[JMS]

Me and my 6 year old just started in the Cub Scouts! He is a Tiger Scout, and I think I am looking forward to this more than he is!
I was wondering if there was other members here who were brought up on the good old values of the Boy Scouts of America?

[kevint]

started as a bobcat, made it plumb past arrow of light webelo to tenderfoot scout.

my wife and I started a group in small town oklahoma : served 2 years as cubmaster

[bpave777]

Cub Scout then a Webelo. Did very little as a Boy Scout until I retired.

Good buddy of mine made Eagle Scout. I was always really impressed he was able to do that.

[xman]

I was a Wolf Cub, the Canadian version.

[zenshaver]

Cub scouts way back when. 60's.

[sicboater]

I Went through the whole round as a Cub, wolf, bobcat, bear, webelo, arrow of light. I got into the scout troop after that and am proud to say that I am an Eagle Scout ( a distinction that you never lose). Scouting for me was valuable life experience. Some of the merit badges are quite challenging and not always about outdoorsmanship. Citizen of the community, citizen of the nation, citizen of the world, personal management, and communications are all required merit badges to earn the Eagle. Take a look at the requirements here:

Merit Badges - MeritBadgeDotOrg


Check out what some others had to say about being or knowing Eagles here:

Eagle Scouts?

Be careful Mark! The way they get you to volunteer is with the line "It's only two hours a week!" Ask my Dad how that worked out! He is now a shooting sports director at national camp school, a venture scout leader, an active member of the Order of the Arrow cook team, a roundtable committee member.....

It is very rewarding, you and your son are in for some wonderful memories. I would leave you with only one real piece of advice. Hip Belts. Whatever you do, when he starts to go hiking and needs a backpack (maybe not for years yet), for God's sake make sure the hip belt is decent. lol.

Have a great time!

-Rob

[icedog]

I went thru the entire program from cub to weblos to boy scout. I made it to the rank of Life Scout. Although there was no apparent kid touching going on, I remember the adult leaders spent alot of time drinking heavily after dark (when they thought we were asleep)during the campouts. This guy was one of the scoutmasters as well as my little league baseball coach: http://www.crimezzz.net/serialkiller...NO_matthew.php He was extremely moody but we liked him because he was funny. You just never know who is standing next to you.

Although my parents wanted me to be a blind follower and just obey without question every single adult on the planet, I decided at a very early age to always question authority. I would advise any parent to teach their kid to question authority.

Good luck Mark.

[JMS]

Brad, I find your post to be rude and inappropriate!

[WireBeard]

Originally Posted by icedog

I went thru the entire program from cub to weblos to boy scout. I made it to the rank of Life Scout. Although there was no apparent kid touching going on, I remember the adult leaders spent alot of time drinking heavily after dark (when they thought we were asleep)during the campouts. This guy was one of the scoutmasters as well as my little league baseball coach: serial killer true crime library * serial killer news * list of serial killers * serial murder * female serial killers * crime scene investigation * tueur en serie * omicidi seriali * He was extremely moody but we liked him because he was funny. You just never know who is standing next to you.

Although my parents wanted me to be a blind follower and just obey without question every single adult on the planet, I decided at a very early age to always question authority. I would advise any parent to teach their kid to question authority.

Good luck Mark.

A well taken point! I was a scout and left the organization becasue of the behavior of some of the Eagle scouts (drinking, destroying Troop property) and becasue the Scoutmaster was hitting on my Mom (who was married!!!). Just because someone wears that uniform (or any uniform for that matter....given recent history) does not automatically make them trustworthy. Parents must be involved and get to know all the leaders and parents. There are many parents who just dropped the kids off and that was the extent of their involvement - yet another baby-sitting service for parents too self absorbed to be with their kids.

Scouts is not just for the kids - it is a great opportunity to build and strengthen the relationship between parents and kids, show kids what it means to be a good citizen, teach them self-reliance and discipline, charity, and build their self-esteem. The parents often learn lots of cool things too! Meeting other scouts from around the region, country or world is great fun as well.

If the parent(s) is involved, it can be an amazing experience. Just make sure that you know who else is involved.

Cub Scouts is great because the kids learn teamwork, sharing, basic skills with tools and pocketknives, safety, basic civics...and in general that the world does not revolve around them...that there are other people in the world and that you can learn from them. One of the more fun things is carving a race car for a derby competition...you learn about carving, weight and aerodynamics, gravity and acceleration...great fun!

Get involved as much as you can...it will be great fun for the kids and for you!

[JMS]

Originally Posted by WireBeard

A well taken point! I was a scout and left the organization becasue of the behavior of some of the Eagle scouts (drinking, destroying Troop property) and becasue the Scoutmaster was hitting on my Mom (who was married!!!). Just because someone wears that uniform (or any uniform for that matter....given recent history) does not automatically make them trustworthy. Parents must be involved and get to know all the leaders and parents. There are many parents who just dropped the kids off and that was the extent of their involvement - yet another baby-sitting service for parents too self absorbed to be with their kids.

These are absolutely unnecessary comments as anything a person gets involved in there are likely to be predators! Please refrain from these comments as they are inappropriate to this thread! I wanted to know who was involved in scouts as I have already heard the smears against them!
Start your own thread on the evils of scouting if you wish, but don't muck up my thread with such nonsense!

[sicboater]

I have to say, I don't know your intentions here icedog, but I found this to be bad form too.

Why did you feel the need to post this? (this is a sincere question as, again, I don't know your intentions, only my reaction.)

Originally Posted by icedog

I went thru the entire program from cub to weblos to boy scout. I made it to the rank of Life Scout. Although there was no apparent kid touching going on, I remember the adult leaders spent alot of time drinking heavily after dark (when they thought we were asleep)during the campouts. This guy was one of the scoutmasters as well as my little league baseball coach: serial killer true crime library * serial killer news * list of serial killers * serial murder * female serial killers * crime scene investigation * tueur en serie * omicidi seriali * He was extremely moody but we liked him because he was funny. You just never know who is standing next to you.

Although my parents wanted me to be a blind follower and just obey without question every single adult on the planet, I decided at a very early age to always question authority. I would advise any parent to teach their kid to question authority.

Good luck Mark.

[WireBeard]

Originally Posted by JMS

These are absolutely unnecessary comments as anything a person gets involved in there are likely to be predators! Please refrain from these comments as they are inappropriate to this thread! I wanted to know who was involved in scouts as I have already heard the smears against them!
Start your own thread on the evils of scouting if you wish, but don't muck up my thread with such nonsense!

Wow....unbelievable. An amazing comment "smears against them"...I did not see anything attacking Scouting in either my or icedog's posts...all I saw was a statement of his experience, supported by documented facts and my experience - both positive and negative.

Referring to my comments as nonsense? Nice.

"Start your own thread on the evils of scouting"???? I believe I also listed many positive aspects of Scouting.

Please feel free to disregard my postings and best wishes to you.

[Bruno]

Guys, keep it cool here.
No bickering.

[Abraxel]

Cub/Boy Scouts is a wonderful program, and probably all together among the best things I've ever done, but you definitely need to recognize that an individual scout's or parent's experience depends entirely on their fellow scouts and the adult leaders at the local level.

I was lucky enough to have a number of friends who at least started out with me, as well as my older brother, and my dad got sucked in and was very active (I think he's considering becoming a "lifer" sometime in the next few years). The adult leaders were generally quite good and supportive, and I ended up going all the way from wolf cub to Eagle scout, with all sorts of leadership experience and fun trips along the way.

In short, scouting is fantastic, but as a parent you need to be involved and aware of who's watching your son. If you get really involved it's an especially good father/son bonding experience, and is a ton of fun.

[WireBeard]

Originally Posted by Abraxel

Cub/Boy Scouts is a wonderful program, and probably all together among the best things I've ever done, but you definitely need to recognize that an individual scout's or parent's experience depends entirely on their fellow scouts and the adult leaders at the local level.

My point exactly. One of the best experiences is the Jamborees...you can meet Scouts form all over and make great friends. If you are fortunate enough to be able to attend a World Jamboree, it will probably be one of the best experiences in your life....Scouts from around the world...a great time!

[shilum]

was a cub here in Canada, for two years, and at 12 i stopped and went to the Air Cadets instead of keeping with the scouts (planes and helicopters+ the survival, citizenship and leaderhip skills)

[foundlingofdollar]

Tiger Cubs through Eagle!

[gssixgun]

This will be closed untill the Mods have a chance to look this over

Thanks

[Bruno]

This is a smurfing boy scouts thread. How hard can it be not to get into a fight?
I'll reopen this thread, but please don't get into arguments over how you don't like someone else's post.

If you find posts disagreeable, then simply be the bigger man or woman and let it go. Life is too short.

EDIT: If you feel yourself getting worked up, think of the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be6jlCuMvVQ

[coachmike]

Originally Posted by Bruno

EDIT: If you feel yourself getting worked up, think of the following:

+1 LOVE THAT BRUNO!!!! LOL