Why Venturing?

[Fat Old Guy]

In another thread, OGE mentioned Venture Patrols and the confusion created by the creation of Venturing as a Program.

 

I'd like to know why BSA chose to confuse the public when Career Exploring was spun off to LFL. Many if not most adults alive today have heard about Exploring. They know that it is a Boy Scout program for older kids. Now, Venturing has to re-educate the public that Venturing is the Boy Scout program for older kids, "sorta-kinda like Exploring used to be."

 

Why didn't they come up with a new name for the Police and Fire Explorers (and who ever else went off with LFL) and leave Exlporing with BSA.

 

 

[bt01]

It might be more than that.

[Fat Old Guy]

That's about as cryptic as anything the Oracle ever uttered.

[dan]

btps

I agree hole hartly!

[Fat Old Guy]

That would be "whole heartedly" and what would that "more" be?

 

 

[dan]

more wood be multifarious

 

or may be it be roger as if in 007

[Fat Old Guy]

As Ben Grimm would say, "This is going nowhere fast!"

[dan]

As the Torch would say

Flame On!

[NJCubScouter]

And imagine MY surprise, opening a thread about Venturing that had 6 posts in it, and thinking that I was actually going to learn something about Venturing...

[CubsRgr8]

Not to throw water (or kerosene) on the campfire BUT way back in '74-75 I was in an Explorer Post (my only exposure to BSA prior to becoming a Cubmaster in '00) that was career based (law), coed, not uniformed, and no Scout oath or any other scouting regalia. So, I don't understand FOG's confusion and comment about exploring being for older boy scouts.

[buffalo2]

Gotta agree with btps on this one and think about 'in the eye of the beholder'

YMMV

[Fat Old Guy]

" So, I don't understand FOG's confusion and comment about exploring being for older boy scouts. "

 

You are the confused one. Re-read my statements. Nowhere do I say that exploring is for older Boy Scouts.

[Fat Old Guy]

Just for you, CubRGr8, I'll try to put this in simple terms.

 

Many, many years ago BSA was founded. More than a few years later, BSA started the Explorer Scouts which consisted of Air Explorers, Land Explorers (if that was the right name) and Sea Explorers (which went through a variety of names). The public associated Explorers with Boy Scouts, as it was indeed a BSA program just like Cub Scouts is a BSA program.

 

Eventually, Explorer Scouts became Explorers, career exploring came in with Police and Fire Explorers, computer Explorers, chemistry explorers, etc. but the Sea Scouts were still around as were "high adventure" exploreres and I'm sure that there were still some aviation posts. The public still viewed Exploring in all of its guises as a BSA program just like Cub Scouts.

 

Political pressure prompted BSA to spin off the career Explorers into the subsidiary organization, Learning for Life.

 

My question is simple, when Exploring had over 50 years of name recognition as a BSA program (like Cub Scouts) why did they spin that name off to the subsidiary and create a new program with a new name for the traditional Exploring program?

 

 

 

 

[silver-shark]

The new Venturing Program is very different from the traditional Explorer Program. If it were the same, as in chartered by Police Departments or Fire Departments, we would have still had the exact same problem. That problem being a Government Agency chartering a group that excludes certain types of people.

 

The Venturing groups, which are NOT a part of a Boy Scout Troop, are chartered by the same type COs as the rest of the BSA groups, and the Explorer Posts are chartered by the same people as before, but now that they are a part of LFL, they don't have to exclude the same type people that the BSA would force them to.

 

As far as I know, the Sea Scouts are still a part of the BSA. I'm not familiar with them ever being called anything other than Sea Scouts, and I believe they have always had separate requirements for advancement from the Explorer Posts.

 

Now add the Venture Patrols in the Troops, which are basically taking the place of the Varsity Teams previously in the Troop, and the fact that the Varsity Teams have now been taken out of the Troop to stand alone as a BSA program. Not sure what's up with this, unless they are going to move the Varsity Teams over to LFL with the Explorers, because the Venture Patrols and the Varsity Teams do the exact same things. Hmmmmm?

 

 

[Fat Old Guy]

"The new Venturing Program is very different from the traditional Explorer Program. If it were the same, as in chartered by Police Departments or Fire Departments, we would have still had the exact same problem."

 

The thing is that Exploring in its many guises (Explorer Scouts, Explorers, Exploring) existed for many years before the creation of career Explorer Posts. Venturing is what Exploring started out as and what it came to be without the career posts.

 

First there were Sea Scouts, then came Air Scouts and Explorer Scouts. After the War there were Sea Explorers, Air Explorers, Explorers and, to cause confusion Exploring Crews in Troops. Then in the late 50's came Exploring with some career posts and there was Sea Exploring and Aviation Exploring. Finally, we wind up with Career Exploring leaving and Sea Exploring and all other posts going into Venturing. Now we have the confusion of Venture Patrols and Venturing Crews, very much like they had after the War.

 

Maybe most people are like Silver-Shark and CubRGr8 and they didn't even know that real Exploring posts existed. Maybe that's why the name went away. I just know that it is a pain to have to continually explain what Venturing Crews are.