4. Common Questions
What is the Mission of the Boy Scouts of America?
...to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.
What Do Scouts Do?
Some of the best things about Cub Scouting are the activities the kids (and sometimes you) get to do: camping, hiking, racing model cars, going on field trips, or doing projects that help our community and the people who live here. Cub Scouting means "doing." All our activities are designed to have the Scouts doing something and by "doing" they learn some very valuable life lessons.
Do the Parents Have a Role?
Yes. As a program for the entire family, Cub Scouting can teach your child a wholesome system of values and beliefs while building and strengthening relationships among family members. Scouting gives you a pretty neat platform to equip your child. We provide other mentors to help your son or daughter grow but you are also an important part of his development in scouting. Your role decreases as your child gets older.
But your role in the Pack can be passive. We don't expect a parent to leap right in. But, be warned, Cub Scouting might touch you as it touches your son or daughter and you might eventually get 'the fever' that many of our leaders got from Scouting. But you are encouraged to go at your own pace.
How Old (or young) Can a Child be to Join?
Cub Scouting is for boys and girls in Kindergarten through fifth grades, or 5 to 10 years of age. Boys and girls who are older than 10, or who have completed the fifth grade, can no longer join Cub Scouts, but they are eligible to join a Scout Troop.
How do our Scouts Achieve Their Goals?
Activities are used to achieve the aims of Scouting—citizenship training, character development, and personal fitness. Many of the activities happen in the den (with boys or girls in their grade) or with the entire pack (with all the grade levels). Our Scouts always have Go-and-See's and plenty of outdoor and indoor activities to help them achieve goals.
What Supplies and Equipment are Needed?
At minimum, each Scout in Cub Scouting will need a uniform and a handbook. Each year, the handbook changes, as does the cap and neckerchief, but other uniform parts remain the same for at least the first three years. When a Scout enters a Webelos den, they will need to obtain a new khaki-and-olive uniform.