Posted on 07/31/2010 4:55:57 AM PDT by Daisyjane69
FORT A.P. HILL, Va. — Her crown glinting in the morning sun, Miss America was telling 45,000 Boy Scouts and their leaders the other day how thrilled she was to be here at the National Scout Jamboree, to be among “the most amazing young women ...”
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Slide Show Boy Scout’s Jamboree .Related Times Topic: Boy Scouts Girl Scouts Try to Shed Campfire Image (July 31, 2010) Enlarge This Image
Doug Mills/The New York Times Tom Copeland Sr. helped scouts learn to shoot a rifle. The Boy Scouts are sticking to core values and pushing for more diversity.
Whoops! The scouts, ever courteous and kind, could nonetheless barely stifle a collective groan. Some covered their faces in embarrassment. Miss America — Caressa Cameron, the former Miss Virginia — quickly recovered, apologized and explained that she usually speaks to groups of young women.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I was, of course, a boy scout in the 50s.
Yes, it was god and country back then.
No doubt they will soon change their name to “Pioneers”,
the Commie version of the Boy, as well as Girl Scouts.
Whoa, the comments that follow the article are something else. meh
It is the NY Slimes, of course. :)
Chuck Norris, please pick up the courtesy phone.
“Why did I come here? No pledging the flag for me. And, ah, .....
according to the telepromter in front of me,
a Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind,
obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. ....
And …., ah, well, I have been friendly.”
I’ll sure be happy when this country turns back to “normal.”
scouts out?
Did the Scout enrollment boom come from the Baby Boom? I’d like to see what percentage of boys that could be scouts, are scouts. That would mean more. Economic factors may affect this as well (my brother was a Scout, but my folks were not wealthy enough to support me being a Scout too).
“Did the Scout enrollment boom come from the Baby Boom?”
I do not think so.
I think my father said that he had been a scout. I guess it would have been in the 20s.
My brothers, 7 years older then me were scouts, early 50s, and me in mid to late 50s.
Naturally, there would have been a great increase from the baby boom, but that is just a matter of numbers, and little to do with culture.
historically, some 10% of boys have been involved in scouts and that level has mostly held over time. In my town, I have seen some drop off though.
In short, changing demographics has led to a decline in the number of possible legacy Scouts (joining because Dad did) even as the number of children is stable.
look at the percentage of societal high achievers who were Boy Scouts
http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/ScoutingFacts.aspx
Don’t know the same for Girl Scouts but know that many women astronauts are former GS
Typical screed from the NYSlimes.Very much a hit piece.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
A business associate of mine who is very active in Scouting tells me that the Boy Scouts are facing enrollment challenges for two basic reasons: (1) as this nation has become more urbanized, we’ve lost our sense of the value of the natural world, and (2) the number of children born to American parents has declined over time, and the Boy Scouts have a very hard time attracting members from immigrant families.
This piece is not very indicative of what is actually going on in scouts. It seems to be a typical liberal hit piece that misses the point of what the scouts are. My boys have been involved in scouts for years. My oldest just picked up Eagle. Our troop is large and very active.
Should girls be allowed in? No, it’s the Boy Scouts. I believe young men need to be surrounded by men to learn to be good men and busy learning survival skills, etc. Busy minds and hands stay out of trouble.
Parents worried that your children aren’t safe? Get involved! Know who the adult scouters are, go on camping trips, join the troop. Things can happen anywhere at anytime. There are no guarantees, but if you are involved in your child’s life, actively, there is less chance.
The scouts are one of the best things that we ever got involved in. It has helped our oldest to get out of trouble and stay out. It has allowed my husband and boys to have time together and bond in a very meaningful way. The men involved in our troop truly care about the boys and want to help them.
I think this is more indicative of what scouts are about:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2561454/posts
His Eagle daddy also attended one, said he enjoyed it a lot.
Jamboree attendance from his council is down quite a bit, mostly due to high cost (about $2,000 per kid in a pared-down trip from S. Georgia).
Even after cutting out side trips etc., cost was high enough that the council came up about 20% short of the normal number that would be expected to go.
My daughter hated the Girl Scouts -- part of it is the different structure from the top down, which discourages a lot of the cool stuff that the BSA does, part of it is the local troop which was full of what we call Dunwoody Debs (Dunwoody being one of the local upscale suburbs).
The day after her 14th birthday she joined the local Venture Crew and had a ball. She earned her Outdoor Bronze Award and went to all sorts of wonderful places.
I am a Boy Scout leader, and I was a Girl Scout leader for 10 years. I firmly believe that each organization serves important development needs of its members, and I wouldn’t want to see either go coed.
However, Venture Scouting is for older scouts, and it is coed. Many of the girls in Venture are sisters of Boy Scouts or are former Girl Scouts who weren’t satisfied with GS activities. I know BSA National is a true believer in Venturing, but for some reason, it’s a hard sell on the local level. Many Scoutmasters don’t want to encourage anything that might compete with their own programs. That’s a shame, because Venturing provides real opportunity for the future of Scouting.
Venture Crews are not allowed to nominate for OA, though, and I think that’s a mistake.
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