for their child, and thus may help with retention. 

[Armymutt 217]

8 hours ago, mrjohns2 said:

We didn’t / we don’t. It became the Scout rank in 2015. Things change.

It's been around a lot longer than since 2015.  I earned it in '86 and it was essentially the Boy Scout version of the Bobcat.  

 

7 hours ago, CubHerder said:

I really like this new organization. It looks like someone has actually thought about and designed a six-year program, as opposed to the current structure that appears to be made up of one band-aid solution on top of another. I'm also glad to see Arrow of Light as simply one of six rank badges. The idea that Arrow of Light was some great culmination of Cub Scouting never made any sense to me. Any kid who joins a Pack in 5th grade and participates for six months can get Arrow of Light. Whoop-De-Do. 

I also agree about eliminating the random awards. In the past six years I think our Pack awarded two or three of them. They add nothing to the vast majority of Cubs' experiences.

Requiring eight adventures for each rank I think is a good move. Frankly, many of our Den Leaders hold one meeting per adventure regardless of difficulty or whatever. Eight Adventures means at least eight Den Meetings, which at least gets them together once per month for the duration of the school year more or less.

The Protect Yourself Rules seems to have disappeared as an adventure. This also makes sense. It is not the same thing as the other adventures, it's more like administrative work for the family. I assume it is still required but it belongs in some other bucket. Maybe families will have to take it online and get credit like YPT.

I am very hopeful that the content of the new adventures will reflect modern times and will have self consistency, i.e., that the adventures in a given area progress in a clear way (e.g., increasing difficultly) from Lion to Arrow of Light. We will have to wait to see however.

Being able to show parents a very consistent plan like this on a single sheet of paper could really help families understand that there is a well-thought-out progression of growth for their child, and thus may help with retention. 

A Scout can still join in 5th grade and earn the AOL in 6 months.  That doesn't change.  Instead, your DL will now have 6 months to complete 8 adventures.  In some cases, even less time.  We have a Scout who turned 10 at the beginning of 4th grade.  He could earn the AOL and cross over in February 2024.  The other two would need to wait until December 2024 since they don't turn 10 until July.  That gives the DL realistically 3 months to accomplish all 8 adventures.  You think that there won't be pressure to get those done fast, quality be damned?  Troops want Scouts.  Parents want to get to a program where they don't have to be involved.  

As far as progression, I think the program as shown above looks very consistent, but nowhere near as broad as the present program.  Four out of the 6 required look like they are school-type things.  The kids get bored being preached to all the time.  That was the biggest complaint we got - they sat in school all day and then were expected to sit in school at Scouts.  Not fun.