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I was just considering getting my son into the scouts and this encourages me.
I think your local offerings can be a big factor. I grew up in scouts, loved my experience for the most part.
But talking with other people about their experiences can be a mixed bag. Each troop has its own priorities, the national Scouting organization gives troops a lot of flexibility on how they want to run their operation.
My troop, for example, was huge on outdoor activities. We had monthly camping trips, sometimes more than one a month. We did participate in organized “scouting events” as well with other troops, but that was sort of secondary.
Other troops are big on “scouting achievements” like merit badges, “scouting societies” like Order of the Arrow, medals and honors kinda thing, I felt like that would be a bit of a drag. But to each their own.
I definitely learned some pretty good skills in it, so I would personally recommend, though biased.
Learned first aid, fire starting, safe wood chopping, some decent enough regional wilderness survival skills, and had a good amount of fun along the way. Also learned gun safety in a very important meeting we had that probably should have been either a once every year meeting.
Oh dear firearm training, even at the most basic of levels is so under appreciated.
It really is.
As someone that went through this program, I can't stress enough that the takeaways here go far beyond marksmanship; the program makes sure of it. Because of merely attempting to get the Riflery merit badge I have a profound respect and safety awareness for guns, and all I used was a .22 bolt-action rimfire, which is about as basic as it gets. At the same time I'm aware that being halfway good at maintaining and using one are skills that must be cultivated and are not easy to do nor intutive. If I had to use a firearm now, I know that I'd have to use it at close range to be any good.
And unlike most americans (according to statistics) know that you should unload the firearm before cleaning, storage, or hiding in an oven. Its the main difference between the states and nations that require a firearms license. Even one day of training before letting people buy a firearm drastically changes outcomes.
Education is key in firearm safety.
Nobody scares me more at the range than adults who rent a gun who clearly have no experience. They're often simultaneously confident and dangerous. Kids at the range are afraid of getting in trouble so listen to people telling them how to be safe, but adults are the fucking worst.
Here in Canada we have that very issue with police at the range (my range had to ban them in groups). The mix of overconfidence and need to show off while having less safety training then regular people is a deadly recipe.
vet the troop carefully, but yeah, it's a good organization.
And listen to your kid if they say it's not what it looks like. My troop looked totally fine if you asked the Scoutmaster. It turns out it was just his kid and his kid's best friends who were all assholes. I got beaten up at least once, and eventually got kicked out because I pulled my knife on the Scoutmaster's kid, because he had pulled his knife first, and literally backed me up against a cliff with it. Dude was a psycho and eventually joined the Army during the big 2009 push (what a shock).
Mom insisted I go every week, it's not that bad, etc, and then literally had the stones to tell me "you should've said something" when I got thrown out.
yeah, i was in a troop with an awesome scoutmaster. who died. the next scoutmaster was okay but he moved. the one after that was an Uncle Touchy that i managed to avoid. my parents refused believe me when i told them there was something going on but they like burying their heads in the sand (they cultists).
Eagle Scout here. These asshat politicians need to keep their hands off scouting. It's an awesome organization that gets kids off the screens and teaches them a bunch of cool, outdoorsy skills. Everybody should be encouraged to participate. Our society needs some fresh air.
Almost made Eagle Scout here. Would absolutely encourage people to join*. There is almost no other organization where you can learn cooking, first aid, environmental science, and many other cool and useful skills that I can think of. At least not for teens. There are definitely a good amount of things I learned that I have kept with me, even if I have never had to use them, especially a very important meeting we had on gun safety.
*obviously vet the troop. You absolutely don't want to join a troop with homophobes if you or your child are not straight or are trans or whatever.
Re: vet the troop.
I had a very lucky experience in that my troop was about as secular as it gets, meeting at a local public school without any external financial support at all. There was no church involved; the parents funded everything and provided transportation and were our chaperones. The only mention of "reverence" was in the Scout Oath, and there were never any group prayers or other such things.
We also didn't wear uniforms on outings, steering clear of any pro-military optics.
My point being: if you find yourself looking for a program that is more on the side of skill-building, outdoorsy stuff, and education, there are troops out there that may fit the bill.
The troop I was in was like that as well, minus the uniforms. Almost always had to have on either a uniform or troop shirt at outings so we could be identified in case something went wrong. Closest we had to church related stuff was how our troop was grateful enough to be able to hold meetings in a nearby church, a quick mention of it in Eagle Scout court of honor ceremony, and the occasional camp out "there's service happening for anybody who wants to attend" type of thing.
As for funding, we definitely had the usual fall popcorn sales and then we usually did a bake sale early Spring for funding. Hated the bake sale because it was always at a small rest stop shop that was almost always cold. No external support outside of whoever popcorn sales were done through.
Eagle scout here as well. I second this. When I was in scouting it was still boy scouts and I was always a bit bothered by the exclusions. So happy to see that the organization is now inclusive and standing by their beliefs.
Now just to get religion out of scouting...
Another Eagle jumping in. It is so clear these clowns know nothing of what scouting is about.
They've basically violated every single last part of the oath. They're 100% at-odds with the entire program as far as I can tell.
These clowns know that scouting promotes inclusiveness and they hate that.
I got a lot of badges when I was a scout. Didn't have to use my penis for any of them.
Your troop didnt teach you how to lash a table together using just your penis? Maybe that was just for Order of the Arrow...
Not even the knot tying badge? I was duped!
/s
Hah, as a furry, that one has implications. :3
-- Frost
Not even a furry, or even non-hetero, and it has implications
I bet we're thinking of completely different implications, which is pretty hilarious!
('knot' is furry terminology (possibly outside furry too, it might be what the scientists call it, but it probably doesn't come up nearly as much in other contexts) for... does lemmy not have inline spoilers?)
knots explanation, furry lewd stuff talk
...the bulbous bit that wolves like me (and other canids) apparently have at the base of their dick, which swells up to lock them in place during sex. And you can probably guess what "tying" would be, heh. Usually I hear it called "knotting" though.
Yep. I was thinking of bondage
.... wait, what? Next are you gonna tell me that the "cocksucking" badge I got from that one scoutmaster is fake?
Maybe.
Come over to this hotel room. Show me what you learned, and I'll assess your skills. Then I can tell you if it was fake.
They said they didn't have to use THEIR penis... (I'm so sorry)
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Sure, when you were a kid, yeah. They got a badge now for safe cylinder extraction.
Obviously you didn't take the fast track program.
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BTW if you're looking to order girl scout cookies consider ordering some from this list of Trans and non-binary scouts: https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/2026-trans-girl-scouts-to-order-cookies
This person makes a list every year
Idk man. I support trans kids but I don't want to show favoritism. Why is there a list of transkids? Honest question I don't understand. dont parents sell at work and in front of stores and stuff? Would this alienate them from their peers somehow?
Erin in the Morning is a reputable source, too. That blog has been sharing trans girl scout cookies for years.
Modern scouts sell both in person and online
I'm not sure how it would alienate them. Being different is already alienating.
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Doesn't the SecDef have more important things to do right now? Like fight a war no one but his boss wanted?
Ah, the SecDef doesn't actually fight a war. He just supports starting one. And then like all richwhitemen in the USA have done, let a whole bunch of impressionable young people do the fighting and dying for him.
Ask how I know!
Hey! Whoa! That's not true.....
.......everyone implicated in the Epstein files wanted this war.
Doesn't the SecDef have more important things to do right now?
More important than thinking about children’s genitals?
He’s in the GOP. So no.
Chatgpt is doing the job now so he can focus on culture wars
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Looks like the DoD / DoW will be cutting its ties with Scouting America then, if what that weirdo said was true.
Maybe they'll start a new organization, not only for Trump fans, but specifically for the Youth. Where have I heard that idea before?
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this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2026
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