Xtreme

So I believe that parent participation is important when it comes to making a troop work. We always need parents to get involved for campouts, fundraisers, and supporters to the boys. But I think that we also need to be aware of parents trying to "baby" their children too much. The boys need their space to grow and learn, being able to interact with the boys without Dad always being right on him. Don't get me wrong, I think it's very important that the parents are there, but they need to act more like the registered leaders and let the boys run the show. We have some great parents in our troop that come right along on campouts and participate fine with all the boys, making sure to not take away from their son's experience. I think it mainly depends on the parent, and how many scouts you have going. You wouldn't want to overload on adults if you only have a few scouts.

And in response to the 18 year old drivers...I think that also depends on the person. You cannot assume that all 18 year olds are horrible drivers or are very immature. It very much depends on what each troop specifially needs and agrees upon. Once a child has reached the age of 18, they are now an adult and many have grown up by then through many experiences and being put in real life situations on their own. Not all of course has grown up, but I think it's wonderful if an 18 year old has stepped up as a volenteer leader when in reality they don't have an obligation too. It's not like all of them would have a child in the troop. Therefore, it says a lot about their personality if they are taking a lot of their own time, between college and work, just to help out and make sure the scouting program is running good. It is wonderful that we have all of our adult leaders because without them we would fail to run smoothly. But I think we should not simply look at someone's age and think they are not capable of things, because you never know what someone can bring to the table. And they are a volenteer working to make things better, just like every other adult there.

Hi. I am also new to the forum. Just thought I'd say hello and see what you guys think of the site. I am an assistant scoutmaster, and I am interesed to learn more about this site.