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Joining the BoyScouts

November 17th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Family Life

We’ve signed the BoyChild up for Cub Scouts.

He was a bit reticient at first.  But he agreed to try it until December.  The agreement we made was if he gave it a good effort, and still didn’t like it, after Christmas he didn’t have to go anymore.

As it turns out, and as I suspected, he loves it.  He likes the meetings.  He likes the uniform.  He likes that they get rewards (patches or belt loop thingies-I don’t have the Cub Scout lingo down yet) for doing things.  He likes that they get to play together afterwards.

His school is small; less than 50 kids in kindergarten through 11th grade.  There are six kids, including the BoyChild, in his class; three  boys and three girls.  They don’t have organized sports though there are opportunites for the kids to play with other schools.  But the BoyChild isn’t what I would call particularly athletic.  The school is wonderful.  It is multi-sensory, with real honest to goodness small student to teacher ratios (as opposed to other places where they say, “oh we have a small teacher student ratio” but then they put all the kids together so there are a huge number of children in a room, which sort of negates those small classroom claims) and he is flourishing there.

He goes to religious education once a week.  He doesn’t talk much about what he does there.  He doesn’t bring his book home.  Doesn’t bring home any work.  He’s always ready to leave when I arrive.  Meets me in the hall when I come to pick him up.  When I ask him what they worked on that day he rolls his eyes and says some variant of, “we talked about God.”   I don’t know if he knows any of the kids in RE; I don’t have a clue who is in there.  The only real thing I am certain about RE is that they have begun giving the kids donuts during RE and to him that makes going worthwhile.

We decided to sign him up for Cub Scouts because we think he needs more interaction with kids his age.

I have “problems” with the Boy Scouts.  Their stance on homosexuality is repugnant to me.   I have a friend.  A medical doctor.  He was a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Eagle Scout.  He loved it.  He is now an openly gay man.  They would not let him be my son’s Cub Scout leader.  That makes me angry.  My kind, gentle, smart,  friend would not be allowed to be my son’s Cub Scout leader.

Interestingly, their position on atheists and agnostics doesn’t bother me nearly as much.  Is that because I believe being an atheist or an agnostic is a choice?  Is it because I don’t know any atheist or agnostics?

But.

My son needs to be around more boys his own age.  He needs to learn the give and take of being a boy in a group.  Participating in a group larger than three.  Talking to, and playing with, boys who don’t have some sort of multi-sensory sort of issues.  The Boy Scouts offers him that.  So, I signed him up.  I worry that I’m endorsing their discrimination, sending the message that  it is o.k. to exclude a whole group of people.  Excluding my friend.

But I keep coming back to:  My son needs this right now.  And I’m going to take it and use it as long has he is willing to do it.    Because he needs to be around other little boys. 

And I hope no one ever calls me on my hypocrisy.

Exercise report:  I didn’t make it to the health club last night.  The Boy Scout’s had a flag retirement ceremony and by the time we did that, baths and ate, it was too late.  GAH!  That sounds like a lame excuse even to me.  Today is a new day!

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1 response so far ↓

  • 1 jodifur // Oct 8, 2012 at 10:35 am

    Well, you obviously know my opinion on this since you read my post…but someone also raised a good point on FB which was the people who don’t agree can work to change form the inside.

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