Re: 2% of Scouts???...
William B. Chin (chin68@JUNO.COM)
Mon, 2 Jun 1997 15:00:52 EDT
On Mon, 2 Jun 1997 10:20:50 -0500 "settummanque, or blackeagle (Mike
Walton)" <blkeagle@DYNASTY.NET> writes:
>James Lade asked:
>
>>I am curious to ask what kinds of external (or internal?) factors
>>contribute to the drop in the number of scouts who continue scouts
>after
>>First Class. It seems the boys either stay at that rank, drop from
>>scouts, advance slowly, or quickly advance.
I agree with Mike that the troop has an influence on the scout's
willingness to continue with scouting. Another reason, I believe, that
causes scouts to drop out is peer pressure from their classmates.
Usually boys enter scouts in the 6th grade. From 6th grade to around the
9th grade, it is not considered "cool" by most classmates to be in
scouting. This can cause a boy to drop out of scouting.
I find it funny that this happens because, at least in my case, cub
scouts was the "cool" thing to do when you were in elementary school.
Everyone did it. But when it comes to boy scouts... it is not. The way
my friends and I got around this problem, was to simply not talk about it
in school when other people were around. I know this may seem strange,
but it sure beats getting harassed. We would only talk about it when we
were together and also with our closest friends.
Well, now we're all passed that stage - we are juniors in high school (16
or 17 years old). We can talk about scouting with anyone else in school,
because they are more mature than they were in 6th grade and they don't
harass you. : ) In fact, some of the kids in school regret not going
into boy scouting from cubs because they now realize what a big deal the
words "Eagle Scout" mean. It helps lot in life; on college applications,
job applications, and many other things.
YIS,
Bill
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Chin
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster - Troop 68 Tankiteke Lodge
#313
Eagle Scout (1996) Vigil Honor (1996)
chin68@juno.com Lodge Vice Chief -
Administration
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