I was just considering getting my son into the scouts and this encourages me.
this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2026
805 points (99.1% liked)
News
36292 readers
2876 users here now
Welcome to the News community!
Rules:
1. Be civil
Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.
2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.
Obvious biased sources will be removed at the mods’ discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted separately but not to the post body. Sources may be checked for reliability using Wikipedia, MBFC, AdFontes, GroundNews, etc.
3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.
Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.
4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source. Clickbait titles may be removed.
Posts which titles don’t match the source may be removed. If the site changed their headline, we may ask you to update the post title. Clickbait titles use hyperbolic language and do not accurately describe the article content. When necessary, post titles may be edited, clearly marked with [brackets], but may never be used to editorialize or comment on the content.
5. Only recent news is allowed.
Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.
6. All posts must be news articles.
No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials, videos, blogs, press releases, or celebrity gossip will be allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis. Mods may use discretion to pre-approve videos or press releases from highly credible sources that provide unique, newsworthy content not available or possible in another format.
7. No duplicate posts.
If an article has already been posted, it will be removed. Different articles reporting on the same subject are permitted. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.
8. Misinformation is prohibited.
Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.
9. No link shorteners or news aggregators.
All posts must link to original article sources. You may include archival links in the post description. News aggregators such as Yahoo, Google, Hacker News, etc. should be avoided in favor of the original source link. Newswire services such as AP, Reuters, or AFP, are frequently republished and may be shared from other credible sources.
10. Don't copy entire article in your post body
For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
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.
Definitely varies on area and by troop. Mine was camping or outdoors twice a month at minimum, and pushed to be very active in all the things possible to immerse scouts in scouting. It really felt like the ideal way for the program to be done.
The biggest downside was that drive to do more in proper scout led meant 80% of outings were messy figure out backpacking trip ideas.
Definitely helped shape my opinions on scouting as a trans woman who was barely able to stay in the program after coming out in time with the policy change.
Some troops are also very hostile to being accepting, and do their best to ward off any gay or possibly gay youth in the first place. So if that's a concern it is still relevant.
I seriously feel bad for your son if this is what causes you to force it upon him.
Better be careful talking in this thread will turn you trans.
Nobody is forcing anything he is going to do it if he wants to.
What a small-balls thing to say.
The horror of acceptance for others. Oh my god, please make it stop. /s
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...
.... 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)
load more comments
(5 replies)
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
load more comments
(3 replies)
Doesn't the SecDef have more important things to do right now? Like fight a war no one but his boss wanted?
His job is to use the culture war to distract from the class war.
You'd think so, but I'm sure they have some weird fantasy of transforming the Boy Scouts into the MAGA Youth, and guiding them from scouts, directly into the military's meat grinder.
The most dangerous demographic group for any Dictatorship are Military Age Males. If you don't take control of them, they can be turned into an army against you.
So it's best to filter them early, identify those who will be on your side, and can be properly educated as fuel for the government, and those who look like they could be trouble down the line, can be used as cannon fodder.
Exactly, they'd always counted on them serving as that.
Hey! Whoa! That's not true.....
.......everyone implicated in the Epstein files wanted this war.
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!
load more comments
(3 replies)
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?
Why is there a list of transkids?
Yeah, this person's heart is in the right place but I dunno if we should be encouraging making lists of state-persecuted minorities right now.
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.
load more comments
(1 replies)
As an Eagle Scout, good. They realize that they teach generations of young people how to be good people and stand up when the time calls them to stand up? Do they think we'll stay quiet if they give into fascists?
view more: next ›