If it werent for scouting...

[perdidochas]

One other thing:

 

If it weren't for scouting, I wouldn't have heard the Webelos in the tent next to me scream in terror as I began snoring.

[jethro]

perdidochas, there's one great thing about my snoring. I'm asleep, so I don't hear it! Apparently I make a remarkable racket, though....

 

I could go on and on about what Scouting did for me both as a youth and as an adult. But more importantly, if it wasn't for Scouting, my oldest son wouldn't have finally grasped the ideas of goal-setting and self-motivation. Dad can teach and teach, but the boys really learn from those around them.

[Engineer61]

Hi Perdidochas...

 

Oh a touch of sarcasm and a dose of reality....

 

 

[perdidochas]

Wasn't sure. I would have ended the sarcasm with something I really liked about scouts.

 

Why do you think your son would have more friends without scouts?

[SctDad]

Well for me,

 

I would have neer realized that I CAN do things without depending on everyone

 

I would have never learned how to cook outside of the kitchen

 

I would have never enjoyed my first camping trip with my son as his marshmallow burst into flames and had somone capture it in a picture.

 

I would have never seen his face when he got his first rank patch.

 

I would have never realized that I can lead a group of young boys in activities.

 

I would have never enjoyed the sounds of boys running up to me saying HI MR CHRIS, as I walk the halls at the local elementary school.

 

I would have never seen the joy in the face of a young boy when he hit the target for the first time with a bow and arrow.

 

I would have never sat on a Eagle BOR and seen the face on a scout when you tell him that he has passed his BOR and essentially finished his Eagle Rank work, knowing that all the hard work finally paid off.

 

I would have never organized a Family campout with 360 people in attendance.

 

I would have never visited a National Jamboree

 

I would have never had my son ask me if he could attend a National Jamboree. ($$$$$)

 

Honestly, I don't know what I would have done if I had never been in scouting.

[Engineer61]

"Why do you think your son would have more friends without scouts?"

 

Observation...goes to school with only two other Scouts in his grade....all the other Scouts in the troop in the same grade attend other schools. Since the Scouts don't where their uniforms to school, he knows of no other Scouts that are not in his Troop

 

School friends that were in Cub Scouts but did not continue because the wanted to do other school activities are rarely interacted with outside of school.

 

Because a majority of his free time on weekends is spent doing Scout stuff, he spends little or no time with non-Scout friends.

 

I suspect that this may be an issue with Troops in more densely populated areas where there are more schools than troops.

[Eagle92]

Eng,

Have you thought that maybe he would rather be with his Scout friends on weekends than school friends? In my troop, we had scouts from 7 different HSs and i can cannot say how many elementary and middle schools (many private elementary schools in New Orleans go k-8 with HSs going 8-12). Yes I did things with friends from school, but preferred my scouting friends over them. Heck I still keep in contact with my scouting friends on a regular basis

[qwazse]

... my son would not have as many friends from different schools and in different grades.

 

and if it weren't for venturing

 

... my daughter would not have sat around a campfire discussing the manufacture of explosives ("you just don't get that in girl scouts").

... my daughters' friends would never shout "Mr. __, we love you!!!" to me in the middle of a carnival.

 

Still not entirely sure if those last two count in the + or - column. Just putting them out there.

[gsdad]

I would have never shot a .22

Driven a tractor, and a boat(to get to camp)

Dressed in Native American garb(Nutiket in Ordeal Cermony, Unami Lodge)

I too have worked at the best scout camp ever, Dear Ole Treasure Isle.

Learened first aid.

Gone camping

Fired a rifle at the ripe old age of 10

Cooked over a fire

Learned countless ways to make fire.

The list goes on and on.....

 

[Engineer61]

Hi Eagle,

 

I don't really thinks it a matter of preference, it's a matter of available time and his involvement in school activities that would net additional school relationships.

 

Since 75% of his weekend time is spent in Scouting, there simply isn't available time for anything else.

 

 

[sherminator505]

"Camped through all four seasons in one weekend"

 

This sounds like typical New Mexico!

 

[AlamanceScouter]

I was only in scouting a short time....Cubs maybe a year and Boy Scouts even less. I will never forget one particular experience in Cubs though. I guess I was probably a 3rd grader and we went to a Field Day type event in Wilmington, NC. At the event there were all types of athletic events and races. I kept winning and/or doing well in the races and I can remember to this day the sense of pride and confidence I gained from that day.

 

During my short time in the Boy Scouts the best memory was my troop building a raft to take part in an annual raft race on the Northeast Cape Fear river that used to be held.