Scouts Parade v family life

[ParadiseCity]

My 11 yo is in scouts and tomorrow there is a St Georges parade through town. His leader told them all 'it's compulsory and you can't be excused unless you are dead or dying'. However, DS is reluctant and I just don't have the inclination to jolly him into it. I'm glad he does scouts but at that age I was a guide and remember how embarrassing the public parades were. I'm normally ultra supportive of all their activities and think that when you have committed to something you stick with it etc. But he committed to Tuesday evenings down the road not a Sunday afternoon in town. I work full time, juggle a lot of stuff (as we all do), and just for once I CANNOT BE ARSED. AIBU and should I woman up and make him go?

I agree with Damson whose post is spot on in my opinion.

My DSs rarely made church parade as scouts because they had a prior comment to a rugby team. They would have been missed from the rugby team more than from scouts.

Haha. We almost had the same. The Scouts/Cubs/Beavers parade is normally tomorrow, but oddly cancelled. Which was a good thing, because the boys have a sporting commitment that they have to attend instead. And still would be attending even if there was that conflict.

Being part of a scout group is also being part of a team and being part of the local community.

It's just as well leaders accept that there will be bits that aren't always fun, otherwise there wouldn't be any Scout groups! I am sure all the paperwork and organisation that will need to have been done for tomorrow's parade wasn't exactly fun. But it is a day when all members of the Scouting group renew their promises, so it is an important fixture in the Scouting calendar.

This sounds like the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that you take the rough with the smooth and, as you get older, increasingly do things you don't fancy because it's the right thing to do.

attendance at remembrance at st George's day is a requirement

You can't enforce that, so YABU. I'm a Brownie leader and am well aware that our girls are busy with other activities so might not make things at the weekend.

Life isn't about doing the fun stuff and skipping the boring dull parts, better to learn that sooner rather than later

What damson said.

If you and he don't want to do the 'boring' bits and only the fun stuff, it might be an idea to look for a different activity for Tuesdays and let a boy who wants to go and will be committed to it have his place.

Thanks Damson. I am the last person who'd ever normally be accused of having a bad attitude so that did make me smile wryly. It's true though. I do have a bad attitude towards this. But I think hobbies are meant to be fun. I cannot see any value in adding in boring parts that no one really wants to do. If I was St of England I'd rather be celebrated with parties and fun, or with volunteers doing up the old peoples home garden, than reluctant children trudging through town. Wouldn't you?

Clopsysow, if scouts and guides are massively outdated why is the number of young people joining growing each year and why are there hundreds waiting to join?

Scouting and guiding is very relevant in today's world.
The main problem is not habing enough leaders to take all the children who would like to join.

My DC are fully aware that life isn't all fun and games. Scouts isn't the only place to learn that concept...

Sometimes life isnt all about fun though . I think you need to be more responsible and teach your DS to be in the process, quite honestly.

Don't make him go, life's too short!

Xpost, but he does Scouts knowing what it entails. He either does it, or pulls out of scouts. If he had something else on it would be different, but it's just that you can't be arsed.

This is part and parcel of him being in scouts. Scouting and guiding is run by volunteers .this parade is part of scouting's ethos he should attend

Organisations like the Scouts make me uncomfortable at the best of times.
Combine that with St George's day celebrating England's glorious past and a march and I can feel my bristles rising.

The reason why we parade on St George's day is because he is the patron saint of Scouting.
our young people are proud to parade in their uniforms and to carry their flag. The service we have is very child friendly with lots of interaction.
Please do not assume that this is a boring activity for all the children.

It's just once a year. It means so much to the people who run scouts. they put in hours and hours for free spot that all children get the chance of a lovely outdoorsy, skill-learning childhood. Having your routine thrown out for one morning a year is not much to ask in return.

We don't attend either the remembrance or the st George's events with beavers. They're held at church and we're not religious. I am happy to help out with all sorts of things (including crap stuff like cleaning the scout hut before an event and clearing up afterwards) but I'm not willing to sit through a church service. I see no reason why this should be compulsory.

My ds is in Cubs and will most definitely be attending the parade tomorrow, even though we are Welsh and live in Wales. It is very important and he has never missed any of the parades or the JOTT's. Yes it's on a Sunday but that's just how the cookie crumbles.

But what if another commitment clashes that is just as important to another 'team' a child belongs to?

Never seen any reluctant scouts at our St George's celebrations tbh. They go and represent their group and have pride in belonging to the wider scouting family.

Remembrance Sunday is the only other compulsory parade. Again our scouts are proud to take part and it is rare for us to have less than 100% attendance for that.