[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Boy Scouts? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 11/6/2007 7:22:09 AM EDT
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I have never been a boy scout, tried and went to one meeting and thought it was ghey when I was 10 or 11. My daughter is a girl scout, but neither of the boys have expressed intreest in boy scouts. I have always held the stereotype of older men fondling little boys on camp outs or geeks joining a group so they can ghave friends. Am I way off or close to it? 
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I ran into my old scoutmaster a few years back, and found out he had been interviewed on three separate ocassions regarding my clearances. He told me there were three or four others from the troop that had also made Eagle and gone .mil or classified .gov, and he got hit up for the clearance reviews for all of them. Eagle was not something I went for thinking of future job benefits, but it sure has helped more than I would ever have expected. |
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Absolutely correct. Eagle Scout in 1976, and currently a Scoutmaster. Last months campout was a 12 mile hiking/backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. Next weekend we go to Fort Pickett to do the orienteering course and obstacle/challenge course. Lose your "stereotypes" and go visit a Troop Meeting before making up your mind. |
The scouts are not for you. Find something else. |
True that. I hope my boys are interested in scouting. I got to do things and go places I never would have thanks to my troop. I'm as proud of my Eagle pin as I am of my E-5 stripes. And count me in on the folks who have Eagle Scout on their resume. I had a tough interview in front of 3 respected professionals and one announced that he was going to ask me to give examples of me taking ownership, responsibility and getting the job done, but as I was an Eagle Scout, we could consider that question covered. |
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I have a lot of respect for the scouting program. With that said the largest security breach and the most damaging incompetence I ever had to deal with as a corporate manager was perpetrated by an Eagle Scout. My VP at the time was also an Eagle Scout and about had a short circuit when I said we have to get rid of the guy. Consequently we waited way too long to act... It took actual video proof to finally convince the VP... Every other scout and former scout I have encountered have been straight up and up, and have upheld the common stereotype. |
Volunteer work, Travel Speaking a foreign language Doing real good w/ grades to get into a real good college Lots of things you can do in school that look good on a resume. But the BS definately do have a rep for being geeky, at least where I come from. Sign your kid up for a sports team there's a lot of team work and team building done there |
| You know, I'd bet if you were to hunt down every Boy Scout who had been molested, you'd find that 85% or more had lazy parents who couldn't be bothered to get their sorry asses out and observe what was going on or actually participate in what their kids are doing. |
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My dad was not around when I was a kid; scouts was one of the best things that ever happened to me. When I became a scoutmaster, I was amazed how many kids, all of whom had dads at home, had never baited a hook, cast a line, shot a shotgun, cooked a meal over a fire or pitched a tent. It kind of sucked that I had to teach these kids to do the things their dads should have. But better they learn it in scouts than not at all. |
+1 - I am also a leader and former Scout... It does not sound like scouts is for you..."Thought it was gay when you were 11-12?  I hope you find valuable parenting skills in other places. |
| The Boy Scouts get kids out in nature. Anything that gets kids away from TV and videogames is good. How many kids these days grow up and have never seen a real wilderness, much less hiked through one? The Boy Scouts also gave me a very good foundation in marksmanship. |
hey, don't run the guy down. my highly intelligent, otherwise very cool kid brother has the same fucked up view of the scouts!!! and this is in spite of BOTH of us having gone from cub scouts to first class boy scouts...he thinks the uniforms are dorky and outdated and i tell him i think he's a fucking tool.  i'm gonna try and get my nephew to pressure him into letting him join! |
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I enjoyed the Scouts when I was in, learned MANY lessons. Unfortunately there was the Asst. Scout Master that was a pedophile (Eastman Kenass Levy) we called him EZ. but he had no interest in me thankfully.He was outed, arrested, found guilty but did no jail time.  May he rot in hell.
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You are way off. If you have a son, nephew or other boy you take part in mentoring, getting him involved in scouting is one of the best things you could do for him to help him along the way to being a valued man in his society. Scouts teach honor, responsibility, charity, teamwork, selflessness, and a host of other positive traits. As he gets older in scouts the boy will learn survival skills and how to be a good steward of the environment. There are a ton of positives there. Now, as far as adult leadership goes, that depends largely on you. Scouts isn't a daycare system so you can have some alone time after you drop your kid off. How rich your child's experience will be is up to you and the other parents. If you volunteer then the den/troop etc will be able to have more functions and all involved will get more out of it. If the parents refuse to help out then the scouts will lose out on a lot of things that could have been great times and educational as well. I started scouts in 3rd grade and went through 7th grade, but as soon as my boyscout den got a leader that wouldn't organize anything I stopped going & so did a lot of others in my den. A good leader could have made Eagles out of all of us, I knew most of the guys all the way through scouts and we all worked hard if challenged. Unfortunately we got one that just wanted to hold the bare minimum # of meetings required and that was it. So my point is, scouts are 100% great for boys but the parents need to get involved too if you want your son to get all the benefits he can from it. |
That is what turned my son into wanting to shoot, scout camp. To the OP being pretty involved in my pack I would offer this advice: Go view not just one troop/pack but look at a few. I have never been told that I couldn't come to visit them, they need membership to thrive also. I grew up with sports and never was intereseted in the scouts. My son wanted to do scouts with his friends and plays soccer. I wish I would have done both. I missed out on a great time that I get to kind of have now. I have as much fun "leading ( drinking coffee and BS'ng are part of that too) |
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Man you are waaaayyyy off. Even though I was only in the cub scouts, it was the best time of my life and I learned so much about everything. My son was just talking about this with me this past weekend and I told him that if he wanted to join I would support him 100%. I think its a great way to help him grow as a person. Oh yeah and there seems to be way to much preoccupation with the homosexuality thing.
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Supposed to teach self-reliance. If you find yourself in a jam, don't cry for your Mommy or the government. Deal with it. Use your head, figure it out, solve the problem. Better yet, if you think things through in advance, you are less likely to find yourself in a jam, because you will have the right equipment and training. The Boy Scout motto, "Be prepared," is the motto of all of us who own and carry firearms for self-defense. Avoid trouble if at all possible; have the tools and equipment to deal with trouble if it finds us anyway. (BTW, I was never a Boy Scout.) |
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Was a scout when I was younger, only got my Life. I got a job instead of pursuing the Eagle rank. Oh well. I've been the Scout Master for the 11 year olds for almost 3 years. I learned tons of stuff in scouting that have helped me more than I'll probably every know. It's also where I got my unhealthy obsession with firearms.
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BIG +1. Shooting .22 Mossberg single shot target rifles at summer camp with the old school RO was NOT gay. ("Ready on the right! Ready on the Left! Commense firing!) Packing a weeks worth of gear 50 miles into the mountains and going hungry if you couldn't build a fire was NOT gay. (Pre "stoves only" National Parks rules). And so on. You're GAY. |
| I am also an Eagle scout and am proud of it. At my high school, we had three strong area troops and all the popular kids were involved. We did some amazing adventures, and I learned all of the above stated cool stuff and more. I was 13 years old and riding in military vehicles at the national jamboree in '97. It was awesome. It really does depend on how upstanding your leadership is, and the only way to ensure that is to be an active parent. |
+1 as another eagle scout i can also vouch for this being the case... when i was senior patrol leader, i ran everything from meetings, to fund raisers, to camping trips, to service projects, to any other activity our troop did... we (the scouts) ran everything... on camping trips each patrol made their own menus, did their own shopping, and did their own cooking and cleanup... adult leaders were in charge of adult things like driving and signing for the campsite, and making sure we didn't kill each other or burn the woods down... ETA: I started out as a tiger cub, went through the cub scouts, up through webelos, earned my arrow of light, and advanced all the way through boy scouts to eagle scout... i was in the order of the arrow up to brotherhood, never made my vigil... scouting was also what got me into shooting |
if you stuck with cub scouts, one of the requirements for Bear (i think) is to get your Whittlin' Chip (knife safety, care, and use, and permission to carry one on outings) and Fireman Chip (fire safety, starting, care, etc and permission to help start one)... as a cub scout you definitely learn bowline, clove, overhand, square, slip, tautline, two half hitches, and sheet bend... we went camping at least once a month and part of the cub scout requirements are to know how to pitch a tent... you were either in the WORST PACK ever, or didn't stick through tiger cubs/bobcat... you definitely start getting into the good stuff around the rank of wolf and continue up through webelos (so like 3rd - 5th grade)... |
doesn't being an Eagle Scout get new recruits 1 level higher pay grade after basic training? |
Last I heard(was a few years ago and was from someone in the .mil), if you're an Eagle you go in as an E-4. I never checked into it to see for sure though. Eagle Scout here also. Nothing on a sports team will ever be even remotely comparable to scouting if you're in a good troop with active leaders. I know it was for me. |
this website says it's E-2. usmilitary.about.com/od/armyjoin/a/advancedrank.htm And it's true that Eagle Scout is the only thing that you can do in junior high that will look good on a resume, aside from learning a language. No one cares about travel or volunteer work you did at the junior-highschool level. |
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It has been said by many that the best soldiers in WWII had been Boy Scouts and were well trained in many factors even before entering the Military. During WWII we Scouts collected aluminum and waste paper for the War Effort, Our Scoutmaster was a wolf hunter and kept us in awe with his stories. The low point in Scouting was the stewed prunes for breakfast at summer scout camp at Victoria, Texas.. Everything else was glorious and at age 75, a former Marine, I still have my old neckerchief and Eisenhower Medal for waste paper and aluminum collecting. I loved that old uniform and especially the "Smokey the Bear" campaighn hats we wore in those days. 
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The BSA on a local level tends to be an extremely conservative organization. I started shooting in the BSA, and so did lots of other kids in my troop. Becoming an Eagle Scout was the best thing Ive done with my life so far. BSA basically churns out young republicans.
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I am a mom (yes, I was born female  ) and I am a coleader this year. I am still learning about the Scouts. I like what I see so far. I live on an Army installation and with so many dads deployed right now, all the troop leaders are moms. This is my kids' first year in Scouts. I have 2 boys in Cub Scouts and a girl in Daisy Scouts. They all 3 enjoy it. Their little sister even helped sell popcorn outside of Lowe's. All 3 of them thought it was exciting to sell popcorn, LOL. I don't know why. I think thye got the biggest thrill out of asking Would you like to.... and the person actually saying yes.All of my kids have done more in 2 1/2 months in their respective Scouts than I did in a whole year Brownie Scouts under my mom. I like it and I hope they stay in until they have went through all the ranks. I don't know if they will, it is up to them. But, if they want to be in Scouts and the troop leader needs help, I will help out as much as I can. I don't know if you are way off or close to it, this is just my personal experience so far. The local area Boy Scouts will do BB gun shooting, fishing, and archery at the campouts. I am hoping to take the kids one of those. Just my .02 and YMMV. |