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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think scouts guides etc

245 replies

alicetrefusis · 27/01/2014 01:41

Are bloody weird. And the adults even more so. The uniforms!I speak as an ex guide ran away- but shit all that weirdly pseudo military stuff.looked at from the outside v disturbing. Also the cannibalistic rites and torture bits of the Christian service awful. Yet look around and church full of daily nail blue rinses and young parents desperate to get em into school, scary,

OP posts:
RubberBullets · 27/01/2014 18:48

It is actually in Guiding rules that we are not allowed to make church parade mandatory so we can't eat the ones that don't turn up anymore

Lottiedoubtie · 27/01/2014 18:48

*Lottie anyone who has any convictions/cautions related to child protection would not be allowed to volunteer with children.
*

Only if they have been placed on the barred list. It's an extremely individual thing, of course most child related offences would result in this but remember a caution is not the same as a conviction and it may not have been serious enough to warrent it.

If the authorities know they will have taken expert advice on this.

RubberBullets · 27/01/2014 18:51

We charge our Guides £2.50 per meeting but prefer to have a whole term paid at once as it is a pain having lots of coins to pay in the bank all the time.

DinoSnores · 27/01/2014 18:51

katnip, we charge £25 for each traditional term, so work out at something like £2-2.50 per meeting.

KatnipEvergreen · 27/01/2014 18:52

Thanks, that's a good guide (groan, sorry) price. Very good value!

Goldencity1 · 27/01/2014 18:54

At our unit subs are paid per term, that's 3 times a year: Sept, Jan and Apr. Other groups may do things differently, so check with your local leaders.

RubberBullets · 27/01/2014 18:55

Go for it Katnip, linky Brownies can have waiting lists so register your daughter sooner rather than later :)

KatnipEvergreen · 27/01/2014 18:59

Yes, I think one local one I should have put her name down at birth to get in :) But I didn't think she'd be able to go as I was working FT and couldn't see that changing, back then. But there are a couple of other troops where they may be spaces.

TamerB · 27/01/2014 19:02

I can't praise them highly enough. They actually give children life skills, adventure and let them take planned risks- a wonderful thing for those with over protective, over cautious parents. They are also all inclusive and great for social interaction.

RubberBullets · 27/01/2014 19:05

Do it now, do it now, do it now :o

An email will be sent to the leader of your first choice unit so someone should get back to you. How long it takes depends on the leader I'm afraid but they will get chased if they don't reply in time. You can select up to 3 units and put them in preference so if one unit isn't suitable you can be referred to the next one on the list automatically.

We have spaces in our local one and are currently trying to recruit more but doubt you are anywhere near us.

DinoSnores · 27/01/2014 19:29

My DD has been on the Rainbows' waiting list here since she was 9mo!

drspouse · 27/01/2014 19:31

We've just switched to monthly subs by standing order - it's £7 (every month of the year).

KatnipEvergreen · 27/01/2014 19:32

Yeah, I suppose it wouldn't hurt. I asked before and the place offered wasn't convenient at the time as DD1 was more busy with activities then.

I never got on with it myself. I was so into my dancing when I was younger that I was a bit busy to go to Brownies. I did go once but didn't feel very welcome or like the atmosphere. With Guides I tried again, for a bit longer, but again I never felt I really fitted in. It felt like a continuation of school, and all a bit worthy, wholesome, churchy and middle class- as I would describe it now, of course. And I really wasn't interested in camping or outdoorsy pursuits, in fact I would have hated that. I'm still not a camping fan.

My mum was a Baloo for a while and I used to go along and help at cubs sometimes.

DD1 seems pretty interested though. She is also dance obsessed but she's more into outdoor pursuits and, well, wholesome middle class things than I was at her age.

RubberBullets · 27/01/2014 19:42

I would put DD down on the waiting list for rainbows but I don't know which unit to send her to. Our village one has been temporarily suspended and I don't like the leader there but would prefer her to go the the local one rather than having to get in the car. The next nearest one the leader can be a bit too mother hen for my liking. I have no difficulty in deciding which brownies I want her to go to.

Blu · 27/01/2014 19:45

I used to mutter about para-military this and pseud-armed forces that - and then my DS joined the scouts.

Fantastic.

True, I can't begin to understand how they attract volunteers when the trendy young woman who runs DS's scouts has to wear that awful shirt and scarf thing, and, dear god, the trousers, but the enthusiasm is just brilliant. She organises so many interesting activities in addition to the weekly meet, outings, weekend hiking, different camps, volunteering to clear a local nature garden, building bird boxes for the nature garden, off to shows in central London, circus skills...the boys just love it and get so much from it.

DS is an out and out atheist (his objection to the new promise was 'I don't believe in God or the monarchy - I wish they had taken out the Queen, I mean, she's actually real') but when he was a cub I made him go to church parade and now I encourage him. Partly it's a payback for the church - they get their numbers up in return for the free space, partly it is for his cultural education, and partly to show reciprocal commitment to his scout leader.

Hobnobissupersweet · 27/01/2014 20:05

The para military bit for kids is cadets of any variety. All 4 of mine have been in cubs/scouts, ds3 is now an explorer and loves it. I hate damping with a passion so anyone good enough to let my dc camp every month of the year, and for 10 days in summer for not much more than the price of food deserves a medal IMO. In the past 12 years I have been taking the dcs I have been invited to 2 church services a year. We have been to one, never been an issue at all.

Hobnobissupersweet · 27/01/2014 20:06

Damping, tsk camping

atthestrokeoftwelve · 27/01/2014 20:17

All weird- especially the adults that run them.

NigellasDealer · 27/01/2014 20:19

could you enlarge on that point at all atthestrokeoftwelve?

TheRealAmandaClarke · 27/01/2014 20:28

How have any of you understood the OP well enough to answer with information about scouting?

OP: What is a daily nail blue rinse?
Why are you talking about cannibalism? Are you making a bizarre reference to taking communion?

JennySense · 27/01/2014 20:34

Blu

The "Queen" is meant to represent serving the community, not literally "the Queen" herself. It is replaced for Sikh girls to read as "obey the Laws of the Land" as I recall for religious reasons.

Perhaps Sikh MN can confirm I've got it right?

Pilgit · 27/01/2014 20:41

But who wants to be normal? Guide leader and proud. We reserve cannibalism for camp Grin

Almostfifty · 27/01/2014 20:42

Thanks for that atthestrokeoftwelve. Hmm

bunnybing · 27/01/2014 20:45

Mine actually enjoy brownies/guides and I think it is a good thing - cheap subs, inclusive and, unlike most kids' activities, non-competitive. ie it is what it is - they turn up and have fun.

I do think the cubs/scouts leaders look rather hilarious in their massive versions of the cub uniform tho

QueenofLouisiana · 27/01/2014 20:46

Jenny is quite right about the Sikh version of the promise. The Scouting magazine which arrived okay as an article on the new promises which omit any mention of God. It was very interesting, it was just next to '25 ways to cook your Cubs' or something.