Cub Scouts, You’re in the Army Now

Of all the animals, the boy is the wildest ~ Plato

Cub scout den mothers, I (cub scout) salute you.  To take on the responsibility of guiding elementary school-age boys through Tiger, Wolf and Bear Scouts (names surely inspired by Plato himself**) amidst the chaos that ensues at meetings, you are a rare and patient breed indeed.

Now I paraphrased Plato.  He actually said the boy is “most unmanageable.” That may be taking it a tad too far, given how things went down at our Cub Scout Camp this past week.

Present the unmanageable to a Boy Scout leader and you get management.  Do you ever.

As acting den mom to a group of eight cub scouts I thought I had my work cut out for me.  Surprisingly, the boys were all pretty tame during the morning’s festivities but when the first activity of the afternoon rolled around, attitudes changed like the weather in the La Plata mountain range.  The boys became squirrelly (yet another reference to a wild animal…), clearly tired from a busy morning, and despite the opportunity to make his own bow and arrow, one scout couldn’t resist the temptation to spike PVC piping in an imaginary “end zone” and scream “TOUCHDOWN!!!” at the top of his lungs.  As I approached to intervene I was, with swift military efficiency, bypassed by the Boy Scout leader manning the bow-and-arrow operation.

“I’ll handle this,” he rumbled.

And I let him.

Because whatever happened next was going to be good.

The Boy Scout Leader went up to the diminutive perpetrator and looked down his nose, brow practically to his chin, and said:

“You treat your own equipment like this?”

No, was the barely-audible squeak.

“Then you don’t treat this equipment poorly.”

And that was that.

It really was.  This child behaved himself the rest of the day.  The rest of the day.  Not just while under the watchful eye of the Scout Master (yes, the leaders are also called this, and now I see why.)  And when there was a scuffle between another two of my scouts, this man took notice.  And after I told him we were all good he said to me,

“You have any more problems, you let me know.”

Darn right I would.  I’m calling this guy when my own kids balk at brushing their teeth.

But in all seriousness, I saw firsthand how strong male leadership penetrates the psyche of the youngest of boys, not just that of enlisted men.  Even the older boy scouts had a decorum about them that only that kind of guidance can provide (I heard pardon-me-ma’am and ‘scuse me, ma’am all day).  These young men held themselves to a high standard and obviously held others to a degree of respect that seems otherwise unmatched in their age group.  It was impressive to say the least, seeing young men behave so admirably, clearly the result of a respectable male role model.

And yes, bows and arrows were made.  But not before my eight young charges, with military precision, moved their workbench into the shade.  The Boy Scout Leader made them do it.

[**The names for cub scout dens, “Tigers,” “Wolves,” and “Bears” are actually inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s book “The Jungle Book.”]