Benefits of Scouting

From ScoutWiki, For Everyone, Everywhere involved with Scouting and Guiding...
Jump to navigation Jump to search
CampLine2019.jpg

Benefits of Scouting for Youth and Families:

ScoutWorks2019.PNG

Featuring age-appropriate appropriate Activities, Service, Crafts, Field Trips, & Outdoor Adventures. The Benefits of Scouting are many - increased faith, family recreation, physical health, citizenship and many other valuable life skill lessons.

  1. Learn Independence: Youth learn how to live independently. [1]
  2. Clean Air Exposure Lowers Health Risks USFS Study shows that prolonged exposure to clean air on outdoor camping trips increases your health levels. [2]
  3. Nature Appreciation Learning how to enjoy time spent in the outdoors will encourage youth to spend more time in clean air environments. [1]
  4. Mental Fitness Scouting activities include a great variety of problem solving activities. [1]
  5. Cardiovascular Exercise Common benefits of doing scout treks such as backpacking, cycling, etc. [1]
  6. Leadership Skills
    1. Everthing I Needed to Know about Leadership I Learned in the Boy Scouts - AceLibrary.
  7. Increased Educational Opportunities in College - 17 colleges explained to Bryan on Scouting why Eagle scout candidates get preferential recognition during the college admissions process. David H. Smith, phd, wrote a whole book on this opportunity: Scouting your Way to the Best Colleges.
  8. Increased Employment Opportunities - Create an eye-catching resume for successful job hunting.

Presentations:

Scouting stats.png

"For over 100 years, Scouting programs have instilled in youth the values of the Scout Oath and Law. Today,these value are just as relevant in helping youth grow to their full potential as they were in 1910. Scouting helps youth develop academic skills, self-confidence, ethics, leadership skills and citizenship skills that influence their adult lives." (The Values of Scouting)

BSA Parents

Benefits bsa2.jpg

The Boy Scouts of America serves an invaluable purpose in building character and instilling values in America’s youth, and shaping the leaders of tomorrow. As parents, family members and friends of the BSA, we pledge our support for this organization and the value that it brings to communities.

Reaching the Next Generation

In 2006, we reached a population milestone of 300 million people living in the United States, the largest number of people ever to inhabit our country. This milestone was also a sign of change: change in the populations that are growing through birth and immigration, and change in the way these populations become part of the fabric of America.

In the coming decades, the United States will become an even more diverse society. The Hispanic/Latino American and Asian American populations are projected to triple by 2050. And the African American population is expected to almost double during this same time period. Can BSA meet the needs of these growing, diverse populations?

Benefits of Community Service

  • Why the World needs Eagle Scout Service Projects more than ever - Oct 2020 - ScoutingMagazine. - Lucas, a Life Scout from Troop 17 of Millburn, N.J. (Northern New Jersey Council), built mobile screens and a custom-designed plastic door shield to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at a nonprofit working to end homelessness in his region of New Jersey. In doing so, Lucas proved there’s no shortage of Eagle project ideas during the pandemic. In fact, places like homeless shelters and food banks need help now more than ever.


Benefits of Duty to God Program

2018 Harvard Study

  • 2018 Harvard Study has shown that youths who regularly attend religious services, pray or meditate may get a well-being boost that sticks around into young adulthood.[3] The study, by VanderWeele and Harvard research scientist Ying Chen, is published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. (See also Duty to God.)

Among the findings, youths who attended religious services at least weekly as children and adolescents were:

  • About 18 percent more apt to report higher happiness between ages 23-30 than those who didn't
  • 29 percent more likely to be volunteers
  • 33 percent less likely to use illegal drugs

Those who prayed or meditated at least daily as kids were, as young adults:

  • 16 percent more likely to report higher happiness
  • 30 percent less likely to have sex at a young age
  • 40 percent less likely to have a sexually transmitted disease

Special Needs Scouting

Scout Leader Quotes

BP jagger complete.jpg

Founder of scouting, Robert Baden-Powell, made many remarkable observations about the benefits of scouting:

  1. "The open-air is the real objective of Scouting and the key to its success." - Nature is a great teacher, an inspiration, and a source of lifelong experiences. Afterall, "Scouting" is 75% "outing." One of the great parts of a week at camp is getting to spend a week living in the outdoors!
  2. "We must change boys from a 'what can I get' to a 'what can I give' attitude." - Scouting isn't just about earning badges and recognitions, Scouting strives to prepare youth to become a responsible, participating citizens and leaders who are guided by the values of Scout Oath and Law. You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.
  3. "Boys can see adventure in a dirty old duck puddle, and if the Scoutmaster is a boys’ man he can see it too." - Where an adult sees a dirty puddle, a rotting log, or an old cardboard box, a child sees an adventure... and a good Scoutmaster can see it too. Scout leaders should nurture creativity, playfulness, and sense of wonder in the world around us.
  4. "The real way to gain happiness is to give it to others." -
  5. "A boy is not a sitting-down animal." - Luckily Scouting is full of activities that allow Scouts to run, jump, hike, swim, climb, and play.

Affordability

Main Stream Sports are Expensive

  • Game over: Middle-class and poor kids are ditching youth sports - CBS News: But the rising cost of playing sports, coupled with rising economic inequality, is increasingly leading poor and even middle-class families to hang up their cleats. That trend is being fueled by the growth in "pay-to-play" sports, which is making organized athletics prohibitively expensive for many households.
  • Youth sports in the U.S. are diverging according to income -- more middle- and lower-income students quitting athletics while participation among wealthier children is rising.
  • The typical family with kids who play sports spends about $700 a year on fees, equipment and more, but some spend up to $35,000.
  • More public schools are also charging "pay-to-play" fees, pricing out some families.
  • Wealthier families often spend more on kids' sports in hopes of securing college admissions for their children.


2020 LDS Partnership

References

HealthFitness Revolution

  • See also:
  1. HealthFitnessRevolution.com Top 10 Health Benefits of Scouting for Boys and Girls
  2. HealthFitnessRevolution.com Top 10 Health Benefits of Hiking
  3. HealthFitnessRevolution.com Top 10 Health Benefits of Backpacking Treks

See Also

Eagle21.jpg