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Boy Scouts & Venturing- Honest Opinions Needed


3in9th
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Scouts and Venturing can be a great activity. Entry costs are low, but there are costs to trips, camping, summer camp and high adventure. Most troops do heavy fund raising to bring costs down. Scouts are expected to participate in fundraising and some troops actually credit hours of fundraising, to give scouts who put more in more credit toward camp costs. 

 

The scouts and learn a lot and develop tremendous leadership skills. 

 

Understand this is a volunteer organization. If are looking for a program where you, the parent, is completely uninvolved, scouting may be the wrong place for you. Besides helping the troop, your involvement will help your dc because you will be showing care and interest in the activity and progress. 

 

My oldest didn't stick with scouts due to a bullying situation, but that didn't turn me away from liking what scouts does in general. My youngest is currently in a special needs troop. My brother was an Eagle Scout. My dh was a Star (I think). Dh stayed in scouting all through high school. He wasn't interested in progress, but he loved the camping and commaraderie. Dh's parents were completely uninvolved--so that may have affected his progress. 

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I can agree with everything Diane P said.  Start up costs are low.  But camping and outings have fees.  Sometimes low, sometimes not.  My father and my brother were both boy scouts - both made it to Eagle.  I was a venture for a while. DH never made it to boy scouts. Now ds is a scout.  DS is well on his way to Eagle, at star right now.

 

If your scout is interested in advancement, it looks great to make Eagle.  I've heard several stories in the past couple years that has cemented our commitment.  A driving instructor's nephew made it to the interview stage for a cop job simply because he was an Eagle.  And a college department head saying that if he sees Eagle (or girl scout Gold) on an application, that person automatically rises in his estimation.  Just to name two.

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Every Troop/Crew is a bit different in what they do and that will effect the time commitment and the costs.  My DS's troop has weekly meetings (1 1/2 hours), usually a monthly outing which is often a camping overnight (2 days/1 night), and then one week of summer camp. Registration cost for the BSA is $24 a year which in our troop is covered by fundraising.  The average cost of a campout seems to run around $10 per boy.  Summer camp is around $300. The troop also does various other things like my DS is going to a railroading merit badge thing in a few months and it has a ~$25 cost.  There is also the up front cost of getting a uniform, and camping gear.  Our troop has tents, but many boys want their own.  But boys do need to have a good sleeping bag, good backpack, cooking gear, etc.  Boys are asked to help with fundraising.  Our troop does the traditional popcorn in the fall and candy in the spring, plus we also do an annual garage sale and Christmas tree sale which help with the costs.

 

We love it when parents can volunteer.  In our troop the highest need is for adults that like to camp and will go out with the boys.  We had to cancel our outing this month because we couldn't get enough adults to commit to going.  Usually it is my DH and one other dad that wants to go, but this month DH can't go and we couldn't find someone to take his place.

 

My DD is part of a Venturing Crew and is really enjoying it.  They do high adventure outings.  The cost so far have been higher than I would like, but it isn't unreasonable considering what they are doing.  They only meet twice a month, and they do one outing each month.  This month they are going to a council sponsored camping event that including horseback riding.  They are also planning a trip next summer to a high adventure base which is going to get expensive, but not everyone is going.  They are doing fundraising to help offset the cost.  The goal is to not have to pay much out of pocket for the trip.

 

DH and I both spend a lot of time with scouting as volunteers, but that is our choice it is not required, but we have found that when parents are at least somewhat involved the boys get much more out of the program and stick with it longer.

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We are huge supporters of BSA. My dh and oldest son are both Eagle Scouts. My other boys are or have been very involved. My adult son had truly life changing experiences, especially with Venturing and some of the activities they did. He was a shy, introverted, nonathletic child, but the leadership and outdoor skills he learned in Scouts helped make him a very confident and independent adult.  I always tell people that I want to be with him if I'm ever in any kind of crisis.

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Big fans - and agree about trying different troops. We have 3 in our tiny town and each is very different. Also, ask about fundraising. Our troop has been very successful and the boys, if marginally motivated, can pay for all troops and camps by working some Saturdays in the fall. Other troops in town - it's popcorn or nothing. Also, our troop shoots for $10/night for trips except on rare occasion - so no monthly $40/weekend campouts. Other troops don't have the same restraint.

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Gosh, we're proud of keeping our last campout to $20, including gas and food. We're an expensive troop--we go and do a lot of cool things. However, each boy can cover ALL his expenses if he will hustle. Even the year dh blew through $1200 (SCUBA camp), he covered it all. We rarely just camp--we might hike a 14er and then go to a hot springs. We've been to Catalina Island three times. Our Venture Crew skis, a lot. However, until this year, the Crew all got Gold Cards for $100. Our troop has been to Philmont twice in the last 4 years. We own several canoes and kayaks, and a favorite trip is to paddle across the largest lake in CO. The boys have picked an expensive add-on to summer camp of a half-time river raft trip on the Colorado. We've gone ice-climbing, mountain biking, and the boys want to try spelunking. In my ds's age cohort, we had some VERY active OA members and they spent a lot of money on regalia. Again though, the boys can cover all their own expenses.

I hear you on her big trips, but usually monthly trips are $10/night per boy. The troop usually covers gas, and we live in the South, so things are cheaper (and no skiing, LOL!). We do state parks, etc and low cost basic camping out, with a few bigger trips. There is high poverty in our area and we want all boys to be able to participate, and even with fund raising we can't do it all (and monthly trips are drive limited - we're a ride from anything super exciting).

 

My point - ask around. Ask about fundraising (sounds like both our troops are killing it), and find out what the troop philosophy is on boys earning versus parents paying. That made a big difference for me as a parent helping my son choose a troop.

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Everyone has given you great ideas so far. We just started in scouts with my 15 year old last year. I'm so glad we did tried it, my son loves scouts. Start-up costs aren't bad. We bought the uniform in stages, not all at once. Our troop camps every month, it only costs about $15 per trip. Summer camp is about $300. I pay way more for ballet than scouts, haha

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My boys are boy scouts, in fact, I have 3 boy scouts right now as my youngest just bridged over.

 

Campouts every month.

Camp every year.

We send 4-6 boys to Top Gun and another 4-6 to SEALS.

We also do a high adventure every other year (although it has been every year lately).

 

No one is REQUIRED to do the expensive trips (high adventure can be very costly) nor is anyone required to go to camp ($225)

 

However, they are strongly encouraged to participate in campouts.

 

Registration and rechartering in our troop run about $50 per boy per year total.  We also have each boy pay $5 per month dues.

 

My husband is a Scoutmaster Assistant and I am the Awards Chair for Cubscouts.  I am also in charge of used uniforms and books.

 

We are not doing Venture Crew

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Best thing we've ever done with my oldest boy. He will be 13 next month and is a Life Scout, almost a Star (rank below Eagle). It has taught him so much about responsibility and leadership. He is a totally different boy. He has done a survival outing where he could only take what would fit in his water bottle. They had to build shelter etc. he's gone snow camping, again having to build his shelter (with snow). If we have a natural disaster I want that boy with me.

Best thing we've ever done with my oldest boy. He will be 13 next month and is a Life Scout, almost a Star (rank below Eagle). It has taught him so much about responsibility and leadership. He is a totally different boy. He has done a survival outing where he could only take what would fit in his water bottle. They had to build shelter etc. he's gone snow camping, again having to build his shelter (with snow). If we have a natural disaster I want that boy with me.

 

Also, he's earned his way to camp every year by doing fundraisers. Our rule is he has to earn 50% of summer camp via troop fundraisers and he's done 100% both years with not too much work. Last year he sold popcorn, this year he delivered fliers for our annual Christmas tree pickup.

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