On Saturday I returned from Boy Scout Camp in the gorgeous Sierra-Nevada's here in California. This camp was in a more remote area of the region. Well over 7,000 feet in elevation and you have to paddle across decent sized, deep, and cold mountain lake to get to the camp from the parking lot / check-in area.
Seventeen boys from the troop I lead came this year. It's a camp where Boy Scouts from all over the state come up to earn merit badges, grow skills, show their troop spirit, also run and maintain their own campsite within the camp itself. Dinner is provided daily in the main lodge; breakfast and lunch are the responsibility of the troop in their respected campsite.
Positive competition, challenging activities including the highest climbing wall in the State of California, canoe races, fellowship, and growth are encouraged.......and expected.
My Troop is one of the few "inner city" Troops in California. It's a rag-tag bunch of boys who have seen some hard-knocks at a young age. Living in foster care. Victims of child abuse, and severe neglect by parents or other family members. Dad's who are in jail, or prison. Mom's who always have a "new" boyfriend who is probably no better than the man that fathered them. Many in my troop have behavior issues that affects them in school and relating to other boys from more stable environments.
I accept these things about them; but I don't make excuses for them. In my troop they are expected to wear their uniform properly. They are expected to have manners. They are expected to follow the Scout Oath and Law. I don't run my troop as an "after school program," I run it as a way of life. I am strict when I have to be. Tough when it matters, and I love on them when it is required of me.
They address me as "Scoutmaster" and never by my first name.
Life for a poor city boy today seems to be getting worse despite the silly talk of politicians or government 'programs' and 'outreach' today. It isn't easy becoming a man anywhere....but an inner-city boy does have a bit more roughness. His fields are dirty, cluttered, and joyless. The forests he roams are usually ugly and a dirty-gray. The stars above him are cheap and false to his heart. The air is usually bad, people can be stale, phony and harsh. An inner-city boy learns a sadness here that hardens with his years and so these boys need HELP. Something like Scouting.
Scouting gets boys into God's creation. It adds structure and appropriate discipline to a structureless life. Scouting teachers leadership, pride and self-achievement in an environment of just being with other boys. Growing with them, and learning to work with them. Scouting teaches things that a boy can grow, and live on.
Scouting needs men who can lead these boys, men who care. Men who know what type of boys they are going to be leading.
It's tough, and not easy for me at times either as a Scoutmaster; but watching them grow in stature, in rank.....and becoming a man in a world today that hates manhood. Watching an attitude shift of straight "F's" on a report card to C's, B's and in some cases A's. Pushing them to be something other than just getting by in the world.
Do I fail with some? Yes. I have failed, but others have even surprised me by the change of heart in them.
The Boy Scouts of America is a solution to many of the problems plaguing many cities today.
After a week in the mountains working with my troop. The victories. Some tears. Some growth, and a lot of laughter. My life has been enriched by this, and yours can be too.
If you are a man reading this, and you just want to "do something" to help young boys and young men. Consider Scouting. You may learn a thing or two about yourself.
-end
Seventeen boys from the troop I lead came this year. It's a camp where Boy Scouts from all over the state come up to earn merit badges, grow skills, show their troop spirit, also run and maintain their own campsite within the camp itself. Dinner is provided daily in the main lodge; breakfast and lunch are the responsibility of the troop in their respected campsite.
Positive competition, challenging activities including the highest climbing wall in the State of California, canoe races, fellowship, and growth are encouraged.......and expected.
My Troop is one of the few "inner city" Troops in California. It's a rag-tag bunch of boys who have seen some hard-knocks at a young age. Living in foster care. Victims of child abuse, and severe neglect by parents or other family members. Dad's who are in jail, or prison. Mom's who always have a "new" boyfriend who is probably no better than the man that fathered them. Many in my troop have behavior issues that affects them in school and relating to other boys from more stable environments.
I accept these things about them; but I don't make excuses for them. In my troop they are expected to wear their uniform properly. They are expected to have manners. They are expected to follow the Scout Oath and Law. I don't run my troop as an "after school program," I run it as a way of life. I am strict when I have to be. Tough when it matters, and I love on them when it is required of me.
They address me as "Scoutmaster" and never by my first name.
Life for a poor city boy today seems to be getting worse despite the silly talk of politicians or government 'programs' and 'outreach' today. It isn't easy becoming a man anywhere....but an inner-city boy does have a bit more roughness. His fields are dirty, cluttered, and joyless. The forests he roams are usually ugly and a dirty-gray. The stars above him are cheap and false to his heart. The air is usually bad, people can be stale, phony and harsh. An inner-city boy learns a sadness here that hardens with his years and so these boys need HELP. Something like Scouting.
Scouting gets boys into God's creation. It adds structure and appropriate discipline to a structureless life. Scouting teachers leadership, pride and self-achievement in an environment of just being with other boys. Growing with them, and learning to work with them. Scouting teaches things that a boy can grow, and live on.
Scouting needs men who can lead these boys, men who care. Men who know what type of boys they are going to be leading.
It's tough, and not easy for me at times either as a Scoutmaster; but watching them grow in stature, in rank.....and becoming a man in a world today that hates manhood. Watching an attitude shift of straight "F's" on a report card to C's, B's and in some cases A's. Pushing them to be something other than just getting by in the world.
Do I fail with some? Yes. I have failed, but others have even surprised me by the change of heart in them.
The Boy Scouts of America is a solution to many of the problems plaguing many cities today.
After a week in the mountains working with my troop. The victories. Some tears. Some growth, and a lot of laughter. My life has been enriched by this, and yours can be too.
If you are a man reading this, and you just want to "do something" to help young boys and young men. Consider Scouting. You may learn a thing or two about yourself.
-end
