Scouting

[Rider One]

I have always felt like the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts were great training for kids to learn the basics of survival and even the love and fun of the outdoors. Were you a Scout?

 

[FireBuilder]

I was a scout myself, and was really looking forward to the point where my kids could join. Once they did, we were all terribly disappointed in what scouting had to offer in our area. The girl scouts won't call us back to say when and where meetings are. The boy scout leaders are local politicians who seem more interested in glad-handing fellow parents than in teaching the boys. We have stopped trying to go through official channels, and I am simply teaching them to love the outdoors myself.

 

[Lorax]

Made it to Life Scout. I still regret not getting that Eagle rank.

 

[Refrigerator]

FireBuilder/ I give many classes to our local scouts here in Virginia. I have found some are very well supported and financially well off while others are struggling. I was never given the opportunity to join the scouts prolly because my mind was on Baseball and backyard camping, fishing.

I believe you do not have to be a scout to be free out there and competent in the woods. Yes scouting does build confidence but so does being a Father or Mother to your children. Get them out doors and show, teach and learn with them and you will be giving them a scout start.
Best wishes...

 

[dinosaur]

I was a scout. I went through the Wolf, Bear and Lion phases as a cub scout. Then we entered the WEBELOS, which was the last phase before becoming a boy scout. It was at this juncture I realized that I knew more about the woods than my scoutmaster had ever learned. He asked me if I wanted to be a member or not. I said: NOT!

This is in no way a takedown of scouting. It is a great tradition and the reason for many people becoming decent and wholesome with an appreciation of the wilds and what they truly mean. I just happened to be raised by my father. He was out of the ordinary and taught me survival at a very young age.

When I was in my twenties, I worked with the BSA. I've never regretted it.

 

[Jobiwan]

Yes, I was a First Class scout. It was a great experience in my youth. My troop was very active especially in the winter. I first learned how to start a fire with flint, build a survival shelter and stay in it in the winter, basic first aid, how to sail, how to identify local flora & fauna and most of all to respect nature.

 

[Erwin]

Yes I was a scout and enjoyed it vary much. My parents didn't know much about the outdoors and I made a couple friends for life who I still talk to from it. I must have been lucky to be in a good group!

 

[JDSport]

I was a boy scout too. My brother actually finished as an eagle scout and I perused sports. I learned from my brother and father all I needed to know so it worked out.

 

[Betty]

I was a Camp Fire Girl, which I know really contributed to a formation of the love of the outdoors. My husband was an Eagle Scout. (I still have my honor bead vest, and he still has his merit badge sash!)