At one point in our youth, many of our parents decided that it was time for us to join a club or become part of an organization.

These days, those activities could entail playing a sport, taking lessons in a martial art, or joining a club like Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.

When my parents came to the same conclusion, my brother and I were enrolled in not just Tae Kwan Do lessons, but Boy Scouts as well.

As anyone who has learned a martial art knows, the lessons are not to teach someone how to beat up the school bully.

Actually, the idea is to avoid a confrontation.

Instead, the skills learned are only to be used when all other attempts to avoid a fight fail.

Those classes also enforced personal discipline and control over the body through muscle movement in the form of kicks and punches.

While I haven’t practiced any of those moves in decades, and as such I would only injure myself, I still use some of these underlying lessons today.

In Boy Scouts, the lessons were more than just how to build a fire, tie knots and pitch a tent.

Within the Boy Scouts we learned about friendship, honesty and teamwork.

All of these lessons can be instrumental as young people move from the educational part of their life into long-term career choices.

That’s not to say that sports, Boy Scouts or martial arts are better than any other activity.

Here in Pearl River County there are many clubs to cater to interests of all kinds.

When considering an activity for a child, or an adult for that matter, start by identifying interests.

Interests vary, but when the activity keeps the participant’s attention, the lesson can last a lifetime.