Helpful Information Regarding Boy Scouts

My son was in scouts from age 7 to high school. It was one of the best things that he did. They did projects, camped went on trips. Developed values and friendships that at age 25 my son still has. Do this for him.

My son was 12 when he joined Boy Scouts with 2 friends who had also just never joined up until then. They had a great time and great experiences. The summer camps are fantastic, allowing the boys to try things that they normally wouldn't have the opportunity to experience in the city--archery, horseback riding, rifle skills, leather crafts, etc. The greatest thing about Boy Scouts is the lifelong result of earning the Eagle Scout Award. These boys are now 25 and have great careers which were helped along by the Eagle Scout Award (scholarships, advanced placement in the military, jumped a pay grade among entry into the work force, etc.) I just can't praise it enough!

My son benefitted greatly from Boy Scouts. I found the troops to be a bit testosterone driven, that is moms were not very welcome to help out. It was all dads. My advice would be to let him give it a try for a year and see if it works for him. They do lots and lots of camping.

I have heard nothing but good things about the scouts. I was only in girl scouts for one school year, but I loved it. I had a friend in high school who was an Eagle Scout, one of my co-workers is a troop leader in Cy-Fair, and my good friend has her son (age 9)in scouts. It's amazing the stories my co-worker brings back about how the boys conquered their fears and learned endurance on a hike, or learned how to survive in the wild by fishing and using compasses to find their way to safety, etc! His son is 13, so about your son's age.

My friend's 9 yo son has ADHD and he has learned so much about self-confidence, responsibility, and respect in the 1st year he was in last school year. He is a different kid b/c of the scouts.

I would definitely say check it out!

I had two boys in cub scouts, well, one who got busy elsewhere and dropped cub scouts and an active cub scout. Now, cub scouts is not exactly the same as boy scouts.

Still, I would recommend you look to your church or school to find an affiliated troop, sign up and try it out. Find out who your son is meeting, who are the leaders of the meetings, and whether you (well, both of you) are comfortable with these people and the things they are working on. A lot of the activities are aimed at community service. You two might like it a lot. I guess I'm saying I think it is worth a trial period.

Scouts certainly won't hurt him. Is he involved is anything else. You don't want to load him down with too much. I notice that you are married. Scouting is a great father-son organization. It provides lots of bonding time and occasions to be with other fathers and sons. I say go for it.

My son was in the Scouts when we lived in Nevada and it was a wonderful experience for him and his Father.. as they did several Father and Son activities during the year. He earned several badges and managed to earn the Order of the Arrow before we moved away.

J.

I think the Scouting program is a GREAT character building organization. I have two brothers who are Eagle Scouts and one who’s currently working on his Eagle project and my husband has been a Scout Master for the troop at my church. The programs focus on teaching the kids morality, self reliance, and to serve others. Now is the perfect age for your son to join b/c boys tend to be most enthusiastic about Boy scouts between the ages of 12-16, after that they get into cars and dating. I will say that it takes a lot of parental involvement to make the troop run successfully and the troops and boys who do the best have parents encouraging and support their activities. At a minimum go to the Boy scout’s website and check out the program and see if the values that they focus on are things you would like you son to be taught and then looking into the troops in your area. I hope you and your son enjoy the experience if you decide to sign him up. Good Luck!

My son is "crossing over" from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts in a few months. We had a great Cub Scout Pack with lots of parental involvement (this is key). I recommend you contact the Capitol Area Boy Scout Council to find out where and when the troops in your area meet. Go with your son and attend a meeting or two. I googled how to choose a Scout troop and got some good info but the main thing is parental involvement, a good troop meeting will have lots of adults there. If you visit a troop and they have to spend a lot of time trying to convince adults help out, be concerned. We have loved Cub Scouting and are so excited for our son to move on to Boy Scouts the leadership training for the boys is awesome and so are the adventures! HTH,

M.

My husband was a boy scout and when he talks about it I can see they are happy memories. I was a girl scout and have great memories and learned a lot. We plan on signing up our son when he is older. Our friends son loves all the camping. If you sign up your son don't just drop him off but get involved. It is great bonding.

It can be a great experience for you son. A lot depends on having a really good leader though. My daughter joined girl scouts at around 6 or 7 yrs. old and she had a terrible leader. She would actually scream at the kids. I took her out but she wasn't interested in joining another troop. She is 16 now and still has bad memories of that time. My son joined a boy scout troop at around 10 yrs.old and although his leaders were pretty nice they didn't seem very organized so my son didn't really do much. As a result, he lost interest too. I would suggest checking out the leader and your son will probably really enjoy himself, make friends, and learn a lot! Even though it wasn't for my children I know several who have had a great time and loved the experience. God bless!

This is my first year with scouting, but from what I investigated I found that it is the most well rounded activity for today's youth. It includes family, religion, sports and academics and most importantly it centers around doing for others. How can anyone go wrong with that. Good luck...

Hi D.,
My husband did not have an active dad growing up and he really enjoyed the comraderie of the guys. He unfortunately quit just before becoming an eagle scout because he found out about Girls. ha
Our son was in cubscouts which gave him and his dad plenty of things to do together. We moved a couple times and each troup does have its own chemistry. Like most anything, some leaders and members have different styles of behavior. Some were more fun than others.
I agree with the other posters who said to meet the leaders first and let your son get a feel for the troop's style.

I will admit to having a prejudiced opinion. My son joined BSA and even though we moved through three different states he kept up with it and has since become an Eagle Scout. I have always been active with his Troop and perhaps that has also colored my opinion. Great group-wonderful values, good experiences. It will get your son outside and learning a lot of valuable skills. I know there is always the possibility of poor leadership and there are freaks out in the world, but the BS are very good about leadership training and background checks to make sure there is nothing strange. There are summer and winter camps-they do a lot of camping. My son is extremely dyslexic and he graduated about the middle of his class-so he has never excelled at anything-except BS. GO for it!

Your son is at the perfect age to do boys scouts. He would have fun and it will mold him to be responsible.

The Boy Scouts is one of the best things you can do for your son. Their website offers alot of information and the other things you need to know will come from the troop (group that your boy will belong to). The webiste is below. Just type in your zip code. My son is in a troop that meets in Bulverde. If you live in this area, you can contact me and I'll get you the info. http://www.scouting.org/media/lcl.aspx

D.,
I was a den mother for a while when both my boys joined. I have nothing but good things to say about this, and I highly recommend it as a pre-curser to R.O.T.C. This stuff helps boys grow to be good men with morals and values.
Things I didn't like were the bugs when we went camping! Boys love 'em though!
Have a great time.
Deborah

My son is in his 2nd year of cub scouts. I believe that the parent is more involved when the scouts are young but it can be a great program. They really keep the boys active with at least 2 camping trips(1 spring and 1 fall), hikes, community service, and they complete activities throughout the year to work towards badges and awards. Scouts really helps instill independence, self-esteem, and teamwork. The boys can also earn awards for learning new things in their personal lives, such as sports, computers, chess, fishing, etc. Try it out and see how he likes it.

Hi D.,

Boy Scouts is a wonderful program. I have 3 sons ages 18, 16, and 12. My oldest son just earned his Eagle Scout on Oct 10th. He has been in scouts since 1st grade, from Tigers to Eagle, he went all the way. The other two are on the same path. They love scouting because of its various activities. They have learned and experienced things I never had the opportunity to learn. The fortunate piece is that both my husband and myself are very involved and attend the campouts or summer camp programs with the boys. I read one of the comments that said one troop frowned upon women helping. That certainly is not our troop. I do allow my husband to be the first to work on hands on activities with my sons but I am involved with the administrative stuff like merit badges and awards. All of our Scoutmasters are men but we have plenty of Women leaders in various Committee member roles. We all are treated equally with respect. Scouts teaches 12 laws ( and I can honestly say they have been instilled in my sons. Scouting is for everyone. I recommend you visit some troops to find the one you like most.

Thanks,

L.

Our neighbor boy is 15 or16 and is a scout. He is respectful and very helpful. He recently went on a camping trip and really seemed to enjoy it. I totally respect kids that are in the scouts. They seem to be living up to earning respect for themselves. Hope it works out for you.

My sons were involved in scouting from the time they turned 8. The program is great, but not all troops follow the program. Many schools sponser troops, also many churches. Every congregation of the LDS(Mormon)church has a troop. The more involved the family is, the better it can be for the boy. Call you local Boy Scout council office and they can tell you about troops in your area. It would be great for your son.
Good luck.
p.s. All 4 of our sons are eagle scouts

i am a huge supporter of Scouts. My son is an Eagle Scout (the highest rank in Boy Scouts) and my daughter has her Girl Scout gold Award - the highest rank in Girl Scouts.

Scouting can be to your son whatever he wants it to be. in Scouting, you compete aginst yourself - not against others. What I mean is - a boy can go as far in Scouting as he wants. A Boy Scout can select badges to work on that interest him and just choose to enjoy the activities and learn skills without striving for advancement - or he can complete outlined activities to earn various ranks - all the way to Eagle. Scouting teaches leadership and service. It is great to put on a college resume if you are applying for a competitive university such as UT or Texas A&M.
For Scouts to be successful, they need a parent who supports scouting and will make sure he gets to activities - until he is old enough to drive himself. a lot of parents do not support their kids in scouting, they put more importance on the sports, thus, most of those kids do not continue more than a year or two. Sometimes the boys think scouts is nerdy - whe they get to highschool. but now a days - it is much more accepted. sometimes boys want to quit - each time my son wanted to quit, i told him - you have to complete the year, then you can quit. By the time the next year came around and i always asked him if he wanted to re-register and he always said yes. I say - Go for It!

about me: a 54 yr old working mom of two now grown kids (son age 27, daughter age 24) and married 31 years and a former Cub Scout Den Leader, Asst Cub Master and Girl Scout leader.

I think the boy and girl scouts is a great way to build your kids confidence, love for their community, and love for one another. It does not cost a whole lot of money for anything that they do and it is a great learning experiance. My daughter loves her troop and enjoys every time they get together. I would definatly try it at least.

My husband is the den leader for our son's cub scout troop and it has helped our son tremendously. He uses his manners and helps out when possible. He was extremely shy beforehand and has come out of his shell a bit. He enjoys the camping and different activities the den has during year.

It is never too late to get your son signed up. You should try seeing if your son's school has any information about the boy scout pack in your area.

Hope this helps. Good luck! L.

I absolutely love Boy Scouts. My son started as a cub scout in kindergarten and is just getting ready to cross over to a real boy scout. I would suggest if time permits your husband to do some volunteering as it is a great man to little man bonding experience that they will never forget. Boy Scout is different from cub scouts as they do alot of things with out parents unless the parent volunteers. My son has done so many wonderful things and grown up to be so respectful and amazing with friends that I thank cub scouts every day. And they look so handsome in the uniform. On a side note if he goes all the way to Eagle Scout it is a real boost up on college applications as well as job resume's. Trust me I know this from the corporate level as well as my oldest son has now gone on to attend the prestigus Virginia Military Academy as well as being accepted to Citadel and West Point! It is awesome and if you are in the San Jacinto area they are the best!

L.