What to do with a Scout that doesn't like to camp?

[WeeWillie]

Encourage him to camp and let him and his parents know what he will miss by not being there. That is about all you can do. If he chooses not to participate, then he chooses not to participate. Forcing the issue will probably make him quit scouting all together.

Chief J

Nobody likes to lose Scouts but there reaches but if a Scout is not interested in camping he is going to quit anyway or worse create an incident where he is forced out. Unmotivated Scouts are bored Scouts. Bored Scouts become problem Scouts as they get older. Older unmotivated, bored, Scouts become role models for younger Scouts. You wind up losing them too! You may also wind up with a parent complaint, or a parent who pulls their Scout from the troop.

There are other organizations besides Scout, Perhaps during a SMC, you could discuss other options.

I lost several Scouts because of the behavior of older unmotivated Scouts because I held on too long!

[Bill Pitcher]

I had a scout who got through 2nd. class and stopped camping with the troop. Yet, he'd go to summer camp with the troop and again during the 5th. week provisional, to earn Merit Badges. He had over 30 of them! When it was time to do his first class cooking, he wanted to do it at a camporee. Fine. But on the Friday night, he slept in his Dad's car, cooked his patrol's 3 meals on Saturday, then went home. We refused to sign off on the meals since he didn't "camp out." His Mom was upset, Dad said nothing, and the boy quit! Apron strings were too tight here, too.

[scoutaholic]

... When it was time to do his first class cooking, he wanted to do it at a camporee. Fine. But on the Friday night, he slept in his Dad's car, cooked his patrol's 3 meals on Saturday, then went home. We refused to sign off on the meals since he didn't "camp out." ...

On one campout, serve as your patrol's cook. Supervise your assistant(s) in using a stove or building a cooking fire. Prepare the breakfast, lunch, and dinner planned in requirement 4a. Lead your patrol in saying grace at the meals and supervise cleanup.

I don't see in the requirement where it says he has to have slept in a tent the night before he cooked for the patrol. It says cook at camp.

I think you were adding to the requirement here.

This boy seems to have had a problem with camping (or with short-term camping with his troop), which may have prevented him getting Camping MB (and Eagle), but it shouldn't have stopped his advancement here.


I had a boy who camped with the troop every month for the first year. After summer camp, he refused to camp with us again for about 18 months. I was baffled, as were his parents. At home, he was suddenly obsessed with home security at night. (This was about the time of the much publicized return of Elizabeth Smart who had been abducted from her bed about a year before.) He would insist on being the last to go to bed, and would check the locks on all the windows and doors (sometimes multiple checks) before going to bed. He didn't even feel safe enough to sleep in his own back yard. After months of talking and working with the boy, he finally told me that he didn't want to camp because he couldn't sleep and would be awake all night alone in his bed. I made a special exception to the troop 'no electronic entertainment' rule, so he could listen to music to help him sleep. This was enough to get him to camp with us again if his friend, and his younger brother (who was too young to join the troop yet) would both come. Eventually, he got over his hang-ups, and is able to join us at camps without any problems (at least no problems I am aware of).

[evmori]

Well, if he cooked them & went home, sounds like he didn't supervise clean-up.

[mhjacobson]

We had a scout who suddenly stopped going camping (age 13). After about a year and a half he started camping again. When talking with him a few years later about his 'vacation' he admitted that he was going though that very difficult physical change and was very embarassed about some of his physical changes and decided that not going camping with the boys was one way of dealing with his embarassment. BTW he became very active and earned his Eagle.

There is often more to what happens to some of our scouts than being a 'mother's boy.'

[evmori]

... When it was time to do his first class cooking, he wanted to do it at a camporee. Fine. But on the Friday night, he slept in his Dad's car, cooked his patrol's 3 meals on Saturday, then went home. We refused to sign off on the meals since he didn't "camp out." ...

On one campout, serve as your patrol's cook. Supervise your assistant(s) in using a stove or building a cooking fire. Prepare the breakfast, lunch, and dinner planned in requirement 4a. Lead your patrol in saying grace at the meals and supervise cleanup.

I don't see in the requirement where it says he has to have slept in a tent the night before he cooked for the patrol. It says cook at camp.

I think you were adding to the requirement here.

This boy seems to have had a problem with camping (or with short-term camping with his troop), which may have prevented him getting Camping MB (and Eagle), but it shouldn't have stopped his advancement here.


I had a boy who camped with the troop every month for the first year. After summer camp, he refused to camp with us again for about 18 months. I was baffled, as were his parents. At home, he was suddenly obsessed with home security at night. (This was about the time of the much publicized return of Elizabeth Smart who had been abducted from her bed about a year before.) He would insist on being the last to go to bed, and would check the locks on all the windows and doors (sometimes multiple checks) before going to bed. He didn't even feel safe enough to sleep in his own back yard. After months of talking and working with the boy, he finally told me that he didn't want to camp because he couldn't sleep and would be awake all night alone in his bed. I made a special exception to the troop 'no electronic entertainment' rule, so he could listen to music to help him sleep. This was enough to get him to camp with us again if his friend, and his younger brother (who was too young to join the troop yet) would both come. Eventually, he got over his hang-ups, and is able to join us at camps without any problems (at least no problems I am aware of).

Hmmm. Camping out in dad's car. Leaving after he cooked. No clean-up supervision. I'd wouldn't sign it either!

[mhjacobson]

There is a lot more here than meets the eye.

1. Was there a SM conference where the issue was discussed with the scout (why did he sleep in the car rather than in a tent, why ws the requirement not signed off, are you happy with the troop)?

2. What else was going on with the scout's participation in the troop and its activities?

3. Why do you think that the boy quit?

From what the original posting read, it sees as if the boy was in scouting to please the dad and nothing else.

[WeeWillie]

There is a lot less than meets the eye. Not every boy likes to camp. Scouting is an outdoor program. There is an obvious conflict. We need to honor the boy's desires and the boy needs to accept the consequences of his desires. So do his parents. Allowing an unmotivated Scout to remain in Scouts only creates problems for all involved.

[Ursus Snorous Roarus]

this is an adult leader thing where the kids do not need to be involved because it could be bad for the PL and SPL.

BINGO! Have a sit down with Dad as there seems to be a relationship there and he appears to get it. Explain to him there will be no more coming late/leaving early. If he isn’t there on Friday evening then stay home. And if he does, he leaves no earlier than everyone else. Surely he will understand how this negatively impacts the function of the patrol. Don’t minimize that the other boys don’t realize it, and don’t think it isn’t at least one of underlying causes of relationship issues with him being disruptive. Once here or there is ok, things happen. But when there is a trend, got to stop it.
Plus, our Scouting program is structured around camping. You can’t call it anything other than that when we go camping one weekend every month and one or more long term in the summer. You don’t camp, then you aren’t active in our unit and that stops advancement. I explain that to parents and boys alike up front to avoid foot stomping when I refuse to sign off on advancement. In 7 years I’ve had two boys that “don’t do camping”. Neither progressed any further in their advancement once they made that feeling known. They made a conscious decision not to take part in our program. We as the adult leaders made them aware of the ramifications of their decision and they soon fell out of the Troop. We don't need attitudes present that don’t promote our program. Sad loss, but as was said, not all kids ‘want’ to earn Eagle.

[troop2dad]

When my son graduated from Cubs to Boy Scouts the troop we are now in had problems with the older boys not providing the best leadership qualities and there were many just below them that were ready to quit. Through some problem solving and youth leadership development these boys have taken over, we are almost there for being boy led and are having a great time.

We adults in Scouting all too often think "we" need to keep every boy in scouts. What I have found is that it is a privilege to participate. We have found the boys who are camping with the troop each month (which are the trips the scouts decided on when the schedule was created) have a close bond with each other. We have also found that when boys only come once in a great while or never then they lose the ability of the shared experience only "building a bridge", doing a camp service project, splitting wood or whatever else the scouts decide to do.

My experience has found that if a scout does not participate in any camping trips for a year the likely ability for him to stay is about zero. The advancement and interest begins to drop and other interests take over. While we all want every boy to make Eagle the reality is for a great program we need great participation from our scouts and adults all working together.