JLTC, SPL & dealing with older scouts

[EagleInKY]

Fun with a purpose. Game with a purpose. I love the concept. Some of my boys get it, but others don't.

 

I've just lost a pair of brothers from our troop. They're staying in scouting, I'm glad for that. I tried to get them to tell me why they decided to move troops. Truth be told, I think they felt obligated to join our troop because they came up through our pack. There church has a troop, but no pack, and they ended up going there. I'm cool with that.

 

The frustrating part was when the dad finally told me that they left because we weren't doing enough "fun" things. The reason it's frustrating is that we have done lots of fun things. Hiking in some beautiful country, cave tours, snow tubing, campouts, lockins. This year we're going white water rafting. Truth is, these boys are lazy, and there idea of "fun" doesn't sync up with scouting fun (IMHO). They want us to go to theme parks, ride go-carts, go to the beach, play lazer tag, have movie nights, pizza parties, etc. Now, don't get me wrong, any of these things are fine (although some are against the G2SS). But I really believe that is ALL these guys want to do. And, to top it off, their parents never helped with any activities. Twice a parent was going to come with us, and backed out on the day we left. I have very little patience for that.

 

But, regarding their idea of fun, they're not alone. I have a couple of others that seem to feel the same way. How do you get the boys to understand what fun with a purpose means???