I apologize for the rant in advance. I needed to vent today.

The pandemic has created far-reaching effects on facets of life many haven't even considered, yet. One of those is Scouting.

Besides my full-time job running a business, I'm also the Scoutmaster of a local Scouts BSA troop of 27 boys who're becoming more anxious by the day.

The shelter in place order has put all in-person scouting on hold and canceled camporees, council camps, fundraising, community service projects, Eagle Scout service projects, courts of honor, boards of review, and OA conclaves into early Summer. That means youth summer camp and resident camp for 2020 are in jeopardy. Sure extensions are being considered for scouts running out of time to reach their Eagle rank. That's a great thing.

The National High Adventure bases, Philmont, Sea Base, Bechtel Reserve, and Northern Tier have all canceled all spring treks and are closed until May 5th, with strong hints that cancellations may extend the entire summer. Having planned a few of these adventures myself I know what goes into making these happen. Two or more years of prepping, planning, training, and fundraising. I feel for these crews. Some of these young men and women may never have the opportunity to experience an adventure like this again for the rest of their lives. Any of these experiences are life-changing to a kid. Anyone whose been on one of these can attest to that. The transformation a kid can realize in just a few days on one of these adventures is astounding. As a volunteer leader, I couldn't possibly ask for a reward greater than witnessing a kid accomplish something they didn't think they could do.

There is an urgent shift in scouting dynamics taking place right now. Meetings are being held virtually online. Rank advancement and merit badge requirements have been "adjusted" by the National Board to be "remote-friendly". Scoutmaster conferences are happening on Zoom, Blue cards are signed electronically. Virtual service projects, campouts, courts of honor, and boards of review are taking place and fundraising is migrating to online sales.

Maybe those are all necessary things, but .... scouting is meant to be experienced face to face, hands-on, in person. One of the basic aims of scouting is to provide a safe environment for youth to interact with other people, to learn communication skills and personal interactions where consequences of failure don't have any social or financial impact other than what can be learned from it. It's designed to happen face to face, not from the couch in front of a screen.

Hopefully, these recent trends are temporary, and not a sign of the future of scouting. These kids NEED to go camping, and be in the woods, or floating on a river, or trekking up a mountain, learning leadership, and self-reliance, and teamwork, and life skills.... hands-on, in real life.

The new motto: Be Patient. Although scouts may have come into scouting for different reasons, and you'll probably lose some during these trying times, this event provides for a unique, real life teaching experience, i.e. scouting is more than a bunch of kids doing fun stuff. Scouting is about more than the scout. What happened to "do a good turn every day". Isn't "helpful" one of the 12 laws? FYI I was an Eagle and OA many years ago.

MReid: "I was an Eagle and OA many years ago."

You, Sir, ARE an Eagle scout. There is no past tense. I salute you for your accomplishment!

Yes, helpful is one of the twelve points. Maybe I didn't send the correct message in my statements above.

I am doing everything I can to keep the kids engaged right now, by doing all of the things I mentioned above.

In essence, the point I was attempting to illustrate is... I hope this isn't the future of scouting, because over the last month of virtual scouting there is something uniquely missing from our troop experiences.

I really feel bad for the young men that are close to getting their Eagle rank and can’t because of this virus. I hope the powers to be can loosen the rules, maybe give them until 18 1/2 to finish. It’s no fault of theirs.

The Boy Scouts organization has already survived one plague back in 1919. It'll survive another. This video conferencing of the scouts is not the future, it's just the current day.

What really matters to the future of the scouts is if there are wild places in nature for them to experience. That is the longer term threat to the vitality of the scouts then this current pandemic.

As MReid stated above, Patience is key.

JJ47, Thanks for your contribution to scouting.

As father to one Eagle Scout and second Scout working in that direction, I am witness first hand to the value of Scouting. However, that value doesn't lie in a few monthly campouts or even a few dozen weekly meeting. Yeah, it sucks to miss those oportunities but, the real value inherent in scouting is working over a long term toward specific goals. Having obstacles to overcome will make the realization of those goals all the sweeter.

As a healthcare provider, I am happy to report that keeping our distance seems to be working here in Minnesota. Keeping with plan is our most direct path toward a more normal routine. Just like working toward Eagle, it takes some time.

I understand your frustration. As a 42 year adult Scouter (ten years as Scoutmaster) . This is the first year in 40 years that I have not camped with the Scouts. We have canceled the best annual camping trip with the Troop I am associated with. It is a two night canoe trip down the Alapaha River. I have helped with the canoe trip for 10 years as Scoutmaster then many years when our son was Scoutmaster then many years helping our son guide the trip. I presently serve on the council Executive Board, Intuitional Rep for the Church, and Eagle Board of Review Member. Scouting will survive but many Scouts will not receive the same quality experience. We held our Executive Board meeting last week by phone conference. Membership will be dropping, fund raising will suffer and advancement will drop. You mentioned the most important loss will be in the quality experience of the present Scouts.

The world has changed. This will be the first time my wife and I will miss going to the Quetico in 29 years. This trip was going to be special as our 47 year old son was going on a Quetico trip for the first time in 30 years.

There are so many things that people are missing out on and this is very hard on young people who are expected to be moving along and growing from one stage to another.

I am curious about all community service projects being on hold. Certainly many of the usual projects need to be delayed. But maybe there are other opportunities. There are organizations such as food banks that are extra busy now and may need helpers. Also seniors and other high risk people are relying on delivery services to avoid contact. For delivery, commercial services work for those that can afford them but could be hard for those on fixed incomes or who have lost their jobs. And lots of people are sewing masks. Could Scouts be volunteering to help with some of these needs? Or would this be placing them at unnecessary risk and so best for the organization to avoid suggesting?

andym: "I am curious about all community service projects being on hold."

Our troop has adapted service projects and stepped up in many ways. Instead of food donations for the local food shelves, we're soliciting cash donations deposited directly to the food shelf.

We've organized a neighborhood clean-up for this coming weekend where scouts will go out with a parent and clean up trash in their own neighborhood, away from the troop.

One Scout in the council is currently doing her Eagle Scout Service project asking for donations of 10,000 sewn masks.

Service projects are still happening. It's just missing the "group" feel, I guess.

Awesome projects! Yes, the group experience is hard to replace. One thing my work group does is have a weekly video lunch. Just gives people a chance to shoot the breeze rather than focus on work like every other video conference. But it is never the same as just being together.

BTW, I very much approve of cash donations to the food shelves. I know that our local one gets bulk prices that makes buying stuff at the store and donating it very inefficient. They are doing a lot of good by getting money donated to the food banks. Thanks for that.