Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts are wonderful programs that have been adopted by the Church to help encourage our young men to learn leadership skills, responsibility, respect, and other things that will prepare them to receive the Priesthood, serve missions, and be effective fathers later on. As a Cub Scout leader, I have seen the maturity in my own son as he reaches for new goals and the self-esteem that has been increased as he participates in the program. I think it’s a powerful teaching method and that all boys should be actively involved in their local Scouting chapter.
That said, it’s not a mandatory program of the Church. In fact, it’s not a Church program at all, but rather, one that the Church uses. Membership in Scouts is not necessary for passing the sacrament. A young man will not be kept from serving a mission if he hasn’t received his Eagle rank. Scouting and worthiness aren’t interconnected.
Every so often, you’ll encounter a boy who’s just not interested in participating. I have one such boy in my den. He was fairly active until about halfway through Wolves, and then he just lost interest. I talked to him, and to his parents, and the cub committee leader talked with them, and his friends who attend regularly talked with him. We did everything we could to encourage him, and yet, he chose to end his participation.
That’s sad, it really is. I think he could have benefited by coming. But, it’s not going to harm him spiritually if he chooses not to attend, and that’s the important thing to keep in mind.
We’ve all been given the freedom to choose, and Scouts is just one of those choices we have to make. I have friends who had bad experiences in Scouting themselves, and so have chosen not to involve their own children in the program. I have other friends whose lives were changed because of Scouting, and so they make sure their own children are involved. Every person’s situation is different, and if you know you’ve done all you can to make that Scout feel welcome and he still chooses not to attend, that’s a choice that needs to be respected.
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