Scouting

Scouting came to the United States in 1910. In 1913, after a serious study, the LDS Church became the first church in the United States to adopt Scouting.

My own experience in the Boy Scouts of America has been dismal.  Dare I say abysmal?

As a young man in the LDS church, I was a Boy Scout.  Because Scouting was adopted as the "activity arm" of the Aaronic Priesthood in the United States, I was expected to go to a scout meeting every week.  These weekly meetings became unbearable for me at times.

I wasn't liked among the other young men my age.  I don't really know why.  Any reasons I can come up aren't valid because they're tainted by anger and bitterness caused by years of painful memories.  But it was certainly very clear that I was the low man on the totem pole.  The teasing and tormenting I endured when I went to "scouts" every week was both unrelenting and merciless.  I won't go into detail, because that's not really the point.  The point is that an experience that, if it went according to the idea, should have been uplifting and gratifying, instead was horrible and hellacious.  When I was a couple of merit badges shy of the rank of Life, I decided that instead of going to scouts every week, I would find something better to do with my time.  I would go where people respected me and accepted me for who I am.

A few years ago (a little more than 6 years ago, actually), my son became a Cub Scout.  I went into my second round with the scouting program with an open mind.  I believed that the problem wasn't with the scouting program, but that it was with a particular implementation of the scouting program I had to deal with.

When I was asked to be Cubmaster, I was excited.  I thought I might actually be able to make a difference.  For a while, I felt that I was making a difference.

Then my son, a year older, moved into the Webelos program.  Unfortunately, his new leaders cared much more about the program than they did about the people involved and the entire experience went south.  I'd rather not go into details (it wouldn't help anyway), but suffice it to say that I was again left with a bad taste in my mouth about the scouting program.

I swore that I wouldn't be involved again the the scouting program.  I didn't want to be involved with a program that had failed me...twice.

Just before my older son turned 12 years old, we moved into a new neighborhood.  Part of the reason we moved was because we saw these same trends in the scouting implementation in the young mens program in the ward we lived it.  Before we bought our new home, we attended church and saw what seemed to be a very different program.  It was very different in a very good way.

The first big campout that my son attended was the perfect opportunity to get to know the leaders that would be working with both of my sons over the next several years.  I got to know these leaders and for the first time in my life, I saw an implementation of the scouting program that focused more on the boys than on the program.

That was 2 years ago, and since then, I've been involved with the Young Mens organization in my Ward.  I've been on several different campouts and other activities.  For the first time in my life, I see the scouting program for what it can be.

And that's a good thing, because...

I was made Scoutmaster today.  ME??  Scoutmaster?  Yikes!