Scouts - most in demand childrens club (UK)

[RememberSchiff]

Pressures of modern life and the pandemic have made the UK Scout organization stronger than ever with a 100,000-strong waiting list.

...

"Then there’s the thorny issue of neurodiversity: where mainstream schools are struggling to cope with rising numbers of children diagnosed with autism and ADHD. The Scouts, however – which pitches itself as the opposite of a classroom environment – is not suffering. “We don’t teach in classrooms,” Carter adds. “We teach by doing in real life. Put up a tent in the rain, and they will learn it’s quicker if you work as a team. We also give lots of training to our volunteers on neurodiversity.

“We find children’s time is so programmed by school and parents but we just let them hang out with their mates and breathe. They love their midnight feasts and toasting marshmallows, but they also love just chatting when it’s dark. They open up in that space.”

For Sharmine Chowdhury-Tse, a parent and lead volunteer of the 20th Willesden Scout Group, the combination of these factors is what makes it so appealing."  👍

 

More at source, good read:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/parenting/scouts-most-in-demand-childrens-club/

[skeptic]

Sadly, our society generally gets in the way of this common sense approach, especially the looming black feathered birds of the legal system.  

 

[Eagledad]

Our troop had many awkward scouts, and they truly flourished in the program. I say awkward because not all youth with nontypical behavior for their age are autistic, ADHD, or mentally handicapped. Many, are just awkward. 

I'm curious about the UK Scout training. The challenge for adult leaders is that the behavior pattern of each awkward scout is as different as their personalities and requires a slightly different approach for their special needs. Generally, the parent's involvement improves the odds of their child having a good scouting experience because they can help guide the adults to what works best for their child. I would say 25 percent of our more active leaders were parents of awkward scouts.

Barry 

[skeptic]

Like the term "awkward scouts".  I would agree that is a great description.  Also feel that the labeling that is common today is part of the problem.  The youth's peers too often pick up on that and it becomes far more difficult than it might otherwise.  Always a balance, and helping both the "differentand his Scouting peers deal with things is part of the challenge.  Yet I have seen many of them come into their own when encourage by scout peers to get involved.  Learning for them all, and for many adults I think too.

 

[AltadenaCraig]

On 7/22/2024 at 3:18 AM, RememberSchiff said:

Pressures of modern life and the pandemic have made the UK Scout organization stronger than ever with a 100,000-strong waiting list.

...

"Then there’s the thorny issue of neurodiversity: where mainstream schools are struggling to cope with rising numbers of children diagnosed with autism and ADHD. The Scouts, however – which pitches itself as the opposite of a classroom environment – is not suffering. “We don’t teach in classrooms,” Carter adds. “We teach by doing in real life. Put up a tent in the rain, and they will learn it’s quicker if you work as a team. We also give lots of training to our volunteers on neurodiversity.

“We find children’s time is so programmed by school and parents but we just let them hang out with their mates and breathe. They love their midnight feasts and toasting marshmallows, but they also love just chatting when it’s dark. They open up in that space.”

For Sharmine Chowdhury-Tse, a parent and lead volunteer of the 20th Willesden Scout Group, the combination of these factors is what makes it so appealing."  👍

 

More at source, good read:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/parenting/scouts-most-in-demand-childrens-club/

I found a link (via MSN) to this article that doesn't require registration:  https://www.msn.com/en-nz/entertainment/music/how-the-scouts-became-this-year-s-most-in-demand-children-s-club/ar-BB1qmlGM?ocid=BingNewsVerp .  @RememberSchiff is right.  It is a good read.