Blue and Gold the end all of Cub Scouting?

[Twocubdad 665]

Nah, that would be the same genius -- and by genius I also mean idiot -- who came up with kindergarten and elementary graduation ceremonies.

 

I remember when one of my boys came home and said he was "graduating" from elementary school, I asked him if he had to go to school the next year. Of course he did. Well, then, you're not really graduating, are you?

[Stosh 3452]

It kinda makes one wonder if Cub Scout and the Blue Gold Banquet are more a signal of something ending rather than something one has done to be prepared for something bigger and better.

 

More and more it is becoming obvious that Webelos II Blue Gold is the END of the scouting experience. Instead of being a stepping stone to something even more exciting, it marks the end of a program and Boy Scouts is just another program to consider, just like joining the YMCA or Boy/Girls clubs.

 

For many years a lot of good people have been working on the Webelos to Scouts transition and for many years it has gotten worse.

 

One year I stood at the end of the bridge and watched 7 boys "cross-over" to our troop and then never see them again. Obviously the US Government in Alaska isn't the only ones who have a bridge to nowhere. Putting neckers on boys and handing them books only to collect them back up afterward speaks volumes as to your expectations for the process.

 

Your mileage may vary,

 

Stosh

[Pack212Scouter 10]

In our Pack, it has been a natural evolution I guess. Blue & Gold became a graduation banquete at the end of the year. It was a symbol that the boys could now work on their next rank. Of course it was always presented as you are now a Wolf...now a Bear, etc. It was never treated as the end of a rank, but the beginning of the adventure of a new one. It is the end of the regualar meeting year because as was said in one post....baseball. After April, our attendance, both in Scouts and Leaders dropped off by at least 50%. So now we end it at the end of April and concentrate on providing fun activities in the summer months. (May is our Spring campout).

 

As for the Webelos, ours runs as a 1 1/2 year program. All the Webelos head to Boys Scouts together after their AOL in March. It may not be "the way it used to be done", but it must not be broken...80% of our Webelos go on to Boy Scouts and over 80% of them are still Boy Scouts two years later.

[perdidochas 658]

Twocubdad:

 

While I agree with you about the absurdity of kindergarden and grade school graduation, your analogy wasn't good. When I graduated high school, I knew I was starting college in the fall. When I graduated college, I knew I was starting grad school in the fall.....

[SeattlePioneer 144]

I don't agree with the idea that such graduations aren't appropriate.

 

 

One of the methods of Scouting is recognizing achievements, even minor ones. I've been impressed by how boys respond to and value that kind of recognition --- and that often applies to adults as well.

 

And we tend to be very short of such ceremonies outside of Scouting. Even inside Scouting such ceremonies aren't all they might be.

 

I've seen eleme4ntary school graduations that I think were good and worthwhile. They might have been better had more parents helped with their planning, but they were good anyway.

[CalicoPenn 729]

Perdidochas,

 

In defense of TwoCubs position, he did use the word "Had" which suggests lack of choice.

 

Did you have to go to school after high school? No (parental pressure notwithstanding). Did you have to go to grad school after college? Again, no.

 

Do you have to go to school after kindergarten? Yes (and homeschool is still school so no loophole there). Do you have to go to school after 5th/6th grade? Yes. Do you have to go to school after 8th/9th grade? Yes.

 

I think his example wtill holds.