Scoutmaster Podcast 334

I'm Mitch Tansby. I'm the Scoutmaster from Troop 404 in Oldman Beach, Florida. This edition of Scoutmaster Podcast is sponsored by backers like me.

And now it's the old Scoutmaster. Scouts were coming into the meeting hall the other night for their troop meeting and I noticed one of them didn't have a necrotrophon.

He was wearing, actually, a set of jumper cables And I said: what's with the jumper cables? He said: well, I forgot my necrotrophon.

I figured I'd, you know, come up with something. And I looked at him and I said: well, I guess that's okay. Just please don't start anything.

Hey, this is podcast number 334.. Music.

Well, welcome back to the Scoutmaster podcast. This is Clarke Green. A couple of reviews over on Amazon. Let's start with this one for my book.

So far, so good from Malcolm Dickinson, who said: make sure to give a copy of this to every Scoutmaster you or your son ever has. Should be required reading to become a Scoutmaster or assistant.

Well thanks, Malcolm. I sure appreciate that.

So far, so good. It's kind of a fictionalized story of the first few months of a new Scoutmaster's tenure with his troop, and people have found it useful.

It's over on Amazon as a paperback book and I've got an audio and digital version that you can get at scoutmastercgcom too, And there's also a new review of my book, the scouting journey, from Frederick Lochner, And he said this would be a very good book for parents who are new to Scouts- the scouting journey- It's designed just to be kind of an overview of scouting- at least as I see it, Okay, And it's also available in a digital version over at scoutmastercgcom, Paperback version at Amazon. Since the last time we got together I heard from Jeff Crump, who's a Scoutmaster, Troop 701 in Wakefield, Massachusetts. He says: thanks for all you do and keep up the great work on the podcast. Your resources are invaluable and you've already taught me a lot about being a Scoutmaster. Thanks again. Thank you, Jeff.

I am always pleased to hear that people find all of this useful, pleased and somewhat puzzled Some days. I do sincerely appreciate your kind words.

Well, we've been off on a break for the past three or four weeks. It's been the holidays. We're into the new year. Look for live chat sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings over at scoutmastercgcom. Watch our Facebook feed and our Twitter feed for a notice when we'll be over there having a live chat. Lots of folks check in and sometimes we talk about serious matters, and sometimes we don't talk about serious matters at all.

So stop in and say hello when you have the chance, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. Scoutmastercgcom. Keep an eye on the Facebook feed and the Twitter feed, Let's see.

Before I go any further, I want to make sure to thank all of you who have become scoutmastercgcom backers, and specifically this time around, to express my personal thanks to. This is a long list: Andrea Cupperman, John Ruth, Juan de Penner, Dwayne McCoy, Paul Isles, Dave Giddens, Darren Dronen, Cooper Yeager, Rob Glazier and Catherine Leonard, who've added their name to the list of scoutmastercgcom backers since our last podcast.

I want to also thank everyone who supports the blog and the podcast through Patreon, especially this week, Craig Snodgrass, who became a Patreon subscriber since our last podcast. You can become a backer or join the Patreon subscribers by visiting scoutmastercgcom. You'll find links to follow at the top right of every page and links in this episode's podcast notes.

Well, the remainder of this episode is going to be dedicated to answering some email questions, So let's get started, shall we? © BF-WATCH TV 2021.

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© BF-WATCH TV 2021. © BF-WATCH TV 2021. It comes with having things explained to you, and that kind of understanding comes from experience, And these are two entirely different things. The parent of an 11-year-old is likely going through most of these things for the first time. They're relatively inexperienced in this and they have no earthly idea what's going to happen over the next three or four years.

We who maybe have seen the 11-year-olds become 14,, 15,, 16-year-olds several times over, we can be a little more confident in their resilience, right Where parents are thinking, oh my gosh, he's only 11.. Oh, you know the mindset, right?

But we have a lot more faith in a young person's resilience because we've watched it work And you can tell parents that. But, boy, I'll tell you, it's a tough one, because they're in unknown territory. They don't have a map, They don't know what the next few years hold. And authentic scouting provides opportunities that most children are not going to find outside of scouting, And that makes it both valuable And, because of its unique nature, confusing.

So we have to have some patience and forbearance and some understanding of a parent's predicament and do our best to explain and to help them through this process. And you know, nine out of 10 of them they get it and they become your ally.

And the next email? Oh, let's keep this one anonymous too. But the sender writes: a former scout of mine moved a few years ago and he has finally finished all the requirements for Eagle, except for the border review.

Now the Scoutmaster where he moved to has resisted signing the Eagle application because he doesn't feel the scout was ready Before this Scoutmaster will sign the Eagle application. He said the scout is required to know the names of the members of his state government, including the names of all the circuit court judges, to know the proper dimensions of a latrine.

I'm reading this, okay, I'm not making it up and tie a bunch of knots. In a certain amount of time He has sent the scout away multiple times and told him to study more.

Okay, Wow. The writer goes on to say: the advancement chair from this troop has been quoted as saying that other councils just give the Eagle away. This indicates to me that they are retesting and they're adding to the requirements. The scout's older brother reached Eagle in my troop before the family moved and the parents are really upset with this. Different approaches and I'm wondering if you have any comments on this.

Well, the first comment is what? Wow, This is really quite something.

The answer is easy. I would tell the scout and his parents to walk away from the bizarre kind of what I see as bullying behavior of the adults that are involved with the troop that they found down there and find another troop, find people who get it, rather than trying to work with scouts who apparently can't follow the clear policies and directions of the organization that they claim to serve, and I would counsel the scout to sever any connection with them immediately and find a troops who, adults, are able to follow simple directions without bullying young people or serving their own disease degos or their own kind of bizarre idea of what an Eagle scout is, How a scout becomes an Eagle scout is not this giant mysterious thing. It's all in black and white. Start with the guide to advancement, It's all right there.

It is not that difficult to do this and it's kind of stunning, isn't it, when people who are charged with the care of children encourage the children to follow directions and to be loyal and obedient, and then they exhibit this kind of thing where they are not either obedient or loyal. I don't understand. The reader also asked a second question.

He said: is the Eagle application counted in the requirements that must be finished before the 18th birthday, or does that age requirement just apply to the requirements in the handbook? Well, if you look at the guide to advancement, it describes the process of applying for Eagle very clearly and exactly. It's complex but it's not that difficult to understand and if you'll read that you'll find the application does not have to be filled out and submitted before the scout turns 18, but all of the requirements in the handbook must be completed.

So I hope that helps. If you have a question for me or comment on anything you've heard on the podcast or read over at scoutmastercgcom, it's a very simple matter to get in touch and I'm going to tell you how to do that in just a moment.