The ManScout & WB

[GernBlansten]

For the car camping troops, may I suggest a Bumper Dumper?

 

http://www.bumperdumper.com/

 

Warning: be careful who you forward this to. I sent the link to my brother who immediately ordered one for me and had it shipped to my house just in time for Christmas a few years ago. Since then, its been a White Elephant gift several times over.

[Eagledad]

>>My guess is 30-70% of WB's are ManScouts, dependin' on your area. It often attracts da wannabe Eagles who never made it as a kid. I'd say it's a slightly better predictor than the knot-infested.

[Gold Winger]

Most of the Man Scouts are found at the unit level because there they have more people to impress. At the district level we just a lot of tired volunteers in worn out uniforms who are burned out but don't want to quit because they don't want to see the program suffer for a lack of adult participation.

 

 

[CrewMomma]

Hi EagleDad!

 

Thanks for being so understanding. I agree with you about the "ManScout" and the "WomanScout" thing though, we are here for the kids. A lot of people forget about that. When we participate in Woodbadge, it's so we can go back and help the kids. Yes it's fun and we have a great time, but all of that is useless unless we can communicate what we learned to our units.

 

EagleDad, Whew! Thank you for taking that burden off my shoulders! I'm getting a lil tired of trying to constantly get the point across that woman have something to offer the units other then organizing the Christmas party. (Eek, sorry, I am actually helping to organize it this year for my husbands (SM) troop!)

[LongHaul]

One of the big problems I have with the Man Scout & Woman Scout that are associated at the unit level as well as being staff for this training and that is when they don't seek to implement that training at the unit level. There have been MS & WS types as perennial WB staff around here for years. During their WB tenure not one boy from their unit was enrolled in what is now called NYLT. Soon as both MS & WS had managed the fourth bead HOLLY COW we got this thing called NYLT and it's all the rage. They are going to staff of course being as "qualified" as they are.

 As to Women in scouting;

The biggest and most often voiced opposition I get is that Scouting should be a place for a boy to be exposed to "positive male role models". That the inclusion of female scouters disrupts that bonding atmosphere.

IMO life includes both male and female participants. If part of the "positive role model" example does not include examples of how we interact with the other gender then it is lacking in the "positive" area. IMO any "male role model" that does not address the shift from the 50's/ 60's attitude in scouting toward female scouter to the realization and acceptance that without the Female Scouter this organization would cease to exist is not positive in nature. Any "male role model" that can be seen in the eyes of a youth member to perpetuate or validate the 50's/60's attitude toward female scouters is unacceptable within this program. The positive role model we all should be sending is that while gender may influence a person it does not define that person. Scoutmaster in not a gender defined position any more than Doctor, Lawyer, Supreme Court Justice or President of the United States is a gender defined position. The message and example we should be setting is that we should view everyone on their own merit, ability, and character not according to reproductive physiology.

 LH

[prairie]

Thank you Longhaul for you post, it gives me points to think about.

[Its Me]

 

Did some one mention the obvious? Posting hundreds of times on a public forum about scouting. Checking forum daily the for new posts or replies. Discussing the minutia of what is meant by ----- in the handbook.

 

Yes, Scouters as much we have all written and pushed into the Man-scout and woman-scout all the attributes we don't like in an adult leader, most of the posters on these forums would fall into the category of adult-scout.

 

The threshold for man-scout move depending on the eyes looking at it. Example, the pack I just visited the cub master and assistant cub master wore blue genes. To them any adult in full uniform is a man-scout.

 

Posters, you wanna see a man-scout go look in the mirror.

 

 

 

 

 

[Eagledad]

>>That the inclusion of female scouters disrupts that bonding atmosphere.

[Gold Winger]

"The biggest and most often voiced opposition I get is that Scouting should be a place for a boy to be exposed to "positive male role models". That the inclusion of female scouters disrupts that bonding atmosphere."

 

That's what I think. Strange how no one vociferously objects when GSUSA says that leaders must be women because girls need women as role models.

 

As i've said before and I'll say again, the sad truth is that without women, many units would fold. We are plagued with absentee fathers, often because of divorce or because the mother has no idea who the father is. We also seem to have a large number of fathers who are around but don't want to be inovolved with anything unless it revolves around NASCAR, NFL, NBA, etc..

 

Boys really do need an environment where they can be boys without a mother, any mother, following them around.

 

[LongHaul]

Its Me, actually while some of us may indeed be Man Scouts forums such as this don't provide enough audience or "center stage" for my idea of a Man Scout. They need control and power, while they can dazzle 'em with their brilliance and baffle 'em with their BS here they can't control, they can't stop opposition. In my experience Man Scouts don't respond well to people telling them they are wrong in public. They tend to avoid opposition.

LH

[CalicoPenn]

I'm agreeing with LongHaul here, Its Me. I find a dearth of ManScouts (and WomanScouts) on the forum here. Sure, we may be checking the forums and posting a lot, but there is a big difference between the forum posters and the ManScout. As I've read through countless posts, I see one very common thread among all of the posters - those seeking advice, those giving advice, those telling their stories (which are pretty much used to illustrate a point - not just for bragging), those that are regulars, those that are irregulars, those that are occasionally posting "lurkers" - to a one, its all about the Youth and delivering the best possible program to the Youth. For a ManScout - it's about themselves.

 

Everyone here has the youth foremost in mind as they post their opinions or discuss minutia. Even in the Issues and Politics forums, its still clear that everyone is thinking about the affects of things on the program and on the youth. Let's not confuse dedication and committment with ManScoutery.

 

Calico