Why are you Adults Doing This?

[Mr. Boyce]

I'm just curious.

 

Can you jot down a few sentences explaining why you're in scouting?

 

I think this would be interesting.

[evmori]

Cause it's a lot of fun & I love working with kids!

[erickelly65]

Because- As a youth, scouting was an incredible experience for me.

I wanted to share this experience with my son and his friends.

I wanted to give back to a program that I think does tremendous things for youth and, therefore, society.

And, of course, I wanted to have a great time doing all this.

[scoutmaster52]

Im in Scouting for my sons(Eagle 06 and Tenderfoot 08). Also to give back to scouting what two great scoutmasters passed on to me.

[Gunny2862]

NOT necessarily in any order other than as I thought of them...

 

1st, because my son joined and so I came along as a "camping parent" because they didn't have enough parental support for logistics and youth protection, quickly progressing to Assistant Scoutmaster, and, way to fast - due to the changes in the lives of other adults - as Scoutmaster.

 

2nd, now that I'm here, because the Scouts need an adult in order to do the things they want to do.

 

3rd, because the BSA training I've been exposed to tells me that the Adult Association method is an important part of the boys development as Scouts and as citizens of tomorrow.

 

4th, because of some of the phenomenal youth (who were Scouts) I saw before I ever got involved with Scouting - and the hope that Scouting does for my son what it did for them.

 

5th, because I enjoy camping and hiking and fishing, etc., and the Scouts are a pretty fair group of folks to go out in the wild with.

 

6th, because if I'm not doing it, who is going to? Surely someone would step up, but would they go to training, would they try to "get" the program, would they look out for the boys interests first? I'm not going to say I get all of that done all of the time, but I'm trying...(This message has been edited by Gunny2862)

[Sephrina]

I'm in scouting for my daughter and son. They are in because I think it's a great program for them. While I always planned to be involved in some capacity, I ended up being a leader for my daughter because they needed someone. I told her I would stay as long as she stayed or wanted me to stay. Even at 15, she still wants me involved in her troop, but she did jump for joy when I told her I wasn't going to be SUD next year. Now, my Wolf son expects the same thing and again I got involved in a CC capacity because they needed someone, but I am thinking/hoping he won't want me involved as much when he moves to Boy Scouts.

 

Karen

[John-in-KC]

90% what EricKelly said.

 

The other 10%: Adult Association works for Scouters too. Being around good people is as helpful to us grownups as it is to the youth.

[ASM857]

I enjoyed Cub & Boy scouts as a youth, then my oldest son joined hung back watching him grow. Then the outing coordinater transfered and no one was stepping up, I volunteered the rest is history. ASM at the troop level and committee chair at the pack not the favorite subjet with the wife. The reason I do it is seeing the joy and confidence when you see someone that thought I can't do that succede.

 

YIS

Doug

[allangr1024]

I was in scouting as a kid in the early 70's, and loved it, even though I did not get Eagle.

 

When my son was 12 he did not want to do more than watch TV and play video games. I told him he needed to be involved with something, and if he could not find something, I would. We visited scout troops, and we landed in one that a co-worker was the SM of. We lived across town from this troop, and it was not convenient to just drop my son off, as my dad and mom had done when I was a kid. So I stayed and watched the meetings. I saw the boys doing the scouting stuff with the scouters at the front of the room while some parents stayed at the back of the room and visited. I found I really wanted to be doing the stuff at the front of the room more than at the back of the room, so I asked the SM if I could help. The next thing you know, I had a uniform, and was going on the campouts with my son.

 

I am now the SM of this troop. My sons (3) have been in the program and are all out now, my middle son got eagle just before he turned 18. I have a vision for creating the patrol method in the troop, which in my opinion just gave lip service to it for years, and am finding it really hard to implement. Sometimes I am dragging the SPL and the PLC to the decision making and leadership process.

 

I would like to see the troop become more of a back country troop than a car camping troop, since that would require more of the boys, and thus cultivate greater physical ability and outdoor skill. That is also a hard thing to implement, at least with the adults in the troop.

 

So I am in because, first and foremost, I LIKE IT. I think I like it more than my boys did. I hope our scouts will look back on our troop as one of the formative influences on their lives. I can always dream.

 

 

[Karen_216]

I'm just w/ cubs right now but joined for my son. They needed a leader so I stepped forward during Tiger year. I'm now Cubmaster. My whole family has benefited. We've done so much together and made made oodles of new friends. The learning takes place all around. My 13 yr old daughter enjoys it so much I'm trying to talk her into Venturing next year when she's done 8th grade.

My sister recruited me to join last year. She's very involved w/ her son in a troop. It's done wonders for him. It brings a special connection between us as well a we share news and activities (she's in another district).

The leadership skills and interactions w/ youth and adults is priceless. When that Cub said to me "Mrs. M. thanks for beign my leader" it made it all worthwhile!!

 

[BrotherhoodWWW]

Im involved because I believe in the value of the progam for today's youth. If my son would not have become involved 5 years ago I probabaly would not be today. Now that I am involved I'll likely stay involved until my youngest ages out and he is only 2.5 y.o. now, assuming he wants to participate. I was involved as a youth and partway through my college years. I was honored by my fellow Scouts in 1980 and underwent my Ordeal. I took the Obligation I made to heart and stayed for the benefit of others for years after. I think the Ideals of Scouting do far more than any other youth organization to shape our citizens of tomorrow.

[Bob White]

Because my parents taught my brothers and me that we are each responsible for the quality of our community.

[OldGreyEagle]

Back when I was a youth, after Brownsea Island but prior to the untimely demise of the red berets I was a scout in the western 'burbs of Chicago. It was by far the most fun I had growing up. The troop went to the Grand Canyon and then two years later, Glacier National Park. It was a happening troop and I loved the mix of people and expereinces. When my son joined the troop he was with, I became a leader, we both attended the 2001 National Jamboree, he as a patrol leader and I as an assistnat scoutmaster ( in another troop in the council contingent)he had a lot of fun, so much so that for his graduation we ended up backpacking through Yellowstone, something we could never had done without our scouting experiences.

 

My son is now 23, I scout now in honor of a man I knew when I was a scout. He was the Troops COR, but I knew him as the Troop songmaster, he taught me Green Grow the Rushes Ho, Johnny Verbeck and a host of other songs I still am liable to burst out in song. He was a good deal older than my father (who I thought wa an old man)and was my first glimpse that older didnt have to mean stodgy and stationary. He is my inspiration for teaching youth songs, for having fun at a campfire, for being in the business of making memories, because if it aint fun, why bother/ Now, in honor of Mr Melvin Brockman, a one and a two:

 

Peepin' through the knot-hole

of grandmas wooden leg,

Who'll wind the clock when I'm gone?

Go get the ax

There's a flea in Lizzie's ear,

For a boy's best friend is his mother, his mother

 

A horsey stood around,

With his feet upon the ground,

Why do they build the ocean so near the shore

Who cut the sleeves

Out of dear old daddy's vest,

And dug up Fido's bones to build the sewer? The sewer?

 

I fell from a window,

A second-story window,

I caught my eyebrow on the window-sill.

The cellar is behind the door,

Mary's room is behind the ax,

But a boy's best friend is his mother. His mother

 

 

Gee Mr Brockman, I miss you

 

 

[DYB-Mike]

Well, I kinda fell into it when my oldest son joined a pack to be with his friends. I started attending pack meetings and events with him, realized I was having as much fun as he was, and decided to sign on and became Assistant Cubmaster.

 

Now my oldest has crossed over to Boy Scouts and Im starting the process over with my youngest son, who will be a Tiger. This time I plan to lead my sons den as well.

 

Fortuitously, Cub Scouts came at a time in my life when I was looking for something meaningful to do aside from work and household duties. I had wanted to be a teacher way back when (didnt happen) so this substitutes in a way. I also liked to camp and hike but never really got the opportunity to do it much until scouts came along. I had been a Boy Scout for a short time but didnt get very far.

 

I know its supposed to be for the boys but I have to admit to getting a lot of personal satisfaction working with my sons and their fellow scouts and watching them grow, learn, progress and have fun. Ive also begun to see that Im learning new skills as well and using skills I had but didnt get the opportunity to use before. Ive met some terrific people, parents and scouters, in the process. Its a great feeling of accomplishment when the Pack events go over well and you see that the parents are satisfied and the boys have had a ball.

 

Ive seen that being a Cub Scout Leader, and thus a role model for the boys, is an awesome responsibility and so Im continually working to improve myself physically and mentally to hopefully meet the challenge. I guess I have found something meaningful to do!

 

Plus, Im just a big kid at heart and this gives me a legitimate venue to act my shoe size and not my age.

 

YIS

Mike

 

 

 

[FScouter]

Mr. Brockman is still with us. May he live forever.