Will Scouting Survive?

[Scoutfish]

You ever just start reading a thread, while maintaining just enough distance that you don't jump in or reply to it?

 

As you read the thread, you think: "Oh man, this is a train wreck that just hasn't hapened yet!"

 

But then you leave the thread. You might not come back for a day or two...maybe longer.

 

But when you do come back to the thread, something cool happens:

 

You see things from a different angle.

 

Used to, I saw leaders with different ideas that could not, would not even try to see another person's point of view. I saw that, given a group of people, they could not compromise even the slightest bit for the sake of the program . Nope! It was their way or you were just wrong.

 

But like I said, you then suddenly see something different.

 

Right now, I was reading this thread in which some experienced scouters were argueing about SPL's.

 

Sounds so simple at first, but if you dig even only an inch under the surface......it's not so much about SPL's , but about the entire program itself.

 

What you see are people who grew up THROUGH scouting in a particular fashion......and -whatever way they came through the program - it changed enough in that person, and made enough of an impact ...that they want to make sure that part never goes away.

 

Basically, as long as adult leaders come together and argue even the smallest finest Scouting detail...then scouting will not only be alive, but will be alive with a passion!

 

Now, as a child growing up, there were no packs or troops in my local area. Well, not in my neighborhood anyays. Nobody talked about it, nobody mentioned it...so for me, at least, the oppertunity didn't exist.

 

I wish it had. As much as I enjoy my involvement with my son as an adult leader ( went from parent volunteer to , ADL, to DL, to now, the CM)...I really wish I had experienced it from the youth side.

 

I will not live my life through my son, but I will encourage him to stay in scouting all the way to the end.

 

All because of the fine folks I see argueing to no end, the small details!

[Eagle92]

'Fish

 

100% correct that Scouting will survive. that is as long as we continue to have passionate leaders, and youth wand excitement and adventure.

 

One of the great things about Scouting is that it is adaptable. When you look at the history of Scouting, BP didn't want to create a new program. Rather he wanted to help existing programs like Boys' Brigade by given them info on scouting. When the articles came out, troops started forming on their own and scouting came about.

 

One thing is that while Scouting is a national organization, and really an international one, the boot hits the trail at the local level. the BSHB gives us the foundation of the organization, the patrol. Everything else: QMs, SPLs, Historians, SMs, Districts, councils, ad nauseum are just support.

 

So to paraphrase an old infantry cartoon I saw: you're either in a patrol or your just support.

[moosetracker]

I always thought. The Pack and the first two troops we were in had kind-of boaring run of the mill committee meetings. The last troop had committee meeting you did not want to miss.. There was arguements you would not believe. But when the meeting broke up on went the program. The boys were the focus of the program and they got a good program based on what came out of some of the arguements in that room.

 

That was the best unit I was in, and I knew it was because of the passion of those in the program. As they aged out, and we got a lull of no newbies or very laxadazical leaders, the passion died and the unit's quality sunk with it. I left at that time.

 

There seems to be some new adult leaders coming in.. They are beginning to pick up. So all I can hope for is soon their will be voices raised in arguement in those meetings again.

[afscout]

I remember the old days when every boy in my school class was a Cub Scout. That's not the case any more and we're losing some ground since as more parents do not have a scouting background, they are less likely to have their children join scouting. We need to reach out to them.

 

I think the in today's world of internet, video games, 24/7 working, scouting offers an alternative. Scouting gives me a way to bond with my son and a reason for me to want to break away from the office to go to a pack meeting or campout. It gives my son an opportunity to get away from TV, computers, and Nintindo and go explore the world around him. Could we have done this without scouting? Yes, but would we? Probably not. It's too easy to stay late at the office to catch up on work or to be too tired to take my son out to play catch. By being involved in scouting, I have to be at activities and can't make excuses. For my son, scouting activities are fun so I don't have to drag him out kicking and screaming. In the end, it helps me raise my son to be the man I want him to be and our world needs.

 

The key is being able to get the message out at recruitment events. Some parents that had a background in scouting are easier to recruit, but we have to aim to get the word out to those that do not have any experience in scouting. Even if the boy wants to join, it's up to the parent to say "yes." And once they are in the pack/troop, we have to get the parent involved to start growing the new adult leaders. I see how too many units rely on a handful of people to do everything and once they leave/burnout, the unit folds. My own pack has that issue. This year, I'm going to do my best to break that and get new people involved so the pack can continue on. I'm sure it's going to be tough, but in the end it'll be worth the effort.

[phips]

I just came back from urSPRUNG 2010-Austrian Jubilee Jamboree in Laxenburg (near Vienna) just a few days ago.

 

We had 6.600 Scouts (boys and girls) from 28 countries and 4 continents (Europe, Africa, Asia, North- and South America).

 

It was great.

 

Scouting was in the media again (TV, Radio, Newspapers), high ranking business men, high ranking representatives of the Catholic Church, of the Jewish and Muslim Communities, diplomats, politicians including Dr.Heinz Fischer,President of Austria visited our camp.

 

On visitors Sunday 20.000 people visited the camp site.

 

There is an interest in our movement in Austria and also in Germany.

Kids want adventures and parents look for activities for their children to get them away from TV, Playstation.

 

Our Scout Group has 80 members and many activities.

We have kids whose parents, where Scouts in the Czech Republic, in Australia and in the United Kingdom. - And also children of our own Old Scouts, of course.

 

In our Council we need more Scout groups, because the kids and parents want join.

 

Through the years I got in contact with some Underground Scouts from WWII in Austria, and Old Scouts from Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Eastern Germany.

 

The National Socialists and Communists banned Scouting, but still Scouting continued in small circles underground.

In May 1945 Scouting was back in public in Austria and in 1951 we hosted the 7 th World Scout Jamboree in Bad Ischl.

In the Czech Republic Scouting started in 1911. It was banned by the Germans during WWII, restarted in 1945, banned in 1948 by the Communists, restarted during Prague Spring in 1968, banned again in 1970 and restarted in 1989.

Today Scouting is an important part of the Czech Society and one of the biggest youth groups in the country.

 

Scouting will survive. I am sure. But it depends on us to carry on the flame.