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Do you plan, or “wing it”?

I’ve had the opportunity to review several Eagle Scout leadership service projects over the years. Just as each Scout is different, so is their level of preparation for their projects. Some have mapped out their projects down to every screw and nail, while others give a more general description of what is being proposed or what was actually done.

I was confronted with the same sort of thing when we were embarking on a family vacation recently. My son likes to plan every aspect of the trip, down to what, where and when, and make all the arrangements. My wife, on the other hand, likes to be more spontaneous and not cling to a fixed plan – rather, intending to decide what to do on the spur of the moment.

There are pros and cons to each sort of approach. Continue reading “Do you plan, or “wing it”?”

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Double-check your adult registration requirements

Recently, the Boy Scouts of America updated (overhauled, really) its youth protection training and related requirements, which I wrote about here.

Among the changes is the new requirement that adults staying at a long-term Scouting event, such as summer camp, must be registered with the BSA if they attend the event for more than 72 hours (three nights). The time need not be consecutive, which means the 72 hours is reached if the adult camps, say, two nights at the beginning of the week and returns for the last night of summer camp.

I’ve been hearing, though, that some camps and councils are tightening the requirement, Continue reading “Double-check your adult registration requirements”

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They’re walking in your steps

Today’s article comes to us courtesy of Sean Scott. Sean’s a long-time Scouter who I got to know through a Cub Scouting forum when we were both Cubmasters. Back in the day, Sean wrote:

Yesterday I was getting ready for a new pack organization meeting. My job is to get everyone excited and then, while my district executive talks to the parents, I take the boys outside to work on Bobcat. Oh, and then we make film canister rockets. When we get back together, I do a little ceremony, a couple of cheers, a song and a closing.

Not happy with the “Follow the Bobcat Trail” help sheet I’ve been using for a couple years now (it’s a 10th generation photocopy of an old mimeograph page, I believe!), I decided to type up a new one. One line describing the Law of the Pack really caught my eye and made me think: Continue reading “They’re walking in your steps”

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A three-step problem solving process

One of the greatest virtues of the Scouting program is that it teaches young people how to solve problems in real time with the resources they have at their disposal. They’re not usually major problems – at least not to us, but to the Scouts, they can befuddle and confuse until they set themselves in the right direction.

I recently read an article by Tommy Gray, CPBE, in a broadcast engineering trade magazine. We broadcast engineers often face puzzling problems that need to be resolved quickly. Gray offered the advice that you are never totally down if you use your head. There are three things to keep in mind, Continue reading “A three-step problem solving process”

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Major updates to youth protection training and procedures

As anticipated, the Boy Scouts of America has issued some major updates to our landmark Youth Protection procedures.

The program is being expanded and strengthened, and will include youth training in youth protection for the first time (aside from our traditional A Time to Tell and It Happened to Me programs). The requirement for all adult volunteers to take Youth Protection Training, often spotty in the past, will be strictly enforced, and there will be professional help and guidance available for those having questions about what to do as well as for those who have experienced abuse under Scouting’s umbrella in the past. There’s also new training for camp staff covering youth-on-youth situations.

Here is a summary of the changes affecting volunteers and units that are now in effect: Continue reading “Major updates to youth protection training and procedures”