I was a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout. While in scouting, I made every rank except for Eagle Scout. After that I moved on to other things, so all told, I was out of scouting for about 25 years. That was until last year when I started again with my oldest boy in the Lion Den of the local Cub Scout Pack.
My son came home from school asking if he could join Cub Scouts. At first, I was hesitant. I had enjoyed scouting as a kid, but Boy Scouts had had a fair amount of scandal and bad press over that 25 years. I was concerned about whether it was the type of organization that would promote the ideals of tolerance and inclusion, along with teaching relevant skills to young boys. So I did my research, and I found that my same concerns were not unique and that the Cub Scouts had taken many efforts to make changes to the program. Reading about these changes encouraged me to try it out with my boy. I’m glad that we did.
In 2015, a new Cub Scout program was introduced. The revision of the Cub Scout program, in addition to some changes to Boy Scouts and Venturing, was designed to update the activities and requirements, but more importantly to provide a single program with consistent program outcomes to all participants from ages 6-21. The Cub Scout program was restructured to use the Scout Law and Scout Oath and Scout Motto as the Boy Scouts. This provides a consistency within the program for the ultimate purpose of the program.
The Cub Scout program was restructured as a series of adventures. To achieve each rank within Cub Scouts, the six required adventures and one elective adventure must be completed. Completion of the adventures are acknowledged with belt loop awards. These belt loops replaced what I remembered being a complex system of beads, arrow points, and pins. Simple helps the boys to understand what they have accomplished and what they need to achieve next.
The new Cub Scout program seeks to build five core areas in the scouts:
- Character Development
- Participatory Citizenship
- Personal Fitness
- Outdoor Skills and Awareness
- Leadership and Life Skills
These five core areas are repeated and developed in the required adventures at each rank. By repeating, and building, the scouts grow in their conscientiousness and skill in each of these areas, year after year. I look at that list and think it sounds like a pretty good kid to me.
One of the six required adventures each year is a religious requirement. Scouting does require an acknowledgement of god and faith to the extent required to complete the religious adventures. Having my own system of belief, this had made me cautious. However, at least in our Pack, the religious adventures are all handled by each scout with their family, and in their own way sufficient for their family. As a sign of the improved tolerance within Scouting, in 2016 the Unitarian Universalist Association re-affiliated with Scouting after eighteen years.
I was surprised, and pleased, by the amount of youth protection training and policies within Cub Scouts. The youngest scouts are each accompanied by an adult partner. Even for the older boys, every meeting or activity must have at least two adults. No Scout is to ever be alone with an adult. Background checks are performed before anyone is approved as a den leader. The kids and parents are educated and reminded about how to be safe and what to do if they feel scared or threatened by someone.
So after one year of being a den leader with my boy, these are my further observations. The Pack is made up of boys ages 5-11. At the Pack meetings, it was great to see my 5 year old playing with, teamed up with, and looking up to these older boys. Since he is our oldest, it was great to see him have those peer role models in the way that he provides for his younger brother. In that way, Scouts gives each boy an opportunity to experience being a leader and being led. Those experiences will help them to work well in other groups as they get older.
The Scouting program creates an environment where it is natural and encouraged for the boys to be in conversations and experiences to develop citizenship and being a member of a community. Last year our den visited the village police station (also the 911 dispatch center), the boys had a lot of fun and in the process really learned about what happens in that building in town and all of the people who work there to keep our community safe. We also talked about garbage collection, recycling collection, disposing of old medicine, keeping our parks clean, and how to be respectful at school. As a parent, those conversations often felt forced when we did it at home, but in Scouts, it was just another part of what we were doing that night.
Lastly, thinking back to my own Scouting experience, Scouting also creates an environment where you can learn and practice all of those basic skills that you rely upon when living or traveling outdoors. Scouting is where I learned to use a knife and an axe, all of my knot tying and lashing, first aid, how to use a sailboat and a row boat. Some of those skills I would later learn in far more depth through other experiences, but it was Scouting that gave me the first opportunities to learn and try these things.
Being the leader of my boy’s den of Scouts also helps me to reconnect to the outdoors. It has made me be more reflective of what is being asked of them in the program. As they get older and the requirements more challenging, I’ll have the chance to update and refresh my own skills. I view it as an opportunity to relearn the skills that I first learned in scouting, not only will get to practice them alongside my son, but maybe I can identify and eliminate some of the bad habits that I’m sure that I have.
More information about Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, can be found at www.scouting.org, including resources to find a Pack or Troop near you.