Anyone got a child in the cadets?

[AsAProfessionalFekko]

Do they enjoy it? What do they get out of it?

Thinking about it for DS.

Dd is in RAF cadets, she has flown an aeroplane, a glider, done various courses, doing a btec diploma, off to aerospace camp in the summer. She gets to take part and win medals for intercounty athletics. She has done her southdowns challenge of 28 miles with full backpack and had massive hard earned blisters. The duke of Edinburgh bronze, now working towards silver. She can take various guns and rockets apart and put them back together, she has done archery, crossbow, cliff climbing, shot guns and has learned survival techniques. Lots of camps!

She loves it!

Wow! How much time does she spend? School is pretty full on (5.5 days a week and long days).

She spends loads of time doing school homework, about 2 hours a day. Currently doing gcse, all stem subjects, triple science etc.

Army cadets. Really enjoys it. Good, strong friendships, not just at detachment but county wide. Regular camps away, from a weekend to a fortnight, where there is a lot of bonding and teamwork. Developing brilliant life skills too - laundry, ironing, cleaning etc are expected at a high standard (very pleased about that!). Incredible opportunities to try new things and develop the skills he is strongest at, including to competition level against other counties. Massive confidence growth since he started. He is now a leader not a shy follower. Comes across as far more mature than his age. Doing DofE as part of progress too. First Aid qualifications. Has the opportunity to go on a battlefields tour in Belgium this year.

Excuse one handed typing but wanted to reply as am a big fan of cadets for young people, despite knowing nothing about them until a few years ago 🙂

One evening a week at detachment for 2 hours. About half a dozen camps a year, varying lengths. Also in run up to GCSEs but is very methodical and mature about revision, makes time for everything.

I was in the army cadets back in the 90's so this may not be entirely relevant. However I loved it. As PP said, it really brought my confidence up as I was kinda unpopular in school and loved having these friends all over the country.
I loved the shooting particularly but not sure if they can still do that now given the changes in the law.
I did a solo parachute jump and learned to play instruments etc. There's loads of opportunities to try things and meet people. Loved it.
I left just before a-levels as I wanted to concentrate more on that, but I was a member from 13-17. About 2x2 hr evenings a week and I did band for another couple of hours too. Then weekends and weeks away.

Shooting still done. Safety and respect for the weapons are a big, big deal.

My 15 yr old goes to air cadets twice a week 2.5 each time. He loves it!
Get to do so much fun stuff and without sounding gender stereotyping proper boys stuff!
I wish i had this opportunity at his age.

My daughter was in the army cadets. It was the making of her. Increased confidence, fitness, life skills and great fun. It made her organised and committed.

My teens are army cadets and they love it, they are obsessed in fact.

One evening a week and numerous weekends, including days marshalling big events around the county.

Annual camp in the summer is the highlight of the year.

Also it's so cheap considering the activities they do

You just have to be aware that it is basically a recruitment process for the army, and a very good one at that. If you don't want your ds to join the army just keep the dialogue open between him and you about it all.

Mine went through a phase early on of thinking joining the army would be like being in cadets. They are older and wiser now (and have not ruled out joining the army at some point yet...)

Oh he has no intention (army and navy in the family)!

I was a sea cadet and loved it. We used to meet Tuesday and Thursday evenings plus Sunday mornings for boating

You just have to be aware that it is basically a recruitment process for the army, and a very good one at that. If you don't want your ds to join the army just keep the dialogue open between him and you about it all.

Army cadets may be like that but the Air cadets certainly are not. There is absolutely no expectation that any Air cadets are going to join the RAF. Lots of them do, but it's definitely not assumed that they will.

I can't say my experience of Air Cadets was recruitment-heavy, either.
DS was in air cadets & did join Army, but I blame Army enlisting more on him being bullied in primary & radicalised by Alt-Right websites. Few of the cadets we knew went military. The staff volunteers tend to be in public service or uniform jobs, true (supermarket management, police, teaching).

It's great to see the kids out doing good things for their community and having a lot of fun in other ways. Very good value for money!!

Dd in cadets and loving it. It is not recruity.

Could be that different counties are more re recruity than others.
Ours certainly doesn't seem to be. Can count on one hand the number of cadets I have heard about over past three years that went on to try the army in our county.

Quite a few from my daughters cadets went into the army and have done very well. I don't think it was particularly recruitment driven though.

DD in air cadets - she loves it, us not quite so much... she is out 7 til 10 (cadets 7.30-9.30) 2 school evenings a week and often at least one weekend day - eats into our time together, also means that some homework is rushed, but she enjoys it.

She will have to cut down during exam times - the kids often suspend their membership during those times.

My daughter did air cadets. Loved it. Didnt join up.

My teen loved it, but we couldn’t fit in the commitment at weekends/holidays as she does sport and regularly plays or trains at weekends/holidays and this got in the way of all the cadet weekends and trips. During the week it was 2.5hrs twice a week. Good discipline! She also loved the uniform 😁

I would consider what else you have going on ..

Not recruitment driven but does give them an idea of careers available in the military which perhaps they wouldn’t have thought of. My child is in raf cadets and loves. Is considering an engineering role in RAF which he would not have considered otherwise as we are not a military family or in a military town. So it is something to consider. The other issue is security. When the Uk is on a security alert my child is advised that he cannot wear his uniform on public transport or in public places - that can be slightly worrying from a parental view. Otherwise he has flown planes, learnt to respect guns, etc etc

My sister was in the air cadets from 14 till 18 I think. Flew various planes and gliders, represented Scotland and Northern Ireland in swimming, running and loads of 'stadium' events - javelin/hurdling etc. She still now 15 years later has great friends from it!
There was no recruitment drive from it (I do know others that did army cadets or the TA which was more of an entry route for army) some people did chose to join the RAF/forces but most didn't and it was used for life experience, fitness and friendships. I got laughed away by the leader though as I was too girly to handle it 😂😂

There are numerous versions of the cadets, Army, air, police etc so worth looking into which is better for him.

You just have to be aware that it is basically a recruitment process for the army, and a very good one at that. If you don't want your ds to join the army just keep the dialogue open between him and you about it all.

That is not true at all. While there is guidance available if anyone does show an interest in joining the army, it is not pushed in any way. Very few cadets end up joining the armed forces at all.