r/scouting

My son just graduated from Tiger scout to Wolf. I've noticed that his uniform, which we bought new a year ago, says "Boy Scouts of America" on it, whereas scouts who joined before him, who therefore bought their uniforms before him, have "Scouts of America" on their uniform. Does anyone know why older uniforms have the new name and newer uniforms have the old name? I've also noticed that on the health and medical record I just filled out for cub scout camp that it refers to the "Boy Scouts of America". Why are they still using the old name some places?

I'm currently a leader with Brownies and Guides in the UK.

I'll be leaving Girlguiding in September due to their trans-exclusionary policies (I'm a cis-het ally).

I know the leaders of a local scout group really well - it was set up by current & ex rainbow/brownie/guide leaders of my current family units.

They don't currently have a squirrel drey in their group, due to not having the leaders willing to take it on.

Myself and another helper that are leaving brownies & guides are considering going to the "dark side" but are undecided as yet! (We've also considered setting up a woodcraft folk group or a girls' friendly society - both are older than/equally as old as scouting & guiding but they don't feel quite the same from what I've seen online, although I've never actually seen how these groups run in-person)

So .... squirrel leaders, or adults who have moved from guiding to scouting, what are your experiences? (And should I go for it?)

I'll go first:

-On my very first camping trip, I got held down and forcibly kissed by another, much older scout. It was witnessed by everyone in my patrol, but got laughed off because the other scout had some sort of mental disability. Nothing was ever done about it, and the other kid kept terrorizing other scouts with aggression and unwanted touching.

-My patrol leader (a future SPL) and his assistant PL took turns spitting at the back of my head while we were passengers in a van.

-One SPL went around punching or whipping people who had their hands in their pockets while standing around on a cold winter day.

-An older scout (mid teens) repeatedly asked me (12 years old at the time) to perform a s€X act on him. I don't know if he said those things as a joke so as to make me uncomfortable, or if he was actually serious. But as a 12 year-old I couldn't tell. I got extremely scared and told my parents. The other scout was moved to a different patrol, and he later dropped out.

-When I was an older scout, I sincerely tried to do the right thing and do a good job at Scouting. Regardless, I got repeatedly snapped at and yelled at by the scoutmaster for not being as good of an SPL or crew chief as his own son had been, despite the fact that we had faced entirely different challenges. The man had a volatile temper, and at other moments would lavish bizarrely excessive praise on me. As an adult I now recognize this as a classic manipulation and abuse tactic.

All of these things happened almost 30 years ago, but they still bother me to this day.

Hey all! We are new team members and eventually we will be running the scout unit..

We have come over from guiding (because trans* policies) and we are struggling with the cost of formal uniform as each shirt is like £25 ..

Does anyone know (I’ve tried Vinted) where we could get uniform a bit cheaper?

Thanks!

I was a scout for 7 years back in Venezuela. Got the highest badge as a rover and left. My scout group was very awful with me due to other stuff and decided to leave.

Now i live in Argentina and the idea of going back came into my head. At least in that way and came make new friends and go out a little. The thing is, it will be worth it? I know i'd be more like a volunteer than a regular scout do to my age. Anyone who lived a similar case? I'm all ears.

Hi everyone,

I’m 14 (15 later this month) from the UK and I’ve just sent an enquiry to join my local Explorer Scout unit.

I used to go to Cubs before COVID and really enjoyed it and made a few friends, but then lockdown happened and I never ended up going back.

I’m autistic and have ADHD and do online school now because I struggled in mainstream school. I’d quite like to make some friends my own age and get out of the house a bit more lol.

I’m just a bit nervous because I don’t really know what Explorers is like these days or what it’s like joining when everyone already knows each other.

Has anyone joined at 14 or 15? What was it like and did you make friends?

Thanks 🙂

Hello. Mods - hope this is allowed. Happy to validate my credentials with you via PM - I am the assistant beavers leader for my group in the UK.

My kids have been attending a local group for a few years. Our wonderful Akela is turning 50 soon. We would like to get her a group gift.

Her husband thinks she would be most touched if it was something that somehow combined "scouting and 50".

Any brilliant ideas? I've looked on the UK scouting website which does have a "gifts for leaders" section but nothing is really leaping out. There's no specific budget in mind yet, we'll be asking parents/ carers to contribute.

She's been doing scouts for four decades now and has donated so much time and energy. We'd love to do something nice for her.

My daughter and I are attending in 3 weeks. We registered months ago, I am a leader and life member and my kiddo is an ambassador. We are sooo confused. We have received exactly 2 emails, no details, the website is hard to navigate, there is no app. The schedule is multiple layers down in the site. We did get one email telling us to accept terms and conditions on the registration- which we already had done. I sent an email to support and crickets. Are we getting cancelled today (the deadline)? No way to know. Anyone have any insight?

Hi! I'm a Polish Scout from ZHP. If your patrol is coming to the World Scout Jamboree 2027, I'd love to get in touch!

If you're planning to arrive a few days early or stay a little longer after the Jamboree, my troop would be really happy to host any of you, show you our region, and spend some time scouting together. Feel free to message me💞

We are from Wrocław, in Poland. Especially if you're from another continent and has never been in Poland before. We would be the happiest to show you our culture. We are sailor scouts, so we can even take you to the boat and swim together, make dumplings, sing by the fire and laugh. I am pretty sure it's gonna be one of the best expiriences in our lifes! Please, if you're looking for amazing memories, comment this post🫶🫶🫶

Whats something thats always in your bag for summer camp? I like to take offbrand pringles with me, because they fit in my hiking bag’s water bottle holder.

- I thought I saw this in Boys' Life magazine back in the 2000s but maybe it was a BSA training manual from the 1980s or 1990s?
- It's a short comic, only 1-2 pages. Art style was serious (not goofy), depicting realistic humans. It was a very simple comic: not a ton of shading or details.
- PLOT: A young man is expected to carry a pack and it's expected to be very heavy (like 100 pounds or 150lbs or 200lbs or something). He struggles tremendously, wondering as he sweats and struggles how the other older men seem to be carrying their packs with such ease. But when they reach the end of their trek, they're all unpacking their packs, and everyone realizes that the young man was ACTUALLY carrying TWICE AS MUCH as everyone else.
- Multiple AI models have failed me in my search. If anyone knows what I'm talking about or has another suggestion on where to look, thank you in advance!

im moving to auckland, nz soon, so i wonder is there any scout troop nearby i could join, im currently a senior scout.

Time for everyone to get familiar with Exemption 5: Internal documents

So the lawsuit by Dale is cute and all, but it is going nowhere. Hegseth never signed the MOU and because no final executed version exists, the fact that Hegseth has a copy does not make it subject to FOIA. Instead, it is exempt as "pre-decisional and deliberative" under 32 CFR 1662.22(a)

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-32/subtitle-B/chapter-XVI/part-1662/section-1662.22

https://www.justice.gov/archives/oip/foia-guide-2004-edition-exemption-5

https://oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/Resources/FOIA+Guide

What will happen, as I believe I saw someone post here recently, is that Hegseth will come back and attack Scouting America in August/post Jamboree and will likely skip all the demands and just

• Remove all Scouting units from military bases and end base and installation access
• Move to seize control of or direct a lawsuit against the Scouting America board for violating the original Congressional Charter that limited services to boys "The purposes of the corporation are to promote, through organization, and cooperation with other agencies, the ability of boys to do things for themselves and others, to train them in scoutcraft, and to teach them patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues, using the methods that were in common use by boy scouts on June 15, 1916."
• Yank any/all military regulations that grant Eagle Scouts promotion or advancement benefits, such as

Branch	Authorized Advanced Rank	Core Governing Regulation
U.S. Army	Private First Class (E-3)	AR 601-210 (Regular Army and Reserve Components Enlistment Program), Paragraph 2-18a
U.S. Navy	Seaman (E-3)	COMNAVCRUITCOMINST 1130.8 (Navy Recruiting Manual-Enlisted)
U.S. Air Force	Airman First Class (E-3)	AFI 36-2002 (Enlisted Recruitment and Accession)
U.S. Marine Corps	Private First Class (E-2)	MCO P1100.72 (Marine Corps Enlistment Criteria Manual)
U.S. Coast Guard	Seaman / Fireman (E-3)	COMDTINST M1100.2 (Coast Guard Enlistment Manual)

Hi All,

My daughter started Cub Scouts in 1st grade and recently bridged to BSA. She loved scouts: the little games, the skills, the cooking, the camping. It was mostly fun with a little lesson.

Sadly BSA feels more like a chore to her and I. It feels like the parents are way more involved than they are supposed to be, and the merit badge requirements for most of these meetings are mind numbingly, boring for my daughter.

I was under the impression that in the older troop, the scouts would be way more independent. But now I’m finding myself having to go on the hikes with the kids. I just feel like my daughter won’t bond with the girls if these parents are all here on the hike with them. I thought that they were mostly going to be independently hiking with two leaders and for the most part, the other parents wouldn’t be involved.

Also, aside from this one hike that we were forced to go on with the kids, all the meetings are very merit batch based. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of fun and interaction. It just seems more like a class where they are listening to somebody go on and on about the ins and outs of the particular topic. My daughter has complained that she is so tired of sitting there and having to listen to all of the information with nothing to do, but just sit there.

I’m not trying to say that I don’t enjoy hiking or being involved with my daughter, of course. But I thought that this stage of Scouting would be more about teaching independence, about doing things on your own making mistakes, learning skills and still enjoying fun activities in the meeting. But with parents here, how can they make mistakes? How can they bond with other peers when the parents are there listening and hovering?

Is this normal, or did I sign her up for an “Eagle Factory”?