BSA membership resolution passes with more than 60 percent of vote

23 May 2013

After an extensive discussion within the organization, the Boy Scouts of America’s approximately 1,400 volunteer voting members chose to adopt the membership policy resolution and remove the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone.

The final vote breakdown was 61.44 percent for the proposal, and 38.56 percent against. The change takes effect Jan. 1, 2014.

Voting results were tabulated and certified by TrueBallot, an independent, third-party voting firm.

Read more at this site, or find the full text of the BSA’s official media statement below:
Continue reading »

Ask the Expert: Can Scouts earn service hours outside of the troop setting?

17 May 2013

47 Comments

expertlogo1 Are all service hours created equal?

If a Scout, say, builds a house with his church youth group or delivers meals with his school’s student council, can those hours count toward Boy Scout rank advancement?

That’s what a Scouter named Andrea wondered this week:

Bryan,

Our troop only allows service hours to accrue if it is a troop-sponsored service event. I think that this is against Scouting principles but understand the difficulty in calculating hours if the boys are collecting hours through school, church, etc. What is the BSA policy for this? Can the boys earn service hours outside the troop and how do we get those to “count” if they are allowed to be accrued by the Scout?

Thanks,

Andrea

Now, nobody will question the value of service to others — even those not conducted with a Scout unit. But what Andrea’s wondering is whether her Scoutmaster is correct in restricting which hours may be applied to rank advancement within Scouting.

The short answer: Continue reading »

How to monitor your Scout’s spending and benefit Scouting

16 May 2013

13 Comments

With some teens, you might as well give their allowance directly to Best Buy, GameStop, or Cinemark, because it’s going straight there anyway.

There’s got to be a better way. And now, there is. Harness the power of the Boy Scouts of America Discover^® prepaid card, which lets you monitor your kid’s daily spending, teach him or her how to create and manage a budget, and do it all while benefiting the Boy Scouts of America.

I mentioned this program last year, but it’s worth repeating: This isn’t a credit card. Instead, it’s a prepaid, reloadable card that’s safer and more practical than the wad of cash in your Scout’s or Venturer’s cargo shorts.

Parents can monitor purchases through the online or mobile site, giving them instant access to increase or decrease allowance and ensure that said allowance is being spent wisely. There’s also a wealth of financial education materials, including videos, games, and budget calculators that families can explore together.

Scouts get the benefit of instant access to their cash, peace of mind knowing they’re not broke if their wallet goes missing, and live safety and emergency services coordinators, available 24/7 if they’re ever in a jam.

And here’s a cool bonus: Local councils get a piece of the action. A portion of proceeds are sent right to councils so that Scouting in your community can thrive.

To learn more or get a card for your Scouts, go to scoutsarethrifty.com.

Now that the program has been up and running, mFunds has answered some frequently asked questions about the program: Continue reading »

These North Carolina Scouts and Venturers are giving Peace a chance

8 May 2013

17 Comments

The precious ring can be yours, if you complete a Messengers of Peace project.

You can’t promote world peace by sitting on your couch.

No, you’ve got to follow the lead of units like Venturing Crew 122 of North Carolina’s Tuscarora Council. The Venturers and advisors of Crew 122, along with some Scouts from Troop 33, cleaned a 9.5-mile portion of the Neuse River by canoe last month.

Over the 10-hour day, they collected more than 400 plastic bottles, 70 glass bottles, 52 toys, 37 aluminum cans, and 36 styrofoam/paper cups.

Almost as impressive as that garbage haul is the fact that the Venturers kept a count of what they had collected: almost a half-ton of trash in all. And remember they collected it all by canoe.

The conservation effort went beyond just a daily good turn, though. It was the crew’s Messengers of Peace service project, earning them the ring patch seen above.

Now THAT is a load of garbage. Nice job, Scouts!

You were first introduced to Messengers of Peace in a blog post last year. The global program, which launched in 2011, is “designed to inspire millions of young men and women in more than 220 countries and territories to work toward peace. The initiative lets Scouts from around the world share what they’ve done and inspire fellow Scouts to undertake similar efforts in their own communities.”

How do you participate and get one of those Messengers of Peace ring patches? Read on… Continue reading »

Higher score, lower price: Get SAT and ACT test-prep software cheap

29 April 2013

5 Comments

Pay attention, because there’ll be a test later.

Boy Scout families — both current and former — can score $250 SAT or ACT test-prep computer programs for less than $20. That means the study materials, shipping, student support, and streaming content can be yours for less than half what it costs to take the actual tests themselves.

It’s $19.99 for either the SAT or ACT test-program, which includes 11 hours of video instruction, 3,000 files of supplemental test prep material, thousands of interactive diagnostic tools, sample questions, and practice tests.

Have a student who’s taking both tests? Grab both programs for $39.98 — a huge savings over the $499.98 list price.

Mac or PC? Doesn’t matter, because the software — available either as a DVD or streamed online — works on either platform.

Longtime blog readers might recognize this program as a continuation of the eKnowledge and the SAT/ACT Donation Project I mentioned a year ago and in 2010. In the years since it began, eKnowledge, which says its mission is helping Scouts and Venturers to Be Prepared for these important standardized tests, has sent more than 4,500 Scouting families this software. And it has received hundreds of thank-you notes from Scouting families, with comments such as: Continue reading »

BSA membership policy resolution released, will be voted on in May

19 April 2013

1,457 Comments

The Boy Scouts of America’s Executive Committee today released its membership policy resolution, which proposes removing the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone and maintaining the current membership policy for all adult leaders of the Boy Scouts of America.

The resolution, if passed, would be effective Jan. 1, 2014. You can read a summary below or see the complete text at this link (PDF).

Next up, the resolution is sent to all voting delegates, a group of volunteers from every BSA council, who will put it to a vote at the National Annual Meeting next month.

The resolution comes after a lengthy review process in which the BSA gathered perspectives from inside and outside the Scouting family. The five-page Membership Standards Study Initiative Executive Summary (PDF) explains in detail the key findings from this review.

For those with questions, the BSA has prepared this comprehensive list of FAQs (PDF) about the resolution.

Here’s the resolution: Continue reading »

Here’s one swimming record you could actually break

15 April 2013

15 Comments

Can’t swim the 100-meter butterfly in less than 50 seconds?

That’s OK — nobody but Michael Phelps can. But I did just hear about a swimming record you and your Scouts do have a chance to break.

Register now to participate in the Guinness World Record attempt for The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, held at pools and lakes around the world at 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday, June 18. Continue reading »

Find your path: Track down a National Trails Day event near you

9 April 2013

3 Comments

Last year's patch. This year's design hasn't yet been released.

The official National Trails Day patch. Get yours at ScoutStuff.org.

Maybe you’ll walk in the footsteps of the Wright Brothers in Ohio, hike from scene to scene in an outdoor production of Snow White in Boulder, or bike through redwoods in California.

Wherever you are, there’s surely a National Trails Day event near you.

So save the date for Saturday, June 1, to take your Scouts or Venturers to a local hike, cycling event, horseback ride, trail-maintenance project, paddle trip, health fair, geocaching activity, photo safari, or birdwatching expedition.

American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day, which I’ve blogged about annually since 2010, is a great way to show people in your community that Scouting and the outdoors go hand in hand. Who knows a trail better than a bunch of Boy Scouts or Venturers?

To start, search for an activity near you. Continue reading »

Take the pledge: Help Scouts drink right, move more, and snack smart

8 April 2013

3 Comments

healthy-kids For anyone who’s seen a Boy Scout patrol return from grocery shopping with six family size bags of sour-cream-and-onion potato chips.

For anyone who has set out snacks for a Cub Scout den and seen the boys eat everything but the carrots and celery sticks.

Or for anyone who’s watched a Venturer finish two 32-ounce bottles of Gatorade during a three-mile hike.

For all those Scouters and more, the Healthy Kids Hub is for you.

In 2010, more than one-third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So if the statistics hold up, one out of every three Scouts in your pack, troop, team, or crew has this common health problem, which could mean immediate and long-term effects on his or her well-being.

But it’s not all bad news. The BSA is one of nine extracurricular organizations that have joined up with Healthy Kids Out of School to develop guiding principles for turning this country’s worsening childhood obesity epidemic around.

What’s in it for you? The Healthy Kids Hub, which launched today. The Hub is a gold mine of resources developed by leading universities, after-school organizations, and nonprofits designed to be used by adults who work directly with kids.

These aren’t dull academic journal articles about obesity; these are graphically rich tools you can use right away.

The resources include easy-to-digest information on a wide range of topics, such as ideas to encourage kids to drink water instead of sugary sports drinks, suggestions for outdoor and indoor games, and low-cost, healthy snack ideas.

It’s all based around the three Healthy Kids Out of School guiding principles: Continue reading »

What’s the most positive decision your Scouts could make?

20 March 2013

6 Comments

For teens, it just might be saying no — to tobacco, to drugs, and to alcohol.

And now, courageous Scouts and Venturers who pledge to remain tobacco-, drug- and alcohol-free have the opportunity to to win an all-expenses-paid trip to any of the BSA’s high-adventure bases: Philmont Scout Ranch, Northern Tier, or Florida Sea Base. Everything is included — roundtrip flights, ground transportation, program fees — for an enviable prize valued at $3,000.

The sweepstakes is brought to you by Boys’ Life. In other words, sorry, but adults aren’t eligible to enter. It’s solely for registered Boy Scouts or Venturers between the ages of 14 and 17 at time of entry.

So, leaders, send your Scouts to the Trail of Courage contest page to enter. All they do is take the pledge and submit their contact information. It’s simple, but hurry — the contest ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on March 31.

The drawing will yield just one randomly selected winner, but I think all would agree that any Scout or Venturer who takes the pledge to steer clear of tobacco, drugs, and alcohol is winning at life.

Bryan on Scouting

The official blog of Scouting magazine, a publication of the Boy Scouts of America.

Category Archives: Venturing