Boy Scouts - Good or Bad?

[jmangum]

From time to time I have read some forum posts that make reference to Boy Scouts - mostly in a negative manner. I was wondering how everyone feels about them.

I know that it can sometimes be a downer to be out on a trail and come across a herd of noisy teens, but on the other hand I am in full support that gets teens off their butts, out from in front of the TV and Play Station and in to nature.

[Jeffshadows]

I'll have to look into it further, maybe. If the notion is that one must be religious to be a moral human being...boy is that notion ever off-base!!

[big_load]

I wonder, Jeff, if it's not a hitch with that particular troop... I know folks who are involved who just keep their beliefs to themselves - sort of a don't ask don't tell policy on religion. Then I know others where the troop was so closely related to the church that they even got uppity about Catholics...

I agree. The interpretation and application of policy varies with local leadership.

[Jeffshadows]

I don't have a problem with it if it's tradition or just a requirement of the organization...etc. If it's required, I just can't participate and be honest with them or myself. It might be a situation similar to the fact that our dollar bills say "In god we trust." Some people get all bent out of shape about that fact instead of taking history and tradition into account...

[azbackpackr]

I've been involved a lot in Boy Scouts in the past, and I am not religious. I think maybe just an acceptance that there may be a "higher power" like they have in AA. No one ever asked me my religious beliefs. They do not want out-spoken atheists in Scouts, but they won't throw you out if you are somewhat agnostic. Which I am. Also if you don't say anything, in most troops it just doesn't come up. Our troop was sponsored by a VFW.

By the way, there is an organization that is a spin-off of both Boy Scouts and Explorer Posts that has been around only about 10 years. It is called Venturing. It is sponsored by the Boy Scouts, but it is for both boys and girls, ages 14 to 21.

Last week I attended a mtg. of a Venture Crew here in Yuma at the Lutheran School. It was wonderful to see both boys AND girls wearing uniforms in a Scout-type meeting. This particular Venture Crew has done the following: Canoed Boundary Waters, backpacked the Sierras, Grand Canyon and on the Big Island of Hawaii, just to name a few backpacking trips. They canoe the lower Colorado pretty much every year. They are hiking the entire John Muir Trail this coming summer--a three week hike! I would very much like to volunteer for this group. They are desperate for female volunteers (which Boy Scouts isn't, although you can volunteer--I have been an Asst. Scoutmaster, and yes, OA, too). Anyway, any gals reading this, if this sounds interesting to you, please look up the local Boy Scouts in your phone book and see if you can find one of these crews and see if they need female volunteers. Guys, too, but I was told they really need gals.

Anyway, I probably don't have time for this group and will be going home to the White Mtns. pretty soon, so I might not join that group, but I sure would like to.

[joebartels]

100th year anniversary, must be doing something right

[big_load]

I just donated a bunch of gear to the Boy Scouts. There are a lot of things that frustrate me about the scouts, but there are a lot of kids around here who would never get outside without them.

[PLC92084]

I was in the Boy Scouts, OA and Explorers... Politics and scandal never darkened our good times (wish that were true today...). I learned a lot about the outdoors, the world and myself that I would never have been exposed to were it not for these organizations.

I hope they go on for another 100 years!

[switchflare]

I think the important thing to remember is that this is not a program designed for perfect boys, but rather to help all boys by forming them into upstanding citizens who respect the wilderness and develop skills and traits that will help them succeed in life. I personally took advantage of everything the program had to offer as a youth and I wouldn't be the person I am today without it. I treasure the experiences and knowledge I obtained, and am already passing along what I learned to my own wife and children. If the values and teachings of the boy scouts were absorbed into mainstream American culture, we would live in a very different world.

Regarding the discussion of religion in this thread, I was in a troop sponsored by a church whose beliefs did not match my own, but it never an issue. We had several different faiths represented. Troops that make religion an issue do so outside the bounds of the boy scout program.

[azbackpackr]

Regarding the discussion of religion in this thread, I was in a troop sponsored by a church whose beliefs did not match my own, but it never an issue. We had several different faiths represented. Troops that make religion an issue do so outside the bounds of the boy scout program.

I agree.

[rdavisiii]

Back ~30 years ago in suburban MD just outside of DC I started in a troop organized and run by LDS. Not long after starting I was not able to attend any longer, my parents gave me some reasons about time, money, blah, blah, blah, etc... Many years later when I was an adult and had formed my own opinions about religion my mom told me why I was pulled from it and the reason was us not being LDS. Nice job LDS. I am sure there are many stellar scout troops out there but one should always beware, they are not all the organization they want you to think they are.

[joebartels]

I think this is found in all walks of life. Perhaps an abnormally higher percentage issue with the scouts.

[switchflare]

Many years later when I was an adult and had formed my own opinions about religion my mom told me why I was pulled from it and the reason was us not being LDS. Nice job LDS. I am sure there are many stellar scout troops out there but one should always beware, they are not all the organization they want you to think they are.

Your experience is unfortunate and I believe it is again, the decision of individuals, and not the organization that is to blame. I know a number of LDS troops who have nonmembers in their ranks. Just like most product reviews, we generally hear about the bad more than the good. The good news is that boy scouts is pervasive enough in most areas that if you have a bad experience with one troop, another is not too far away.

[azbackpackr]

When I lived in Tucson and was involved in Scouting, "troop shopping" for families with a boy just moving from Webelos into Boy Scouts, was pretty common. They would go to your troop for a meeting or two.

When a troop my boys were in seemed to be falling apart, we did the same thing. We were in another troop for 2 years, and then went back to the neighborhood one.

Other than office people at the Council offices, it is run by volunteers. You don't like it? Go volunteer for it and make it better. The boys do deserve good adult leadership. You don't have to be a mom or a dad. You just need to go to adult training. Especially Scoutmaster training is helpful.

But I like Explorer Posts and Venture crews, which are also part of BSA. That is what I am volunteering for now. They have boys and girls 13 to 21. Explorer Posts are mostly kind of career oriented, and are often sponsored by a police or fire dept. Venture crews are usually high adventure. The Explorer Post I work with does search and rescue, and wilderness medicine.

I had the great pleasure of visiting a Venture Crew in Yuma a couple of years ago. Most of the boys and girls were in high school. They had canoed Boundary Waters, and the entire lower Colorado River from Hoover Dam to Yuma. They had hiked the John Muir Trail. They had backpacked Grand Canyon, other Sierras bp trips, etc.

So if you want to volunteer for something really fun, with older kids, find a high adventure Venture Crew in your area. The group I visited in Yuma could really have used my help, since they had a hard time finding suitable women chaperones. They had no trouble finding men, but I guess there is a dirth of female backpackers in Yuma.

[Jeffshadows]

I think some of these opinions are a bit naive. I was in two different troops and both had issues with proselytizing. One of the "best" troops in Tucson back then was out of an LDS temple near TV valley and it was widely known that you need not apply there were you not both affluent and LDS.

[azbackpackr]

When I was in Tucson, one of the "best" troops was sponsored by a church up on the NW side--I seem to recall it was Presbyterian, and it was next to Cross Middle School. They wanted over $100 to join. This is wrong wrong wrong! They said the money was for trips and such. I said, "What if I don't have the money?" They said maybe I could pay it a little at at time or my boy could earn it helping at car washes and such. My boy went on a canoe trip with them to Boundary Waters, but we never did join that troop. We sure had to do a lot of fundraising for him to go on that trip, plus borrowing from family members, etc. That particular adventure was worth it, though. There were no low income kids in that troop, even though that neighborhood is mixed and has a lot of low income families.

[SuperstitionGuy]

I volunteered for many years at the District level in Boy Scouting and served both LDS and non LDS units, eventually becoming the Boy Scout Commissioner within my Scouting District. Although LDS, for experience, I became an Assistant Scoutmaster in a large Catholic Sponsored Scout Troop. I also was an Assistant Scoutmaster in an inner city Episcopal Church Scout Troop where I later served as the Scoutmaster as well.

Scout Troops of all sponsors vary considerable in there size, focus, experience and committment. Yes, you do have to shop around for the type of experience you want your son to have and you can and will have bad experiences with any Troop for the reasons very well expressed by many of you posting on this thread. This does not make Scouting bad but instead only highlights that people are imperfect, make mistakes and sometimes are just plain stupid and it is usually the leaders and parents responsible for that, not the boys.

So shop around before you select a troop for your son, volunteer to assist, wear the uniform and get yourself properly trained along with experience so you can support your son and his Scout Troop to become what you want them to be.

And when you put on that uniform become non-denominational and treat all adults and boys the same with no regard to race or creed!

[Jeffshadows]

I'm sure there are places where this is not a problem. I'm just relating my personal experiences...