After having over 60 kids show up to our October Pack Meeting I was expecting a big turn out and was both shocked and disappointed when only a few kids showed up, not only because it meant we would have to do more foot work than anticipated but also because I felt that many of the kids had put this event on the back burner, forgetting the importance of it.
These days most kids are involved in multiple activities. From basketball to hockey, soccer to baseball, karate to swimming - they do it all. I know, first hand, how difficult it is to juggle more than one activity per week. Toss siblings into the mix and it can be completely overwhelming! However, in my opinion, Scouts is one of the few activities that I view as being incredibly important (as well as fun!). In a society full of bad behaviors I feel that Scouts teaches the boys everything they need to know to grow up to be loyal, respectful, responsible, honest, kind, giving, compassionate etc etc. They're being taught that their positive behaviors can make a difference. They're being taught not to strive for perfection but rather to do their best at everything they do. Morals and values need to be taught. They need to be placed on the front burner.
Teaching our kids the importance of helping out in our community is essential to our society. We live in such a materialistic world, one in which money tends to 'trump' everything else. Some parents put their careers as their number one priority in order to give their kids "the best of the best", forgetting that some of the most important things in life that they can give to their kids can't be bought. We live in a society where children are bullying, stealing, lying, cheating and, sad as it is, killing. There are kids out there who don't have any respect for themselves, much less others. Responsibility? What's that? How can we expect our kids to stand firmly on the ground if we don't put some responsibility on their shoulders? There are kids that spend a good portion of their time complaining about the things that they don't have, completely forgetting that there are children who don't have anything. There are kids who have no idea what it feels like to be generous or appreciative. Clearly they understand the meaning of "wants" but do they understand the meaning of "needs"? Do they know that there's a significant difference between wants and needs?
My goal - not only with my own kids but with others as well - is to teach kids the basic core values. Lead by example. I think that's become my personal motto seeing as how I tend to say it on a daily basis lately!!
The Scouting program helps to reinforce those basic core values. It gets our kids out there in the community and shows them how whether they're on their own or working together as a team they can make a difference. And as an active member of Scouts, I am leading by example.
When we hit the pavement - bags in hand - on Saturday morning and I saw that only about 1/4 of the Scouts had shown up to help I took it upon myself to email each and every Scout parent and encourage them to bring their boys next Saturday to participate in the tail end of Scouting For Food. It's only been a couple of hours since I sent that email but I've already received a great response and feel happy knowing that we'll have a bigger turn out than we did this past weekend. The few parents and kids who did show up to help deliver the bags ended up having to cover more than a few miles of pavement but I was so pleased and proud to see that - for the most part - they all had smiles on their faces. I had 3 Scouts in my group and all of them felt a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when they were finished. They knew that they had helped to make a difference in our community. They worked hard but they didn't complain because they knew that their efforts were/are directly going to help families in need.
I've said it before and I'll continue to say it; our children are our future. We need to start them off on the right path now - not tomorrow, not next week, not years from now. And we need to make sure that they understand how important and vital they are to our future. We can play a big part in transforming our world into a better, safer place by raising our children with excellent morals and values.
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