Don’t tell your Scouts, but the secret is out about Boys’ Life magazine.
While your boys are laughing at the jokes, poring over tales of high adventure, and checking out the latest books, movies, and videogames, something subliminal is happening.
They’re learning. And they’re reading.
Boys see Boys’ Life, the award-winning youth magazine, as their favorite piece of mail each month. But you have a reason to see it as more than that. The latest episodes of CubCast and ScoutCast show you how Boys’ Life can make your job in your pack and troop easier and more rewarding.
Mike Goldman, editorial director for Boys’ Life, Scouting and Eagles’ Call magazines addresses this from a Boy Scout perspective; Boys’ Life Senior Writer Aaron Derr, who just took over as Cubmaster for his son’s pack, gives the Cub Scout angle.
Listen to and download the July 2014 ScoutCast and CubCast here.
Goldman and Derr speak to different audiences, but their messages overlap: Boys’ Life enhances the Scouting program. Scouts who read Boys’ Life magazine achieve rank advancements faster and more often than Scouts who don’t. And they’ll stay in Scouting longer.
See some of my favorite quotes from Goldman and Derr below.
Why Boys’ Life works
There’s something for every boy in Boys’ Life, Goldman says.
“They know that each and every issue of Boys’ Life will make them laugh, it’ll make them think, it’ll make them wonder, it’ll make them dream,” he says. “You can ask 10 boys out there about a particular issue, and I’m thinking you’ll get 10 different answers about what most resonated with them.”
Derr agrees.
“Boys’ Life magazine is sort of like the coolest textbook ever when it comes to the Scouting program,” he says. “Everything in Boys’ Life is designed to make Scouting more fun and more interesting and more cool for Cub Scouts.”
How Boys’ Life can help leaders like you
Whether you’re talking Cub Scouting or Boy Scouting, Boys’ Life is the ultimate advancement tool. This happens in two ways: explicitly and implicitly.
Some articles, like the popular Merit Badge Minute, offer specific tips about completing merit badge requirements. Others have Scouting ties that aren’t so obvious.
“The best way to teach a boy to learn is don’t tell him he’s learning,” Goldman says. “Our goal is to show successful guys and successful units being successful in Scouting. Every single article in Boys’ Life has a potential takeaway for a unit leader.”
Take the regular “Cool Jobs” feature. Goldman says he hears feedback from readers that they never realized how cool cooking, medicine, astronomy or journalism could be until they read about those jobs in Boys’ Life. Then you, as the leader, can tie those articles in to merit badge possibilities.
It’s all connected.
Stuff for guys, backed by the BSA’s values
Products marketed toward youth aren’t always appropriate for youth.
Fortunately, Boys’ Life is a BSA publication, which means its content lives up to that organization’s strong values.
“Parents can always feel confident that Boys’ Life reflects the values of the Boy Scouts of America,” Derr says.
How to subscribe to Boys’ Life
The easiest way to get Boys’ Life at the price of $12 a year is to simply check the box at registration/rechartering time.
“We really count on the Scout leaders to tell the boys that Boys’ Life is available,” Goldman says. “That they have this core Scouting tool available to them for just a dollar every month. The unit leader tells the boys, and the boy says sign me up.”
Don’t miss more from Goldman and Derr in the July 2014 ScoutCast and CubCast.
The July issue
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