Do you really enjoy Scouting?

[Sylvar]

WOW... I am new here, but not new to scouting. Eagle scout with 15 years and counting. Over all for me its a 10. There are those nights when the boys (cubs) try my patience...those are 3's. Then are things like Philmont which are a solid 10+. There was the day my son came home from school with that sign-up sheet and asked with more enthusiasm than I had ever seen ask if he could be a cub scout...that was priceless. He didn't even know I had been in scouts.

 

Shane

[Sylvar]

WOW... I am new here, but not new to scouting. Eagle scout with 15 years and counting. Over all for me its a 10. There are those nights when the boys (cubs) try my patience...those are 3's. Then are things like Philmont which are a solid 10+. There was the day my son came home from school with that sign-up sheet and asked with more enthusiasm than I had ever seen ask if he could be a cub scout...that was priceless. He didn't even know I had been in scouts.

 

Shane

[red feather]

True Returns.

 

Watching young boys grow in young men.

 

Listening to my sons talk about what the people that they are with and what those people do not know and how my sons use the skills that they were shown in scouting definately a 10+. (knots, orienteering, and other scout skills) One son studying music the other in the Army as a medic.

 

True Returns, not only for my sons but all of the other scouts that I (we) have come in contact with.

 

Thats why I (we) do it, I think.

 

yis

[Eamonn]

I didn't think about the "Highs and Lows".

About this time every year I get really vexed when I see what underhanded shenanigans are going on in order for the Council to be Quality. How a value based organization can even think of so many ways of cheating and not playing by the rules really does get to me. Also about now I'm in my annual fight with the SE about our District goals. He won last year, however we didn't get all the money in that was pledged. So no one won and the kids lost out. People tell me that the Scout Exec. Is scared to death of me. I just hope things stay that way!!

When I look at the 45 units in the District, I can very quickly label the good, the bad and the ugly. When I look at the volunteers, I can't think of any one of them as being bad. In fact most of them are my friends.

I still really enjoy kids. Just listening to them chat and laugh is a pleasure. Watching them turn from Tigers to Scouts is really worth while. Having a little Lad come up to me and say Hi, when I'm standing in a check out line and feeling grumpy, helps the line move faster.

Feeling sure that no matter what the guys at the top are trying to pull,that the young Lad in Cub Scouts will do his best and the Eagle Scout at the BOR is sincere when he tells me that he is doing his best to live the Scout Oath and Law.

Having spent so much time, with so many fine and wonderful people. People who really know how to have fun and really enjoy life. I have to say that I do really enjoy Scouting. I enjoy life and Scouting is a big part of my life. So put me down for the full 10.

Eamonn.

[AK-Eagle]

I joined scouting in 1971 as a cub scout and have been playing the game ever since. Sure there have been lows to go with the highs. Just enough to keep things from getting boring.

As things stand now I'll be in scouting until the great scoutmaster of all scouts calls me home.

 

YIS

AK-Eagle

[mk9750]

The other day, the mother of one of the Scouts in my son's Cub Scout Den was over our house. I was going to be picking her son up from Penn State, and, along with my son, we were going to the Army Navy game in Philadelphia. She was over to drop off a sleeping bag, and some other stuff for the trip.

 

She, my wife and I were chatting in the living room when a song came on the radio that the mom (Karen) had to comment about. "You know, every time I hear this song, I think of you" (talking to me). "A couple of months ago, I asked Kevin (her son from Penn State) to burn me a copy of the CD that this song is on. He told me he absolutely would not do that, because Mr. (MK9750) had finally gotten him to understand that breaking copyright laws was stealing. He told me if I wanted this song, I'd have to go out and pay the person who created it."

 

It might be a small issue to some, but copyright laws are a big deal to me. I beleive strongly that if I invented something with the intention to make a profit, and someone were able to copy it and give it to someone else who otherwise would purchase it, that is wrong. For years, every time this issue came up among my son and his friends, I'd make this point. Except for my son, who was never permitted to have a CD burner, I never thought I'd made my point. I guess I was wrong.

 

I have to say, I am truly shocked that ANYTHING I tried to teach kids would have stuck. They've had so many better mentors in thei lives, Scouting and otherwise, than me. But this one was cool.

 

10.

 

Mark

[River2K]

There are experiences with most of the Scouts that I'd rate 8-10. And there are experiences with some of my fellow Scouters I'd rate 8-10. But then there are the troublemaker-Scouts and adults that score 3 and below.

 

Right now I'd have to give my Scouting experience a 3.

 

Two months ago while hiking in the Grand Canyon with the best of our Troop it was a 10! Especially when the first trout was pulled out of the river.

 

I've never minded working too hard, having to pay an extra share, using my vehicle as primary transportation, doing the job of somebody who had volunteered then bailed out, or lost sleep to truly help a Scout/Scouter, but having to deal with an evil person in the Troop, whether it's a Scout or adult, just kills my interest in Scouting.

 

Ken

 

 

[boy_scout_chic]

I like the way Mark explained his rating in his first reply.

Some people only look at HOW MANY bad and good things there are in Scouting and never really think about how much each affects them.

Sure, an unhappy parent or a scout that misbehaves can get you agitated for a while, but watching someone that YOU taught and YOU watched grow up makes you forget ALL about that feeling.

I was lucky. I was 5 when my brother started Boy Scouts so I got to watch him get his merit badges and earn his ranks. I saw what it was like behind the scenes too since our parents were the Scout leaders. Then, after watching my brother work so hard for 7 years, I got to watch him get his Eagle Scout Award.

Now, I am 15 so I started a Venture Crew in my town and I have all my friends in it and I speak for all of us when I say that Scouting is something EVERYBODY would enjoy. It gives you a feeling of accomplishment whether you got something or you watched someone else get something because of you.

 

Scouting is a solid 20 in my opinion.

 

[ozemu]

Well said and welcome boy_scout_chic.

[boy_scout_chic]

Thank you ozemu

[NeilLup]

As a Scouter who works largely with the district and council, my job is to try to ensure that unit level Scouts and Scouters have a 10+ in their experience.

 

When I see units running well, Scouts happy, participation increasing, etc. Then it's a 10 for me.

 

When I have a leader tell me that the council camp from our adjoining council is wonderful and our council camp sucks and so "their boys" have decided never to go to our council camp; or when I have leaders tell me that all the council wants is money and never does anything for them; or when I have to try to talk a sponsor out of dropping Scouting over national policies or when I attend a meeting where we discuss our $250,000 deficit and how we need to cut staff to balance the budget meaning that some districts will have no DE, then it's a lot less than 10.

 

Still, my job is to let those leaders vent and to try to help raise that money. If I do, then maybe they'll be closer to 10 and will help me get closer to 10 too.

[arichardson71]

Sometimes I wished I had some of the childhood experiences that some of you talk about in scouting. That may have been my main drive to getting my boys involved with scouts, I probably like camping more than they do at this point in time. But as I have progressed from a Boy Scout Dad thru being a Den Leader to currently serving as a Cubmaster, an Assistant Scoutmaster and Activities Chair for our district my love for scouting is so much more.

 

I can handle the unruley boys and the sometime disgruntled parents, along with the anticks of the council, most often resulting in a headache. But the things that I can not handle (in a good way) is a tiger cub running up and giving me a big hug before he leaves a meeting, or watch a new boy scout cook his first "eatable" meal or as one person said before is watching the Down Syndrome boy that has never been away from his bed one night, tell his parents on parents day that he doesn't want to go home. These are the moments that really make this an enjoyable and reward experience that I plan on continuing after my boys are grown and gone.

 

So to rate this I would have to say a 10 and I hope that is continues to be such.

 

Andy

[troop251scout]

Well hmm I would have to rate my scouting expierence a 12. I love scouting and everything that come with it. Being as i am only 16, i have met some awsome people and have learned many things that i can take with me for the rest of my life.

[singmee2sleep]

This is a question that pops up almost daily for me. I think about the time it takes to put together the den meetings, the worrying about my bears advancements, the field trips, the consent forms, the question of wether or not I am even doing a good job or not, the "sign" for everyone's attention and the AWWWWWWWWW silence it brings about, and I think about how loud we can be (yeah!) and the intense fun we have and mostly I think about the time I spend with my son and 5 other boys his age, and how I am a direct influence on their growth and development. I am nuts, but I still give it a 10+ !

Lopsided 10 on some days but for the most part a 10+.

 

(got a little weepy)