Hi, Heather!
We are enthusiastic Scouters here. My church has a troop set up; both my older boys are in it, and my youngest is a Cub at a pack at a local school. It has been just a great thing for my boys, who are pretty outdoorsy and nature-science interested. We are very involved as a family in both the pack and the troop, so we know the leaders well, we are often helping at various posts. My boys have learned things at Scouts I could never teach them myself. My oldest son is preparing for his Eagle Scout project right now; he should be an Eagle before the year is out if all goes well. He has learned leadership, how to do things he doesn’t want to do, how to camp out in the rain with a good attitude. He has flown airplanes, built things, learned how to fix toilets, learned a lot about giving presentations, learned leadership skills, all in a Godly environment. There is a little bit of Native American and other legend/myth stuff, I actually notice this most at the Cub Scout level, but in the packs and troops we’ve been involved in, this has been minimized as most were strong Christians. My boys all love it, and at one time when we needed to winnow down activity involvement, Scouts was everyone’s unanimous choice of what to keep. But then I must confess our family and our interests are well suited for Scouting. I really can’t imagine my boys without it. There is a fair amount of time involvement, especially for Boy Scouts and especially for those who want to advance through ranks. It takes a lot of parental commitment–I get a pin for every rank advancement the boys make, lol. I earn it. 🙂 We love it. IMO it is worth a visit to see how much your sons might like it.
Michelle D
