To think scouts attracts the more ‘quirky’ kids?

[JumpTheGun]

As the mother of a (wonderfully) quirky DS myself who has recently started going to beavers, my observation is that quite a few of the other children in his colony also seem a little bit geeky, shy, quirky etc. Is this a general thing? Or will the ‘geeky’ types tend to drop out? I’m kind of hoping DS has found somewhere that suits his nature!

I’m kind of guessing that quirky might mean not sporty, I say this because there definitely seems to be tribes that I notice within boys groups. There are the football boys who tend to have that as their main focus and most of the ones I know have now dropped out because sport has become their focus. That then leaves the more creative/unconventional boys at Cubs (in our case) my son being one of those.

I can’t say I’ve ever had this impression from my son’s time in Scouting. I do see that the ‘cooler’ kids probably drop out before the others as it is probably seen as uncool. I wouldn’t really describe my son as quirky or geeky though, he is a pretty mainstream 14 year-old as far as I can see, but he is sporty and outdoorsy so I assume that’s why he has wanted to carry on with it all this time. He absolutely loves the camps and all the fire-lighting, whittling and wide games etc.

Mine is in Scouting, he went through the ranks - Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and now Exporers. Explorers is nuts, but great fun. I think there is a real mix, including "jocks" and "quirkies". Mine goes because he likes the outdoors. He is the type likely to be in Young Farmers when he is older, God help us 🤣! There aren't many school friends who are still into the outdoorsy activities, and his school friends seem to be either on x boxes or street corners.

@BlackbirdsSinging I can't speak for the OP but I don't think shy = quirky. I think quirky kids usually have unusual interests, rather than the mainstream football/rugby/dance/gymnastics/gaming etc.

Both my sons were in scouts after Beavers and Cubs and are not in the least bit geeky. Neither were their friends or most of the others. The one or two that were, tended to stay on and do Explorers and then become young leaders. The 'cooler' kids had long since left around 15.
FWIW, mine did football and cricket too. They're now 19 and 17 but their fondest memories and IMO greatest benefit was their years spent in Scouting.

I think so, which is why I got DS into Beavers the minute he turned 6.

Even the Beavers' parents have an earnest unworldliness to them - the cool/creative types reject it because they think it has religious and patriotic overtones. If so I must say they are wasted on DS.

Big mix at ds scout group

Yanbu in my experience. I was a slightly weird awkward kid who was a scout from 11-18, and a cub leader. It becomes a bit uncool around age 13, a lot drop out then, leaving a higher ratio of quirky kids.
Explorer scouts was the majority of my social life as a teenager, I was lucky to find a group doing 2-3 activities a week and regular weekends away.I think it can be difficult to find active activities if you're not good at sports, especially for older kids, it's really good for that.

I'm a beaver leader. We are as quirky ad the kids and it's fab!

What a lovely thing to say! As a leader, there's a lot of thankless admin but it is also rewarding and my complete way of life - nice to feel appreciated.

We have a trangia set due to D of E expeditions and it is handy to know that in the event of power cuts, Explorer DS and Scout DD can do the cooking! Love Scouts and am a huge admirer of the leaders.