What would you say?

[Scoutmaster Ron]

I'm looking for perspectives from other scouters on what would you say if someone (adult) Why should my boy join Boy Scouts? Sometimes I dont always think of everything to say and would like to get your ideas.

[eisely]

My response would be tailored somewhat to my perception of the audience, but I would say (1) we emphasize fun for the boys, (2) we introduce boys to the outdoors and other skills that they might no otherwise ever lear about, in a way that emphasizes safety, and (3) we try to teach values. I know the official position places the third response first, but I don't think that is what people necessarily want to hear in the kind of conversation as the first words out of your mouth.

[firstpusk]

I agree with you eisely - fun, outdoors and values are great and at the core of the program. But the most important thing is that the boys decide and they lead. This kind of opportunity changes an underconfident boy into a man committed to good citizenship. It is a program that really makes a difference.

[ozemu]

By joining Scouts they enter the school of hard knocks and learn those lessons of life that no-one can teach them. At Scouts though the hard knocks will not send them bankrupt, married to the wrong person or dead in a fast car - in fact after Scouts these things will probably be unlikely when they are adult.

 

Reminds me of Paul Pedzolt's letter to a mother. Something like:

 

"you can refuse to send your child into the outdoors where they will be uncomfortable and their lives may be in danger. It is your right and duty to protect them from harm. But by doing so you gaurantee the death of their soul."

 

That's from memory - not an exact quote.

[frankj]

I would attempt to paraphrase something Bob White once posted here. Here goes: Because Boy Scouts has as its goal the training of boys in qualities such as leadership, citizenship and morality... qualities that our society needs. Boy Scouts uses fun and outdoor activities to keep boys interested in a program that teaches these worthwhile traits.

 

Apologies to Bob, maybe if he sees this he could resurrect the original post.

 

to become

[dsteele]

I usually spend more time convincing parents that they need to join Scouting with their sons than I do convincing parents to allow their sons to join.

 

I like the responses to this thread so far. There are a lot of good ideas.

 

Here's my two cents worth --

 

I have been known to point out to parents that their 11- 18 year old boys are going to associate with other boys of their same age. It's a given. Most allow me that it's a given.

 

Boys can get into mischief if unsupervised. Some boys will be leaders, some will be followers.

 

Wouldn't any parent want this to happen under the supervision of qualified, trained adults rather than a street gang? I don't mean to imply that every boy who doesn't join the Boy Scouts will end up in a street gang nor that every boy who joins the Boy Scouts will not.

 

However, why take the chance? One of the reasons Baden-Powell formed the Scouts was a realization that boys will form gangs, whether for good or ill. Why not steer them toward the good?

 

Just a thought . . .

 

DS

[Mike F]

All excellent points.

Another I throw in is training them to be self-reliant.

By teaching them skills and giving them challenging situations to overcome, they develop pride and self-confidence which has the potential to positively change their lives.

 

[evmori]

Where else can you have so much fun & learn tons at the same time!

 

Ed Mori

Scoutmaster

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[mk9750]

There was an article in Scouter Magazine back in @ 1996 or 1997, I think, written by a parent who talked about her son having joined a gang. She went on to talk about all of the things she saw her son doing now - Sleeping out of the house without his parents, walking vast distances to find his fun, etc. At the end (as if anyone reading Scouter Magazine couldn't have figured out by the third paragraph), she said the gang her son had joined was the Boy Scouts. If I could find that article, I'd show it to your parents. It was very powerful.

 

I have actually been searching for a reprint of this article for a couple of months now. Apparently, the box with some of my back issues of favorite magazines didn't do well in a recent move (yeah, all of my Golf Digest magazines are missing, too!) If you happen to know how I can get a reprint of this article, I'd appreciate it. Scouter's searchable website doesn't go back far enough to include this article.

 

Good luck. Every sucess you have doing these sales pitches strengthens our society at many, many levels.

 

Mark

[Overtrained]

Ron,

 

One of my troops got a hold of the Brochure "Boy Scouting...Time Well Spent"

02-341. They have handed this out at various functions with some success. Particularly when parents don't stop to ask, but when they did it was used as a discussion guide.

 

It describes the New Haris Study. Its hard to describe, but its pretty good. Get a copy from your Scout office and paraphrase from it. My troop even had it printed in our Church Newletter.

 

I think there is one for Crew and Packs too.

 

Good Luck

 

Bob

[Scoutmaster Ron]

Thanks everyone for your response they'll sure help me...especially the troop