Are you a guy who is always at home looking for something to do, but can never find that thing. Have you always wanted to try something new but had never known where to go on your own. There are several youth groups out in your community that you probably have seen but have never thought to look into. Many of these groups have a lot of ways to have fun, but you don't know about them.
One of the most widely known youth groups for boys is of course the Boy Scouts of America. Right now most people think, "what fun do they have, they march in local parades and do community work, right?" Wrong! While you will see a local troop in a town parade that is true, and they do community service, there is so much more to it than that. I myself am a member now and have been for 5 years and I can personally say that is a lot of fun. Part of all the fun is the ability to experience new things. You are probably thinking, "camping, I hate camping" well many do, but it's not all about camping. While camping is required for some rank advancement, it is not required beyond that. The major part of the new experience comes through the completion of merit badges. Sounds like no fun? Wrong again. There are merit badges over many, many, many different topics. There are merit badges for many handicrafts such as the woodworking one where you will carve out things. There are merit badges for physical activity such as swimming, cycling, or hiking. There are boating merit badges.
There are merit badges on shooting rifles and shotguns . There are many merit badges on a wide variety of topics. While all these sound fun for the experience of doing them, there are many more with less activity, but a large amount of learning that can also be fun. There are merit badges for many various professions out there. Say you want to be a plumber, there's a plumbing merit badge. Want to be a nuclear scientist, there's a merit badge. Want to be a musician, there is a merit badge. While many merit badges are optional, to go all the way with being an eagle scout, you need to take merit badges mostly that teach you how to be a good citizen and person. Not to hard right? There are only 15 or so, and you have at least years 11-18 of your life to do them. Apart from merit badges, there are other ways to have fun.
Many troops go to various locations on for a day to have some fun. The troop I belong to goes to a rock wall-climbing place every year and has fun. We have also been to laser tag, whitewater rafting, biking through PA to visit civil war battlefields, gone through to see military bases locally, gone to Fort Knox (not inside, but a tour of surrounding area), and many other things. For the more experienced camper, there are some very good places to go within the Boy Scout national camps. These are the High Adventure camps. One is called Philmont where you can go hiking and mountain climbing in Arizona. Then there is the Florida Sea Base where you can go to go diving in the ocean. And last of the main three, is the Alaskan camp, where you will hike through and camp in the Alaskan wilderness. This is not a limit to the available fun, this is the basis to what goes on.
If you are interested in joining a troop, the first step is to find one. Most troops are based in churches or schools. The main reason that no one knows about the troops locally is that there is no way to advertise. Many school systems won't allow flyers to be passed out in class, and only allow one recruitment night during summer break in the evening. If you know someone in a troop asking them is the best way to join. That way you will be in that troop, and you will know someone. You can also ask someone who runs a church if there is a scout troop. Have fun.
While the Boy Scouts are based on a national level, the other youth groups found locally at your school will be varied. If you don't know of any groups in school, ask in the admin office, and try to get a list. Locally, my school has things such as after school sports, a car building and racing team, a battlebot team, cooking clubs, drama clubs, movie watching clubs, reading clubs, music clubs, and many others to long to list. If you check a list, you need to make sure that it is still okay to join. If it is based in a school, make sure it is the one that you attend (seems stupid, but I have seen many turned away because they went to another school). If in a school, there will most likely be a teacher involved in the activity. Just go ask the teacher about it and most of the time, they will be happy to tell you a time to come try it out. Other than schools, the local youth clubs vary too much to be determined but ask around, and you will find something that fits you. Good luck, and have fun.
