According to this site, it's still available. https://www.scouting.org/programs/boy-scouts/advancement-and-awards/merit-badges/inter/
On the contrary, K2BSA is very much alive and well. I applied to work the tent at the 2019 World Scout Jamboree, but apparently all the slots were filled. Instead, I'll be working on Mt. Jack at WSJ next summer. They have a regular evening net which can also be reached worldwide on EchoLink. I'll be checking in on 2m from Echo Camp while I'm there.
I was waiting for someone to post this. Because, I'm sorry to say, Scouting like everything else has become a commercial venture instead of being for the membership. Its about membership numbers. Quantity vs Quality. It hasn't been the same in years. I do my best to work stations during the Scouting events though I missed the last few, but I usually found the adults running them most of the time. Technology to kids is totally different nowadays. Its walking down a sidewalk not paying attention while tapping on a phone versus looking to the cosmos and thinking about inventing things for the future. Its getting online to flame other people because of their differences instead of understanding we are all on this earth and in the end we're all in this together. Its worrying out for number one, and doing everything you can to step on number two. And with commercialism creeping into everything, its only going to get worse. Its a shame, really. As for the loss of the strip, I didn't even know it existed, honestly. I got my license after I stopped scouting. I was drawn in by a fellow ham who stopped to talk to my Dad every once in a while, and when he did, he'd let me sit in his truck and look at all the radios and scanners in it, and he'd dial around and find a conversation for me to hear on HF. Once I really showed interest, he invited me to his shack (he lived a few acres away behind us). I got a scanner at age 14, had a CB on my bedstand at age 16 (me and my friends would talk on it at night after all of the garbage during the day vanished) and I tested for my Technician a week after graduation. It was a gift to myself for graduating high school. I think it is interaction with people who are interested in some facet of the radio art (at the time I was just interested in listening) that got me going. Its a shame, yes. It will probably impact exposure to the hobby, but considering the number of walkups I saw at the last field day, I think putting it out there and being willing to share it are still more powerful. When it comes to Scouting events, it is there among many other things and gets lost in the noise. It seems to attract more attention when its featured alone. Joshua K5GHS
It doesn't have to be that way. We can choose to focus on the children given to us to serve. Here's what the Chief Scout Executive has to say on the matter: https://www.ncacbsa.org/blog/2018/11/13/a-message-from-chief-scout-executive-mike-surbaugh/
The Boy Scouts of America are dead and you can thank BSA National and their grubbing for Corporate money and corporations pushing their social agendas. The scout oath and laws mean nothing now.RIP BSA!
Some of the comments in this thread make me believe that most people don't understand the reason for Scouting and the overarching core of the BSA. It can basically be summed up as: To develop youth to make better adults. I am an Eagle Scout. I am also a Cub Scout Den Leader. I am also a Boy Scout Assistance Scoutmaster. I am also a Merit Badge Councilor (for several, including Radio). I am a parent of three active scouts: one Life Scout, one Cub Scout in a Bear Den (that I am the Den Leader of) and one Cub Scout in a Wolf Den. That youngest one, in the Wolf Den, is my youngest child, and also my youngest daughter. I was the Den Leader for my oldest son, from Tiger through Webelos, and often I brought his older sister (now in college) with me to the meetings. She learned things, participated in events and activities (our Pack was very open to siblings), and learned about Scouting and the Scout way. Unfortunately, while she could participate, she could not be recognized for any achievements. Being a Den Leader for my youngest son, first as Tiger and then as Wolf, his younger sister would come to meetings. Again, she participated in events (while we moved, we found another Pack that was sibling friendly) and could not be recognized; there were times when she was more interested in learning what was being taught than the boys! Then BSA announced the would allow girls in the Cub Scouts. I heard many people complain about this, about how it was diluting the program and ruining it. And I realized something: not one single person who complained was currently in the Scouting program. Sure, they may have been a Scout when they were younger (and obviously forgot about the Scout Law), but not one person involved in our Cub Scout Pack--or even other Packs--were in that group. They were all elated that their daughters, whom had been attending meetings anyway, could now be recognized like their sons for what they learned and accomplished. In our area, several Packs elected to go co-ed, with Girl Dens and Boy Dens. A few did not. As of last week, one of the larger ones that did not has basically folded. Last week at our Den meetings we had nine Scouts who came over from another Pack. And at least three sisters. Our Pack now has the most girls of any Pack in our District, and second in the Council (and that was before these sisters showed up!). People are realizing that Scouting makes a great Family event, and that includes the daughters. Look at it this way. Here's the Scout Oath: On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my Country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. Here's the Scout Law: A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent. The Cub Scout Motto is "Do Your Best." The Boy Scout Motto is "Be Prepared." Are these tenants of the Scouting program only applicable to boys? Should only young boys do their best? Should only older boys be prepared? By allowing girls into the program (and remember, for Cub Scouts, the Packs can be single sex or co-ed, while Scout Troops are only single-sex) it expands the reach of Scouting to more youth who could take advantage of the program and allow the program to be more family-friendly; no more do families have to choose between taking only one child to an extracurricular program when there are time conflicts, as all of their children can participate. Let me end with an anecdote: The first Pack meeting of the year in September was when our Pack officially accepted girls. I was worried about how the boys would act. I heard boys say things like "My sister's in the Pack now!" with excitement. I saw boys greet the girls that have been their classmates friendly and ask them to play a game. I saw only one boy not act well that day because of the girls, but he's on the autistic spectrum and doesn't handle change very well. Girls were beaming in their new Cub Scout uniforms. Parents were smiling. And the boys who had been in Cub Scouts for a few years? They saw nothing special; after all, they go to school with these girls, so why shouldn't they see them in Scouting? Thank you for reading this. And for those who will denigrate my words, have anecdotal evidence to the contrary, or just dislike me and what I wrote, just ask yourself this: why shouldn't girls learn to be better people? If you can honestly say you have a real answer for that, you and your kind are the problem with the world, not girls in Scouting. 73, John N9OU Eagle Scout Class of 1992 Scouter for 11 years
I liked this post 1,000 times but QRZ only registers once. Our chartering organization will be adding a female Scout troop in February, and I've already volunteered to be one of their Assistant Scoutmasters. (ASMs and the committee can be shared, the SM cannot.)
It would seem the organization formerly known as the BSA has some real problems. "Boy Scouts of America may file for bankruptcy following lawsuits over sexual abuse allegations" https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-news-boy-scouts-bankruptcy-20181212-story.html
our cub scout pack is both genders and we have both genders in every den. the precaution we have is 2 deep leadership. they do not become single-gender until they move up to boy scouts
I wasn't aware that the policy had changed to allow both genders in every den. I have been out of the organization on a break since 2018 and not had the chance to follow these developments. I will be rejoining the organization when my son joins Cub Scouts this coming fall. I needed a brief vacation before starting from the beginning again with my son in Lions.
