Scoutmaster Musings

Today is the one day of the year when you should toss out the Thrifty point of the Scout Law and concentrate on the Brave point.

If you have a sweetheart, make darn sure you get her a card, some flowers, candy, something that will let her know you didn't forget Valentines Day. Don't make the excuse that it's just a waste of money or a Hallmark holiday, be unthrifty and do it. This will get you started on a great year of scouting because she'll be more understanding of your needs to get out and scout.

If you don't have a sweetheart yet, but have noticed that girl two rows ahead and one seat over, be brave and tell her "Happy Valentines Day" after class. Give here a little card too, so she knows you mean it.

This is also a good day to remember that CPR training is a simple way to keep you prepared to help a heart in need someday. Schedule your certification training so you're ready for the summer ahead.

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Okpik means "Snowy Owl" and is a Boy Scout winter camping program. There is an excellent resource titled "Okpik: Cold Weather Camping" available at scout shops which provides lots of great advice on operating a safe winter excursion. You might also learn a bit from reading Winter Camping Tips when planning the training for a campout.

Our troop heads up north on Friday for our own Okpik campout. The scouts have planned the morning to pile snow for shelters - there's 8 inches of snow so it takes some work to make a quinzee. While the snow settles, they're having a cross-country map and compass contest. Then, digging out their shelters in the late afternoon. It's a long day of work, but so exciting for scouts doing it the first time. Fortunately, there's a good handful of experienced scouts going along so they'll show the right way to build and prepare for the night outside.

This year, we're having a visitor from Boys' Life taking photos for a story which will probably show up next year. They called to find out what we were planning and if they could take photos. I said it sounded ok to me, but I'd have to ask the Senior Patrol Leader at the PLC meeting and get back to them. :-) It was pretty much unanimous that a photographer would be welcome.

If you saw the past issue of Boys' Life, there was an article about some Minnesota scouts icefishing and some other scouts doing some winter orienteering. It's good to see a broad range of winter scouting activities covered to broaden the sights of troop leaders.

The funny thing is that this photographer is flying up from Georgia, poor guy. This past weekend, it was -16F here but the forecast is a heat wave of 26F on Saturday.

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The BSA has an online course available to help with planning and decision making for weather. It has some pretty good graphics and interesting images to keep things moving along. It also has interactive quizzes to check your understanding of the BSA recommendations.

This training is a great review for all your scoutmaster staff and youth leaders to go through before the spring camping season (and bad weather season) pick up.

Try it online at BSA Hazardous Weather

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Don't get caught untrained, uncertified, or unchecked for your high adventure treks this year! Besides the rigorous medical checks and CPR certifications, Philmont now requires at least one person in each crew, preferably two, be currently certified in Wilderness First Aid Basics (WFAB). You must present current certification cards upon check in to verify this requirement.

Sea Base and Northern Tier currently 'highly recommend' the WFAB certification, but I've been told it will soon be a requirement at those high adventure bases as well.

As an authorized instructor for the Red Cross, I've just started presenting WFAB this year to help troops in Minnesota fulfill their high adventure requirement. I've been scrambling to arrange extra classes for the demand! There are scoutmasters and committee members from all over the council contacting me to ask about openings in classes. It seems there are a lot of troops sending crews to Philmont this summer. :-)
And, I just know I'm going to get some calls in May saying, "I need training for our June trek!!!" It's bound to happen. Oh well.

The WFAB training itself is very useful and I wish it were a requirement on the Tour Permits for high adventures. I think it's great that more leaders get exposed to the methods of handling potential catastrophies that may occur in the back country. An accident might occur on any campout, not just at a BSA high adventure base. The WFAB certification is not just a good requirement for the BSA bases, it's a good idea for any troop that participates in camping where emergency help is more than 30 minutes away.

To improve the safety levels in our troop and others in the council, I'll be offering WFAB training periodically. By this time next year, my goal is to have 75% of the adult and youth leaders in our troop certified in WFAB and CPR.

When you look into WFAB and CPR training for your troop, contact your council and district to find out if any training classes are scheduled. Then, check around for other options and prices. WFAB price ranges from $45 to $245, depending on the provider and training location.

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The new printing of the Eagle Scout Rank Application, No. 58-728, has a notable change. Now, under requirement #5, the name of the candidate's Eagle project is required, as well as the grand total of hours devoted to it (from page 10 of the Eagle Scout Leadership Project Workbook). The new application will be required in 2008. If an older version is used, it may not be accepted.

The information about Eagle projects will be entered along with other information from Eagle Scout rank applications, and will be stored in a database. Councils will be able to run reports at the district or council level. This new database of Eagle projects will also be available at area, region, and national levels.

See Eagle Scout page for a link to the new application.

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From the Scout Handbook - "A Scout is brave. A Scout can face danger although he is afraid. He has the courage to stand for what he thinks is right even if others laugh at him or threaten him."

From a young boy screwing up the courage to look under his bed at night to an old man sharing stories of his life while on his deathbed, bravery comes in many shapes, sizes, and degrees. Bravery is certainly not the lack of fear, but the strength to overcome that fear. Without fear, there's no need for bravery.

Fear is a feeling you have based on your surroundings. If you sense danger, you feel fear. It's a natural and useful feeling. When a Scout experiences fear, he can either control it or let it control him. Courage controls fear and allows a Scout to keep a cool head, rise above the danger, and act in a brave way. When fear controls the person, he loses his sense of honor and his gut instinct of self-preservation takes over, causing acts of cowardice.

Cowardly acts are wide-ranging. Any situation in which a Scout finds himself can result in an act of courage or cowardice. Does he try to save a drowning man or stay on the safe shore? Does he stand up to a bully or walk away while a small child is harassed? Does he volunteer to lead a hike or stay in the back of the pack?

As a Scout matures, he must understand the tense feeling that comes up in his body when he experiences fear. He needs to train himself to respond to that feeling with a courageous rather than cowardly response. The specific situation does not matter. What is fearful for one person with little experience may be of no concern for someone else that has been through it before. Shooting a rifle, swimming underwater, climbing a tree, giving a speech, hiking at night are all examples of tasks that may be quite comfortable to one person but terrifying to another. Bravery is not needed for the one, but necessary for the other.

A Scout needs to defend the weak, defend the truth, and defend his honor. Opportunities abound in daily life to demonstrate his commitment to these defenses. The brave Scout has a generous and kind heart, willing to put the needs of others ahead of his own. A person that is self-centered and brave may do courageous acts, but they will be based on the guide of self-preservation, much like the cowardly response to fear. When bravery is demonstrated in an act to aid others, that is admirable because the Scout has done his duty to others.

Since fear is a base human emotion, it is not a bad thing as is often thought. Fear gives strength and focus and, as long as it is controlled, is a powerful force to perform great feats. Scouts should be encouraged to approach fearful situations, whatever they are for that Scout, head-on and with purpose. Taking on small challenges that are fearful to a young boy but have no real danger, such as looking under a bed or opening a closet door, helps him understand that fear of the unknown is most common. As he realizes with his mind that there is no real danger, his fear disappears. He also comes to accept that unknown or unseen possibilities should not be feared, but anticipated with relish to expand his experiences in the world. This is a big leap to take and a great step in maturity.

Most boys want to be strong and brave, much like movie heros, able to overcome any obstacle. To prove themselves, they may do foolish things that are actually dangerous, such as walking a fence, jumping a creek, or fighting a bigger boy. These reckless challenges have consequences but have always and most probably will always be a part of a boy's life in some form or another. When a boy does such a task to prove his courage to himself, it can strengthen his resolve in other situations. But, if he is prompted to the task to win approval from other boys, he is actually being cowardly in bowing to their pressure.

This easily demonstrated physical bravery is obvious - the boy attempts the task or chickens out. A more subtle, internal bravery is that which compels a Scout to uphold his moral ideals. When he is tempted to lie, cheat, steal, or cover for someone else doing those things, he must be brave to decline and even more brave to tell authorities if necessary. By not going with the crowd, he may be ridiculed, outcast, or harassed. When the group is heading down a course that goes against the Scout's beliefs, the Scout Oath and Law, he is brave to stand and offer a different course. If he is overruled, then he must make the brave choice of leaving the group.

A Scout's moral ideals also help him to be brave when faced with challenges whose outcomes may only ever be known by him. Whether walking past a crying child without stopping or glancing at a classmate's test, fear can make us take the easiest, safest path. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of looking foolish, fear takes many forms and may cause bad habits. Making excuses and blaming others for mistakes rather than accepting the blame for actions and apologizing for mistakes are habits formed of fear. The Scout brave enough to accept consequences for his decisions is brave indeed.

A Scout is Brave.

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I got word back from the Council Shooting Sports Committee advisor and Activities Director about my question regarding laser tag. Since the Guide to Safe Scouting verbage was changed and the specific term 'lasers' was dropped but 'paintball' and 'dye' were kept, I wondered how that should be interpreted. Should we get the idea that lasertag is now ok to participate in as a scout unit?

The response from council is that the laser tag reference was dropped due to "the lack of facilities and interest in the sport around the country", but it still is not allowed as an activity.

The council advisor pointed out that the overriding phrase here is that "pointing any type of firearm at any individual is unauthorized".

So, there you go. Still no laser tag for our troop, even though quite a few other units in the area participate in that activity on an annual basis.

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Is it ok for Boy Scout units to participate in laser tag events?

The answer for the past few years has been an easy, "NO!" because you could point right to the "Unauthorized and Retriced Activities" section of Chapter IX - Sports and Activities in the Guide to Safe Scouting and read the exact wording from the Boy Scouts of America. Every scout leader should have the latest version of this document. It is available at local scout shops and online.

It used to read:

• Pointing any type of firearm (including paintball, dye, or lasers) at any individual is unauthorized. However, law enforcement departments and agencies using firearms in standard officer/agent training may use their training agenda when accompanied with appropriate safety equipment in the Law Enforcement Venturing program.

But, the latest version of that section on Scouting.org now reads:

• Pointing any type of firearm (including paintball or dye) at any individual is unauthorized. However, law enforcement departments and agencies using firearms in standard officer/agent training may use their training agenda when accompanied with appropriate safety equipment in the Law Enforcement Exploring program.

So, how should the new wording be interpreted?
Was the word "lasers" purposefully deleted to imply that they are ok to use? If someone reads the old version and then the new version, that would be an easy implication to make. But, someone just reading the new version could include lasers as firearms.
Are laser tag guns "firearms" or not? They don't discharge a projectile. They don't cause injury. There's a valid argument that they should not be included in the category of "firearm".

The other activities listed in the Unauthorized and Restricted list are activities in which physical injury is a higher than normal risk. Laser tag has no more risk of physical injury than a run-of-the-mill scouting game like Grab the Bacon, Capture the Flag, or the dozens of others scouts play.
If laser tag was included in the list because of the fear it promotes shooting humans, then it doesn't match the reasoning for the rest of the list. That doesn't mean it should be an authorized scouting activity, but it does mean the BSA should specifically, obviously, and decidedly state if laser tag is aurhotized or not.

By the way, it's interesting to notice the last activity added to the list of unauthorized and restricted activities:

• Water chugging and related activities are not authorized for any program level.

See Current Version or Previous Version (takes awhile to load).

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Now that the new requirements are in place for Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class, folks are trying to figure out the right answers for the requirements. Until the new version of the Scout Handbook comes out, that can be a bit tricky. The new books should be available in local scout shops soon and they will have the information for the new requirement changes in them.

For a quick fix, BSA has published helpful information for scoutmasters, instructors, and troop guides to use in presentations.

Here are the highlights:

• Tenderfoot 9b: describe a bully and how you should respond to one - a bully is someone who wants to hurt another person. Bullying can be physical, verbal, emotional, social, behavioral, or any combination. Bullying can occur anywhere - at school, sport events, playing with neighbors, even online.
  Ways to respond to bullying:
  • First, try to ignore the bully. If that doesn't work, stand up for yourself with words. Rehearse what you want to say so you remain in contol of your emotions when you confront the bully.
  • Tell the bully how hurtful it feels to be bullied, and ask why you are the target. Ask the bully to stop.
  • Sometimes, agreeing with the bully and having a ready response will work ("So what if I have a face full of zits. What's it to you?")
  • Hang out with a couple of friends; try not to be alone.
  • Tell an adult you trust, such as a parent, teacher, or coach.
• Tenderfoot 12a: demonstrate how to care for someone choking - Do not interfere with a person who is conscious and can speak, cough, or breathe. He is still getting air into his lungs. Encourage him to cough up the object, and be ready to administer first aid if it is needed. Have someone call for help. More details about administering abdominal thrusts and backblows are given on this page.
• 2nd Class 8b: explain the three R's of personal safety and protection -
  • Recognize that anyone could be a child molester. Child molesters can be very skilled at influencing children, so be aware of situations that could lead to abuse.
  • Resist advances made to avoid being abused. Just say no, and don't be embarrassed to run away, scream, or cause a commotion.
  • Report any molestation or attempted molestation to parents or other trusted adults. Anytime someone does something to you that your instincts tell you is wrong, or that makes you feel threatened or uncomfortable, tell someone you trust. It's OK to ask for help.
• 1st Class 12: Describe the three things you should avoid doing related to the use of the Internet. Describe a cyberbully and how you should respond to one. - Whenever you go online:
  1. Don't respond to inappropriate messages or Web sites. If you stumble across information or images that you don't understand, it's OK to talk about it with your parent or guardian
  2. Don't share information such as your address, telephone number, school name, or your parents' work address or telephone number, and never send any photos via the Internet unless you have permission
  3. Never agree to meet anyone who has contacted you online unless your parent or guardian goes with you
  
  A cyberbully uses electronic communications to harass, threaten, and harm others. Some tactics that cyberbullies use include dissing (spreading damaging gossip about a person), harassment (repeatedly sending hateful messages), and impersonation (pretending to be someone else and posting damaging information to harm another's reputation).

Be sure to check out the BSA's page.

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Scouts like fire. Scouts like to burn stuff. Trying to make water flow uphill would be easier than changing that fact. At summer camp, scouts I know have had a tradition for the past 5 years of tying a small stuffed animal to a post and burning it at the stake. This started with those little beanie babies that were available at McDonalds. Every year someone has pulled one out of a pack - I just hope they aren't part of a little sister's collection.

Since scouts enjoy fire so much, ensuring they respect it and can manage it should be our goal. I encourage fires all the time and there's never a lack of volunteers to give it a go. Usually, a scout starting a fire has a gallery of advisors, whether he wants them or not. Once scouts are able to lay, light, tend, and extinguish fires properly, I challenge them to start a fire in more interesting ways.

There are dozens of aids to make a fire light faster, such as candles, dryer lint, potato chips, and purell. See Fire Helpers for a list. But, all of these need a spark, flame, or ember to get going. That is the challenge - how do you generate the heat source?

The different ways I've used to create the initial heat for a fire are Sparks, Friction, Sunlight, and Electricity. Electricity stored in a battery heats a filament such as fine steel wool until it burns. Sunlight is concentrated to a point with a magnifying glass until it ignites the tinder. Using a bow drill or hand drill to "rub two sticks together" causes friction which creates a smoldering ember. Flint & Steel creates a spark which is caught in fine tinder to produce an ember. These are all fun ways to create fire and some work better than others, depending on the weather and environment. Most of them take lots of patience, time, and physical effort.

I was just introduced to an extremely interesting, and fairly easy, way to create an ember without matches. In a diesel engine, air is compressed to produce heat. Did you know that by compressing the air around you into a small enough space, it will become hot enough to ignite tinder? There are now fire starters called Fire Pistons which do this exact thing, almost like magic.

I received a fire piston from Jeff at Wilderness Solutions so I could try it out. On my second attempt, I made an ember! It took all of about 20 seconds. Of course, I just had to show off my great new skill to the troop! At our troop meeting, I passed the fire piston around to see who could guess what it was. No scout knew - it was a brand new piece of gear! When I demonstrated it, you should have heard all the oohs, aaahs, and "How did you do that?" questions flying around. :-)

Jeff sells finished fire pistons as well as kits so you can make and carve your own. I've got two kits. My plan is to whittle them with our troop number and give them as Eagle Scout gifts. Jeff has a new Scout Fire Piston Kit with special prices for Boy Scouts. They aren't cheap, but the actual product is not cheap either. The solid coco bolo wood feels great and polishes up just beautifully. They are very solid with nothing to break if it gets dropped or even thrown across a campsite. The kits are simple to assemble and then scouts can whittle, sand, or carve however they like. They are a terrific activity for a patrol or the whole troop, especially in late winter getting ready for spring camping. There is a special bonus deal for scouts that order 20 kits that you should check out.

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From the Scout Handbook - "A Scout is thrifty. A Scout works to pay his way and to help others. He saves for the future. He protects and conserves natural resources. He carefully uses time and property."

Of the twelve points in the Scout Law, I imagine that Thrifty is the one most difficult to quantify. A Scout in an affluent community may consider himself thrifty by saving his $25 allowance for two weeks to buy a video game while a few Scouts in a less wealthy neighborhood might pool the change they collected from turning in soda bottles to buy a bag of candy. Being rich or poor does not define the ability to be thrifty or not. A rich person can be thrifty without being a Scrooge and a poor person can be thrifty while still sharing what he has.

The boy with parents dishing out money for any and all scouting events he cares to participate in is a boy with no opportunity to understand thrift and the value of things. He begins to feel entitled to whatever he desires with no regard towards the necessity of the thing. Being required to do without is the best way to build a sense of thrift and value. Desiring something enough to be willing to work for it, and forego other things for it, gives that thing value and provides an understanding of thrift.

Someone with very little learns from early on that it takes effort, perseverance, and work to acquire those things that are desired. When you can't have everything, you prioritize and acquire first what you need the most, then work down the list acquiring the more important things. This is often food, heat, rent or mortgage, transportation to work, and clothing. When enough money is saved, then less important expenditures can be made occasionally.

A Scout should be given as many opportunities as possible to practice being thrifty within scouting. He can earn his camping gear by doing extra work around home or at a real job. He should have a budget for purchasing food for his patrol on campouts so he stretches the money as much as he can. Scouts should also work together to raise funds for patrol or troop gear, such as tents, cooking gear, stoves, and the like. Paying his way is an important part of a Scout's overall scouting experience. If a Scout joins a patrol and is given everything he needs, he sees no value in it and has no ownership of it.

Thriftiness is most often discussed in terms of money since we exchange work for money and money for those things we need and want. But, a Scout should be thrifty in all areas of life. Turning off unused lights, closing doors and window shades, recycling, and even planning driving routes around town are all ways to be thrifty with energy. Using things he has until they wear out or he outgrows them rather than wanting to be part of every fad that comes along is being thrifty with what he already has. Promoting conservation and natural environment restoration is being thrifty with nature. Using his time to accomplish goals rather than wasting it on idleness is being thrifty with his time on Earth.

The use and care of scout gear is a great example of being thrifty. A new tent assigned to a Scout should last seven years until he becomes 18 years old. By taking care of the tent, the Scout ensures his own needs are met, is conserving resources, and is helping the troop save for the future when new tents will some day be needed. Caring for gear also reduces the amount of repair needed. But, by repairing instead of replacing when feasible, the Scout further demonstrates his thriftiness and shows he can make do.

As Scouts and citizens in the most wasteful country in the world, we have a real challenge to raise our level of thrift. We are much like the child that is given everything and comes to expect everything. We consume more, conserve less, and expect better than we have. We know we should change, but few of us do.

Even worse, we have come to accept debt as a way of life in this country. A thrifty Scout should expect nothing and work for everything he desires. He should save the money for something before buying it, rather than buying on credit and sinking into debt. There are some large purchases for which going into debt makes sense, such as a home, but the debt needs to be managed with a reasonable payment plan that can actually be accomplished. And, the Scout should, on his honor, make the repaying of the debt of highest priority.

Whether relatively rich or poor, a Scout that is thrifty will be ready and able to help others. He may share food, money, or labor with others in need since he has kept his own needs met.

A Scout is thrifty.

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Running with a troop of around 45 scouts, there are some interesting logistic problems that crop up. Things such as having enough cars, enough parking, enough seats in McDonalds, and ceremony lengths in courts of honor all become larger puzzles to solve. After becoming used to the larger numbers of participants, it can be a shock to have an event scheduled that gets little participation. And, then the question of cancelling or going ahead with the event comes up.

This past weekend, the scouts had scheduled an indoor climbing day trip across town. With Christmas break and a few other promotional challenges, the event did not receive as much exposure as normal and only 7 scouts signed up. The patrol leader in charge of organizing the event figured that was not enough and said at the Patrol Leader Council that we should probably cancel it. With 45 scouts, we're used to at least 20 or more on most outings.

As the Scoutmaster, I listened to the discussion, but then when the next agenda item began, I interrupted the SPL. I said I hadn't actually heard a resolution as to the climbing being held or cancelled and I needed to know in order to inform drivers. This started another round of discussion with the disappointment that only a few signed up being the main reason to cancel.

When the SPL asked me what I thought, I said that my mini-van can hold another adult and 5 scouts so that's all I need to go. We have two drivers signed up so we can take 10 scouts that want to go. The PLC decided to go ahead with it.

When the SPL gave me my minute to talk at the end of the meeting, I said that I felt the number of scouts going on an adventure should never be a reason to cancel. Whether we're a troop of 5 or 50 or 500, as long as the scouts schedule an event and there are any scouts that want to do that event, then it should happen. I suggested we might cancel due to dangerous weather, national emergency, fewer than 2 adults available, or fewer than 2 scouts signed up. I also mentioned that before our next planning session in March all the patrols might want to get ideas together that they would actually participate in and get those scheduled.

As it turned out, the patrols rangled another 3 scouts to go and the 10 of them had a great 3.5 hours of climbing. They went to Vertical Endeavors and had a blast!

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