tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321070.post8237134414359080201..comments2024-02-27T11:26:39.655-07:00Comments on Southern Rockies Nature Blog: A Writer Remembers His Boy Scout DaysChas S. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923547685265741325noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321070.post-14674879183411031242010-05-12T23:08:26.470-06:002010-05-12T23:08:26.470-06:00Alas, they don't make scouts like they used to...Alas, they don't make scouts like they used to.<br /><br />Coddled, ill-led, and oversupervised is what I typically see. While there are some good scout leaders out there, including several of my SAR teammates, I had many cringy moments when I worked in a mountain shop and tried to outfit and orient natural-born golfers (at best) to take other people's children into the woods without killing them.<br /><br />As for separating from parents, it seems that every parent -- father and mother -- is obliged to hover over their issue at every scouting event, at least in the younger groups.<br /><br />Very different from my husband's experience in the 1970's with a scoutmaster who was former special forces.<br /><br />Myself, I parted ways with the Brownies by mutual agreement. I thought that sitting around making paper dolls was insufferable. They thought I was a pain in the ass. I returned to frogs and trees and swinging from grapevines, and they moved on to sell cookies.<br /><br />The conflict between nature study/Indian lore and paramilitarism goes back to the very beginning of the Boy Scouts. For the most part, the former lost, but individual troops have varied significantly.Heather Houlahanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13891198124130533198noreply@blogger.com