My son got his eagle about 4 years ago at 18. Here's our family's and his troops take on the whole politcal scenario. As for our family, we laid out for our son what some of the issues are/were for scouting, whether its SOME troops (remember not all) pushing the religion thing or the no gays thing, and the issue with adult inappropriateness surfacing in some groups. We then let him decide whether he wanted to continue to participate, based on knowing his parent's political stance, and the nature of his troop. I think this was a better way to go, to let him choose, than to say YOU can't do this because we don't agree with parts of it. It also opens the door for a lot of intelligent discussion.
His troop is/was pretty unusual in that it was not focused on what the national council puts out about scouting. It focused on the original tenets of scouting as laid out by Lord Baden Powell, "never do for a boy what he can do for himself." There were no parent committees to plan things, it was all done by the boys, with the older boys leading the younger ones. The adults were there mainly to observe, provide suggestions only if needed, and drive the cars. There were a few select adult male leaders offering stern but caring background guidance. The older boys teach the younger boys leadership skilss, and hold each other accountable for mistakes. Needless to say, they spent a lot of time doing boy-like things, and not worrying about politics, policy and who might be sleeping with who.
This is not the norm these days, when you have helicopter parents planning and supervising the activities, making decisions for the kids and the troop and not giving the kids opportunities to learn from and be accountable for mistakes. In addition, mothers were discouraged from participating as this troop views teen years as a time for boys to separate from their mothers (I agree with this) and to let older boys and men teach boys how to become mature young men.
I think there's a lot of value in scouting, but it's really important to find the right troop. There are some really good ones out there, but there are also troops that are venues for parent's agendas, or a particular churches agenda, that one really needs to be careful of. There are also troops out there that instead of breaking off to a separate organization, fight the national idiocy on a local level, whether it is having pagan troop leaders, or being welcoming of sexual orientation. In a way it's sort of thumbing the nose at national policy, and saying "we are here for the good of the kids".
sorry for the novel, I'm passionate about this.
I.
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12-22-2007, 07:05 AM #1
Don't worry, be happy!
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- Nov 2002
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my take on scouting.
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12-22-2007, 07:18 AM #2
Don't whine
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- Apr 2006
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I was much more of a "boy" as a kid than SKnot is. I've tried for years to get him to do active adventurous stuff. No can do.
Doesn't seem to matter how we want or expect our kids to develop, they will do their own thing.
Irulan, that scout troop sounds wonderful!"If Americans want to live the American Dream, they should go to Denmark." - Richard Wilkinson
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12-22-2007, 07:27 AM #3
I like bikes
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
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boy isn't that the truth! raising kids is like herding cats...
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
and i know about herding cats from PERSONAL experience.
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12-22-2007, 12:50 PM #4
Small world, big life!
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
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They grow up in spite of us! Originally Posted by mimitabby
Hey, I've been teaching my 14 yo son how to crochet his last week!
Karen
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