Teen Life: ‘No one knows about Scouting’

[fgoodwin]

Teen Life: No one knows about Scouting

 

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060807/REPOSITORY/608070321

http://tinyurl.com/hm2aa

 

By Lori Duff

Monitor staff

August 07. 2006 8:00AM

 

I really don't know how I got sucked into Scouts, actually. I went into Cub Scouts, and I was having a blast. And right before I went into Boy Scouts, I read this article about a boy who got his Eagle Scout at 14 - that's wicked young - so I wanted to reach that goal, too.

 

It's a great atmosphere because in Boy Scouts everyone's trying to make everyone better. Your friends are in it, too. We have all sorts of kids. We have popular kids, uncontrollable kids. We have some not-so-popular kids. It's all over.

 

If you're at school and somebody finds out you are a Boy Scout, people are like, "Ha, ha. You're a Boy Scout!" I don't know why they say this, because it's a blast. There is nothing stupid about it. I think that they think it's more of like Boy Scouts is some lame thing where you just go and do crap. No one knows about Scouting.

 

It takes hard work. It is sometimes a little harder than you would want. In a way, it's like a second school. If I didn't have Scouts, I would definitely have time to play more video games, and I could play outside more - because it takes up a lot of weekends. But I probably wouldn't be camping as much, and I'd probably be really bored.

 

I think Scouting was one of the first times I went camping. I would never be able to touch a gun or use a knife if I hadn't done Boy Scouts. They teach you what to do if you get lost in the woods. That's one of the main focuses. It teaches you how to be a leader. It kind of goes with the independence and being able to keep your cool. It also builds character - kind of puts some backbone on you.

 

We went on a sea kayaking trip a couple months back. Me and my dad (who is an assistant Scout master) had tipped over the kayak. We were a good hundred yards offshore, with probably a good 3-foot swell, and the water was, like, only 40 degrees - and I did kind of lose my cool. I was like, "Oh my God, get me out of here." I was like, "I want to go home." I kind of went crazy, but I listened to the guy in charge, and I was able to follow him. Being a Scout is not just about leading, but learning to follow. The guide showed some Scouting skills. He didn't lose his cool. I think he was in the Army.

 

When I was coming to camp as a Cub Scout, I was having a blast, so I was like, "All right, I'm having so much fun I'm going to come back here as a den chief and have more fun." As a den chief, I'm responsible for the kids. You help them. You get them going. You basically make this whole camping thing possible. We have different duties - like there's latrine and waiters. (The kids are in charge of) cleaning the bathrooms. The den chiefs sort of have it sweet. I even have my own "backyard"with a hammock behind my tent. I roped it off with duct tape.

 

It's good (that there's no girls in Boy Scouts) because it gives you time to be away from everyone, just with your pals, and you can just be yourself - and like goof off without having to worry about where you are changing and where you go to the bathroom.

 

I had to take this one kid up to the nurse because he had a blister and it had sand in it. While we were waiting, the nurse came out and made us repeat after him "not to wear wet shoes and socks and not to get dirt in them." The blister had popped open, and the nurse said he was going to pour alcohol in it. We were looking forward to the screaming - but it didn't happen.

 

I like just being outdoors with my friends. It's nice, and you get to do stuff you can't do at home. You get to have fires. We get s'mores. Then, we roast marshmallows. I'm definitely doing better (as a den chief) this year. Last year, I was new to it, and this year, I'm used to it. I'd rather have (the campers) be able to do their work without bossing them around. But I'm kind of the one that gives them the extra push to do stuff.

 

(They look up to) me and Heath, the other den chief. They just follow us around. They do what we do, and they're always hanging around. We have to do stuff that's Scouting appropriate because if we do something wrong, then that's the green light for them to do it.

 

Scout law is a series of 12 different things that every Boy Scout is supposed to be: trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. The inventor of Boy Scouts also thought of having a 13th one, which was "a Scout is not a fool." But he decided against it.

 

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Colby Thivierge, 14, of Concord (center front) salutes the flag with members of Troop 86 at Camp Carpenter in Manchester, where he was serving as a den chief. Thivierge has been a member of Boy Scouts of America and Cub Scouts for 8 years.

[Eamonn]

Great Stuff.

Thanks.

Eamonn.

[Aquila calva]

"We have all sorts of kids. We have popular kids, uncontrollable kids. We have some not-so-popular kids. It's all over."

 

Very insightful. "Uncontrollable kids," indeed.

 

Onward.

 

Thanks.