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I'm not posting this anywhere near the Merry Rose... but -
I no longer support the Boy Scouts of America. And I say that as a long-term leader (Den Mother, Scout Leader, Commissioner, and Roundtable trainer [that would be 'trainer of leaders']). Why? Because a few years ago, I began to get disgusted by the 13-year-old Eagle Scouts, and the blatant "If you are not a white Christian Protestant straight man, you shouldn't be here" rules that were invading the organisation. Once, "Eagle Scout" was a rank that you achieved after dedicated hard work, usually long after your 16th birthday, because it took that long to fulfill the requirements. The process was more important, in shaping the boy-to-become-man, than the end result. Once, there was a religious badge for my faith. Now there is not. Once, tolerance of faith or creed was a prideful touchstone of the organisation, now... no longer.
That is not to say that the men and women who volunteer to be leaders today are the ones making those rules - they are not. And the need for them is unchanging. There are never enough adults to fill the needs of the membership of boys. Never. And those boys - well, they are, quite often, the ones who most need our help.
lemme explain. I have never heard of a boy-child with ADD or any other behavioural abnormality whose doctor did not say, "And see if you can involve him in an organised activity, like Boy Scouts". Never. As a Den Mother for 6 years (might have been longer, I don't remember now), my sons were the only ones who were not on medication and therapy for behaviour problems. The only ones out of 8 - 12 boys in just my group. And their parents? Tired and worn from dealing with children who needed to be weaned each night from their meds just so they could eat a real meal - those parents were, for the most part, "dump 'em and leave 'em". We were their weekly break from the stress.
Those children need good adult, caring adult, role models and guides. And if that means that I spend a day in the sun, showing them that Honor, tolerance, and kindness is something that is still valued outside of their Cub/Boy Scout manuals, then that is a day well spent.
And that's all I have to say about it. Love the kids whether or not you deplore the politics of the organisation - because those kids, well, they have long memories and your interaction with them may well turn a corner for any one of them.
I no longer support the Boy Scouts of America. And I say that as a long-term leader (Den Mother, Scout Leader, Commissioner, and Roundtable trainer [that would be 'trainer of leaders']). Why? Because a few years ago, I began to get disgusted by the 13-year-old Eagle Scouts, and the blatant "If you are not a white Christian Protestant straight man, you shouldn't be here" rules that were invading the organisation. Once, "Eagle Scout" was a rank that you achieved after dedicated hard work, usually long after your 16th birthday, because it took that long to fulfill the requirements. The process was more important, in shaping the boy-to-become-man, than the end result. Once, there was a religious badge for my faith. Now there is not. Once, tolerance of faith or creed was a prideful touchstone of the organisation, now... no longer.
That is not to say that the men and women who volunteer to be leaders today are the ones making those rules - they are not. And the need for them is unchanging. There are never enough adults to fill the needs of the membership of boys. Never. And those boys - well, they are, quite often, the ones who most need our help.
lemme explain. I have never heard of a boy-child with ADD or any other behavioural abnormality whose doctor did not say, "And see if you can involve him in an organised activity, like Boy Scouts". Never. As a Den Mother for 6 years (might have been longer, I don't remember now), my sons were the only ones who were not on medication and therapy for behaviour problems. The only ones out of 8 - 12 boys in just my group. And their parents? Tired and worn from dealing with children who needed to be weaned each night from their meds just so they could eat a real meal - those parents were, for the most part, "dump 'em and leave 'em". We were their weekly break from the stress.
Those children need good adult, caring adult, role models and guides. And if that means that I spend a day in the sun, showing them that Honor, tolerance, and kindness is something that is still valued outside of their Cub/Boy Scout manuals, then that is a day well spent.
And that's all I have to say about it. Love the kids whether or not you deplore the politics of the organisation - because those kids, well, they have long memories and your interaction with them may well turn a corner for any one of them.
