NAM - Best Scouting Activity

[SSScout]

57 minutes ago, desertrat77 said:

Bus and subway navigation:  small children can figure this out easily with the help of a parent or older sibling. 

Change in attitude...   My mom grew up in Boston in the 1920's and 30's . Bus and interurban trains were her thing.  When it came to visiting the city,  we often drove to the local bus/streetcar terminal(20 miles away) and rode the car into the city to the museums (Washington DC.).  No more streetcars, but DC had to fight to gain the Metro it so appreciates now.

True story:   One of my assignments before I retired was to close up the local bus service. Last bus came into the depot around 1:15am.   One friday night, about 11pm, I answered the phone. Man's voice asks if I could answer some questions about using Metro. I said I'd be glad to, what was his question?  He said his son was going from Colesville (a MD  suburb) into George Washington University to attend a special "honors" class.  I asked him, are you going with him? He answered  "of course not !" "How old is your son?  14.  Then shouldn't I be talking to him?   .

>>>Silence......   He said, just a minute....   A younger voice came on. "hello?"   "Hello. You going down to GW tomorrow?"   Yeah.   Do you know how to ride the Metro?   No.  How did you expect to get there?     . . . . .   We had a good conversation, and I HOPE the kid got to his class and home successfully.   It is multi block walk from the closest Metro station to GW's campus , which itself covers several city blocks.......

When I was "walking the platform"  in the Metro stations, I often saw sub teens , loaded with backpack, on their way to school mornings.....

[HashTagScouts]

12 minutes ago, SSScout said:

Change in attitude...   My mom grew up in Boston in the 1920's and 30's . Bus and interurban trains were her thing.  When it came to visiting the city,  we often drove to the local bus/streetcar terminal(20 miles away) and rode the car into the city to the museums (Washington DC.).  No more streetcars, but DC had to fight to gain the Metro it so appreciates now.

True story:   One of my assignments before I retired was to close up the local bus service. Last bus came into the depot around 1:15am.   One friday night, about 11pm, I answered the phone. Man's voice asks if I could answer some questions about using Metro. I said I'd be glad to, what was his question?  He said his son was going from Colesville (a MD  suburb) into George Washington University to attend a special "honors" class.  I asked him, are you going with him? He answered  "of course not !" "How old is your son?  14.  Then shouldn't I be talking to him?   .

>>>Silence......   He said, just a minute....   A younger voice came on. "hello?"   "Hello. You going down to GW tomorrow?"   Yeah.   Do you know how to ride the Metro?   No.  How did you expect to get there?     . . . . .   We had a good conversation, and I HOPE the kid got to his class and home successfully.   It is multi block walk from the closest Metro station to GW's campus , which itself covers several city blocks.......

When I was "walking the platform"  in the Metro stations, I often saw sub teens , loaded with backpack, on their way to school mornings.....

You gave me a good laugh.  Being from MA, though living here in the 'burbs, I'm experienced enough with our mass transit system.  Within the city of Boston, it is very much the norm that elementary aged kids use mass transit- subways or buses- to get to their school.  Many kids from the burbs attend private middle schools/high schools in the city, and they take mass transit to get to school.  Parents drive them to the nearest commuter rail station, and off they go.  To think we need a "program", such as BSA to teach navigating mass transit is ludicrous.   

[SSScout]

21 minutes ago, Eagledad said:

We are (or should be) an Outdoor based program and by involvement the participant will gain experience in self reliance, life skills, leadership, conflict resolution, citizenship (camp in a state park and you sort of have to learn what collaborative government can provide to citizens), practical first aid, etc etc.  This is what we need to emphasize.  Not to be all things to all people and literally do none of them very well.

The "OUTING"  in SCOUTING   applies to everything else, without a classroom, pedagogical situation. THAT is Scouting's advantage. 

Math? Physics?  Compass, mapping, rough surveying.....   Electromagnetism?   That's the compass, flashlights & batteries.  Simple machines?  Action reaction?   Ropes and Pioneering and set up a tent/dining fly in the rain....

Psychology?  Interpersonal relationships? outside of the family,  dealing with "work to be done to survive (Patrol cooking? Duty roster? )",  contests to test your skill?

History?  Citizenship, Patriotism?  depends on where you take your hikes and camping.

Biology? Naturestudy? Ecology?   Camp sanitation, trees have certain purposes.  Some burn better, some stay straight better.   Birds can tell you things if you listen well . . .

It is all involved.  Why do we have to keep relearning all this? 

 

[thrifty]

For most of the parents I know or meet, Eagle is the goal.  It doesn't matter if the scout likes camping, the scout is in the program because mom and dad want him to get Eagle.  I've seen parent comments online wanting nights at home to count for Camping MB.  A leader just said a few nights ago said that she thought those nights should count and she's the MB counselor so it should be her discretion.  She was not referring to the rank advancement changes.  If BSA's main attraction is Eagle, then many parents would be happy if camping was eliminated because it just means their scout has one less obstacle to achieving Eagle and moving on to the next item for the college application.