Scoutmaster Musings

Scouting at Home

Two weeks ago, most people though Zoom was the sound a sports car made. Now, it's the most mentioned remote meeting software around, and being used by thousands of Scouts when they are scouting at home. This strange looking little virus has tipped things over, messed things up, and changed lives for months to come.

With our national guidance to postpone all face-to-face scouting, many adult volunteers have put in a lot of effort to shift how scouting can be done safely from home, in isolation, until the world is a bit less contagious. It's certainly not the prefered scout experience, but we can continue to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.

Thanks to these volunteers, new ideas to handle events, camping, advancement, and other scouting topics are popping every day. Here's a few for you to consider...

Some Scouting folks are saying that we're all Lone Scouts now, and advancement should be handled like the Lone Scout program until the "All Clear" is given to resume face-to-face Scouting. That sounds like a good idea, but since the Lone Scout program is NOT a watered down version of the Scouts BSA program, it won't change much.

The BSA has a nice Lone Scout Guidebook for the scout and their guide. This PDF file explains the program thoroughly and mentions three key topics in this discussion.

Trained Leaders: The Lone Scout program expects each adult involved with a scout to know the program and be a trained leader. Since that is not the case in most scouting families, a scout's parent is often not an appropriate person to sign off on advancement. For example, First Class requirement 4a has the scout use a map and compass, and estimate height and width of structures - many adults would have no idea how to do this.

Different Requirements: On page 18 of the Lone Scout Guidebook, a section on Limited Flexibility in Requirements is written. It states "In some instances, family members, neighbors, or friends can be used in place of a den, pack, or troop" - so some requirements, such as cooking for your patrol, could be done for your family.
Also in this section, "Where meeting requirements as written is not possible, a Lone Scout friend and counselor may suggest equal or very similar alternative requirements. These must have council advancement committee preapproval." - there are some requirements that simply can not be done by most scouts right now - without at least a large swimming pool available, First Class requirement 6a is not possible. If you wanted to perform the swim test in a pool at home, approval from your council would be needed first.

Camping: On page 12, in the Safety Rule of Four, it states "...counselor and a Lone Scout who are parent and child may camp alone together in settings where medical services are readily available..." - so a scout and parent could camp overnight in their community.

Leadership: For Star rank and above, Lone Scouts need to demonstrate leadership. Rather than troop leadership, they can lead school, religious, or club groups.

Of all the potential Lone Scout benefits in this time, I think that modifying the Camping guidelines to be available for all scouts is the most useful. The Leadership requirements require a group, just like other scouts, and all other requirements are the same.

Remote Scouting

Every BSA council has some sort of response to COVID-19 on their website. Many of them are organizing virtual camporees, virtual merit badge clinics, and other virtual events held online.
You might find a more convenient event for your scout at a council across the country. There is a chance that all these efforts now may fundamentally change how merit badges are earned in the future.

I spent a couple hours searching and found this sampling of Councils with Online Virtual Resources and Events. Check them out:

Missing the "outing" part of Scouting? For those long days of social isolation, there are a bunch of movies that feature Scouting. Some of them are pretty awful, but some are still classics, and some will make you never want to camp again!

Here's a handful that are links to their amazon pages so you can check them out.
This list is in rough order of Most Appropriate to Least Appropriate for scouts to watch - review them before showing scouts.

Are one of these your fav? There are a lot more, so please add any other suggestions you have...

• Adventure Scouts
• Follow Me, Boys!
• Up
• Room for One More
• Are You Tougher than a Boy Scout? (1 season)
• Boy Scouts of Harlem
• Down & Derby
• Troop Beverly Hills
• Troop Zero
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Scout Camp
• Troop 491: The Adventures of the Muddy Lions
• Tex Rides with the Boy Scouts
• Scouting for Adventure (5 seasons)
• Scout's Honor
• Scout's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
• The Wrong Guys
• Edge of Honor free (1991)
• Drum Taps free (1936)

1. 7 Stages - skiing - 41:44
2. Amo - Easter Island - 7:08
3. Ascending Afghanistan - Afghan women issues and mountain climb - 43:33
4. Age of Ondra - Part 1 - Adam Ondra - 20:57
5. AoO-2 - part 2 - 30:22
6. AoO-3 - part 3 - 27:53
7. Artifishal - saving wild salmon - 1:19:55
8. Aziza - ultra-running - 6:30
9. Bawli Booch - Downhill Biking India - 4:30
10. Beautiful Idiot - mountain biking - 14:41
11. Beneath the Ice - ice climbing and climate change - 16:48
12. Blood on the Crack - rock climbing - 9:49
13. Blood Road - Ho Chi Minh Trail bike ride - 1:34:59
14. Blue Heart - protest European river dams - 43:59
15. BMX Nigeria - city BMX riding - 12:12
16. Break on Through - rock climbing - 29:03
17. Brotherhood of Skiing - black skiers - 10:11
18. Brothers of Climbing - rock climbing - 7:18
19. Camel Finds Water - building a boat - 8:37
20. Carving Landscapes - reenactment of woman researcher - 6:13
21. Charge - snowski tricks - 4:37
22. Chasing a Trace - searching for wolverines - 20:01
23. Chasing the Sublime - cold water swimming - 6:40
24. Children of the Columbia - skiing and history - 21:23
25. Climb Your Dreams - short poem - 2:29
26. Circle of the Sun - skiing Norway - 5:03
27. Danny Daycare - bicycling Scotland spoof - 4:10
28. Defiance - snowboarding - 12:37
29. Dream Job - skiing - 14:41
30. Dreamride 3 - mountain biking - 6:00
31. Eclipse - freeski - 31:24
32. Electric Greg - climate change and mountain sports - 19:14
33. Eli - ultrarunning - 5:18
34. Emil Johansson's Story - mtb rider's illness - 24:52
35. Escape - cross-Canada bike ride - 8:01
36. Facing Sunrise - hiking - 8:51
37. Fast Horse - bareback horse racing - 13:10
38. Fell Runners - trail running - 17:17
39. Flip - base jumping - 3:13
40. For the Love of Mary - 97yrold runner - 6:17
41. Free Flow - trail running, free climbing - 4:15
42. Frozen Mind - snowboarding - 33:15
43. Frozen Road - bike ride in Canada - 24:30
44. Good Morning - red bull snow ski - 4:18
45. Grizzly Country - protecting habitat - 11:46
46. Holocene - climbing and skiing - 12:14
47. Hourya - paragliding - 9:24
48. How to Run 100 Miles - mountain ultramarathon - 28:14
49. Ice & Palms - bikepacking - 32:00
50. Imaginary Line - highline between US and Mexico - 10:38
51. Kai Jones - 11yr-old snow skiing - 5:18
52. Ladakh Project - whitewater kayaking - 14:11
53. La Grave - free skiing - 17:00
54. Last Honey Hunter - cliff climbing for honey - 35:51
55. Legend of Rafael - bicycling - 6:51
56. Lhotse - first ski descent - 23:00
57. Life of Glide - snowboarding - 15:45
58. Life of Pie - two women bikeriders - 11:47
59. Liv Along the Way - mountain climbing - 22:21
60. Lorax Project - basejumping - 34:38
61. Loved By All - Apa Sherpa - 13:50
62. My Mom Vala - fishing Greenland - 9:45
63. Mother Earth - mountain biking - 5:43
64. Motivator - meet my mom - 4:26
65. Narics - snowboarding - 18:21
66. Nordic Skater - ice skating - 5:26
67. Okpilik - interview with woman - 4:57
68. Out on a Limb - prosthetic foot for climber - 21:20
69. Over Time - skiing - 7:20
70. Par For The Course - Mirnavator hike - 3:39
71. Perspectives - mountain biking - 5:20
72. Redstone Pack - dog sledding - 5:22
73. Refuge - steelhead fishing - 6:04
74. Ride of the Dead - Mexico mountain biking - 11:53
75. River's Call - whitewater kayaking - 7:45
76. RJ Ripper - Mountain Biking in India - 19:00
77. Rotpunkt - rock climbing - 50:27
78. Running Pastor - trail running - 8:14
79. Sacred Strides - running for Bears Ears - 12:20
80. Safe Haven - indoor rock climbing- 7:49
81. Silence - rock climbing - 17:40
82. Ski Photographer - skiing - 8:49
83. Skier Vs Drone - drone & skiier race - 4:08
84. Sky Piercer - skiing - 43:57
85. Solstice - skiing - 3:56
86. Speak to Me Softly - rock climbing - 6:14
87. Standing Man - FTK MTB attempt - 13:05
88. Surface - ocean photography - 7:07
89. Surviving the Outback - a month in Australia wilds - 59:49
90. Thabang - trail running in Africa - 13:15
91. The Botanist - building hydroelectric to survive - 20:04
92. The Frenchy - 82yrold ski racer - 14:19
93. The Moment - mountain biking - 1:17:05
94. The Passage - canoe the Inside Passage - 25:19
95. This Land - running - 10:32
96. Treeline - forest communities - 40:16
97. Up To Speed - speed climbing - 22:30
98. Valley of the Moon - climbing - 21:38
99. Wallmapu - skiing - 5:50
100. We Are Abel - life of caribou hunter - 8:35
101. Wolf Pack - trail running - 12:23

Scout On!

It has been brought to my attention that Valentines has morphed into two alternate celebrations. You can blame the TV show "Parks and Recreation" for the initial drive of these two pseudo-holidays.

Galentines Day started as a satirical bit on the show in 2010, setting Feb. 13 as a day for females to celebrate their female friends, especially those with no significant others. IRL women took and ran with it, keeping the day alive.

Palentines Day is just a natural expansion of that celebration to become gender neutral. Celebrate any and all friends you have with no romantic connotations.

Unfortunately, Scoutentines Day just doesn't have a very good ring to it. But, Hey, here's some candy hearts to celebrate anyway!
What other sayings would you put on hearts to share with your scouts and scouters? (up to 3 lines with 8 chars per line)

You actually can have custom hearts created - for example, here. Kind of expensive, but the fleur-de-lis on a heart might be cool. And, if you don't like those chalky hearts, other candies can be personalized, like M&Ms