Is Cubs middle class??

It’s working class but wait until they are older and doing DoE. You will very quickly see how it might be considered middle class.

My Bil was a scoutleader in the 90s in central Scotland. It just depends where they have organisations i guess, The Boys brigade is a church of Scotland organisation

What does Scottish have to do with anything?

Although I'd be tempted to ask your friend what activities are okay for working class children?

Are you Scottish?

I am (from a very ordinary lower middle class background) and although I was a Brownie and Guide, Scouts (only for boys in the 80s/90s, remember) was rather weirdly seen as quite an 'English', MC thing - most of the boys I knew tended to join the Boys' Brigade or cadets (Army or RAF) rather than the Scouts.

Perhaps that mentality persists?

I don't think it's ever been middle class. My brother's attended in the 80s and we were working class.
My nephew's have all attended Cubs and Scouts in recent years (one still does). It seems to be more of a mix now. Working class and middle class but surely middle class activities are generally far more expensive?
I wouldn't worry about it as long as your DS is enjoying it.

Cubs… middle class wannabe…. 😆🙈 this has to be the funniest thing I read today and there have been some crazy posts on MN in the last 24h 🫣😂😂😂 even children clubs are getting now divided into working class and middle class lol

Do what’s right for your child.

Im a Beaver leader and our colony is definitely mostly working class, we keep subs low and work hard to fundraise / seek grants to give them opportunities such as camps, trips and activities that might otherwise be inaccessible.

Other groups attract more 'middle class' families, ones in nearby villages but generally its a mix.

Absolutely, thinking you are getting "ideas above your station". I hate that whole frame of mind. A relic from when our landed gentry overlords expected the peasants to know their place. And an example of crabs pulling each other back down into the bucket - Why do people do this?

Total reverse snobbery and ignorance

Exactly, she sounds very small minded and from the sounds of her fully intends to stay that way……sending your child to cubs, the very thought of it!

I think the notion of assigning a "class" to any activity is somewhat ridiculous, but what is wrong with wanting to be middle class? Are middle class people bad? Or is this just inverse snobbery?

I only know Girlguiding, but the largest local group is in a really deprived area and very popular. The leaders pull out all the stops for the girls and do contribute their own money as well as their free time, but girlguiding HQ isn't that supportive financially of its poorer units.
I certainly would have considered it to be fairly classless and would assume scouting is similar. It is quite beneficial for girls to become young leaders and the skills learnt is a good thing for future CVs etc, experiences that can be harder to obtain in poorer areas.

Your friend sounds like a bit of a dick.

Wouldn’t say it’s middle class but on a side note I can’t stand people who say things like your friend did……they assume someone is trying to better themselves and the try to ridicule them for it, they are afraid they will be left behind and get jealous so they say it to try and keep people in their place

It’s like the saying ‘ it’s far from ‘xyz’ that you were born’

Depends where it is. My husband is a cub leader and both my sons go to his cub group. I'd say theirs is middle class, yes. But it's in a middle class area and seems to pull from the local primary school which is firmly middle class. We don't live in that area and my kids don't go to that school so we probably lower the tone a bit!

In a different area it might be very different. Objectively it is one of the cheapest activities my three kids do by a long shot, so there is nothing about it that's fundamentally middle class. There is a bit of a royalist slant though which your friend might have been alluding to?

Ours takes from a mixed working class and middle class demographic, and are careful to keep costs low and activities accessible. It’s actually the nicest mix of kids across the activities we do, and all of the leaders put quite a bit of effort into ensuring that eg not owning a car isn’t a barrier.

However, I can understand why someone without kids there might think it’s middle class - almost all of the leadership is middle class and the adult discussion and friendships etc etc are very very much from that demographic.

It isn’t middle class but the group depends on the area they are in in my experience.
The one my dc now go to does so many different paid for activities and camps and they have been in various locations, some quite rural whereas the one my eldest went too never left the building it ran from because it was in a very different area and parents didn’t necessarily have the means or desire or get their dc to a location in the middle of nowhere to go sailing for a day or whatever.

I think it will depend a lot on the area and the individual group as they do have different approaches. Some groups depend on a lot of parental input (do x/y at home to get a badge, bring in x/y from home for an activity, bring in spare clothes which can be wrecked with mud/paint, regularly deliver child to a different location for the weekly session) this will always be a barrier for parents who are less able to do that for whatever reason eg working long hours or don't drive. If child can walk themselves to the local hall that is a very different scenario. The uniform is expensive but less expensive than eg buying leotards/ costumes/tickets/dvds for dance shows...

I run a cub pack. I'd say we are a mix of MC and WC, this applies to both leaders and cubs. There's a real mixed demographic. Mostly this is due to the area we live in, I would imagine location is the biggest influence for most groups.

It sounds like she's projecting. Like others have said, it's volunteer run, mainly by parents and the subs are fairly cheap.

I honestly don't see why you'd care either way. If your child enjoys it, and you can afford it, why would it matter whether someone else viewed it as an activity associated with a particular social class.

DH was a Cub and later a Scout, in a very poor WC area. The camps were pretty much the only holidays he had in childhood.

Er…she sounds very small-minded! Dos she get out much ?

It’s almost comical- I’m now imagining a notice on the Scout Hut demanding documentary proof of Middle classness before your son would be allowed to join.😀

It sounds like your friend has some reverse snobbery on the go as well as some wrong preconceptions.

Around us brownies/cubs/scouts etc is aimed for all and all activities they do are kept very low cost. They have a panto visit in Dec which is subsidised so we pay £5!

me and my brother grew up doing brownies and cubs etc. we’re from one of the then most deprived places in the country!