Chandler#81 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Amid declining participation and sexual abuse charges. Sad, really. Back in the 19th century-when I was in Scouting, it was fun and I learned a lot. Seemed everyone I knew (boys & Girls) we’re in scouting. Participation has been in steep decline for decades and the many egregious sexual abuse cases are its death knell. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/02/18/boy-scouts-bankruptcy/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 If the task didn’t come with a merit badge, what good is it? 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo_Gal Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I wrote this in another thread yesterday where this was being discussed: I think this is sad. My son is an Eagle Scout, started as a Tiger. He was in scouts a long time. While I can only speak to the scout troop he was in, I am not certain how there could have been widespread abuse. When he was a Cub, a parent HAD to stay with the troop for meetings. A parent HAD to camp with them when they were older and started camping (last two years of cubs). When he moved on to Boy Scouts, the scout leader was always looking for parents to go through the training and become assistant leaders. He finally talked my ex-husband into it. On camp-outs, parents were not only welcome, they were encouraged (nice was of saying begged to camp too). IOW, parents were not only welcome, they were asked repeatedly to stick around and help out. Where there is a will, there is a way, I am sure. There very well could have been abused boys (in an organization this large that deals with children, it was probably sadly inevitable), or some could simply see this as a way to make a quick-buck. The cynic in me does not discount the later. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 2 minutes ago, RochesterRob said: The lawyers are after anybody with deep pockets. Most of them could not care less about the personal suffering of any of the victims. As to just keep your nose clean to keep the lawyers away I wish that was really the case. I'm having to deal with a person right now that does not know what private property is as it relates to others. I go to the lawyer in a couple of weeks to attempt a polite-o-gram to resolve the problem. I am pretty sure that will have to be followed up with a certified letter stern-o-gram a few weeks after. Yet... They (lawyers) will tear apart land like Philmont, New Mexico... Florida Sea Base and sell to the highest bidder, developer. Thank God... They just remortgaged Philmont to high heavens. I was reading about the Houston Council... There are some real prime land there. 13,000 wrong... 10s of Millions went through without even a hint of impropriety. Once again... America has this backwards. Not saying, don't help the aggrieved... Boy Scout model is dead, doing things for free... It's the business model of the Girl Scouts that won out: $$$$ Destroyed by the pedos infiltrating the ranks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RochesterRob Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 3 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said: Yet... They (lawyers) will tear apart land like Philmont, New Mexico... Florida Sea Base and sell to the highest bidder, developer. Thank God... They just remortgaged Philmont to high heavens. I was reading about the Houston Council... There are some real prime land there. 13,000 wrong... 10s of Millions went through without even a hint of impropriety. Once again... America has this backwards. Not saying, don't help the aggrieved... Boy Scout model is dead, doing things for free... It's the business model of the Girl Scouts that won out: $$$$ Destroyed by the pedos infiltrating the ranks. This may sound like I am going against the current grain here but I just don't see the point of huge cash awards as a way to solve a problem. It would be better to get any organization to change their ways. Reform any organization back to its ideal state where it did many millions of people a lot of good. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 7 hours ago, Chandler#81 said: Amid declining participation and sexual abuse charges. Sad, really. Back in the 19th century-when I was in Scouting, it was fun and I learned a lot. Seemed everyone I knew (boys & Girls) we’re in scouting. Participation has been in steep decline for decades and the many egregious sexual abuse cases are its death knell. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/02/18/boy-scouts-bankruptcy/ you mean the 20th century? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGOATski Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 6 minutes ago, row_33 said: you mean the 20th century? Obviously didn't get his century badge 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 11 minutes ago, LeGOATski said: Obviously didn't get his century badge i'm old enough to remember people telling me about the 19th century, i miss them 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGOATski Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 2 minutes ago, row_33 said: i'm old enough to remember people telling me about the 19th century, i miss them People have told me about all the centuries. I don't even remember their names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 9 minutes ago, LeGOATski said: People have told me about all the centuries. I don't even remember their names. longetivity is in the family tree on all sides, so people born in the 1880s were around in the 1970s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 3 hours ago, row_33 said: you mean the 20th century? ?I was being facetious. I get ribbed a lot around here for knowing the ‘60’s Bills well. -and yes, it was a thrill watching the Hoover Dam construction.? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 2 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said: ?I was being facetious. I get ribbed a lot around here for knowing the ‘60’s Bills well. -and yes, it was a thrill watching the Hoover Dam construction.? thought it was worth some mirth Lord Baden-Powell founded the scouts in 1910 or so. In Canada i was raised under a mishmash of UK and US scouting rules and stuff. I remember camping trips for which most of us were dreadfully undersupplied, the older ones had cords of firewood and steaks to cook for dinner. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Beard Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 When I was a scout in 1968 the older kids hazed (beat up) the younger kids. I have two older brothers, so I was used to getting hazed (beat up) often. I thought the scouts would be different. The grownups ignored the hazing, so I said to heck with this after about six months and one camping trip, during which the rain flooded our tent. Good times. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlCowlingsTaxiService Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Loved my scouting experience...still have my first place trophy for the pinewood derby! Like a previous poster said, in my pack there was always a parent or two around and assisting on projects. Maybe the issue was more with packs that had minimal parental involvement. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 4 hours ago, Gray Beard said: When I was a scout in 1968 the older kids hazed (beat up) the younger kids. I have two older brothers, so I was used to getting hazed (beat up) often. I thought the scouts would be different. The grownups ignored the hazing, so I said to heck with this after about six months and one camping trip, during which the rain flooded our tent. Good times. what was the fun without the semi-torture of the greenest and weakest? always had to make sure there were 3 far worse clueless dweeps than me l Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Beard Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 21 minutes ago, row_33 said: what was the fun without the semi-torture of the greenest and weakest? always had to make sure there were 3 far worse clueless dweeps than me l I was more of a witness than a victim, but they pretty much had all the tenderfoots (tenderfeet?) cowering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 12 minutes ago, Gray Beard said: I was more of a witness than a victim, but they pretty much had all the tenderfoots (tenderfeet?) cowering. character building exercises 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookieG Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 When my boys were in Scouts, I remember being at a camp out and the Troop leader was talking about their "legal defense fund". He had an uncle or something who was high up on the national council and told him the fund was several hundred million dollars for keeping gays from becoming scout leaders. When I brought up that the Supreme Court had already decided the issue, he kinda poo-pooed it and claimed that they needed the fund to fight off lawsuits by gays demanding to be leaders. I think he got a little misinformation. It was really a settlement account for the abuse lawsuits. IDK, when my boys were in, I thought they took decent preventive measures. There was a video that every parent had to watch before going on an outing with the boys regarding the Rule of 2. (2 adults needed to be present whenever they were with a boy.). With that troop, it was easier, because you had a good deal of parental and volunteer activity. Another good rule they had was that boys slept on one side of the camping area, adults on the other. If there were any problems, I hadn't heard about it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punching Bag Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Only thing I heard during my scouting membership was a cancellation of an Eagle scout promotion ceremony we were supposed to attend. Evidently the scout who was supposed to be promoted was being kicked out for complaints from some younger scouts about "inappropriate touching". Evidently the kick out was part of agreement to stop a lawsuit. No adults were involved but some said that adult leaders should have known about the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundancer Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 (edited) 22 hours ago, Buffalo_Gal said: There very well could have been abused boys (in an organization this large that deals with children, it was probably sadly inevitable), or some could simply see this as a way to make a quick-buck. The cynic in me does not discount the later. I suggest in a friendly way that your choice of "or" as conjunction should be "and" to make your point. There were 100% abuses by adults, other kids, and the Scouts. Where there are lots of kids, abusers will be drawn. I was a long time scout. Never had issues but it would not have been hard for an adult or sick kid to take advantage of a prevailing culture that lauded bullying kids and adults mostly looked the other way as others noted, or participated in their own way. I had fun but it was also a messed up setting in many ways with a dark Lord of the Flies underbelly. I hope a civic minded organization with outdoors skill teaching survives and learns from this. Edited February 20, 2020 by Sundancer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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