5. Common Questions

What is the mission of Scouts BSA?

...to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.

What do Scouts do?

Some of the best things about Cub Scouting are the activities the Scouts and you get to do: camping, hiking, racing Pinewood Derby cars, going on field trips, or doing projects that help our community and the people who live here. Cub Scouting means "doing." All our activities are designed to have the Scouts doing something and by "doing" they learn some very valuable life lessons.

Do the parents have a role?

Yes!  As a program for the entire family, Cub Scouting can teach your child a wholesome system of values and beliefs while building and strengthening relationships among family members. Scouting gives you a pretty neat platform to equip your child. We provide other mentors to help your child grow but you are also an important part of their development in scouting.  Your role decreases as your child gets older. 

But your role in the pack or troop can be passive.  We don't expect a parent to leap right in. But, be warned. Cub Scouting might touch you as it touches your child and you might eventually get 'the fever' that many of our leaders got from Scouting.  But you are encouraged to go at your own pace.

How old (or young) can a child be to join?

Cub Scouting is for boys and girls in Kindergarten through 5th grades, or 5 to 10 years of age. Boys and girls who are older than 10, or who have completed the fifth grade, can no longer join Cub Scouting, but they will be able to join a Scouts BSA Troop. Troops are split by gender, boy Troops and girl Troops.

How do our Scouts achieve their goals?

Cubs will use the handbook to do adventures. These activities are used to achieve the aims of Scouting—citizenship training, character development, and personal fitness. Many of the activities happen in the den (with the children in their grade) or with the entire pack (with all the grade levels) or you can do electives at home as a family.  Our Scouts always have Go-and-See's and plenty of outdoor and indoor activities to help them achieve goals.

What supplies and equipment are needed?

At minimum, each child in Cub Scouting will need a uniform and a handbook. Each year, the handbook changes, as does the cap and neckerchief. Lions wear a Lion tshirt. The blue BSA shirt will remain the same from the Tiger through the Webelos ranks. So purchase a larger size so it will last through the years! 

When a Scout enters an Arrow of Light den, he/she will need to purchase the tan BSA shirt (olive green bottoms are optional). Learn more about uniforms.

Is Scouting safe?

Over many years, the BSA has developed some of the strongest expert-informed youth protection policies found in any youth-serving organization including mandatory criminal background checks for all leaders, required training in youth protection, mandatory reporting, and two-deep leadership.

We teach the scouts to use the buddy system and are never alone. Our pack also encourages the scout's Akela (parent/guardian) to stay for meetings.