Taking family time

I spend a lot of time on the road for work.  I also spend a lot of time doing Scout stuff.   All of it can really stress out what people can take for granted. Family.  While Scouting is there to help the boys and girls get the full positive out of life, the Scouter really needs to understand that Family comes first.

Boy Scout & Cub Scouts is family oriented.  Family is key.  Whatever your reason for getting into Scouting, the core value is FAMILY.

Take time for Family.  Do not volunteer for the next thing.  Your Unit CAN Live without you.  The District will not fall if your not there.  Units and Scouters need to “Be Prepared” for when your not there.  Your family comes first.

While you might get Color Guard at your Funeral…it’s a Funeral.

While, I am not saying that I am leaving or starting to turn down my involement within Scouting…I am off in Maui with my Family.  Doing family stuff.

Am I mindful of things that my Son can accomplish while out here. Yes.  But, it’s not the first thing on my mine.  Am I going to visit the Scout Shop and Council. Yup! I sure am.

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A Scout is Dirty

I missed my chance to do a Good Deed the other day.  It actually kinda bums me out.  For those who follow me on Twitter, I travel a lot for work.  I cover Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California and Alaska.  It can be a lot of fun. I do get to see friends and family as I go.

I was up near Bellingham, Wa the other day when my Good Deed was supposed to happen.  Driving down I-5 I saw a young mother and toddler daughter walking down the highway.  Mom had car problems and was going to get help.  Daughter was in tow.  Mom had the car seat in her hand.   For whatever reason the car was not working and emergency lights were on.

I drove by pretty fast and realized what was going on.  I could not stop, but took the next exit down. It was a mile away.  The one thing that got me was how messy my car was.  Really messy.  There was no way I could stop and offer assistance.

So, I cleaned my car as quickly as I could.  Got back in and headed towards them.  As I got there, I saw that they were gone.  I spent 5 minutes driving around the on/off ramp looking for them.

Gone.  I hope that they were safely delivered to their home.

So, Be Prepared. A Scout is CLEAN!  If I was, I would have done a good deed.

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Pack Pictures Online

This week I stumbled into an area that myself and others routinely do.  Posting pictures online from Pack events.   I try to post only photos with my family in them.  However, within Scouting there is an added air of respondsibility.   As Scouts are all are keenly aware of Youth Protection, Guide to Safe Scouting and the many other publications about keeping the Cub Scouts and Scouts safe.

Because I live  in the Portland, Oregon I am very aware of last summer’s trial against the Boy Scouts and it’s ramifications.  The Boy Scouts of America have as a result stepped up many of their requirements as part of their membership rules.  These are no brainers and should have been there all along.  Because of this, our Pack last summer/fall worked on re-doing a lot of literature updating it.  It was about five years out of date.  During this process we added several photos of the boys to help illustrate “FUN”  within the Pack.  We did ask permission of the parents at that time.

This issue came up again because I am working on a slide show via iPhoto for our Crossover/Blue & Gold events.  I posted it to Youtube via a private access link that only allowed those who had it to see it.   Everyone loved it.  I had only sent it to the Committee & Den Leaders.   A concern was raised about online photos and child protection.

While it does not matter who raised it, it was raised.  I fully understood why.  Not as a Cubmaster, but as a Parent I understood.  I should also mention that my wife was in the Child Abuse Team for the District Attorney’s Office for several years.  So, I get the reasons why.  I took every photo and video down off this blog, my Youtube account and both Facebook accounts. (Yes, I have two).

Thus begun my quest for information about what the Boy Scouts of America has for policy guidelines.  Via Twitter, I found that a few others did too.  So far, I cannot find anything via the BSA has on this subject.  I checked the Guide to Safe Scouting and the website.  These publications and websites do not contain any guidelines on what to do.

What I did find through a posting on ptcmedia.net, was COPPA. I also found a non-Scouting related New York Times article about it as well.    The New York Times article is very interesting.   I have seen articles with a similar outcomes.  Posting photos and having people steal them to create their own online family is horrible.    The COPPA information is generally for companies that have stores or reasons online to collect information.  This link/document is a great resource in helping normal/non-business to create guidelines for posting.

The conclusion that I have reached thus far is this when posting photos of children, your own or otherwise.

1)Do not name your kids in the picture. Tagging them with names is not good. Even if using A.Cox or Robert B.P.  It identifies them.  Identification can help people find them.

2)Full faced photos should not be used.  Use wide angle or off to the side shots.  This will help disguise your child.

3)Photos shot from behind.  These photos still give all the action of the event, but does not compromise the children.

4)Nude shots or shots of them covering privates should never be posted.  (I have seen people post photos of their kids on Facebook and elsewhere like this).  These photos can get the best parent in deep hot water.

5) Get permission from the parents.  If you want to share the photos with someone over Facebook, email it to them.  Better yet, print them off and mail them.  Sharing over Facebook is great.  However, not everyone wants to have their photo “Tagged” on Facebook.

6) If your Unit does post pictures online, find a secure process that allows only those who the parents want to have access to them.   If a parent does not want photos posted of their child, do not post them.  If photos are used for newsletters or non-digital media, then it could be a different story.

Because I am the Cubmaster and write a blog, I work to be very mindful to the wishes of the parents.  I generally do not post pictures of Scouts or Family photos to Facebook.  If I do, my account and photos are heavily locked down and controlled.

In the end, even if your not involed in Scouting, it’s still your duty to safeguard children.  DO YOUR BEST.

 

(Updated March 11th, 2011: From a twitter post from @Scoutsigns there is a link to BSA that talks about Websites & Social Media.  Interesting read.)

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Great Pack Meetings

This meeting was one of the best.  We got a lot done.  Den Chiefs inducted & First Aid stations!  I wanted to do this for two months, and it finally worked out. You know when a meeting is working or not working during the meeting.  During this one, I was floating.  It worked out so well! It’s all because of the great Pack Committee and Den Leaders and those who helped out.

Now onto Crossover, Pinewood Derby, Snow Day and everything else that is fun.

 

Oh, and several people loved my new hat!  I am allowed to have this much fun?

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emergency kits for cubscouts

The January Pack meeting is all about Being Prepared.  I have planned this meeting for awhile.  In earlier posts I talked about the meeting and also a few classes that I took on First Aid and CPR.

I have the Emergency Kit that the boys will make.  Several people will be bringing band-aids and other supplies that can be used in there.  This is for Tigers, Wolves, Bears and Webelos I & II.  The latter two Dens are pretty experinced.  The Bears are very good.  Tigers and Wolves are still very jumpy.  With all of this in mind, I know that if they can get a band-aid on and know about what an Emergency Kit is and have it with them, that’s all good for me.

I had to go out to my garage and find that Spice bottles that I had for my BBQ Spice business awhile ago.  Yah for leftovers!  The great thing about these bottles is that they are sealable.  So, no water or other stuff can get in them once sealed.

While I put in basic band-aids, tape and pads, I also put in a Zbar for food and a drink mix.  The drink mix is good just in case you need a drink.  The bottle can be used for holding water.  While it’s not ideal for cooking or hot food, it’s food safe to drink out of.

I will be handing out the drink mix, which is child safe and does not contain nuts, gluten or anything strange.  It healthy.  Which is good since if you are lost and need food, this drink mix will help give you want you need. (FYI: I am not endorsing this, just giving ideas).

Overall, the boys will learn what it takes to build an emergency kit and get them thinking about it.  It will also allow them to walk away with something tangible and satisfy several points for their Rank and Arrowpoints and other awards that they can get.

BE PREPARED!

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Your Scouting Journey

Today I flew to Washington DC for a three day conference for my company.  Sadly, I will not be able to go into DC and go sightseeing.  My one target would be the Boy Scout Memorial.  I didn’t see that last time I was here.

During my 4.5 hour flight I watched two movies.  The first was “Google Me“.  It is about a man named Jim Killeen.  The crux of the movie is for him to find and visit several people with his name.   His travels led him to Ireland, Australia, New York City, Missouri and other locations.  Along the way he asked several basic questions and wanted to see what the other Jim’s were like.  Were they like him.

The second movie was “The Buddha” with Richard Gere as the narrator.  This movie was about his life and times.  I only got through the first part before I switched to several Podcasts.  Needed a break.  However, I was pretty taken aback about how Buddha came to be.  Meaning from Birth and his upbringing for the first 30 years before he started out on his own.

Alvin Townley who wrote two books about Scouting had a similar journey.  In these books, Alvin traveled the Globe talking to many Scouts about their journey within Scouting and their everyday life.

So, where is this all going?  A  blog that I wrote about doing something different where I traveled to another Council and spoke at a Round table, I am reminded of the quote I used from Baden-Powell.

“When you join a Patrol you become part of a worldwide brotherhood in which every member has promised to keep the Scout Law. Because of this it doesn’t matter if they speak different languages, are of different colours or hold different religious beliefs. When you meet Scouts at large gatherings, remember that they are your brothers and show by your actions that you regard them as friends.”

We are all brothers (and sisters) because of Scouting.  We have a common bond and link to each other.  Like Jim Killeen, we have brothers worldwide.  Like Buddha, we have a journey that we are on.  And like Alvin, his stories about Scouts that use the Scout Spirit to guide them on their journey.

All of this got me thinking.  What is my journey?  Why am I in Scouts?  During my first Wood Badge Staff meeting this last weekend, I was asked what is my memory of Scouting.

My stock answer is Bad Crafts.  I am a victim of a craft project gone wrong as a Wolf Cub in 1976.  Full story is that the Den Mother had us use a Folgers Coffee Can for a Card Holder for Mother’s Day.  It was a can that we took off both top and bottom tin lids with a bottle opener.  Thus having jagged edges.  Then wrapping green yarn around the walls.  This was made possible by us putting our hands through the jagged edges many many times.  The edges were pushed back, but not enough.  I got scrapped up kinda bad. Because of this experience I ended up leaving Cub Scouts.  Yes, I did Pinewood Derby.  I did get my Bobcat.  I did not get my Wolf.  Cub Scouts was not FUN for me.

While this much shorter explanation got a huge chortle out of a few of my fellow Wood Badgers, it is my story.  I am not ashamed of it.  It’s not what I wanted looking back at it now.  However, it’s my journey within Scouting.

However, that is really just the beginning.  I leaped into being the Tiger Den Leader and Cub Master because I needed to make sure that any boy within my Den and Pack did not leave because of Bad Crafts, being bored or not having fun.  If they left because they really did not enjoy it and wanted to play Sports or sing, take Tae Kwon Do or something else that they were passionate about. Great.  I get and understand that.

Since becoming the Cubmaster, I knew that the basic training within MyScouting.org was not enough.  I am a training junkie.  I am a trainer within my company.  I search out training.  Because of this, I have taken the BALOO, OWLS & ITOLS BSA Training.  I have also been certified in First Aid and CPR by the Red Cross.  I have gone to two Pow-Wows and a Training Adtravaganza.  At the latter, I was able to learn more about being a Cubmaster, ceremonies, Blue & Gold, Awards, Packmaster and how to hold cool Pack Meetings.

I also went to and completed my Wood Badge course.  I learned a lot.  I am now on staff for the 2011 course.

This is all well and good. YAH…. I am Trained. I got the patch!  Is that it?  Is this all there is?

Nope, my journey is only really beginning.  I have a lot to learn.  My future goals in training? I want to be a Merit Badge Counselor, Assistant Scoutmaster, District Trainer for Cubscout Leaders plus more.  I want to go to Philmont Training Center and take classes.

But, how do I do all of this?  How do I learn? Who can I learn from?

Those are great questions to have.  Which leads me back to Jim Killeen in Google Me.  He went out and found people with his name.  Can I do something similar? I wonder.

What if I somehow visited Scouters that I have met over Twitter & Facebook and asked them their journey? (or maybe they could come to me?)  How could I do this?   Would they want to?  Do I have to cook a Peach Cobbler in a Dutch Oven to tempt them?  Will they do it for a cool bead? What if I asked them to teach me something that they thing is the most important thing in their Scouting life?

Interesting………..

What’s your Scout Journey?

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I remember….

Image via Wikipedia

I am 42.  Born on April 9th, 1968.  The day Martin Luther King Jr was buried.
I have been to Washington DC twice and was able to stand where he did.  On one trip I meet and talked to a group of African American friends who were at the March on Washington  to see him speak.  It was a very liberating exprience.  These friends apparently walk the through the Lincoln Monument all the time and stop there.

So, I do remember Martin Luther King, Jr.

Related Articles

• African-American – News January 14, 2011 (narmer.wordpress.com)
• “Watch Martin Luther King Jr. I Have A Dream Speech Video With Your Kids” and related posts (blogs.babble.com)

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WE1-492-11

Today starts the first Staff meeting of WE1-492-11 for the Cascade Pacific Council’s Spring Wood Badge course.  While I am and always will be a Beaver, it is now a time to come together with all the other Patrols and deliver the message to others.  Today, we are at Gilwell getting prepared for our soon to be fellow Wood Badgers.

In honor of our Course Scoutmaster:

If the only thing you remember from your honeymoon is the herd of Antelope you drove by in Wyoming…
You Might Be A Wood Badger!

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Out Moving

I learned yesterday that our Pack got the 2010 Quality Unit Award.
We also got the 100% Boys Life as well.  The latter is generally easy.  The Quality Unit Award is a bit harder only because there are goals to be meet.

To me, it means that the Pack Committee and Den Leaders are working together to bring a quality program to the boys.  Yes, it is another patch to put on the uniform.  It however symbolizes that that unit is doing something correct.  It’s doing something above and beyond the normal.  It also means that the Leadership within the Unit is actively looking for other things to do.  If you do different things, then there is not a chance of the unit getting stuck.  Remember Scouting is a Movement, not an Organizations.  Organizations sit still.  Scouts are constantly moving….Keep it Moving!  Scouts has OUT in their name.  OUT MOVING!

I am looking forward to the Journey to Excellence for 2011.   I suspect once the year is completed we will be scoring pretty high.

One of the other awards that I knew we got, but finally got the certificate/ribbons was the Summertime Pack Award.  Along with it, which I did not know was the National Den Award.  I am very happy to have both.

The Summertime Pack Award is really a good program that should be used at every Pack.  It keeps the Scouting Spirit alive and the boys reminded about Scouting.  It also is a great recruiting tool for the Kindergartners and others who want to join.  Having this program will also allow the perspective parents to see what the Pack does.  We have earned it for the second time for my three years in the Pack.  I plan to earn it each year.

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Doing something different.

“When you join a Patrol you become part of a worldwide brotherhood in which every member has promised to keep the Scout Law. Because of this it doesn’t matter if they speak different languages, are of different colours or hold different religious beliefs. When you meet Scouts at large gatherings, remember that they are your brothers and show by your actions that you regard them as friends.”

- Lord Robert Baden-Powell, Founder of Scouting

So, I met this guy on the Internet awhile back and then met him for coffee in real life. No, this isn’t Match.com and yes WE BOTH HAVE TAKEN YOUTH PROTECTION.

I recently went back to Sandpoint, ID to the Inland Northwest Council to help my friend Scoutmaster Phil complete a Wood Badge ticket item.  This ticket item was to bring in two outside speakers to the round table.

Not only is Phil a Scoutmaster, but he is also the Round Table Commissioner.  So, this ticket was right up his alley.  Phil went to the Inland Northwest’s Wood Badge course during Fall of 2010.  He is a Bobwhite.

The crux of the night was talking about additional training, beyond YPT and Position based training.   There was an Eagle Scout who talked about NYLT and what it is, why boys should go and what they will get out of it.  I was asked to talk about Wood Badge and my experinces.  Phil rounded out by talking about “World Wide Round Table”.  Which I actually call the Virtual Round Table.

While I was there for the other topics and to help out my friend, I was  there to see how “Other” Scouters did Round table.  Not just going to another District within my council, but in a totally different Council.Baden-Powell believed that if boys had a common understanding as Scouts that when they grew into adults they would be able to relate and not cause War but create Peace.  I am just continuing that legacy.
While both the NYLT and Wood Badge talks went as expected, it was Phil’s talk about the Virtual Roundtable and how we learn on our own.  Phil related on how he listens to all the PTCMEDIA and Clarke Green Podcasts as well as reading blogs.  Both he and I spoke about the MISS Show, Scoutermom, Cubmaster Chris, True North, Scoutmaster Jerry.  The Melrose Troop Videos were talked about as well.    Phil explained that he uses these resources to better his position and help the boys have a better experience.   The handouts included links to this sites and to the US Scouting Service Project, Boyscout Trail, BALOO and many Cubscout areas.  Phil also burned several of his favorite Podcasts to CD and handed them out to everyone who attended.  His goal was to introduce them to other ways to learn.  Things that they can do on their own.

The whole experience was great.  Not only did I get to see Phil and meet his family, but also see how other Scouters do Scouting.   I learned how other Roundtables, Districts and Councils operate.  I realized what our problems are, happen in other locations.  I was able to let them know that as well.  What I have issues with, they had issues with.  Coming to roundtable is not about getting the requirement for a Leadership Knot.  It’s about undestanding.  I did.

I learned that Roundtable has to be fun.  At Phil’s Roundtable, they had an opening game, an attendance jar full of glass rocks (more later) and songs.

They have fun and do not have breakouts.  We have breakouts for cubscout and boyscouts and have fun too.  The glass jar is there to motivate people to come.  When the jar fills up with Glass Rocks, then the next meeting they get CHEESCAKE!   It took them four meetings to fill it up and they were on their way for another one very soon.  How cool is that?  Yes, our Cubscout breakout gets snacks, but wouldn’t it be cool if we did that for EVERYONE?

Would I like to change up our Roundtable?  Sure, I have been going our Roundtable for about 2.5 years.  I only missed three times. Once for Wood Badge and another two times for Den meeting outings.  I know if it’s not broke don’t change it.  But, let’s change it to add more exciting stuff to it….

I challenge you if geographically possible to go to another District and see their Roundtable.

 

Yours in Scouting

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