Huntsman not so Mormony

[colton]

I'm glad somebody appreciates the magnitude of the calling.

Yes, my experience is that Scoutmaster is quite possibly the third most demanding calling in a ward--just after bishop and relief society president.

 

[LogGrad98]

That would be the exact reason to not have your wife do nursery... give her a break.
We have 3 male nursery teacher's in our ward. I guess someone did not get the memo?

That was my thought too. She ended up asking for a release after about a month, gave it a good try but just no way.

Also, I do not know if it is official from the church, but due to my job we have moved quite a bit and have been told more than once that we can "team-teach" primary or nursery but that males are not "allowed" to be in there alone. Which was ok with me since I never wanted to teach primary anyway. Still found it interesting they told us that. We have been "team-teachers" in primary a couple of times and once they even told us that if my wife were ill, I would not be allowed to teach the class by myself, that I had to find another teacher available to teach it for us so I was not involved at all. There were 3 team-teacher groups and we just ended up teaching each others' classes if one was out since the men could not teach alone. Weird.

 

[Scat]

This applies to coaching kids sports too. And just about any other kids activity you may be involved in.

Tis true. I've coached my kids' soccer teams over the years and parents are a challenge. They don't seem to understand that if their kid is too busy to come to practice then I'm too busy coaching those that want to play to take the time to sub their kid into the game. They never complain to me directly.

They just run to the league director and complain behind my back.

 

[Jazz Spazz]

Now, all that being said, it wasn't the scouts that were difficult to deal with, it was the freakin' parents. Just try and find a parent willing to go camping with his son for the weekend because we could use an extra vehicle to haul up gear and kids. Just try and find parents to take a week off work and go camping with you. I had one mother go to the Bishop and complain because her son wasn't advancing towards his Eagle fast enough and her ex-husband was threatening to take custody because under his watch the son would make Eagle for sure. Guess what? The kid could care less. We had several kids that were advancing right along. They'd come every week and participate. This kid would just sit in class and wait for it to end so he could play football afterwards.

The worst were the kids that never came to scouts because they simply didn't care. Then, all of the sudden they'd be 17 1/2 and the parents would decide that they really needed to get their Eagle. I'd have parents hounding me to pass them off for stuff that I knew dang well they hadn't done. I even had one parent give me work that an older brother had turned in for his Eagle project expecting me to give junior credit.

Yup, if it weren't for parents, scouting would be fun.

This applies to coaching kids sports too. And just about any other kids activity you may be involved in.

The parents can be bad, and in different ways.
Some parents don't care at all, and never check up on or help their kids.
Some parents do it for their kids, and expect the kids to learn something... might as well award the Eagle to the mom.
Some parents procrastinate and try to push things through with mimimal effort and only want the badge...even though it's too late to do right.

Every once in a while there will be good parents that help and coach their kids the whole time, and support without actually doing things for them.
It's usually those parents that will go on the campouts with the leaders from time to time and help out.

Good scout leaders are hard to find, my opinion is parents and other leaders should be involved to help them and take some of the load so they don't get burnt out. A good scout leader does more good for those boys than about anyone else, and they should have enough help that they can focus on the important things.

Whatever... that's just my opinion.

 

[Scat]

Good scout leaders are hard to find, my opinion is parents and other leaders should be involved to help them and take some of the load so they don't get burnt out. A good scout leader does more good for those boys than about anyone else, and they should have enough help that they can focus on the important things.

Apparently a Scout leader period is hard to find. LOL After I resigned they begged me to come back, and not just because the kids said they liked me, but because they couldn't find anyone else to do it. I let them know that'd I'd be the assistant because I liked participating in scouting but I wasn't willing to run the show anymore. To many politics and problem parents.

 

[Jazz Spazz]

That was my thought too. She ended up asking for a release after about a month, gave it a good try but just no way.

Also, I do not know if it is official from the church, but due to my job we have moved quite a bit and have been told more than once that we can "team-teach" primary or nursery but that males are not "allowed" to be in there alone. Which was ok with me since I never wanted to teach primary anyway. Still found it interesting they told us that. We have been "team-teachers" in primary a couple of times and once they even told us that if my wife were ill, I would not be allowed to teach the class by myself, that I had to find another teacher available to teach it for us so I was not involved at all. There were 3 team-teacher groups and we just ended up teaching each others' classes if one was out since the men could not teach alone. Weird.

Ok, yea... that is how we do it too. Can't teach primary kids alone, and can't take them to the bathroom... take them to the parents to take them to the bathroom if they can't go alone. I understand the rule.... I think it was made like that for the few incidents that must have happened in the past. They should go with the same team teach rule for women too just to keep things standard.

 

[franklin]

In all seriousness, am I the only one that found it irritating when they created a "calling" just so no one was actually just a member? I remember getting called as the assistant to the 2nd and 4th week deacons quorum teacher in a ward that had 5 deacons. 5 deacons and they had a deacons advisor, 2 teachers and then an assistant teacher. It isn't like I didn't get involved and help out in other areas on my own (scouts, young men, sports, etc.). That was almost just patronizing and kind of said "if you don't have some kind of BS calling you are not really a member".

Sometimes it is ok to just be a member.

With boys it's just a way for the bishop to extract a confession from each adolescent that's been doing what adolescent boys tend to do. Those guys can peer into your soul, ya know. Sit you in a chair, on the opposite end of an intimidating by design desk, pull out a box or whatever the psychological trick is to make you even more nervous, and stare through your eyes and into your soul until you crack. This is why all young men need a calling, no? To pull you back onto the straight and narrow.

 

[TroutBum]

I was seventeen, three hundred and sixty four days old when I got my Eagle Scout. My parents had nothing to do with it though, so I don't feel too bad.

 

[LogGrad98]

I was seventeen, three hundred and sixty four days old when I got my Eagle Scout. My parents had nothing to do with it though, so I don't feel too bad.

You are one of the few anymore that actually did it on your own. You should be proud.

I love reading about all the 12 and 13 year olds in the paper who are getting their Eagle. I am sure all the work mom and dad put in for them will help them a lot in the future. Don't get me started on the scouting program. I have met only a handful of scouting people that I really respect. It is just such a joke anymore (at least in pretty much every ward I have lived in).

Ever notice there seems to always be the one family where every member of the family is a silver beaver or whatever and the only clothes they own came from the Scout Store and all of their kids (usually a lot of kids too, like 6 or more) have very merit badge known to man and they have like covered dedicated parking spots at the scout camps, stuff like that.

 

[Bronco70]

I love reading about all the 12 and 13 year olds in the paper who are getting their Eagle. I am sure all the work mom and dad put in for them will help them a lot in the future. Don't get me started on the scouting program. I have met only a handful of scouting people that I really respect. It is just such a joke anymore (at least in pretty much every ward I have lived in).

There are a lot of people who feel this way about the scouting program, and for good reason. Personally, I believe it can be a great experience. I had a great experience as a scout. Unfortunately, it relies heavily on the adult leadership. Leaders who don't care, or aren't into it, usually translate to bad experiences and, frequently, animosity toward the program as a whole.

Putting someone in who doesn't really want to be there is good for nobody.

 

[LogGrad98]

Tis true. I've coached my kids' soccer teams over the years and parents are a challenge. They don't seem to understand that if their kid is too busy to come to practice then I'm too busy coaching those that want to play to take the time to sub their kid into the game. They never complain to me directly.

They just run to the league director and complain behind my back.

Gee I wonder why? You only look like a combination of Vin Diesel and Charles Manson (minus the swastika of course).



Actually you kind of look like Travolta.

 

[bigb]

When I was a Scout, my parents were active participants (as much as they could be). They were there to push me, but I did the work. My dad didn't go on many of the camps with us, but he was serving as Bishop at the time. The ward I lived in when my wife and I built our first house had a Scoutmaster that had it figured out. He made a policy, backed the bishop, that if a Scout's dad didn't go on at least 1 camp per year, the scout couldn't go again until his dad came. That was a good way to weed out the kids that didn't care or get their parents involved.

 

[Surely]

I grew up spending every summer at a boy scout camp (Camp Hunt on Bear Lake for those who care) as my dad was Program Director and Camp Director and my mom was the cook. I have great respect for the scout program and what it teaches, but the people running the Council are corrupt and inept. I have too many stories to get into here, but there is a lot that goes on that is ridiculous and would never fly in a "real" business.

 

[PearlWatson]

When I was a Scout, my parents were active participants (as much as they could be). They were there to push me, but I did the work. My dad didn't go on many of the camps with us, but he was serving as Bishop at the time. The ward I lived in when my wife and I built our first house had a Scoutmaster that had it figured out. He made a policy, backed the bishop, that if a Scout's dad didn't go on at least 1 camp per year, the scout couldn't go again until his dad came. That was a good way to weed out the kids that didn't care or get their parents involved.

What about boys who didn't have a father or one that gave a damn? Those are the kind of boys who need organizations like Scouts.

 

[bigb]

What about boys who didn't have a father or one that gave a damn? Those are the kind of boys who need organizations like Scouts.

To my knowledge, there weren't any boys that fell into that category. Knowing that particular Scout leader (I've known him since I was a kid), I'm sure something would have been worked out. Obviously boys without a dad, for whatever reason, would fall into a different category. And if a boy shows that much interest but his dad doesn't, the boy shouldn't be punished.