Being a scout requires commitment and dedication. Sure you can be a scout without these but you will never get the real benefits of scouts and the experience will never be quite what it should be. Dedication and commitment will take up your time so that you will have less free time. So when join scouts you may well have to ask yourself if you have the time to really be a scout or whether you are just too busy.
School is an important commitment and the southern suburbs has some of the finest schools in the country. These schools have fine extra mural activities and you are probably involved in many of them. Scouts offers you something a little different to schools and you cannot learn at schools what scouts can teach you nor will schools teach you these skills the way scouts 
does. So you may come to the time when you need to choose which activities are more important to you. You may choose to reduce your school extra mural activities or you may choose to leave scouts. Whichever one you choose, it is important that you give yourself time to fully engage with the activities that you are taking part in.
Scouts is a time demanding activity. How will you benefit from scouts and have the great adventures and make the friendships that it offers it you do not come on the hikes and camps? Thursday evenings are important but they are only a part of scouts. True scouting is found out in the wilderness – on hikes and camps; pioneering with your patrol; on badge courses and competitions. If you cannot find the time for these activities, scouts will never be able to give you the fulfilling experience that it can.
So, think about what is important to you and choose your activities accordingly….
