I’m a new den leader for both the Lion and Tigers in our Pack. I have some Lions that completed one of the shooting sport awards. I’d like to enter that they have completed this award but it doesn’t look like this can be entered in Scout Book like the Tigers. Where/how can I enter completed awards for the lions? Any help greatly appreciated.
Lions are not authorized to shoot BB Guns. According to the 2020 Cub Scout Shooting Sports Guide the Shooting Sports Award (Archery and Slingshot only) is to be determined.
Scoutbook does not yet support Shooting Sports Award for Lions. I do not know when support will be added.
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Ok. Thanks for the reply. Yes that’s correct that Lions are not allowed to shoot BB guns. However, I don’t think that it’s still to be determined for slingshot and archery. Lions are now allowed to sign up and go through the program. I had 2 Lions that participated in archery yesterday. If they can participate in these events just like the older kids they should be able to get awarded for it. But it doesn’t look like this can be entered in on Scoutbook.
What @edavignon means (if you look at the guide), National has not released the actual graphic of the patch. The patch is To be determined. Because of this, the programmers cannot add a graphic signifying it has been earned until a graphic has been released. Unfortunately, this happens that awards are updated, but not communicated in advance to Scoutbook programmers to add. It has been added to the backlog list to be incorporated and once implemented, will show up on the change log that is published.
I had Lions that wanted to participate back in our new Council Shooting Sports day on 10/12 and it looks like this was just changed on 10/20, so that’s great that your group was able to take advantage of this change of program.
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Ok. Thanks for the clarification. I just want to make sure they get awarded. I assume that once it’s implemented in Scoutbook, I should be able to go back and put this in for the Lions at a later time. Correct?
Absolutely, you will be able to enter these at a later date once available.
Great. Thanks for the information.
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Presently, there are no Lion awards available in Scoutbook. The Shooting Sports may end up being the first, I hope they will make other awards available as well. For example, I had four Lions earn Messengers of Peace, and I had to wait until they were Tigers to enter it.
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Thank you for the advise. Yes I hope this gets resolved soon and that other awards are made available as well.
Are there other awards that you’ve seen documentation that Lions are eligible to earn?
@jacobfetzer - I had a Lion earn the Conservation Good Turn last year, but it wasn’t available for anyone, and it’s going away.
I also had a Lion earn a youth religious award. Although the website says that the Metta Award is only for Wolves, Bears and Webelos, the National Buddhist Committee on Scouting approved a Lion in my pack to work on it, and he completed it while still a Lion.
I had two Lions last year earn ScoutSTRONG Healthy Unit. Again, that award is going away as well.
I have not seen a Lion earn the ScoutSTRONG Presidential Active Lifestyle Award, but I see nothing in the award brochure that says one cannot do this. The minimum activity level may be completed by either time or steps, and no number of steps is given for those under six years old. However, there is nothing to stop a Lion from completing the minimum required time of being active daily. Of course, this is also being deleted, and a Lion who has not yet started this cannot possibly complete it by the end of the year.
It’s theoretically possible for a Lion to be awarded the Honor Medal with Crossed Palms, the Honor Medal, the Heroism Award or the Medal of Merit.
It’s impossible for a Lion to complete the International Spirit Award, but there is no prohibition barring a Lion from starting to work on it. Therefore, it may make sense to provide the ability to sign off Lions on requirements that have been completed.
A Lion can earn an Interpreter strip, even though it cannot be worn on a Lion tee-shirt.
I had a Lion earn the Recruiter strip last year. Although he could not wear it, the award along wth the Messengers of Peace ring and youth religious award square knot were on his blue uniform shirt the first time he was dressed as a Tiger.
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@PeterHopkins There are several awards that are being discontinued effective December 31, 2020 but there is a 1-year grace period for Scouts to earn them. As long as the date of completion is 12/31/2021, Scouts can earn the award. Patches / certificates for the awards are probably while supplies last.
Thanks @JenniferOlinger. I read all the stuff that comes my way, but I haven’t seen anything about a grace period. I haven’t even seen an announcement about the awards being discontinued. I only know that they are, because they are tagged as such in Scoutbook.
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We have confirmed that there is a 1-year grace period for Scouts to earn the awards. Depending on the award, the recognition device might (or might not) be available, so I would check on that before the Scout gets too far along in working on the award.
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@JenniferOlinger - I’m sure you agree with me that this forum doesn’t have a wide enough readership for it to be the only place Scouters find out that information. I don’t want my observation to rise to the level of a complaint, because I know the organization is facing serious challenges right now, and it’s understandable that this might not be on top of the to-do list. But the discontinuance of these awards and notice about how long Scouts have to earn them is worthy of an article in Bryan on Scouting.
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We have confirmed with the Cub Scout program office that the only award a Lion is eligible to earn is the Shooting Sports award for either Archery or Slingshot. We have an item in the backlog to add the Shooting Sports award for Lions.
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@edavignon - I don’t doubt that you confirmed that. However, it illustrates a serious weakness in communication as well as an unwarranted digging in of heels by folks who are likely disconnected from how Scouting actually happens week to week.
I have never seen in an official publication (the Lion Guidebook would be a good place) that says Lions may not earn any awards other than those created for them. I haven’t seen this in an official online source either. Here’s what I have seen.
- A recognized faith committee that said a Lion may earn a religious emblem.
- A statement on the BSA’s website that says any Scout or Scouter may earn Messengers of Peace
- Nothing in the heroism award nomination forms that says a Lion cannot be nominated. This would be the most ridiculous of all. Imagine tellng a kindergarten student that he cannot get a medal for saving someone’s life, because he was too young when he did it.
- Nothing in the ScoutSTRONG materials that excludes Lions.
- Nothing included in any Interpreter strip infformation saying Lions cannot earn it.
- No indication anywhere that Lions cannot earn a Recruiter strip.
So, it seems that Lions are on some sort of double secret probation, and those who have put them on that list should volunteer in a pack running a solid program for a month or two and see how things really work.
One of the reasons put forth for family Scouting was that the BSA studied the market and found a preference for a youth program in which the entire family could participate. Yet, they are willing to collect a full registration fee from a Lion but unwilling to allow that Lion to fully benefit from the program. That includes recognizing the Lion for the role he played in recruiting another Scout and heping to generate another registration fee.
Even though we tell the public that we are offering a progrm for the entire family, there are those who expect us to tell our Lions, who are registered youth members, that they should stay home when the pack does a conservation project, because they cannot earn the Conservation Good Turn Award. If the pack does a food drive that qualifies for Messengers of Peace, Lions are unwelcome. If those Lions have older siblings who are Cub Scouts, the parents will need to find child care for their little Lion who needs to stay home.
We want all our Scouts to develop healthy habits through the ScoutSTRONG series of awards except for Lions. They should develop bad habits first, so we can correct them when they become Tigers.
I am sorry for venting. It is NOT directed at you. I just feel like there are many decisions being made by people who are disconnected from the realities on the ground, and this is a shining example.
The information you have reported back leaves no doubt. Lions may earn an award for safely handling a slingshot but not for saving someone’s life, serving their community, protecting the environment, helping to grow the BSA’s youth membership, becoming deeply familiar with how a faith sees God and its members’ duties, or learning to live a healthy lifestyle. That sends the wrong message, and I won’t be passing it on to the parents in my pack. I will continue recognizing Lions for their accomplishments.
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@PeterHopkins, this is simply my personal opinion, but I suspect the exclusion of Lions is not intentional, more so an oversight for including them in existing awards (or awards that are to be retired) due to the “newness” of the program (it’s only been out of pilot for a few years). My hope (again, hope and not knowledge) is that the Shooting Sports award is the first in a review of these awards to “catch them up” and include Lions where appropriate (since usually each award has appropriate requirements to match their age and stage of development).
@ZacharyMcCarty - I wish that were the case. I try to take the high road whenever I don’t have evidence to the contrary. It minimizes stress in my life. But when the question was put to those making the decision, it was no longer an oversight. They easily could have said, “Yeah, it does make sense that Lions ought to be recognized with a Messengers of Peace ring, if they’ve earned it.”
Peter,
Keep in mind the BSA bureaucracy rivals that of the government. There is not a single person who controls the awards. We asked if Lions are eligible to earn awards other than Shooting Sports. I suspect the person who received the question looked at the requirements and said “they cannot”. This does not mean a future review of the awards with respect to Lions will never happen. The next time the awards are scheduled for review, we may find they do add Lions.
