Problems with the Boy Scouts of America

[pcooley]

I may have raised this before, so, if I have, I apologize.

My son is in Boy Scouts. The boys in the troop are fine, and I like the scoutmaster, who also happens to be my son's fifth grade teacher.

The big problem I have is me. For some reason, the Boy Scouts just raise my hackles. The ban on gays in scouting certainly comes to mind. What if my son turns out to be gay when he hits adolescence? Is all that work just down the drain? Do I tell him to hide who he is? (I have no inkling of my son's future sexuality by the way.)

I also hate the uniform. It reminds me of the Nazi Youth for some reason. I'm trying to be supportive, and I've sewed some patches on for him, (though I found out that I sewed one on upside down). But if he does not want to wear it on scout night, I don't push it. I don't think children need to be in uniform. But if he shows up without it, they make him do push-ups. I want to tell them to take their silly uniform and shove it up their you-know-whats. It's too quasi-military.

I don't know why I have such a violent, negative reaction to this group. I think the skills they teach are great. I think the values they impart, in general, are good, though they seem to be lacking in the social justice department. I'm always reminded of Todd Snyder's song "Conservative christian, right-wing Republican, all white American males ..." I always feel like I need to bring my guitar on the campouts and play all the Phil Och's and Utah Philip's songs I know.

How do I let my kid enjoy scouting without my equating it with narrow-minded conservatism? I'm always there in the background trying to get him to sew a panic cat on to his uniform or get him to write about Eugene Debs as a great American hero.

[JaneV2.0]

Make him do pushups? Whoa. I hope your son internalizes your values.

[bae]

I would not let my son join a hate group like the BSA has become.

Find your local 4H program or something similar. There are plenty of opportunities for your son in groups that don't exclude people who are the wrong religion or have the wrong sexual preferences.

[treehugger]

I completely understand your feelings about Boy Scouts. If I had kids who wanted to be in scouts (boy or girl), I would have the same reservations. I don't know how to help you get over those reservations, but I guess it's important to make sure your son is enjoying himself, and then to try to keep out of the way of his enjoyment, while providing your age-appropriate perspectives and opinions about boy scout policies.

I was Brownie (jr. Girl Scout) for a year until the troop folded, and then a friend told me about 4-H. I joined at age 9 and loved everything about it (the freedom to pick the projects that interested me! co-ed, so no gender stereotypes [I was a tomboy]! no cookie sales! teen leadership programs to be in charge of summer camp! etc.) I am SO glad that Brownie troop folded. I stayed in 4-H until I graduated high school and I got so much out of it.

Any chance you get get him interested in 4-H instead? For the record, I grew up in the suburbs, not a rural area. Only mentioning that because it's a popular misconception that 4-H is only for rural kids. I never raised livestock (although I could have) and had plenty of things to do.

Kara

[treehugger]

Bae, you and I are on the same page today. :)

Kara

[Gardenarian]

Make him do pushups? Whoa.

I think being punished for not conforming to some nonsensical rules is silly.

My dd has been in girl scouts for a long time. Rarely wears a uniform. The troop is for homeschoolers and they pretty much threw the rulebook out the window. They decided not to sell cookies because they felt it was kind of obnoxious, and the cookies aren't that healthy.
Scouting can be a great thing, but it does depend on the leader. I think the Boy Scouts may be stricter in enforcing code than the Girl Scouts.
My daughter is also in a wilderness leadership group, and that is really more to her taste (and mine.)

[pcooley]

I have to add that my thirteen-year-old daughter is in Girl Scouts, and that whole scene seems awesome. The Girl Scout summer camp seems to really have their act together, and I feel that it is really teaching my daughter to be a strong, self-confident person. I just don't see the same thing with the Boy Scouts. Some of the skills are nice; some of the activities are nice, but the national organization seems not to be nice. They seem to be stuck in the worst aspects of the 1950's. If they would tone down the militaristic and overly patriotic language - and the uniforms - I might not be so spooked by them.

Edited to add: For some reason it presses buttons of mine whose origin is a complete mystery to me. I was probably an overly-rational child. I objected early on to the pledge of allegiance. I would not say it as a boy. Why would I pledge allegiance to a flag of all things? I always felt that I belonged to humanity, not to some political entity, though I feel our constitution is pretty good, and our system of government does its best to ensure individual freedoms, and on that score, I'm happy to be born in the U.S.A. I resent being asked to join in the pledge at the scout meetings because I'm still that six-year-old boy who saw no sense in it in first grade. I felt then like I was being coopted into something that made no sense, and believing in the power of words at that age, I made sure to keep my mouth shut. Sometimes I feel like I just need to grow up already. No one is serious about the pledge. It's just a cultural artifact from a time flags were something to rally 'round. But that's never discussed in Scouts, and it's all taken so seriously. I want to say "come on you guys. Stop joking about the damn flag. "

Has anyone had good experiences with their boys in Boy Scouts? (Especially other pacifist-leaning, Buddhist oriented, anarchists)

[fidgiegirl]

FWIW, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts share the same roots, but are completely different organizations. In the United States they are not even under the same world organization umbrella.

My coworker tells a story about her son joining Boy Scouts as a teen. She very much did not want him to, but the leaders were great and convinced her and her son loved it, I guess. I would not think I would be so inclined with my own kids, but I don't have any, so I don't have any asking me! And begging me! And asking me some more! :)

[Spoony]

I was a Brownie and then, Girl Scout. Earning my badges and going to camp really changed my outlook and gave me skills that I might not have learned otherwise. I stayed in contact with my troop leader until her passing.

[peggy]

My son joined the scouts when he was about 10 cause he wanted to camp, and do that sort of outdoor stuff, hikes and such. Great! But then, as he got older, the emphasis seemed to be more on earning badges (the more the better!) and that sort of thing. Plus we also felt a bit weird by all the militaristic aspect (remember, we were a military family then) but not appropriate for kids IMO. We also didn't like the exclusionary aspect of it. He quit when the troop moved from fun outdoor skills and projects to these other areas. I think the problem started when the troop shifted from a nice, easy going leader (our real estate guy actually) to a tough military type guy. No fun, and as I told my son, if it isn't fun anymore, why belong?
I remember one goofy ceremony we went through, (I don't remember what it was, but the kids had to walk over a little bridge after saying some silly stuff) where the leader was talking about the law of the jungle or something to that effect, and my son and I looked at each other and whispered, almost simultaneously, 'kill or be killed?'

We have no experience with 4H but it sounds like fun and a good fit for kids who want what the BS offer without all the baggage. Do they do camping?

[awakenedsoul]

I was a drop out Brownie. I think I was just bored. We didn't do much, except art. I did like selling the cookies, though. I loved the thin mints. My friend was a Campfire Girl, and they had a great time! I got to go to one of their camp outs and we had bbq's burgers and potato chips. I was in heaven!

As a former teacher, I have to ask, "Why join an organization if you don't want your child to wear the uniform?" To me that's like refusing to wear a baseball uniform for Little League. I think it sends the wrong message. When I taught ballet we had a dress code and part of the respect was following it.

But, if you get a weird vibe, I would find another activity that suits your son better.

[early morning]

Both of my kids left scouting but stayed with 4H until they aged out. 4H is a great, and very inclusive, program. Scouting, not so much.

[pcooley]

Awakened soul -- I guess the thing I'm getting at is its my own unconscious issues with the scouts I'm trying to deal with. I think what's difficult in my situation is if my son was gung-ho about scouting and came home anxious to sew his patches and badges on correctly, (and then proceeded to do it), and was happy about "moving through the ranks" and everything else, I would nominally support him in it, (even if I had reservations). The problem is, he's about halfway there. He'll whine to me about sewing his patches on. One of his patrol leaders makes him do pushups for his safety-pinned patches. The scout leader (his teacher) expects full participation from the parents. All of the other parents have had leader training, and they're all on this committee and have their own meetings to plan outings and track the boys' progress, etc. I really don't want to be a part of Boy Scouts myself -- not to that degree. The other day the leader asked my son if he had his tenderfoot yet. We both looked confused. He hadn't heard of "tenderfoot". I hadn't heard of "tenderfoot". Neither of us really care about tenderfoot. He does want to be in scouts and hang out with his friends and go on campouts. He absorbs some of my dislike of the military aspect of things. But there is a part of me, as a father, that wants him to do the best job he can do, if being part of the scouts is something he wants to do. It's frustrating, because I don't want to join the scouts and pretend to be concerned about things I'm not (merit badges, moving through the ranks (which rankles me), and whatever being a tenderfoot is), but I do want him to do well. Do I want him to be an Eagle Scout? No. If he wants to be in Boy Scouts, do I want him to do his best at being a Boy Scout? Yes. It's a complicated contradiction.

[redfox]

I loved Girl Scouts, and still celebrate the Founders' birthday. Juliette Gordon Low, founder of Girl Scouts of the USA, was born Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon on October 31, 1860, in Savannah, Ga. My Mom was our GS leader for many years, and I stayed in into college, then became a Brownie leader for a brief time. It's a wonderful program. Plus the cookies... ;)

[Float On]

My husband said a huge "NO" when I suggested getting the boys into scouts when they were little. Apparently he had one of those leaders that was involved in scouts just so he could be around young boys (if you understand what I'm saying).

I made it as far as BlueBirds for a year (I think thats a lower level of Brownies)....4H was a much better fit for me and I stayed with that (I think I even had a small 4H scholorship for college).

[Rosemary]

I've not been impressed with our Girl Scouting experience thus far. The regional chapter seems to be very unorganized and it is nearly impossible to extract any kind of information from them via web, email, or telephone. I have decided to finish out this year but if DD adds any activities, this is the one that gets dropped, even though it's a minimal time commitment. The frustration is just not worth it to me (and we don't even sell cookies, although the troop does).

Before we joined G.S., I looked for local chapters of Campfire or 4H and really came up empty.

[saverchic]

Most of the men in my life were scouts, and they loved it. I used to try to get them to let me participate in the activities with my brother. Our Girl Scouts groups didn't do as much fun outdoorsy stuff.

[Fawn]

Paul--I have had a similar reaction to the Boy Scout uniforms (youth Nazis) and the Pledge of Allegiance (you want me to promise allegiance to a piece of fabric? Not truth? Not humanity? Fabric?)

I have learned that other people do not over think things this way, but I have to be true to my own feelings. (For a similar over-thinking, see the thread on the Vatican Art treasures in the Open Forum.)

I think it is OK to explain to your son what your thoughts are, but acknowledge that you know this may not be his experience and that you will support him in the things he chooses to do, as long as it does not push you to do something you think is wrong for you (i.e. become a leader.)

[Jamielaine]

I do not have sons . I do have two daughters though. I was a Brownie for a few years when I was a kid and I HATED it. My Mom thought is was good for me though. I was miserable. The uniform in particular made me very uncomfortable. It was a hideaous brown dress that we had to wear and since my meeting was directly following school in the gym I had to wear it to school every week on meeting day. There was punishment for not wearing it. Laps around the gym. We also had a ridiculous beanie hat we had to wear. I finally convinced my Mom after two years that I was miserable and she let me stop going. well My older daughter is very much like me and had ZERO interest when her little friends started joining in elementary school. My younger daughter felt the pressure though and didn't want to be left out of something her friends were doing so i let her joinin third grade. She lasted about 5 meetings and refused to go anymore. I was thrilled. Interestingly though, I can understand PCooley's feelings of hostility toward the organizations in general. I could never quite put my finger on it before. Why I disliked them so much I mean, but I guess my feeling are very much the same as the OP's regarding the uniforms and the lack of acceptance of people of all orientations. I mean its ridiculous. My children are far to old for Brownies now and one is nearly an adult so those days are behind me now.

[Amaranth]

I think you can have the best of both worlds here. Finishing a badge usually indicates some mastery of the skill. One way to bring the focus back to useful learning, is for the troop to do several related badges and then use the skills on the next campout (fire building, cooking, knot tying, turning a tarp into 6 kinds of tents, foraging for food, etc) or event or to do a project. Also it allows them to consolidate their skills.

Is there another Dad who has had the leader training who might help your son organize his learning? And in turn you could do something to help out the other son/troop--such as bicycle care and repair?

[kitten]

Agree, the Boy Scouts have turned into something disquieting. It's not hard to see that these groups are fostering some weird values. The parents go nuts over the competitive aspects, too. I don't enjoy being pressured by people I work with to buy their daughters' cookies, but I do it because the kids get excited about it - and they're so cute and guilt-inducing with their big hopeful eyes, gazing at you as you leave the Safeway without their rather expensive cookies. Sorry kid, I gave at the office!

For the kids, it seems to be all about getting enough sales to reach a certain place on the ladder of gifts. This year my co-worker was crowing that his daughter made enough sales to get bumped up to receive a better gift than what she got last year. Is this really what it's all about? Seems like Girl Scouts could put more emphasis on the reasons behind what they do. I was surprised as all get out to read that they have something to do with congress -

Girl Scouts of the USA first established a Public Policy and Advocacy office in 1952. Since that time, the organization has worked to build strong relationships with Members of Congress, as well as with officials at the White House and federal departments and agencies. Through our advocacy efforts, we inform and educate key representatives of the government's legislative and executive branches about issues important to girls and Girl Scouting and lobby for increased program resources.

It sounds good, but it's all so vague - which issues important to girls, specifically? I'd be interested to know the details of what they've accomplished -

Wow, I'm just Debbie Downer today, lol. I do love the cookies though. Thin Mints ROCK!

[larknm]

One of my most inspiring people is a straight African American friend who was a minister until he left his (Methodist) church because they didn't accept gays and lesbians. He became a counselor instead. At 88 years old he still feels strongly about homophobia and is glad for his choices. All this is one reason I trust him and consider him to have higher integrity than I can see in most people. I would not let my children, if I had them, join a homophobic organization like the scouts--boy and girl. When a bunch of us were looking for a place to lead a lesbian writing workshop for Southern lesbians (who had no access to other writing communities because except for the university where I taught, no Southern college at the time would knowingly hire a lesbian) one of the groups we asked if we could use their land when it wasn't otherwise in use, for this weekend-long workshop, they told us no because we were lesbians. (We finally got space in a Georgia state park because it would have been against their law to refuse us. I don't know if the girl scouts still have this kind of policy. Similarly a couple of decades ago, when the school where I had been a student as a child and adolescent asked for money, I told them I would not contribute until at least some of their students of color were not from other countries--as if being of another country made a child acceptable, safe in some way that African American students were not. I was lucky that the school did have a number of Jewish students, so that even though we were in the south, I did not view Jews as foreign or frightening. All this to say I would work hard, if necessary, to find or form a group for a kid who wanted the kind of group outdoor experiences the scouts give, and definitely without badges or other hierarchy-building experiences. Similarly I wouldn't live in a segregated neighborhood.

[Miss Cellane]

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are completely different organizations. While the Boy Scouts do have homophobic policies, the Girl Scouts do not. There's even a troop that's accepts a transgendered child.

You may not like the Girl Scouts for other reasons, and that's fine. But please do not tar them with the same homophobia as the Boy Scouts.

And I wouldn't be surprised if, somewhere in the US, there is a homophobic Girl Scout troop--because the leaders of that troop share those beliefs. And many troops are sponsored by churches, which may have certain beliefs. But the policy of the main organization is that all girls are welcome to join.

[Spartana]

Most of the men in my life were scouts, and they loved it. I used to try to get them to let me participate in the activities with my brother. Our Girl Scouts groups didn't do as much fun outdoorsy stuff.
This was the main reason I completely disliked Girl Scouts. Not only the gender segregation from the boys (something I always hated) but the lack of opportunities to experience a larger variety of things - especially things like camping and outdoor skills. Their focus was on domestic arts and traditional female social skills that were very gender-biased. Maybe it's changed now and they do more things, but not then - very traditional female stuff and woe to the girl that didn't want to conform! Which of course was me :-)! As that was something even at a very early age I rebelled against. Fortunately I got out and did the 4-h thing and it was great. Boys and girls working together and doing the same tasks and projects, learning the same skills and servicing their communities the same way. Maybe Paul Coolie can get his kid into something like that - or a hobby - rather than keep him in a group that neither he or his son is crazy about.

[San Onofre Guy]

I am an Eagle Scout. My 18 Year old didn't make Eagle and that is ok. My 16 Year old might. I am also a member of Equality for Scouting and believe like Zachary Wahls to try to change from inside. I am 50 and as a youth we all knew the leaders who were probably gay, not a big issue. When the BSA headquarters moved to Texas in the late 70's things began to change. The LDS church adopted Scouting as their program for boys but their version differs from all other troops. They are very exclusionary and discriminatory.
I set an example and am the most liberal in my troop. I have been to three summer camps as an adult led a troop to Philmont and a trek of 65 miles to the top of Mt Whitney. I have had many issues with adults in the troop but I have seen the difference that Scouting has made in the lives of many boys to the better.
Scouting isn't for everyone, but I ask all of you to keep an open mind and be supportive of the young people who do benefit from this program.

[kally]

I joined the Brownies for a couple of weeks. I loved the uniform, but they made us wrap old jars in tissue paper for an art project and I wanted to shoot bow and arrow and swing from tree tops. It wasn't a good fit.

[saverchic]

I set an example and am the most liberal in my troop. I have been to three summer camps as an adult led a troop to Philmont and a trek of 65 miles to the top of Mt Whitney. I have had many issues with adults in the troop but I have seen the difference that Scouting has made in the lives of many boys to the better.
Scouting isn't for everyone, but I ask all of you to keep an open mind and be supportive of the young people who do benefit from this program.

I love this! I hope my boys have a troop leader like you.

[larknm]

Thanks, Miss Cellane, for clearing me up on the differences between boy and girl scouts; my info was out of date and possibly I was generalizing from one experience.

[kitten]

This made me laugh! I hated the crafts too! What were the adults thinking? I remember being handed two swatches of vinyl with some sort of floral print. We were given these punchers and some yarn, and a thin piece of foam. We had to put the foam in between the two pieces of vinyl and then sew the thing together with the yarn. It was supposed to be a pillow, and we had to use them once during a visit to Chief Lalooska's teepee. I recall how obnoxious it was to sit in the lotus position for a couple hours - something my legs just were not meant to do - on top of this lame little pillow. My butt still hurts just thinking about it.

The conformity of those group activities is what strikes me now. Creativity was starved, at least in my troop. The only thing that mattered was producing a piece of wood with a copper flower hammered into it that looked exactly like the one your neighbor had completed. No room for originality. Originality in children is not always an easy thing for adults to handle - especially harried ones who think that what they're there for is to control the kids at all costs - just keep them busy and out of your hair.

Of course, an experience like this in the Brownies could be an accurate precursor to these kids' adult lives. Gawd knows most of my bosses and work environments have been just this way. Studies show this is the case - when managers are asked what they value most in employees, obedience always tops the list - creativity and intelligence are the least desirable qualities an employee could possibly have, lol.


I joined the Brownies for a couple of weeks. I loved the uniform, but they made us wrap old jars in tissue paper for an art project and I wanted to shoot bow and arrow and swing from tree tops. It wasn't a good fit.

[JaneV2.0]

...
Of course, an experience like this in the Brownies could be an accurate precursor to these kids' adult lives. Gawd knows most of my bosses and work environments have been just this way. Studies show this is the case - when managers are asked what they value most in employees, obedience always tops the list - creativity and intelligence are the least desirable qualities an employee could possibly have, lol.

You could tell how checked out I was by one boffo work review I got that included the line "Jane will do anything you ask her to." (For the record, that didn't involve malfeasance.) Good grief. Meanwhile, I was crossing days off the big calendar I had tacked to my cube wall.

I was an occasional girl scout. I didn't mind camp, except for the long slog up Wind Mountain or whatever the heck it was called. All that work to end up perched on a pile of rocks.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I was a brownie and a girl scout (because mom had been I think, not from me asking to be). I remember almost nothing of what we actually did. This is what I remember: going around selling cookies (yea you remember that). And I remember a natural area we went to once - may have just been a big abandoned lot but it was big and wild - I remember that. I did go to girl scout camp and do remember some of that. But honestly I can't remember for the life of me what we did beyond that, we probably did make some crafts, that seems about right, I can't remember them! It's like SO SO SO much else my parents tried to get me into, that never really stuck, you might even call it well rounded, and it was mostly just "whateveh".

[pcooley]

I have to reiterate, again, that my daughter and Girl Scouts are a great fit. She just finished up a service project where she helped organize a career fair at her old elementary school. She had a tattoo artist, circus director, library director, fire chief, transportation planner, and many other show up. I personally find the Girl Scouts to be more enjoyable as an organization. The girls seem to have more fun, and there seems to be less bureaucracy.

This past meeting, the kids were doing "Board of Reviews" for the merit badges they earned. It was some bizarre grilling of the boys on the skills they learned. My son and I just stood around. I realized that he has not earned one single merit badge -- though he's been involved in scouts off and on for about four years.

When I was a boy, I was in scouts for about three years, and I had a shoebox full of merit badges, though I don't particularly remember caring about them. (I also missed out being camper of the year one year by one vote. I voted for the other person because I thought that was the ethical thing to do. I still think that's funny and disappointing in some way). The troop I belonged too did activities and followed them through. I think the parents in my son's troop are pushing the scouts to finish activities at home. A lot of the meeting time seems to be taken up with making sure everyone's documentation is straight and other bureaucratic hassles.

I sat him down on our weekly soup date this Friday, (he gets out earlier than his sister, and so I take him for soup, which is one of his favorite things). I apologized to him for not working more closely with him on his merit badges and not encouraging him to complete them. "That's OK dad," he said, "most of the merit badge stuff is really annoying." "Well," I said to him, "I'm worried that you'll feel bad at all these award ceremonies when your friends are getting called up to get all these badges and awards, and you're not recognized for anything at all." "No," he said, "it doesn't bother me."

I tried to take him to the merit badge powwow this morning, but he refused to go. Finally, he said, "Dad, I hate everything about Scouts except the camping trips."

So basically, his main interest is in camping, and he has no social qualms or bad feelings about being a merit badge-less Boy Scout. It's true that I could get him in 4H or some other organization that did camping trips, but the scouts in his troop are his friends -- at least they've known each other for years, though I can't say they're the types of kids he would have over to the house or invite to a birthday party, he has other friends that he's closer to -- and he enjoys camping with them.

I guess I should be happy that he knows his own mind and possesses that degree of self-confidence about it at eleven years of age. He did decide that he wants to go to the summer camp, because they have archery, and that's one of his main current interests, so I'm sending him off with his troop to the Gorham Scout Ranch for a week at the end of June. It will be his first time away from family. He was a little worried that it would have too military a tone to it based on the other scout's stories, but I think they were probably just trying to needle him. I'm sure he'll have a good time once he's there.

[fidgiegirl]

Paul, if it's camping he likes, there are looooooots of opportunities for camps. Now whether they are what he likes or are affordable is another question, but in our area there are Y camps, church camps (not sure that's any better fit), and many more. Is your family into camping as well? Again, sorry to compare, but in Girl Scouts girls are more than free to just attend summer camp if that's their thing. Do Boy Scouts have to attend with troopmates?

I did a trip with this org once and it was very well run and fun. They have family and youth events as well. http://www.wildernessinquiry.org/

Love the soup date, BTW. :)

[Miss Cellane]

I'm wondering if there's another troop nearby that might be a better fit. While there are guidelines for what the troops should do, like all the Cub Scouts make those little racing cars and stuff like that, there's a lot of room for the individual den or troop leader to do things that they prefer.

I'm trying to wrap my brain around being made to do pushups for not wearing a uniform, but no pressure from the troop leader to complete at least one merit badge. What, exactly, are the troop leader's priorities? If I were in charge of a troop, I wouldn't care less what the kids wore, but if a boy had been in scouting for 4 years and hadn't gotten interested enough in one single thing to the extent that he'd earn at least one merit badge, then I'd be talking with the boy and his parents to see if scouting was a good fit for the kid. (And I've never heard, until this thread, of a kid getting punished for not wearing their uniform, ever. The mind boggles.)

Another red flag for me is that neither you nor your son knew anything about Tenderfoot. I don't know what that is myself, but I'm guessing it is the next step in Scouting or a merit badge or something. And that it is expected that a Scout will earn/accomplish this at some point. A good leader would be making all the boys aware of the next steps they need to take and talking about them and making opportunities for the boys to earn/ accomplish their next goals. My mom was a den mother for years, and I remember that she'd have certain den meetings that were all about doing/learning things to reach the next stage of Scouting. The boys weren't expected to reach the significant milestones on their own. (Although that was a long time ago and things may have changed.)

I was a Girl Scout and since my dad was in the military, I was in several different troops around the US. Some of the troop leaders were good with things like arts and crafts and cooking, so we did a lot of that. Some of the troop leaders were good with things like hiking and camping and reading a compass, so we were outdoors a lot more. One troop leader was all about helping those less fortunate than we were, so we helped at a soup kitchen and made cards for soldiers in the hospital over the holidays and tutored little kids. We were all working on merit badges at home, but the weekly troop activities clearly reflected the personal interests of the leaders to a great extent.

Could you ask around and see if there's any other troops in your area that your son could join? They might take a whole different approach to scouting. Because frankly, the way you are describing the troop he's in, something feels a little bit off.

Or just find some other activity that gives him more camping time and experience? I don't know about your son and Scouting as a whole, but your son and this particular troop don't seem like a good fit.

[San Onofre Guy]

Paul, if this troop is not a good fit then search around. If your son is in Scouting only for camping, fine. Have a talk with the Scoutmaster and explain the situation, but he has probably figured that out. I thin that you might be stressing out a bit over this, and if you are then your son will as well.
When my younger son played Little League his favorite position was on the bench. He couldn't care less about playing, it was all about being together with the guys which was fine at that level.