Have you ever been affiliated with Scouting, Boys or Girls?

I was a girl scout for a year. 

If buying lots and lots of girl scout cookies counts then yes I have. Cheers! This post was edited by Nanoose at September 6, 2021 5:08 PM MDT

 

  I was first in the Cub Scouts, then the Webelos, and finally the Boys Scouts. I was interested in staying in scouting in order to earn as many merit badges as I could and to eventually earn the rank of Eagle Scout. The entire time, I belonged to a troop and a den that was run by a Den Mother as opposed to a male. She had male assistants, but she ran things. Her son or sons were scouts in our den also, and at least one of my two brothers was a member too. I don’t recall all of the details after so many decades have passed, so forgive me my lack of clarity. I can’t even remember the Den Mother’s name.

  My departure from scouting was both unexpected and abrupt. It occurred due to my mother and stepfather first separating and then divorcing each other after ten years of marriage when I was 14 years old. Almost everything in the family turned upside down, and scouting was one of many corners of my life that completely dissipated as a result of the breakup and a result of the ensuing ripples that permeated the crumbled household.
~

The Scouts are more likely popular in suburban areas and I always lived in the big city.  

I wanted to be in Scouts but my mother said we couldn't afford it.  Both of my girls enjoyed scouting in the elementary school years.  They were finished before junior high. 

First a cub, then a scout. Then when my children got involved in scouting, I became a Joeys leader. Call me Emu.

I was a Brownie and Girl Scout until it was 'uncool' and there were more exciting things to do. 

No.

I was a Scout for a couple of years or so.

Note that name: Scout. The Scouts Association modernised itself in the 1960s, not long before I joined. As well as some changes to the uniform etc, it dropped the words "Boy" and "Girl" from the Scouts and Guides respectively.

It still taught more traditional skills such as lighting a cooking-fire of fallen wood - and clearing up after to leave the ground safe and with virtually no trace of our activities. I don't know if it uses open fires these days. I would not be surprised if its camps use only portable gas cookers now.

(This is in the UK, the Scouting movement's home country - where the female version, developed by Olive Baden-Powell, was always the [Girl] Guides, never "Girl Scouts" .)

The three main practical skills the Scouts gave me and I still use were of several useful knots, basic map-reading, and camping in tents. The knots may seem a bit trite but I have found being able to tie those several basic knots extremely useful many times over the years. I am glad I can read an Ordnance Survey map; and as for camping... last time was only a few days ago! 

The Scout Association has just announced a new group,  named the Squirrels, for 4-5year olds.