From: Bruce (bhc54@YAHOO.COM)
Date: Wed Mar 08 2000 - 11:07:20 CST
ALL HAIL AUNTIE BEANS!
The simple, yet profound logic in her statement
has eluded all (or at least most) of us.
Auntie Beans was RIGHT ON when she keyboarded:
> No, no, and no. PWD is for CUB SCOUTS. if you are a Boys
> Socut, you are not a Cub Scout anymore.
>
> Sounds like another one of those entitlement things---
> you know, "I should be able to participate because I WANT
> to." Sounds like the adults need to communicate some
> more appropriate values to these Scouts.
Just curious...might there be something in the elusive
PWD rules that state participants must be registered
Cub Scouts...not Boy Scouts, not adults, etc?
One slight side-track: In several postings in the
Webelos/Crossover/PWD threads, it was mentioned several
times about "preparing" the Webelos for the "rigors"
of Boy Scouting. These forms of preparation included
boy-run Webelos dens, extensive family camping experiences,
etc.
PLEASE...don't try to make the Cub Scouting program any
more of a Boy Scout prep program than it is already
designed
by National to be. As an SA for the New Scout patrol,
I have had to "undo" some well-intentioned but very badly
taught skills and concepts, to include camping, troop
organization, and advancement procedures.
Let Cub Scouts be the family-oriented program it is
designed
to be. Let Boy Scouts be an instrument in the developing
of young men from boys. Most importantly, let the
transition between the two be definitive, and, maybe a
little scary. Most boys thrive when presented with a
challenge; they want to overcome and excel. They WILL
survive as the "new guy" in the troop. They WILL get
past the homesickness at summer camp. More often than
not, it's the parents' fears and worries that transform
themselves into "solutions" and "programs" that stray
from the designed program. Webelos II does not equal
New Scout Den. And New Scout Patrol does not equal
Webelos III.
I think we do our sons (and daughters) a great disservice
by trying to run ahead of them and removing all the rocks
and filling in the pot-holes on the road of their lives.
They need to learn to recognize and deal with those.
We will not be around forever to clear their paths. If
they don't learn at an early age, they won't know how when
they are older. The large number of spoiled, self-centered
twenty- and thiry-somethings bears witness to this.
In closing, the "program" (Scouting, be it Cub or Boy)
works
pretty well as designed. Perfect? No! But, millions have
done quite well by it. Please be careful before you start
tinkering with it. Are you not sure what the "program"
is? Three words: training, Training, TRAINING.
Sorry, this turned out to be more than a "slight"
side-track!
YiS,
-Bruce
PS: Hey Cub Scout Leaders: Please train (by personal
example and positive reinforcement) your Cubs to take
their hats off in the "house". Good manners never
go out of style.
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