I left my troop, now what?

[NJCubScouter]

You don't need an eagle badge to be a good even great  scout, but I've seen a awful lot of 30,40,50 year old men still kicking themselves for almost getting eagle and then for whatever reason stopping just a bit short.

Yeah, and you can keep going with that sequence, I'll be there soon enough. I like to call myself a "Life for Life".

[Maric]

Thank you for the advice. My problem about finding a new troop is that all are chartered by a church. My previous troop was chartered by parents. I don't attend church reguarly. I do not want to end up in a troop that expects me to share a common religion or attend the church that chartered their unit.

[Oldscout448]

 methinks you suffer for a very common misconception.  Very few COs demand that all scouts in their troops be of their religion or even attend their services.  Scout Sunday being the exception.     

Edited January 3, 2017 by Oldscout448

[Maric]

 methinks you suffer for a very common misconception.  Very few COs demand that all scouts in their troops be of their religion or even attend their services.  Scout Sunday being the exception.     

That is probably so. I have just heard about how units chartered by churches go.

[qwazse]

That is probably so. I have just heard about how units chartered by churches go.

This is where you talk to the SM (and maybe older boys) in the troop you're visiting and describe your religious convictions and if they will support you in that.

 

For example, our troop is sponsored by a church, but the church expects us to be welcoming to every youth regardless of religion. They expect us to request the boys say grace at meals and that's about it.

Other churches have expectations for boys who call themselves Christian, and they expect leaders -- even if they themselves are not Christian -- to make sure the program allows for those expectations to be fulfilled.

 

The only way you'll know is by asking.

 

It's a hassle, but on the flip side, all that talking to adults you've never met before will prepare you for things like your next board of review.

[SpEdScouter]

Thank you for the advice. My problem about finding a new troop is that all are chartered by a church. My previous troop was chartered by parents. I don't attend church reguarly. I do not want to end up in a troop that expects me to share a common religion or attend the church that chartered their unit.

My sons troop meets at a church but I'd bet maybe only 3-4 scouts in a troop of 25 actually attend there. Now with some troops thats different like with Mormons.

 

I wouldnt let the fact that a troop is chartered by a church hold you back.

[Stosh]

My unit is chartered by a church and the church explicitly stated it is for the boys of the neighborhood regardless of their religious affiliation.  Thus none of the boys in my troop are members of the church.

[UncleP]

There have been some mentions here of Lone Scouting. Unless Maric's former troop is the only troop available in the area, I don't think his situation meets the guidelines for when Lone Scouting is appropriate. See http://www.scouting.org/filestore/boyscouts/pdf/511-420.pdf (page 4, middle section)

 

Eagle is not supposed to be a study-at-home course, unless it really has to be. And in this case there is no indication that it really has to be.

 

You are correct about the Lone Scouting, I looked into it originally.

 

I think this is a mistake, because if they made it more available they might appeal to more boys and increase membership.  Boys today are not as group oriented as they were years ago.  For example team sports seem to be declining in popularity while individual sports are increasing in popularity.

[David CO]

The scout doesn't feel comfortable joining a unit chartered by a church.  That sounds to me like an acceptable reason for Lone Scouting.

[David CO]

You are correct about the Lone Scouting, I looked into it originally.

 

I think this is a mistake, because if they made it more available they might appeal to more boys and increase membership.  Boys today are not as group oriented as they were years ago.  For example team sports seem to be declining in popularity while individual sports are increasing in popularity.

 

The majority of boys in the Lone Scouts of America were not from isolated rural areas. The first Lone Scouts were newspaper boys (and other working class boys) on the streets of Chicago.

 

Lone Scouting was originally much more of a group activity than it is today.  A few years after BSA acquired LSA, it turned Lone Scouting into the home school version of Boy Scouting.

 

BSA has expanded the membership rules to potentially allow many more Lone Scouts to join, but they must still register through the councils.  Councils will often not accept Lone Scout registrations.

 

I agree that this is a mistake.

Edited January 3, 2017 by David CO

[Stosh]

For years Scouting was a leadership development program, i.e. leadership Eagle projects, PORs, boy-led program, etc.  Lone Scouting doesn't have anyone to "follow" so it's going to be tough with leadership issues.  I did have a large number of home schooled youth, however, over the years.

 

A number of boys join my Venturing crew in spite of the Lone Scout program.  The traveled quite a bit of distance to be involved in that boys where registered from 3 different Councils in my Crew to be able to participate so isolation was never an issue.  They joined primarily for the social aspects of the group, but due to the fact that we were a Venturing Crew of military reenactors leadership development was a major part of the experience and, many of the boys rose through the ranks of that group.  None of the boys ever earned any BSA recognition, but were  NCO's and one boy a commissioned officer in the reenacting world which is rare for even the adults.

 

Instead of Lone Scout, many of the rural youth in our area are going with the 4-H program which is also a leadership program and do very well there. 

 

I have noticed that a number of our home-schooled youth are also going with Heritage Girls and Trail Life USA which leads me to believe that the home-schooled youth families avoiding public schools might be the same conservatives going with these groups as well, but that's just a gut feeling.  Both my daughters are very conservative and both home-school their children.  My wife also home-schooled her children for the same reason.

 

Because of this, Lone Scouting is unheard of in this area.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Stosh

[NJCubScouter]

In my area, I doubt there are many people who are even aware of the Lone Scout program. Scouting is thought of as a group activity.

 

As for Maric in particular, I think he is still gathering information and determining what he is comfortable with. My experience with a church that is a CO is the same as others who have posted about this. The church does not impose any religious requirements on the unit and only a few of the Scouts and leaders over the years have been members of that church or denomination. They do like to see us on Scout Sunday.

Edited January 3, 2017 by NJCubScouter

[Stosh]

One thing I remembered this morning about the home-school youth and the various options available.  My wife's children were home-schooled in Alaska.  It was remote and BSA has a limited footprint there.  Her children were associated with the Royal Rangers which like the Pioneers around here were more like the faith based Trail Life USA.  I don't think the rural/remote issue is as big as it was when Scouting first started.  Our society is extremely mobile and if kids need to get somewhere, rides are readily available.  Heck, kids that live 2 blocks from school get a ride.  When I was living in North Dakota, the kids that lived 12-14 miles out from school often didn't ride the bus, but drove to school on their own so they could participate in after school activities.  Farm kids as young as 12 held a special farm driver's license.  4-H was big up there and never heard of anyone being in Scouts or a Lone Scout.

[jrush]

Maric, if your issues were primarily parent-run operations and the age set of the Troop, I would highly recommend you find a Venture Crew or Explorer Post.  I hate to say this, but nearly all Troops are parent-run to a certain extent.  It's simply a fact of life about how a group of 12-13 year olds are going to get from point A (their home) to point B (the Scout meeting place) to point C (the outdoor activity).  It's not going to happen without adult volunteers, primarily parents, and most Troops will operate around the needs of the parents, without whom, there would be no Troop.  To compound your problem, most Troops will be a vast majority of 11-13 year old youth.  That's just what the program is designed around.

 

Crews and Posts, on the other hand, can easily (and so they often do) function with minimal, if any, parental involvement.

[Maric]

There is little chance that that the lone scout program would work since I live in a city with 100,000+ people. As well, when I was originally searching for a troop before crossing over from cub scouts, I went to four other units that were really tied to their chartered church. It's likely a isolated case and just randomly happened to be that there were many units that were ties close to their charter. Finally, I did not leave my troop due to the parents and adult leaders. I left my troop for a lack of youth similar to my age and lack of motivation between the scouts. I tired making it work since I was SPL two years ago, but sadly I think it is worth my time to move on.