Ages and Stages

Cub Scouting - A Parent’s Call to Action
"There is a battle of significant consequence taking place in the lives of boys in America today. In simple terms, it is the battle between doing what is right or wrong. A recent study conducted by Louis Harris & Associates indicates that the proportion of boys choosing to do what is wrong is alarming high. Even basic values such as not cheating on schoolwork and not stealing seem to be unstable.

Clearly, the results of this study indicate that out nation’s youth are struggling with ethical and moral decisions, and that these difficulties can only increase with age. Therefore, the need for reinforcing and rewarding strong moral standards and providing positive role models at a young age is more important than ever before.

Cub Scouting creates a climate of cooperative and collaborative relationships between adults and children - a laboratory for adults and children to get to know one another. It provides opportunities for children to acquire the capacity for accomplishment. The program affirms to the child that the world really is an interesting place.

Cub Scouting is fun! But it is fun with a purpose. Woven through all the fun is an inspired program that really works. Tried and proven methods are used that transfer traditional values, build character, and develop leaderships skills - all in the context of fun and family togetherness."
(BSA: Operation Tiger Mania 1996)

WHY BOYS JOIN SCOUTS
The editor of the UK Scouting magazine (David Easton) has a column called "Chips With Everything...!" In the April ‘95 issue he posed this question (somewhat rhetorically, since he provided the answer too)...
"Why do they join...?"

"A youngster joins us because he wants to sleep in a tent...because that’s what Scouts do!"

"He doesn’t care how he puts it up and, should it fall down in the night, or he gets wet, he’ll find out what and do it differently next time - that’s the education - a result of the fun! That’s the magic of Scouting!"

"Scouting is not part of the formal education system and never should be. It is part of a non-formal educational process. In effect, it’s a learning from life, from new experiences, from challenges, from adventures, from friendship, from disappointments, from triumphs, and, above all, from that all important desire to learn for oneself...because we WANT to...not because we have to!"

"That’s the fun which is, I believe, the essence and magic of Scouting!"

BACK