If you\u2019re a regular reader, you already know about the tyrants and tin gods, renegades and recalcitrants, bullies and belligerents, dictators, martinets, and \u201cworld\u2019s oldest Patrol Leaders\u201d masquerading as Scoutmasters. Thank goodness that, for every one of them, there are a thousand or more dedicated Scouting leaders who get it right!<\/p>\n
But how did this happen? How did we get so far away from True North? Aside from warped mentalities seeking out this position in order to foment their brand of meanness, is there some sort of cultural error or acquiescence that has abetted this? I think there may be. Read on\u2026<\/p>\n
A hundred years ago, while Baden-Powell was formulating how the Boy Scout movement would be structured and organized, and what nomenclature would be used, one of the decisions he needed to make was this: What designation do we use in referring to the adult volunteer who guides and mentors the boys and young men in the troop? Since he considered \u201cScouting for Boys\u201d largely a system of education, it was a natural and small step for him to borrow from the educational system used in Britain at the time. This would aid in understanding the role of that (male, at the time) adult volunteer. So, to parallel the role of the male teacher, who was commonly referred to as Schoolmaster, the very natural choice was Scoutmaster. Its meaning in the time and country of origin was straightforward: \u201cScoutmaster\u201d = \u201cTeacher of Scouts.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Boy Scout movement crossed the pond to America, some things remained intact; others changed, including the Scout Oath and Law. But the term, Scoutmaster, remained, even though, in America, there was no educational equivalent: Teachers in America were and still are called teachers; not schoolmasters.<\/p>\n
The decision to use \u201cScoutmaster\u201d instead of a designation appropriate to American culture proved unfortunate because \u201cScoutmaster\u201d was not instantly translated into \u201cTeacher of Scouts.\u201d Instead, it was translated as \u201cMASTER of Scouts,\u201d and, to Americans, \u201cMaster\u201d meant and still means \u201cThe One In Charge,\u201d \u201cThe Boss,\u201d and so on. The true meaning became lost in both translation and time.<\/p>\n
Even Webster\u2019s gets it not quite right: \u201cScoutmaster n.<\/em> The adult leader in charge of a troop of Boy Scouts.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, the United States is the only English-speaking country in which the now-anachronistic \u201cScoutmaster\u201d remains. The Scout Association in the United Kingdom, and Scouts Australia, both have for many years referred to the position as \u201cScout Leader.\u201d In Canada, it\u2019s \u201cScouter\u201d or \u201cTroop Scouter.\u201d<\/p>\n On top of this, two movies very popular in their times reinforced the notion that the adult is \u201cin charge\u201d of the troop and direct leader of the boys in it (in effect, an \u201cadult patrol leader\u201d). The first, in 1953, was \u201cMister Scoutmaster,\u201d starring Clifton Webb as a \u201cMr. Belvedere\u201d fussbudget personality type. The second, produced in 1966 and currently enjoying a resurgence, at least among Scouters today, is \u201cFollow Me, Boys!\u201d starring Fred MacMurray, of the later \u201cMy Three Sons\u201d TV show fame. In this latter film, somebody did pay attention to accuracy, but the non-initiated will still come away with the impression that the Scoutmaster is the day-to-day leader of a troop of Boy Scouts.<\/p>\n On top of these, we had the popular one-panel comic, \u201cThe Little Scouts,\u201d by cartoonist Roland Coe, featuring a rotund (and clueless) \u201cScoutmaster\u201d and his bunch of \u201cLittle Scouts.\u201d This comic thrived in the 1930s and though most of the \u201840s, and although it did much to popularize Boy Scouting, it did little to dissuade folks from the notion that Boy Scouts are led by adults. Speaking of comics, we can\u2019t overlook Charles M. Schulz\u2019s Snoopy, of \u201cPeanuts\u201d fame, who became the \u201cBeagle Scout\u201d leader of Woodstock and his little friends way back in 1974! Again, a depiction of one \u201clarge\u201d leader and a bunch of little followers.<\/p>\n Bottom line: Just about everything in American culture that\u2019s referenced Scouting has done son by depicting the Scoutmaster as master of the Scouts. Is it any wonder, then, that we perpetuate this fiction in troop upon troop around the country.<\/p>\n So, what to do\u2026<\/p>\n Let\u2019s begin, first of all, by throwing the rascals out. That\u2019s right: dump \u2018em. Got a Scoutmaster that just doesn\u2019t get it? Get rid of him. Oh, you\u2019re worried about hurting his feelings? Just stop and consider how he\u2019s hurting the lives of boys and young men\u2014sometimes permanently. If that doesn\u2019t tell you what needs to be done, no words of mine are likely to help you grow a spine and do what\u2019s right. Worried about who will take his place? Maybe, by your taking action, another parent will realize somebody has a spine, and, on this basis, step up to be counted, too.<\/p>\n Second, let\u2019s from now on put foremost in our minds that \u201cScoutmaster\u201d doesn\u2019t mean \u201cmaster\u201d of anything. In fact, if we substitute \u201cservant\u201d for \u201cmaster\u201d we\u2019ll be a lot closer to the truth of the matter. Even better, let\u2019s substitute \u201cteacher\u201d or \u201cmentor\u201d or \u201cguide\u201d\u2014This is what Scoutmastering is all about. As B-P himself put it, \u201cIt\u2019s being an older brother to the boy\u2026find the best in the boy and bring it out.\u201d<\/p>\n Happy Scouting!!<\/p>\n Andy<\/p>\n Have a question? Idea? Suggestion? Thought? Something that works? Just write to me at<\/p>\n