How much adventure is appropriate in Cub Scouting?

[Beavah]

 

In da previous thread, Believin' writes:

 

I feel your pain. I was just speaking to our DE about this recently. I am a Webelos II Leader. My boys are bored with the Cub Stuff. I want to plan more exciting things, but always seem to find my hands tied by the Guide to Safe Scouting for Cubs.... A lot of my parents have gotten together on their own and done things as well. They all went canoeing once. We also just happen to have a guy in our Pack that goes Caving.

 

I confess I've got mixed feelins about some of this, eh? Guidelines are guidelines, but there's reasons for 'em, so departing must be done with careful thought.

 

I've generally found most webelos really want to do older boy stuff - climbing, rappelling, caving, whitewater, you name it. They see themselves as the Conquering Adventurers.

 

Problem is, they're mostly not read for that stuff yet. Adventures are scary. They're uncomfortable. It rains and gets muddy. You get scared and cold. Their comic-book vision of adventure ain't the way it is, and generally they're not physically or emotionally ready for that stuff. Half the time, I think the stuff is pushed by da competitive parent crowd, that wants to talk about their kid rock-climbin' at their next social club meetin'.

 

So we can do two things.

 

We can hype up and let 'em experience the real adventures that work for the 4th-5th grade crowd. First steps of short, easy backpackin. Hikes down rivers. Mud with a shower to clean off in. Chasin' tree frogs. Havin' fires. Free-play in the woods, where you get to explore and "get lost" and have acorn fights.

 

Or we can create amusement-park style "guided tours" where we pretend they're doing rock climbin' or cavin' or whatever, but we control the environment so tightly that it's really not their adventure, it's a "ride" we created.

 

Overall, I'm in favor of the first one myself. I think it's healthier for the kids. The second one introduces 'em to stuff, sure, but without the real adventure and choice and judgment that they'll need to continue with the activity. So if they take that experience and go out and try to do it on their own, it's dangerous, or when they get to doin' it "for real" in Boy Scouting or Venturing it's boring and uncomfortable. They want the ride, not the adventure.

 

I think a little bit of boatin' and light packing is an OK thing for webelos, but I'd stay away from most of the other stuff. Wild cavin' in particular seems out of whack. A bit dangerous for the kids, but really rough on da cave. Caves are fragile environments that really can't take inexperienced kid traffic; just not bein' good citizens on our part to take 'em there.

 

Yah, what do da rest of yeh think?

 

[Jeffrey H]

I'm for doing as much outdoor "adventure" as the Cubs & Webelos can handle in accordance with G2SS. Often, the problem is not the willingness of the Scouts, but the leaders. The Cubs & Webelos will not have any problems going on adventure hikes, but if you have leaders & parents that are physically out-of-shape they will shrink back from planning physically "active" outdoor events.

 

High-adventure is not needed. Just get them outdoors and have some fun and be safe.

[John-in-KC]

Summertime is an easy time for 10 year olds.

 

Bicycling... Give them a five mile ride, and they'll be pooped.

 

BB-guns... granted under Council auspices, but they will give anything to shoot a weapon.

 

Swimming!!!

 

Like Beavah said, a hike with a pack, leading them to strengthen for the day they do their 2d Class hike.

 

Most important thing about all these: Keep them hydrated. I've seen at least one kid a year go to the First Aid area of our District Daycamp because they thought they only needed a cup of water in the morning. At my areas, the kids all did a variation of the Philmont Toast!

[Stosh]

Adventure is an attitude.

 

If you as an adult are not excited about this "adventure" then this "backpacking hike into the unknown" is just going to be another "walk through the park."

 

My Webelos took major adventure hikes. They were all expected to have canteen and backpack. The pack was filled with first aid kit, rain gear, messkit, etc. etc. They carried a ziplock with hobo dinner fixin's and another with 6-8 charcoal briquets. We took a hike in the local nature preserve, looked for hiking sticks, identified plants and animals, and then (with permission) made a fire, and cooked our hobo dinners in the great outdoors. All this adventure was accomplished within the city limits of our local area and we were never more than a mile from the parking lot of the preserve. One of the boys came back to me many years later and razzed me about how I had conned them into thinking this was a high adventure trip when it really wasn't. He also admitted it wasn't until he went to Philmont that the feeling of excitement he had as a Webelos returned.

 

Stosh

[scottteng]

My Webelos liked the historical hike through downtown of a local city with the houses and who they had belonged to and some of the rather rich history of the town was shared.

hikes of all types tire the boys out we have a local park with lots of trails nature wise and even a bike trail tying in with the Florida trail system.

Day camp is great to tire em out even my boy scout son who ends up spending most of his time escorting kids to the bathroom is tired at the end of the day. They do love shooting sports we throw all three at em in day camp bb-gun, archery, and wrist rockets. They only get one at the council family camps during the year

[fotoscout]

Beavah, and everyone else, you really gotta be careful here!

 

I agree very strongly with the thought that the G2SS is too restrictive when it comes to Webelos(and at times Cubs as well). But, if you engage in an activity that is not approved for Webs or Cub and have a problem, you are toast. No one will stand behind you.

 

Family fun activities are OK, but again, make sure that everyone understands that this (these) are not a BSA activity. Don't hand out flyer's about the event at den meetings, don't use the Pack's tax exempt certificate to save a few bucks, don't book your rafting trip as a CS group to save a few more bucks, no uniforms, and, a constant reminder that "this is not a CS event" is always helpful.

 

I've always thought that this is the most infuriating aspect of the CS/Web program. The G2SS protects everyone from the often cavalier and over the top behavior of some leaders. Unfortunately, it also severely limits the ability of conscientious and responsible leaders to bring a great outdoor program to the boys.

[packsaddle]

I love the cubs. I wish I was still cubmaster or something. But back when I WAS cubmaster, our 'high adventure' stuff usually occurred during special events such as family campouts. The family is a good guide to the limits. If mom or dad is involved, they will know.

But specifically, on our family campouts I would schedule an afternoon dayhike to the top of a nearby mountain as one of the 'high adventures'. The cubs already knew the reputation of this and similar hikes and they knew who'd done it already and everyone had a great time hiking really hard for an hour or so to get a great view of the camp and surrounding mountains. Then we'd return all hot and sweaty and go for a 'swim' below a nearby waterfall to cool off. Everything we did was an adventure for these boys, whether it was catching frogs and snakes at night or wandering the trails, or 'discovering' the old mica mines on a nearby hill. We'd do the high ropes course with careful supervision (and again, only if parents supported the activity) and we'd put canoes on the pond and have splash fights.

My advice is not to try for anything exotic, it's not necessary. Just put them out in nature someplace, take away the electronic gizmos, and they'll make their own adventures. Just keep 'em safe and they'll make the memories on their own.

[Lisabob]

Heck, for our guys, earning whittling chip privileges, learning to build and start a fire, and cooking foil dinners was a big adventure. And that was when they were 4th graders. Sure, you have to offer progression or else things get too routine. But these days most kids do not spend a lot of time doing basic outdoor discovery (looking at bugs under rocks, catching frogs, etc.) so I am in agreement with those who have said you don't really need to go to the extreme to offer most cub/webelos boys an "adventure."