Loyal and Brave
Teens resist stereotypes to stick with scouting
By Sally Lynch, 17, with contributions from Alex
Bott, 11; Connor Stulz, 11; Amanda Coehoorn, 13, and Maija Crothers,
14
--Picture - Nelson Winkler, 16, of Marquette
stands near a bridge that was built through his coordination and planning
as part of his Eagle Scout award project - Winkler's project supervisor,
Craig Stein is pictured with him
Erin
Angeli of Marquette was asked to join Girl Scouts by a friend in Scouts
when she was eight years old. Seven years later, Angeli is still a Girl
Scout even though her friend is not.
“What really keeps me in it is the volunteer work I do and the people
I come in contact with. The differences you make in your community really
do mean a lot to you in your everyday life,” Angeli said.
The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America teach young people responsibility,
citizenship and leadership. Though these assets are important for youth
of all ages, there is a significant decline in Scouting around middle
school age.
There are about 2,500 members of the Girl Scouts of Peninsula Waters,
which covers the Upper Peninsula. Of those members, only about ten percent
are in grades seven through twelve. The national average for the same
age is even lower at five percent.
Total membership for the peninsula-wide Hiawathaland Council of Boy
Scouts of America is 2,300. Of those members, only 650 are ages eleven
and over.
So what keeps some older kids in Scouts while others leave?
Laura Fosmire, fifteen, of Marquette has been a Girl Scout for about
nine years. She says there are two reasons she hears from kids who drop
of Scouts.
“They usually say that its because they ran out of time, like they
got involved with other things. But one of the big things is also that
it just doesn’t seem cool anymore. People think that when you’re a Girl
Scout you should run around in a little skirt and sell cookies, and
they don’t want to be like that,” she said.
Angeli agrees. “You don’t see Girl Scouts in Seventeen Magazine or
on MTV. I think a lot of people tend to take an influence from the media
that it isn’t the best thing for girls to be doing anymore,” she said.
Both girls speak fondly of Girl Scouts and love the fact that they
develop close friendships and they get the opportunity to go out in
the community and volunteer.
“Every single girl in my troop right now is one of my closest friends,
and we always go out and do these group things together. Our troop holds
the Cardboard Classic that goes on in town every year. After that we
always go out for a meal. We volunteer at the Salvation Army, and then
afterwards we go to Vangos and have our Christmas party,” Fosmire said.
“Friendships are important, but I think it’s more of helping people
in your community. Taking part as much as you can, seeing as much as
you can, learning as much as you can is important,” Angeli said.
According to Peninsula Waters Membership Coordinator Jill Rady, girls
who leave Scouts in their early teens are not aware of the opportunities
the organization offers. They may believe that it’s going to be more
of the same things they have done as a younger Scout. But as the girls
get older there are more opportunities to travel.
“When we ask what they want to do, girls want to travel. With maturity
and expanded capacity by their age to raise funds, they can do that,”
Rady said.
Emily Koren, program director for Peninsula Waters says the Girl Scouts
organization understands how important a girl’s independence is. She
points out a camping trip provided by the national Girl Scouts that
allows older Scouts more freedom.
“We run a camp every year called Summer Thing, and it’s at Clear Lake
Education Center. We have girls of all ages. But this year for Cadets
and Seniors, middle school and up, we offered YOYO, which stands for
‘You’re on Your Own.’ What this meant was girls could choose whatever
they wanted to do. There was no plan when they got there except that
they got to pick and choose what activities they would participate in,”
Koren said.
Peninsula Waters has recently seen many more girls decide to go to
camp because of the extra freedom that was offered as opposed to previous
years where the adults made schedules for the girls, she added.
Another Program offered by Girl Scouts is Studio 2B, in which the girls
decide what they want to do. If they want to camp, it’s up to them and
if they want to travel they can decide where and how they will raise
funds.
Fosmire says Scouting is more fun than people make it seem and more
kids should give it a try.
“I think the most important thing about being a Girl Scout is really
showing what Girl Scouts is about and showing that you can chop wood
or you can go camp in the woods, or you can go help little kids and
be a good role model and help out your community and make a difference,”
she said.
Boy Scouts learn values
“Most kids think of it as uncool to be a Boy Scout and they won’t fit
with the other people. You gotta be cool, you know. Be hip, have the
same shoes and stuff. For some reason Boy Scouts isn’t hip,” says Eric
Peterson, sixteen, who is currently working toward the rank of Eagle
Scout, Boy Scouts’ highest level of achievement.
Peterson says he joined Cub Scouts when he was six because his father
made him, but he stays in Scouting because he wants to.
“You learn basic skills like medical so you can save someone’s life,
knot tying so you can tie knots and you learn skills on how to camp
and survive in the wilderness,” he said. “I like camping and the outdoors
and going canoeing and going on adventures. I like the idea of trying
to get the Eagle. I think it’s fun and it’s really good for resumes.”
Dewey Jones, Scout Executive for the Hiawathaland Council of Boy Scouts
of America, is aware of how what’s cool and what’s not changes. Not
everyone will want to be in Boy Scouts, he says.
“Our primary purpose is our values orientation, and if somebody thinks
it’s not cool because we are committed to values, there’s not much we
can do about that,” he said.
Nelson Winkler, sixteen, of Marquette has been a Scout for nine years.
He joined because he was new in town and wanted to meet new people.
He has stayed in because of the friendships he has made, the adventures
he gets to take part in and the opportunity for rank advancement. In
Boy Scouts, he says he has learned many skills he will use later in
life.
“I think one of the main skills that you learn is leadership and how
to get along with other people,” he said. “It gets you out away from
your TV and games and gets you involved with other kids of your age
group. You learn how to get along with kids, even sometimes maybe you
have a dispute, and you learn how to relate with others and put yourself
in their place.”
Jones doesn’t think of the boys who leave Scouting as abandoning the
program.
“Scouting is designed to expose young men to a broad variety of activities
and interests, and it’s a program that’s general in nature. So I don’t
think it’s surprising that through that process kids find things they
are interested in getting involved with more intensively,” he said.
"If a boy drops out of Scouting and is interested or follows up
on another activity, particularly if it’s an activity he may have been
introduced to through Scouting, I don’t consider those really dropouts
but graduates.”
What would the boys tell someone considering leaving Scouts?
“I’d tell him that number one, if you stay in you can make it to the
rank of Eagle,” Winkler said.
“I’d tell him that he’d be missing out on a good time,” Peterson said.
