Issue 655 – September 10, 2020

________________________________________
Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Just drop a line to askandybsa@yahoo.com.

Dear Andy,

I should start by saying that I could not be more proud of the Scouts and Scouters here at President Ford Field Service Council. During this pandemic, in spite of all the uncertainty, many of our Scouts have taken this as an opportunity to work on advancement and hone their Scouting skills. And through their work, Scouts have continued to provide service both to family and to their neighbors in need. Our incredible Commissioner Team and dedicated Unit Leaders are getting themselves further trained, leading their teams virtually and gearing up for the time when we can return to Scouting in a more traditional venue.

My concern is that all of the negative publicity, especially when coupled with the National BSA changes, is threatening to overshadow the outstanding achievements our youth have accomplished during a time when most of the world chose to stand-still. The leaders and parents who have encouraged and enabled their youth to make a difference is inspiring.

My question, then, is how can we highlight the positive from the thousands of hours of planning, effort and action to help our communities during the necessity of producing what can only be seen as negative ads? I am in no way trying to dismiss the importance of helping victims or trying to trivialize the challenges and changes in Scouting that have left some Scouts and volunteers feeling a bit lost. But I’m very concerned that the even bigger positive impact that thousands of Scouts and Scouters make on a daily basis is going to be drowned out by a necessary but negative request.

Our communities often do not realize the impact made by Scouts and Scouters, who provide goods and services where none existed before. The impact of youth performing A Good Turn Daily and the daily struggle to live by the Scout Oath and Law are what will create the foundation for our future communities.

How, in this current climate, can I help my communities to understand the importance of Scouting—needed now more than ever—when all they see is the frustration and the chaos? How can I explain to them that we are planting the seeds in the youth of today that will grow into the leadership of tomorrow? How can I communicate that the Scout volunteers who serve today are working to develop and provide for a program for the youth who have not yet been born? Your advice would be greatly appreciated as I seek to better serve my council. (Council Commissioner)

I understand your concerns very well, and I agree that they’re very real. So what to do? After pondering this for some time, and trying my best to stay practical and realistic, I do have a thought that might work, and, if it does, it’s right where the rubber meets the road!

Here’s the deal… There’s literally nothing either the BSA national office or even your local council can do to diminish the impact of the TV commercials in Prime Time that focus on “what to do if you’ve been abused” and what law firm to call. BUT, differences can be made at ground-level, in local newspapers and even local TV “community news” programming (think: the cable companies in your council’s service area).

Stories (with video and well-staged photos) that are local can make a huge difference. That’s because “The BSA” is just words and a vague “image” but boys and girls in blue or tan uniforms get almost as much attention as babies and kittens! Plus, it may be stuff you can post on p[ack or troop websites or—better yet—Facebook pages!

But the pieces—although written by volunteers—have to look and feel 100% “professional.” (You can’t expect any editor to “edit” a press release—if it doesn’t fit the paper’s or magazine’s standards, it gets 86ed without so much as a blink.)

So how about a series of 45-minute Zoom-based workshops on how to write press releases and take photos that will “get ink”?

I’m envisioning two people on-camera: You, who can talk (briefly) about the need and the kinds of events that are newsworthy, and a contact from a local (community) newspaper who can talk about what “gets ink” with some good and not-so-good examples. And be sure to be “live” and allow questions! This isn’t a “canned” workshop—You need “live ammo”!

Do this for pack leaders separately from troop leaders, because the kinds of events will be different. Do the same if you have Venturing crews or Sea Scout ships, but these two can be combined.

Collaborate with council staff and get them involved, too, for district and council events! Reach out to your council’s board members to find out who has media connections—then recruit them to roll up their sleeves like never before!

The idea behind this, of course, is that people do pay closer attention to what’s going on in their communities than they do with national or world news, and good photos of kids (in uniform!) are always winners!
==========
Hi Andy,

Something just got announced that has me bummed—It’s the changes to the advancement program for Venturing. First, the former “awards” are now called “ranks,” but there doesn’t seem to be an order or hierarchy to them. Just “Venturing,” “Discovery,” “Pathfinder,” and “Summit,” and both “Silver” and “Ranger” are now gone. Plus, now requirements done as a Scouts BSA troop member can count towards all of the ranks. And that doesn’t mean that you need to be 14 even, so if something is done when you’re 11 or 12, it counts. These changes just seem to make Venturing ranks a “bonus”—a sort of “Oh, by the way” or “Wow! I didn’t even know I was working on that” kind of thing. It makes me sad and wondering what’s happening. (Connie Knie)

“Back in the day” (the mid-to-late 1950’s, to be more precise), I was both a registered Boy Scout (Troop 15) and a registered Explorer (Post 15)—two separate youth groups but with some overlap in membership. I earned Eagle several months before my 16th birthday, and was looking for a new challenge. Merit badges didn’t interest me too much, mostly because the ones I was interested in—Aviation, Dramatics, Journalism, Photography, Seamanship, and a few others—didn’t have any counselors in my council at that time. So I turned to the Explorer ranks (and they were truly ranks: Apprentice, Bronze, Gold, and Silver) and “ratings” (which numbered only nine but each of which having requirements extensive enough to equal between five and six merit badges apiece) instead. I decided to go for Silver, which included a lot of tenure, leadership, social, and service elements (in addition to earning ratings). Since almost all requirements said “since becoming an Explorer,” there was very little reliance on anything I’d done along my pathway to Eagle.

This is why, in this era, having earned both Eagle and Silver was commonly, and admiringly, called the “Double-Eagle.”

Today, things are different. In some ways, the pathway to Eagle has become—with the formal addition of a specific service project instead of, in my day, the expectation of significant continuing service through every rank—more intensive. Simultaneously, it’s also become more lax with the addition of “alternate-required” merit badges (e.g., Hiking or Cycling can replace Swimming, and a significantly less rigorous or skill-centered Emergency Preparedness can be substituted for Lifesaving) and in certain other skill areas (for instance, when I earned First Class, one thing I needed to do was send and receive Morse Code at a specified level of accuracy and wpm speed).

By the same token, some Venturing recognitions seem to have slid into the “if you did this before you don’t need to repeat it” category, which is sometimes difficult to separate from the “double-dipping” aspect. On the other hand, there at least used to be some that, if they didn’t stand by themselves, at least went beyond Scout requirements, like the now obsolete Ranger Award.

Let’s face it… These are likely the toughest times the BSA has ever experienced. I watched this happen starting way back in the Vietnam era and its aftermath, then the emphasis put on “city-Scouts” which damaged the whole “fun in the out-of-doors” concept, the terribly unfortunate “gay issue,” and now the child abuse litigations. All of this is unfortunate, all of it pretty much equally unavoidable, and more’s the pity—especially since I firmly we need Scouting in America!

But you know what? Boys and girls, young men and young women, really haven’t changed all that much from when I was a kid… It’s the world around our kids (and grand-kids) that’s changed! If we step back for a moment, we’ll realize that our kids want the same things we did as kids… Fun, challenges we could master, peer-group acceptance, kindly adults who’ll cut us some slack for our momentary lapses of judgement, some good role models, a place to goof off and be ourselves with no teachers or parents around (but still with “safety nets”), and the chance to inspire ourselves to grow and lead and help our friends and eventually turn out okay. And really, everything else is just “stuff.”

So let’s focus on what we want to do as Scouting volunteers… Isn’t that simply to make a difference for the good in the lives of tomorrow’s citizens?

Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay positive!
Happy Scouting!
Andy

When you write to me, please include your name and council. If you’d prefer to be anonymous—if published—just say so and that’s what I’ll make sure to do.

Although these columns are copyrighted, all readers have my permission to quote or reproduce any column or column part, just so long as you attribute authorship: “Ask Andy” by Andy McCommish.

[No. 655 – 9/10/2020 – Copyright © 2020 Andy McCommish]