| I think WashDad's list of criteria is very good. I would like to expound on his first point, though. I think what he means is that the troop does its best to follow the rules and programs that are provided by BSA. I agree that this is good. But don't confuse that with a troop that has its OWN strict book written by the adult leaders, and which is strictly enforced. The BSA program is quite flexible in a number of respects, and it really emphasizes letting the boys run the troop and make decisions. So you need to probe a bit into what a troop is really saying when it says it does things "by the book." |