By Kakie Fitzsimmons

This year, a den leader by the name of Ann spoke with some parents new to scouting. She shared the story of her role as a parent in scouting and how she came to be a den leader. It happened when her oldest son, Frank, was a Tiger Cub. She shared what being a leader in boy scouts had meant for her relationship with her sons. Her stories played a role in helping some step forward and volunteer to lead..

When boys begin being scouts, there is a core set of values that are taught very simply. Cub Scouting’s 12 Core Values include:

1. Citizenship
2. Compassion
3. Cooperation
4. Courage
5. Faith
6. Health and fitness
7. Honesty
8. Perseverance
9. Positive attitude
10. Resourcefulness
11. Respect
12. Responsibility

Character is “values in action.”

Ann shared; “Every year they go more in-depth on each of these values. I taught some very important life lessons while being right along side of them. It has helped build a close bond between my boys and I. “

There are many things that Cub Scouts do. Ann and her boys learned about citizenship, caring and community through the years of service. Since she was active in the group, it helped her with her maintain balance and feel grounded that she was doing the right thing.

One example was when they did the park clean up which taught the lessons of responsibility, respecting and protecting the environment.

Another time, they learned about compassion and helping others when they went knocking on doors to gather food shelf items for those less fortunate.

There were also lessons of showing respect for our fallen war heroes by getting up early on a Saturday and putting flags on veteran’s graves.

“Every year we talked about physical fitness, peer pressure and saying “no” to drugs. We discussed the importance of making dinner together and how to shop for a family in need. I really know the boys he likes to hang with because I have formed relationships with them and their parents and have been encouraging all of them to “do their best” since first grade.” Said Ann

“I see the empathy and courage they learned because of the conversations we had around “what to do” when you see someone being a bully. How to handle being “home alone” if a stranger comes by the house. We had this dialogue because of the accomplishments in the scouting handbooks. The books provided the tools to assist us with the discussions because we had to sign off on them. The boys get badges for each achievement which gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment.”

We had yearly trips to the fire station, police station, library and other den outings. These boys watched adults who took the time to share experiences. I see his admiration for role models and feel he also respects the time I invested into his success.

“The values we learned together, are ingrained in him and re-enforced by the older boys he sees getting their Eagle badges. There are so many benefits of Cub Scouting that I encourage parents to consider to get involved themselves.

She is continuing talks about doing the right things into his adolescence. Frank is now in middle school and has moved on to the Troop. Ann shares that it seems he needs her less and less. But that is part of our role as parents, learning to let our kids grow into their being and loving them enough to let go. We have to allow it to happen naturally.

At Farmer’s Hat Productions, family values are an important part of our culture. We created the award winning Bur Bur and Friends children’s book series, to educate kids about sports and outdoor exploration and to encourage families to get active together. We hope that by sharing Ann’s story, it will encourage you and your family to start thinking about ways you can do make a difference too.

For more information about Cub Scouts, visit the Boy Scouts of America National Council website at: http://www.scouting.org/

Seed Newsvine

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 4th, 2009 at 3:05 pm and is filed under Community Board. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.