100 Scouts
 

I was gathering some last minute things for my Eagle court of honor tomorrow and thought you all might find this interesting


One Hundred Scouts


Of any one hundred boys who become Scouts, it must be confessed that thirty will drop out in their first year. Perhaps this may be regarded as a failure, but in later life all of these will remember that they had been Scouts and will speak well of the program.

Of the one hundred, only rarely will one ever appear before a juvenile court judge. Twelve of the one hundred will be from families that belong to no church. Through scouting, these twelve and many of their families will be brought into contact with a church and will continue to be active all their lives. Six of the one hundred will become pastors.

Each of the one hundred will learn something from scouting. Almost all will develop hobbies that will add interest throughout the rest of their lives. Approximately one-half will serve in the military, and in varrying degrees profit from their scouting training. At least one will use it to save another person's life and many will credit it with saving their own.

Four of the one hundred will reach Eagle rank, and at least one will later say that he valued his Eagle above his college degree. Many will find their future vocation through merit badge work and scouting contacts. Seventeen of the one hundred boys will later become scout leaders and will give leadership to thousands of boys.

One one in four boys in America will become scouts, but it is interesting to know that of the leaders in this nation in business, religion, and politics, three out of four were scouts.

I was a scout for a few years in Alabama. We moved to another state and that was the end of my scouting career. We moved to another state about every three years so it was not unusual.

I have fond memories of my days as a scout.

I was Star Rank when I quit. (Drifted away might be more accurate.)

I had enough merit badges for Life and Eagle, it was the other requirements I hadn't met.

Part of me regrets not sticking it through. Part of me understands my decision as a combination of family issues and troop politics made being a scout thoroughly un-enjoyable at the time--which is unfortunate.

I need to hurry up and have son so I can get back to Philmont...

Eagle here. Son is soon to be Life. The BSA was been great for me as a kid, and I am having a great deal of fun a second time around with my son, his friends and their fathers.

The sky is the limit as for outings. This summer we spent 7 days on an island with world class snorkeling, scuba, kayaking and sleeping and eating on the beach. Earlier in the year we spent the night aboard an aircraft carrier. Camping and hiking in the Sierras is good from April to November.

I guess you can see I'm rather biased...

that quote is pretty old

wonder what the stats. are like these days?

Well the 4% is up from the 2 that it used to be. Can probably check it online.


Legion I bet if you contacted your local troop and told them that you used to be a scout and would like to help they would let you. We are always hurting for more adults.

I remember being a scout as a young boy.

Nothing but good memories. :)


KT

one of my regrets is that I didn't due scouts with my 4 sons

Star Scout here. Still think the boy scout handbook is one of the most useful books to ever be written

Fieldbook, handbook and leadership book are all on my shelf within reach.

David
What troop is your son in?
My kid is in 714 here in LA
Steve

>thirty will drop out in their first year
Nope, I did 3 or 4 years, IIRC.

>will speak well of the program
yep, definitely

>rarely will one ever appear before a juvenile court judge
nope, never. Though probably should have :)

>Twelve of the one hundred will be from families that belong to no church. Through scouting, these twelve and many of their families will be brought into contact with a church and will continue to be active all their lives. Six of the one hundred will become pastors.

Quite the opposite - we were a church-going family when I was young, then stopped before I went to scouts (which was held at our church), and never returned to the church.

>develop hobbies that will add interest throughout the rest of their lives.
definitely, except camping - I hate it!

>Approximately one-half will serve in the military
nope, though our scout leader was ex-military and our troop was known throughout the city for its boot-camp-style leadership

At least one will use it to save another person's life and many will credit it with saving their own.
not yet, but who knows.

>Many will find their future vocation through merit badge work and scouting contacts.
nope, not even close.

>Seventeen of the one hundred boys will later become scout leaders and will give leadership to thousands of boys.
I could see doing this some day when I'm older, though we only have daughters, no sons

Interesting story. I think it overblows things a bit, but it was definitely fun, useful and I absolutely learned a lot from it, particular its un-wussification aspects. Our scout leader was a real hardass, but in a good way. I'll never forget the sticker on his briefcase that had a picture of a cigarette and read "my pleasure, my choice"! The only thing I didn't like was camping in the rain, which was pretty much every time!

I learned all of my back country skills as a scout. Even though I am no longer physically able to carry a large backpack, I can still stay in places like the Adirondack wilderness for extended periods due to what I learned in scouting.

I made it to Eagle Scout....it taught me organizational skills, gave me my first lesson on being evaluated and criticized, and my Eagle Scout project I am proud to say was on of worth and is still in used today!

Yeah, Schouting was great for me. It didn't hurt that our troop was a real outdoor troop. We had a permanent campsite on one of the King Ranches in Pa...it was awesome and we had a river we could always fish from and all that crap.

Lessee...I think that the biggest lessons I learned were how to get a job done no matter what the obstacles, that there was a way and you just had to find it. It's helped me become the conniving person I am today.

That and to NOT PANIC.

608 out of Upland, CA. We are approx 30 miles east of LA. Where in LA is 714?

My boy has been a Scout for 3 years. He loves it.

Speedy:)

Congrats again on your Eagle!

I made it to Life, and then went astray.

I've got a 15 yo that got his Life at the end of last spring, and is working towards his Eagle project, and a 11 yo that is a tenderfoot.

15 yo had a pretty awesome time this summer, he did leadership camp at Pigott, we all did Glacier Nat Park for 10 days, then he did Camp Parsons for a week. They did Philmont last year (I didn't make it), and they've got their name in the hat for upcoming years as well (I'll do the next one).

I learned some great skills, and our sons are both learning quite a bit as well. I'm looking to involve myself a little further over the next few years, and really looking forward to it!

cheers.
Eric