d1angel

I know I am prepared for a week-long power outage. We'll probably have more fun than anyone on the block, too. I'm always so excited to see how often it is a Scout that takes action when adults are sitting on their hands.

It's even worse if "Hey, watch this!" is immediately followed by "I saw this on YouTube!"

LOL, Scoutfish - I think the ladies I'm working with in the den are like your wife. I'm like you. "Well, you're not going to do THAT again, are you? Why was that a bad idea? If you're still conscious and not gushing blood, you're fine..." I agree - kids are as tough (and responsible) as they're expected to be.

Hi, y'all, I'm a 45 year old DL. I've been around Scouting my whole life - Grandfather was a Cubmaster and a Scoutmaster, Dad was a Life Scout, both brothers are Eagles, I'd have been one too if Boy Scouts had girl-only units (oh, how I dream....I was a Girl Scout but all they wanted us to do was sell cookies). I now have a Bear Scout son who is already planning to be an Eagle. He loves Scouts! Everything about it. I love working with these boys - we have a pack full of great boys! - and I'm looking forward to many years as a Scouter. I'm from Paducah, KY originally - now living in Utah.

I think younger parents just really don't understand that kids are able to do things at a much younger age than Mom and Dad think they can. I was floored last year when my then-Wolf scout went to a Cubs activity where they were carving soap. With PLASTIC KNIVES. Actually, I was mad. You can't carve anything with plastic cutlery, for one, and for two, those boys should have earned their Whittler's Chip and carved with real pocketknives. It actually would have been safer, IMNSHO. Sharp knives are much safer than dull ones. Why? I've since become an ADL - and found that the other den leaders thought that boys shouldn't be allowed to use knives. They've been shocked and surprised at my attitude ("Let the boys do it! This is Boy Scouts, not Mom Scouts!") because they genuinely don't understand that kids can do a lot more than they are generally permitted to do. They have been constantly asking me, "Do you think we should? Do you think they can do it?" I'm much older than the other DL/ADLs. They are in their 20s/early 30s - I'm a grandmother, with my last child in Cubs, with 5 kids, 7 younger siblings, 2 grandchildren, and a whole crew of nieces and nephews. So perhaps they really don't understand how capable children are, or perhaps it's the current culture of being overprotective and under-disciplined. Or I could be completely wrong.

Go to your CubMaster and your bishop! Your disabled Scouts need one on one attention. The counselor in the bishopric over the Primary should be able to call additional people to help with these disabled Scouts. Keep asking the parents for help. Just because they don't have a calling doesn't mean you can't request help if you need it. Ask for help! Can you ask the "jocks" to be denners? Maybe if you sit them down and tell them how much the other boys look up to them and how you need their leadership, they'll step up. It should also help teach courage and compassion. You might consider asking the Scoutmaster for a Den Chief as well - if you have an older Boy Scout helping, it may help change the dynamic. I'm also a den leader in an LDS pack. The sad thing to me is that my sister was called as a Webelos den leader in a different ward/district, and she hated it for some of the same reasons you listed.