Does Boys Life promote advancement?

[maryj75225 10]

Greetings, I'm a freelance writer on assignment for Scouting magazine. I'm writing about the 100th anniversary of Boys Life, and would love to interview Scoutmasters, Scouts and any others who might have stories to share. If you'd be willing to talk with me, reply to this post or email me directly at maryjacobs44@yahoo.com. Specifically, data shows that readers of Boys Life tend stay in Scouting longer and advance further. If you've seen any direct evidence of that, I'd love to hear from you. Deadline is Oct. 11. Thank you!

[The Blancmange 67]

Sounds like the chicken or the egg question. Does BL help keep boys interested and advancing or are those boys who are already likely to stick with the program more likely to subscribe? Interesting correlation. Maybe ther is no causal relationship at all? What if you just look at units who automatically buy BL for everyone? I can't say I have any specific observation to add, but I look forward to the story.

[moosetracker 132]

I know my son likes Boys Life, he is now an adult leader and when he changed they started sending him Scouting magazine for the adult.. He is now trying to get them to put him back on Boys Life.

 

Did it help him advance..? Hard to say.

[AKdenldr 33]

IMHO, Boy's Life promotes identity, not advancement.

 

My boys mainly read the jokes and look at pictures of the boys in full uniform doing cool outdoorsy things in other places.

 

I'm not thrilled about the ads for movies and video games.

 

 

[Lisabob 13]

I don't think boys life promotes advancement. It gives the kids some good ideas that might, sometimes, possibly in a tangential way, contribute to advancement. But to say that BL promotes advancement is placing too great an emphasis on the influence the magazine has.

 

One very roundabout example I was aware of: a boy in my son's troop used an idea he got from an old BL to cook a turkey in a mailbox. That was part of a patrol cooking competition and it might have served to help with some of the T-2-1 cooking requirements or possibly cooking MB.

 

But again, that's a pretty thin connection from BL to advancement! The turkey was tasty, though.

 

 

 

 

[maryj75225 10]

Thanks everyone, for your thoughts. I should have probably said, more accurately, that subscriptions to Boys Life subscriptions are linked to advancement, participation, etc., but agreed, a causal relationship would be hard to prove.

 

Love the Turkey in a Mailbox story! Any idea when that article ran in Boys Life? I may be able to track it down in the archives....

[Lisabob 13]

The cooking competition was maybe 3 (4?) years ago, now, in November. Check late summer/early fall issues? Could've been a back issue, though, or even one that the older cubs (webelos) get .

 

 

 

 

[boomerscout 35]

Love the Turkey in a Mailbox story! Any idea when that article ran in Boys Life?

I believe Nov., 2007