Relative Prestige of Adult Cub Scout vs Boy Scout Leaders

[qwazse 4342]

pro) Venturing young ladies love Cubs! They might not care about potential suitors in uniform, but the little ones in those dress blues have an overwhelming "cute factor!"

 

FWIW - Crew parents can find the youth leadership method of venturers a little disorienting. Especially when they see me setting up my hammock and taking naps while the youth are out running program. (They catch on when its 11:30 PM and I start making rounds doing "last call" and accounting for everyone's location!)

 

But the same dad who is "just observing" one moment, will be taking some kids out kayaking at my request the next. It's really a simple rule. We're hands off until we need to be hands on. It's that "need to be" bit that takes a little figuring!

 

Folks like m2c need coaching and encouragement rather than pigeonholing and door closing. "I certainly do enjoy ... not having to sleep on the dirt on camping weekends." That just broke my heart.

[Kudu 186]

 

My experience was similar to JMHawkins.

 

When I was SM of an urban Troop, the local feeder Pack went belly up. So I used the following presentation to recruit in the public schools, and build up a Troop of about 30 Scouts who had never been in Cubs, or dropped out before Arrow of Light:

 

http://inquiry.net/adult/recruiting.htm

 

Looking at the sign-up sheets, about 75% of an audience of sixth-grade boys will (in front of their peers) ask you to call their parents so they can join Boy Scouts, IF you present Scouting as a dangerous adventure along the lines of the 1916 Scoutcraft program mandated by our Congressional Charter.

 

About 28% of their parents will actually register them in the BSA, if you describe Scouting to THEM as simple "outdoor exercise," without ANY mention of "Eagle Scout" on their son's resume.

 

For what it's worth, some statistics for those who wish to recruit sixth-graders who hated Cub Scouts:

 

http://inquiry.net/adult/recruiting_boy_scouts_public_schools.htm

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

http://kudu.net

 

[acco40 95]

There's prestige involved in being a Scout leader?

[howarthe 42]

I don't really know that much about the Boy Scout program. All of my experience has been with cubs. I should think that one way to boost the relative prestige of the volunteers in your cub scout program is to help them earn their square knots. I think there are six or seven of them available to cub scouters, and I think they each have a tenure requirement of one year, so if you were careful to meet all of the other requirements each year, then adult leaders might graduate themselves from cub scouting to boy scouting with five square knots on their chest in various shades of blue and gold. That would impress the heck out of me.

[momof2cubs 10]

qwaze, I didn't mean to break your heart, LOL. Me hating camping has nothing to do with anything in scouting. I LOVE the program and what it has done for my sons. I just don't like it. I need a comfy bed, I need a morning shower, I need my morning hot and not instant coffee. I suffer from seasonal allergies, so spring camping is torture for me,no matter how much Zyrtec I pack.

 

But I will do it because my sons (for now) need me. And if the troop my son just crossed over to last night (SNIIIFFF!!!! - I guess I need to change my name now?) needs me, I will go. But I will certainly not demand that I go.

 

 

[Eagle92 110]

Mom,

 

I can relate to the morning cup of coffee. May I suggest a one cup coffee drip maker? REI, Campmor and a few other places make them. I admit it does take it's time to drip through the coffee grinds, but man does it make a good cup of coffee. Even if I go camping with the troop which has a camp coffee maker ( yes COLEMAN makes a coffee maker that fits on top of a camp stove) I'll still be using it since I love a good cup of CDM or Community Coffee and Chicory from New Orleans.

[momof2cubs 10]

Well Eagle, my husband had the same thought and I found it in my stocking this last Xmas. He dislikes camping as much as I do and the only reason he does it is because I told him I won't suffer alone.

 

But thanks for the suggestion. A good cup of coffee, DOES go a long way, but I still don't like it. While I won't even dare wimpyfiy boy scouting by suggesting cabin camping...there are times I do wish I had a daughter so I could cabin camp with her and get out of tent camping with my sons. Of course GSA doesn't have ridiculous rules requires 1:1 camping at the grade school level, so..

[Basementdweller 608]

mom.....

 

Morning caffeine fix......there are two option....they make coffee in tea bags....not bad.

 

Starbuck has a think called Via......just add water and it is actually pretty decent.....

 

The autodrip coleman stinks.....especially when it is only good for 3 cups when it clearly says 10 on the carafe...... Yep I have one.... who uses a 6 ounce mug when camping....and it does take forever to brew...

 

Not a freeze dried guy either........

[acco40 95]

SeattlePioneer - I was jesting. I have loads of squareknots, Wood Badge paraphernalia, district recognition, council recognition, . . .

 

The recognition is nice, but believe me, the goal wasn't prestige. In fact, I'd say out of the normal Scouting crowd of Cubs, Boy Scouts, Scouters and parents 50% have no clue what any of it means, 20% are curious, 10% have respect for it and 20% show disdain toward it (you must be in it for self-aggrandizement, you put more value in your awards than the boys, etc.).

 

One of the reasons Scouters involved with Boy Scouts may appear to get more prestige is that most of them have gone through the Cub Scout program where the majority of Cub Scout leaders have not gone through the Boy Scout program as leaders.

 

Also, for someone like me whose boys have already aged out of the youth end of Boy Scouts, signing up as a den leader or Cubmaster may raise more eyebrows than acting as a Scoutmaster or Assistant Scoutmaster. Not saying it should, but it does.

 

 

[Eagle92 110]

Base and Mom,

 

There was briefly a 3rd option, but for whatever reason it wasn't popular, although I loved it. There was a company outta New Orleans that came up with a concentrated coffee liquid. It came in a bottle that you would squeeze the liquid into a measurement device similar to ACT mouthwash, except it was a tad bigger. Add that to water, or as I preferred it milk for cafe au lait, and voila a really good cup of coffee.

 

You just didn't want to try it fully concentrated, unless you were cramming for exams and don't want to sleep for 2.5 days.

[momof2cubs 10]

So you guys have given me several options for coffee (thank you). Now see what you can come up with so that I can have a comfy bed (without looking like a pansy by dragging my inflatable mattress) and a shower.

[qwazse 4342]

Hammocks.

Wipes.

 

Portable camp showers are possible, but set-up is time consuming.

 

BTW, the young women in my crew disdain cabins. Even sailing, they prefer to sleep topside.

[qwazse 4342]

Double post(This message has been edited by Qwazse)

[qwazse 4342]

Hammocks.

Wipes.

 

Portable camp showers are possible, but set-up is time consuming.

 

BTW, the young women in my crew disdain cabins. Even sailing, they prefer to sleep topside.

[Basementdweller 608]

quad post for Q man....You still have 5 pages to go to catch fish.

 

 

I tried french presses too..........way to messy cleaning up the grounds...

 

Hammocks are the most comfortable way to sleep in the woods.....

 

I bought a warbonnet blackbird and a couple of hammock gear quilts.....spend bout 6 nights a month in it...It was expensive but I spend 60 nights a year in it... It has bug netting built into it......Had to use it last night....can't believe mosquitoes are out already.