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I have a son that's still too young for scouts, but I seem to remember religion or belief in a god required to be a scout. I'm an atheist and not planning to raise my boy with religion. If he decides to believe eventually, that's his choice. But assuming he doesnt, would that preclude him from scouting? How is it enforced?

Hello! My understanding, for merit badges, is that you cannot start any of the requirements until you have a blue card/counselor.

Is that different for the camping merit badge? If a kiddo has been in the troop for a few years, done a bunch of camping with the troop, but actually signs up/gets the blue card for camping AFTER those trips, would those trips count or do they have to do them over?

Thanks!

So often, I read posts where parents are attempting to know what will happen to their son at an OA Ordeal or why is their son coming home from one of these events physically ill or emotionally upset and won't talk to them about as he was told to tell no one about what took place. So, I will spell out exactly what I know.

I should say before I start that Scouting America has mandated that a new/updated and much less abusive Ordeal is to be practiced in all lodges by the April 2027 deadline .No longer will youth be forced to work on camp work projects on an empty stomach. No "Ordeal" will be permitted that consists of deliberate food restrictions or severe caloric restrictions. No longer will you be forced to keep silent for over 24 hours. These former polices are no longer approved anywhere in Scouting and finally after decades that includes the OA.

I will be describing the "old" Ordeal.... and yes it is an Ordeal for sure...it is not simply an "Induction Process as it is currently be referred to and it is certainly not a "Pony Party" as one lodge calls it.

As you are already aware, your son will spend a night outdoors with only a sleeping bag and no tent. Only in very bad weather will he be moved under some sort of partial cover. Rainstorms, yes he will be moved..Low temperatures, maybe yes, maybe no . Where I am in the East in October it can be well above 70 during the day and in the low 40's at night.

Before that , he has taken a vow of silence in which he will not be permitted to speak for 24 hours except in emergency situations. If he does, he will be confronted.

On Saturday, the real "fun" begins....OA is famous for telling parents that ask ,"yes meals will be smaller than usual" and that is most certainly true,

For Breakfast, he could be given a single hard-boiled egg and that's it. Or dry cereal or if real lucky some oatmeal but that is rare. Then he will be forced to work on camp projects, hopefully no longer the "sham " projects I witnessed years ago... there were boys attempting to dig a tractor that was stuck deep in the mud at the edge of a lake..some were nearly knee deep in water, all were soaked and covered in mud and worked for hours on this...at the end of it later that afternoon the lodge advisor to me , well they finally got it out, I put in back in the garage until the next Ordeal (any of you OA defenders what to defend that??)

For Lunch, he will receive a"Simple sandwich", which is 2 pieces of dry white bread with one piece of American cheese..that's it until 6 or 7 pm that evening. The there is a dinner when everyone is allowed to eat but no talking for the candidates.

Scouting allowed this in the past as there are adults there who will monitor and see if a boy is exhibiting heat exhaustion or is in some type of distress.. isn't that great it should never have been allowed to get to that point. I should also say that boys are not deprived of water. However, we are not talking about hydration, we are talking about very low glucose levels and very low caloric intake. The adults stand by and are entertained with the boys suffering and make certain that they suffer the way the adults had to suffer when they joined. Again, this is with the old Ordeal but it is still allowed to be done during the transition period.

According to OA figures, only 1 in 8 boys ever come back after their Ordeal...do you blame them??

As an OA advisor told me,, "this is a structured event to achieve hardship and suffering" or another more compassionate leader, "we have no choice, we have to do this to them" .

Scouting should have never allowed this even to take place under this "old" system. This is nothing more than a fraternity initiation party that in some instances falls into hazing.

There is much more to say but I want to get this posted as there are still Ordeal being run this weekend. Some will be under the "old" system , some will not.Parents need to ask which version there son will be exposed to.

On last thing (for now), the OA is Scouting's National Honor Society. It is regrettable to have to say but you will find nothing that resembles Honor at an OA Ordeal (under the old abusive system).

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I’m a leader in a pack, and in my copious spare time I also serve as my district membership chair. We just wrapped up recruiting season, and the results were positive; membership is up 5% compared to this time last year, but I am so frustrated with the old folks on our Council board.

80% of the people on our council board are over 55. Many are in their 70s. We presented how we’re up 5%, and they immediately started throwing out the most ludicrous ideas.

• "We need to advertise in newspapers": Two of the three main dailies in our council have folded or merged, and the third is on death’s door. I cannot remember the last time I saw a newspaper delivered to a driveway or box. The data I’ve seen shows readership down about 70%. But these old-timers still get their papers, or at least the Sunday edition, so apparently we need to dump money into that.
• "National needs to fund a Super Bowl ad": Okay, but do they have $8–10 million lying around? And even if they did, it wouldn’t help us.
• "We need to advertise on Fox News." The median age of a Fox News viewer is 55. These are not the people with kids in Scouting. I’m not getting into the politics of it; I’m just pointing out that these are not parents.

I don’t know what the perfect answer is, and I know National is broke as a joke, but seriously? Is our council going to take marketing advice from grandpa? Sure, they want to see the ads, but that is not where the parents are.

I am so frustrated. We did well (5%!!!), but we’re getting dumped on anyway.

A random thought as I was helping my son work up the energy/interest/get over frustration to tackle knots and lashings.

Summer camp has a ton of MBs and many do other activities tied to scouting to augment the program. Wonder if a Knot Academy or something may be worthwhile.

As a kid my Explorer Post adult lead was a navy guy so knots and lashings were things we had fun with at campouts. In Boy Scouts before even that, we actually did more lashings at camp to build this and that. I just am not seeing as much today before basic requirements.

How does your Pack/Troop/Crew/Ship/Post encourage knot and lashing knowledge?

Hi so our troop advancement chair had to move on and our troop has grown to over 50 kids. Can I ask how many people and positions your troops have for advancement? Just looking for ideas on how to structure adults instead of putting everything on one person. Thankyou

hi,

so has anyone heard how the prorating for the new renewal process starting in '28 is going to work?

For example, im grandfathered in from the last time units handled renewal so my renewal date is dec '26. Will the system prorate me to feb '28 so then my unit can get the years worth fees?

And if so what about people who renew way earlier? my daughters renew date is in july, are they going to pro-rate that to feb 28 or will i have to technically pay for her twice? (renew in july to feb but then be charged for the year fee in feb) Because this sounds like it will be a bit of a pita to tell parents 'oh you will only renew till feb, then you will have to pay the full fee a few months later.."

Also i'm not sure why sa has not gotten out more communication about this, ive seem more comms about the dumb ai agent then i have that units are taking back the renew process.

Anyway does anyone know how the prorating will work or is that not announced yet? (very odd of SA)

I have a stain from a while ago on my uniform’s right sleeve that I’ve never seemed to be able to get out with any stain removing sticks. Any ideas?