Comments on: The 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America

By: S Wright

S Wright — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:42:10 +0000

Just wanted to say I and my son went to the Jamboree and had a good time. Being with 90,000+ scouts and visitors the final night was something we will never forget. Scouting is very much like anything else in life… you get out of it, what you put into it.

By: Jared P

Jared P — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:27:58 +0000

I loved scouting! I did cub scouts, but got kind of bored with it. I went back in around 7th grade in Boy Scouts and came away with my eagle! I think you can learn so much about a lot of things in Boy Scouts. It teaches you a lot of life lessons and skills that you may have never known. I worked at the camps, volunteered to work the JLT courses (Foxfire in the BRMC). Wow, it’s amazing to think back on it now…

My son will definitely be in the scouts

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:12:59 +0000

I was a cub scout, weeblo, and boy scout. Boy Scout camp was one of the great experiences of my life.

By: Shawn M. Ford

Shawn M. Ford — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:33:47 +0000

Thank you very much Tyro Prate for leaving a breif phrase, not even a complete sentence and thus poured gasoline on the whole article lit the match and walked away. Way to “man up” Tyro, way to stick to your principles and justify your response.

Scouting has been an intricate part of my life since I was six and a Tiger Cub. I earned my Eagle at 18, went on to college, worked at Scout camp for one year and met my wife there, (she only dated Eagle Scouts), we started a Venturing Crew while in college then when graduated I was employed by the BSA as a District Executive, couple of years later my wife joined me as a DE as well. Scouting is a big part of my family and who I am. The traditional values and charater building that goes on has shaped many a youth and will continue to do so for another 100 years. Thank you for writing such a fine article.

By: G. Alphonse Menard

G. Alphonse Menard — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 02:53:07 +0000

While I was never a Boy Scout (I chose to play travel soccer instead), I really wish I had joined. Once I settle down and have a real job, I plan to become involved with the local council because I love the outdoors and the positive message the Scouts have for today’s youth. Also, the Knights of Columbus councils are often affiliated with scouts, and I was glad that our council recently re-approved funding for the local cub scout troop.

By: Matthew (Eagle Scout)

Matthew (Eagle Scout) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 04:01:53 +0000

When I was 8 years old I found a bunch of my dad’s old scout stuff in my grandma’s house.
He sat me down and told me all about it, and I told him I wanted to join too. He never made it to Eagle, his troop disbanded when he was only a star scout.
But then after I went to the first Webelos meeting he sat me down and asked me if I still wanted to join. Before I could answer, he told me that if I joined I’d have to stay with it, no matter what until I made Eagle Scout or turned 18.
Yes, my father made an 8 year old boy commit to ten years of scouting or attaining something that few boys would ever achieve.

I attained my ranks quickly, getting to Life Scout at the age of 13 (just shy of my 14th birthday) and then pretty much stopped. I still attended every meeting as my dad made me promise, but just stopped caring, I’d gotten into being a young punk lost and confused in the myrid of being a high school student. Even though there were times I hated it, Scouting kept me grounded. Every week I would see a bunch of older kids and adults would get a progress report from me on my Eagle project and ask me why I wasn’t going on the campouts. They actually gave a damn about a punk kid who just didn’t.

I eventually pulled my head out of my behind and started actually working on my Eagle. 6 days before my eighteenth birthday, four years to the day of getting Life, I held my scoutmaster’s conference and became an Eagle Scout. Since then I’ve joined the military and am a well rounded adult, putting myself through self study, hustling to become the man I want to be.

Will my children be in scouting? That is an unequivical yes. An emphatic yes. And I will sit my son down just as my Dad did with me and make a promise.

The Navy Core values are Honor, Courage and Commitment. I began learning these when I was just a little boy, then confirmed them when I was becoming a young man. Scouting taught me all of these things, and it is because of scouting that I am who I am. Now I’m a grown man, looking for a troop to do some good in. I’m in an area that I’m unfamiliar with and don’t know the council or any of the districts, but believe me when I say it’s not hard to get plugged in, you just have to have to inititave.

About the politics, shut up. ALL of you. I don’t care about the “national stance” on any of it. I’ve never known a gay leader to get kicked out of a troop and I’ve known gay leaders. And I’m from the southern midwest. So just shut up about it all. Scouting grows young men. It developes tomorrows leaders. Scouting teaches all of our real values, skills and priorities. What Scouting doesn’t teach is your stupid politics and habits of following trends produced by the media. If you don’t want your kid being in scouts, that’s fine, but HE is missing out, and you’re already lost.

By: Charley

Charley — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:02:04 +0000

I am an Eagle Scout, and during my scouting days spent time in four troops on 3 continents. What’s most unfortunate to me about all the controversy surrounding the BSA’s policies on atheists and homosexual leaders is that it has so little relation to any actual Scout’s experiences. None of these things are ever mentioned in the Scout handbook – sure there are religious badges to be earned (quite a wide array of them, too), but they’re not required for any rank. Sex is quite rightly never brought up (at least not by the adults. Get a room full of teenage boys together and it’s pretty much inevitable…). Both these policies are essentially political decisions made by BSA management, and have absolutely no effect on the (in my case, very positive) actual experience of scouting and the many useful lessons it can teach a young man.
A person’s experience with scouting will depend mostly on the leaders and the fellow scouts he finds himself with – a well-led troop, with involved parents and scouts and good leaders (both adult and young man) will teach good lessons. A poorly run troop, like any poorly run organization, will not. And that’s that. Your experience with scouting (or your son’s) should not depend on religion, sexual orientation or any other personal factors, of the scout, the parents, or the troop leaders. If it does, try a different troop.

By: Angela

Angela — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:40:05 +0000

Scouts units – Cub Scout Packs, Boy Scout Troops, Venturing Crews, Varsity Teams, and Explorer Posts – are owned by Chartered Organizations and run by volunteers. Some volunteers are better than others – unfortunately the bad apple principle is at play in the BSA just like anywhere else. Some peoples best is better than others.

My husband and I are very involved with our two younger sons Cub Scout Pack. We have a Scout who has two mommies and they have been in our pack for 2 years. They don’t have their son in Cub Scouts because of what it isn’t or what it doesn’t allow BUT for what it does stand for and what their son will get from the experience – they have chosen the greater good for their son. I do the same thing with my husband everyday and him with me – neither of us is perfect and we have to accept that nothing in life is, but that doesn’t me we toss each other out because of what might be perceived by some as fatal flaws. The BSA scales tip more to the good than any negative that has been stated here.

Also, do you hear about people being ticked off that the Knights of Columbus has specific religious membership requirements (gotta be a practicing Catholic)? Or the Elks Lodge who also has a religions component to their membership (gotta believe in God)? Or how about organizations that have educational requirements – are they discriminating against those of lesser intelligence or those without the finances to pay for that education? The BSA only asks that you believe in a god – no matter what you call him or her – be it Buddha or Jehovah or Allah or God. Belief in a higher power is not a bad thing, so even if it’s not for you that’s fine – there are other private organizations of which you can be a member.

PRIVATE organizations are just that, private. Find one you like, start your own, or just let them be – why does anyone have to spend precious time tearing a group down when they could be using that time to help others.

It seems to me that people want something that Scouting has but don’t want it to come with a price or strings attached. Many in our society have come to think that they deserve anything they want no matter what. Real sacrifice is becoming rarer and rarer. It’s easy to give of your excess but when was the last time you ate hot dogs instead of steak and gave the difference in cost away? When was the last time you skipped the Super Bowl to work at a soup kitchen? When was the last time you spent your vacation building a house for Habitat? When was the last time you fasted for 24 hours and slept in a cardboard box to see what it was like to be homeless? These are things my Scout children have done in the last year – as a part of Scouting.

We all have to look inward at the end of each day and ask “Have I done my best today, have I made the world a better place, have I done a good deed today?”

That is what is at the heart of Scouting where I come from.

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:02:48 +0000

Thank you for this. It has reminded me that I need to give back. On a side note anyone, yes anyone, who lives up to the Scout Oath, Law, Motto and Slogan deserve commendation.

By: BIG Dan

BIG Dan — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:40:02 +0000

I would also like to add that I am pro gay-rights and do not agree with the BSA’s position, but it is their right as a private club to exclude whomever they wish. Also, don’t judge all scouts or all of scouting by some of the ultra right-wing, close-minded viewpoints posted here. The scouts I know are very open-minded, well-rounded individuals and are productive members of society.