Cadets

[peeweechigs]

Hi, I have an 11 year old boy and am wondering about him joining cadets. Has anyone any info about them? What they do, the difference between the two etc.
I have no knowledge about them at all. My son has ADHD if that makes a difference.

My son 15 has been in the Royal Navy sea cadets since he was 10. He has ASD. It is absolutely fantastic for his self esteem. They do parading, water sports, Duke of Edinburgh, rifle shooting, first aid and so much more. I would heartily recommend it.

All three services have cadets. Not sure of ages for Army cadets but air cadets start from the beginning of the school year in which they turn 13 (so year 8). Sea cadets have juniors from 10 and cadets from 11

Dd16 has been a Sea Cadet since she was 11, it's been absolutely amazing - she's gained great friendships, confidence and qualifications. She's recently put a CV together and it's very impressive! It's very low cost, we couldn't have afforded all the boating courses etc at normal commercial rates. I'd definitely recommend it!

ADHD might not be good fit, because they need to have a lot of self-discipline.

He couldn't usually join until at least 12yo in year 8.
Similar ethos but a lot less strict would be Scouts.
Scouts are a lot funner, Cadets they need focus to do well.

I have ADHD and was in the sea cadets for many years. It was fantastic.

My son is in air cadets, he joined in y8 and is now 16 and an NCO. It’s been amazing for him despite Covid limiting their opportunities - he’s been flying, on camps, represented them at national level shooting, done first aid, instructors course, a BTEC and leadership training. Now he is 16 all sorts of amazing opportunities are open to him - flying scholarship, residential leadership training, outdoor pursuits trip to Canada. I guess it depends whether you think discipline will be good for your son or he will struggle with it due to the ADHD. My younger son (12) is in Scouts which gives some of the same access to camps and outdoor pursuits but is much more relaxed. They can join from 10.5yrs/Y6.

@peeweechigs Having ADHD will not be held against him in any way and nor should it. In fact the required discipline can do the world of good. Just let the organisation know how best to work with him. Depending on regulations when he is old enough if he decides he wants a Forces career it may affect that so if he heads in that direction keep that in mind.

I was a member of Air Cadets as a teen and it was an amazing experience that still impacts the decisions I make today. I was given the opportunity to fly, to do overseas camps, camps in the UK, my first taste of outdoor adventurous activities, I learnt first aid and received academic qualifications. It have me responsibility and a confidence I wouldn't have had without it and it gave me something to talk about in college and employment interviews.

Since leaving cadets I ummed and ahhed about joining the RAF and did apply but then decided to take a gap year and do a degree whilst deciding (we were mid Afgan and Iraq wars at the time) I did an apprenticeship as an Outdoor activities instructor, a degree in outdoor recreation and public service management, then decided to spent some more time working outdoors as an instructor, after having DD I worked in FE for a while then at a Secondary school and now I work for the Environment Agency in the Flood and Coastal Erosion team. I've always been public service minded and have always been happiest outdoors and I really think that started off with the experiences I had at cadets several decades ago.

Air Cadets will start recruitment in year 8, join sooner rather than later as if things are the same you had to be their 6 months and to have done the first assessment (which eventually lead to an academic qualification when you complete them all when I was there) before you went on camp.

Apologies for any typos my screen keeps freezing when I attempt to type replies.

I have friends with teens in the cadets and have only heard good things about it.

From my understanding though it is quite a commitment usually a couple of evenings a week.

I used to be a instructor/Teacher for Air Cadets. The joining age is 13 but I'm happy to answer any questions you may have?

Nonsense! We had lots of kids with ADHD and also ASD. Adjustments were made

It sounds good. I'm just wondering how to persuade him to try something new!

Obviously I can only speak about Air Cadets but some things to be aware of - some positive, some could be a slight negative for some.

•They go on some fantastic activities, many of which are endurance based, including Army Assault courses, water based activities such as white water rafting, inflatable assault courses on water etc.

• They do rifle training, archery, alongside athletics. There is a Wing Athletics day once a year which is like a giant sports day for every Squadron in the entire Wing (area).

•They get the opportunity to go flying in light aircraft. This is regular but only 3/4 at a time, although it is ensured that everyone who wants to go, has the opportunity to go.

• Most if not all outings/activities are free (included in the monthly fee which in itself is subsidised and therefore very low). Transport is also provided. Uniform is also provided.

• On assembly evenings, they are taught BTEC Aviation Studies and have the chance to also learn an instrument. All free. In addition, we do a lot of fun stuff (takeaway pizza nights etc) and every week there's a session or 2 in Leadership skills, uniform maintenance etc.

• They also do Drill marching on Assembly evenings.

Our Squadron meets on Monday & Friday evenings 7-9:30pm. The late evenings aren't for everyone...

Another lovely aspect is them taking part in the local yearly Memorial Day Parade March through the town centre in their No.1s! (Dress uniform). Brought 'proud tears' to my eyes and I wasn't even a parent back then!

Occasionally their Saturdays and/or Sundays are taken up with the above activities/trips/marches but also every now & then, they spend a Saturday fundraising for a local charity (& for their Squadron) by doing bag packing at a supermarket or standing with a bucket in doorways. This isn't very often at all, but it's kind of a counter balance for all the fun they get to do in the summer! Keeps them grounded.

The biggest thing of all that I'd say they get from Air Cadets, is a wonderful sense of self discipline, maturity and leadership skills. Totally invaluable. I really hope my DD chooses to join, even if she has no desire to join the forces 🤞

(As I said previously, the ages are 13-20)

Oh and my Squadron recently went to Canada for 3 weeks! Lucky little buggers

My Son (25) was in the Sea Cadets and Army Cadets, He thoroughly enjoyed his time with them, and he originally wanted a career in the forces. Let your son go along to a couple of sessions to see if he'd like it.

My DS joined ACF (army cadets) as a shy dyslexic 12 yr old with low self esteem and left at 18 as top cadet with loads of confidence, loads of mates and lots of skills that helped in other areas especially in the workplace.

What were the adjustments? For my education.
And for OP, so OP can know that those adjustments will suit her lad.

DS(13) was a junior sea cadet and is now an army cadet and does CCF at school. He didn’t enjoy junior sea cadets as it was more like scouts (but he did miss his first year of sailing activities due to Covid) but he loves army cadets. He wants to join the RAF so might switch to air cadets but it’s much further away and he has good friends at army cadets. The only cadets your DS will be able to join at 11 is junior sea cadets but he can join the others at 12 as long as he’s gone into year 8. I was an air cadet and it was brilliant.

Mines at St John's cadets. She loves it, has ASD and not been a problem.

Navy cadets here. Dd has been offshore for a week sailing around the Isle of Wight and hopes to join TS Royalist, the tall ship, to do another week offshore this year.
She has made loads of friends from all over, looks forwards to the two parades a week and sails regularly.
Honestly can’t recommend it highly enough.

@lljkk why do you think cadets isn't a good place for children with ADHD?

Cadets is not like school where children are faced with hundreds of other children in corridors, made to sit down and be quiet for an hour at a time, only have 30 mins to eat and burn off energy and then forced to sit through lessons that they do not like or see the relevance of to their future.

Cadets is a place they want to be, doing activities that they want to do, being given the chance to move around alot and given responsibility. There are routines and boundaries in place which benefit all children including those with ASD and ADHD. Often children with ADHD absolutely shine in these types of environments. Obviously if a diagnosis is more complex and the child has no sense of danger or is extremely impulsive in a way that could put themselves or others at risk than a more direct conversation needs to happen but otherwise ADHD should not cause any sort of barrier to accessing any of the Cadet services.

There is also Police Cadets which isn't quite as disciplined, it is also completely free including the uniform

DS was in Scouts for 2 yrs then joined cadets for 2 yrs, so I was on committee for cadets for ~2 yrs, & 8 yrs later another DS joined a different cadets ATC, so I know what he gets up to. There is/was a lot of team-work, classroom work, standing still at parade, focused waiting one's turn, doing what you're told without quibbles. Plus learning to fly, morse code, shooting with real guns...

It doesn't seem like a good environment for kids with terrible impulse control, who dislike standing still for long periods, being precise, coordinating all behaviour with others, cleaning bedrooms, following safety instructions very strictly. I am thinking about OP saying her lad has ADHD.

OP will best know what her son can do; some kids rise to a challenge, tbf. He might like Scouts and not ATC, is what I'm saying.

Long walks in country, playing ManHunt, polishing parade shoes thoroughly, learning now to use an iron, cooking, watersports : all could be easy enough even if short attention span. Scouts is like this paragraph without the top paragraph stuff (Scouts does fairly little of parades, shooting, classroom learning, drill...)

DS skinned pigeon & squirrel in Scouts: they made yummy kebabs.

Just leaving this here for any ASD parents considering Air Cadets, to see.