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posted by
janrinok
on Saturday November 12 2016, @05:03PM
from the it-was-pretty-good-then-too dept.
from the it-was-pretty-good-then-too dept.
People who were in the scouts or guides in childhood have better mental health in later life, a study suggests.
Analysis of a study of 10,000 people found ex-members were 15% less likely than other adults to suffer anxiety or mood disorders at the age of 50.
Researchers believe it could be the lessons in resilience and resolve that such organisations offer that has a lasting positive impact.
The researchers were from Edinburgh and Glasgow universities.
They looked at data from a lifelong study of almost 10,000 people from across the UK who were born in November 1958, known as the National Child Development Study.
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Scouts and Guides Provide 'Mental Health Boost for Life'
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You will remember something that you should not have forgotten.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by janrinok on Sunday November 13 2016, @08:54AM
EF - if you look closely, you'll see that the study was conducted in the UK.
Scouting has been far more ethnically/racially diverse in the UK than it appears, according to your statements, to have been in the US. So your claim that it is because of a 'Christian' background is bullshit in this particular case. Christianity has been on the wane in the UK for many decades now. We don't have a Bible Belt. In fact, in many places just finding a church that is still in use can be quite difficult.
I also don't believe that the kids came from more wealthy families - certainly not the case in the Cub pack or Scout group that I belonged to in the 1960s. A very deprived area where scouting was encouraged because it made the kids far more independent and gave them an opportunity to take part in activities that they would not have otherwise been able to do.
Later, when I joined the military, I found that many of the attributes that I had developed whilst being in Scouting were most useful. Knot tying - sure, but so many other skills too. The ability to look at problems and to find original and innovative ways to solve them. Feeling comfortable when living outdoors, and capable of coping with the conditions that one finds there. Understanding that other people rely upon you to do your bit, just as you rely on others to do theirs. And the list could go on ...
Other youth organisations also turned out well balanced and capable lads, it wasn't just the Scouts. But most of the other organisations were tied to a religious background - the Church Lads' Brigade etc. Scouting, at least in my experience, was just as often entirely unconnected with any religious body or belief system.
Today, many parents are afraid to let their children play outside, let alone go camping in the big outdoors or to join in adventurous training. And the children themselves appear almost lost without a computer to play games on, or a smart phone that they can keep using throughout the day. Perhaps if more joined the various youth organisations that exist today they would become better adults in later life.
[nostyle RIP 06 May 2025]
(Score: 2) by VLM on Sunday November 13 2016, @01:09PM
gave them an opportunity to take part in activities that they would not have otherwise been able to do
I'd extend your remarks with a kid who's messed up is likely to become an adult who's messed up so a kid already suffering from mood disorders or whatever is both not likely to be interested in scouts AND likely to end up messed up as an adult.
Another factor probably not accounted for is you're pretty much forced to learn how to make friends and socialized in scouts, not really an introvert org.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday November 13 2016, @03:14PM
Very true, I certainly don't think that youth organisations can fix all of the problems. Equally, we haven't got solutions for many of the problems that exist among adults today, in which case it is unlikely that we can do much to address them in earlier years.
[nostyle RIP 06 May 2025]