{"id":830,"date":"2010-05-20T12:41:25","date_gmt":"2010-05-20T16:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=830"},"modified":"2011-11-13T12:42:54","modified_gmt":"2011-11-13T17:42:54","slug":"issue-215-sharing-citizen-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2010\/05\/issue-215-sharing-citizen-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 215 – Sharing Citizen-Building"},"content":{"rendered":"

1914 marked the year the Boy Scouts of America first published its own version of the <\/span>HANDBOOK FOR SCOUT MASTERS<\/span><\/em>. While certainly a \u201chow-to\u201d guide for hands-on Scoutmastership, much as today\u2019s editions, this book, uniquely, discusses at length the fundamental philosophy underpinning the Scouting movement. Importantly, this philosophy has changed little in the past 96 years. For example, it was stated in 1914 that \u201cThe primary object of the Boy Scouts of America is\u2026educational character-building for good citizenship,\u201d and this objective remains virtually intact today. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then, in a chapter specifically titled, \u201cPrinciples and Methods,\u201d this handbook makes this statement: \u201cThe Scout Master must keep in mind that it is his business to work in cooperation with all of the forces that are trying to help the boy to live rightly in his community.\u201d It also makes this statement: \u201cThe Scout Master will be doing his best work when he so plans his Scouting that it will fit into the school or employed life of the boy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Stop for a moment. Go back and read those two statements again, and ask yourself: What are they saying to us, as Scouting volunteers?<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s turn to the young men who have recently received the 2009 National Eagle Scout Association scholarships. A scholarship recipient in the BSA\u2019s Northeast Region is, of course, an Eagle Scout, but his life beyond Scouting includes stage manager for over 40 school dramas, plus a part-time job. In the Central Region, this young man, in addition to Scouting, he\u2019s a National Honor Society tutor and an altar and funeral server at his church. In the Southern region, the Eagle Scout-recipient also was on his school\u2019s Varsity football and wrestling teams, was a National Honor Society member, <\/span>and a member of the National Beta Club. <\/span>I<\/span>n the Western Region, this Eagle Scout<\/span>volunteered six hours every week at a free medical clinic\u2014<\/span>not<\/span><\/em> for \u201cservice hours\u201d but because he want<\/span>s<\/span> to be a surgeon\u2014is a concert violinist, Karate Black Belt, sailor and equestrian<\/span>. Finally, the top nation<\/span>al scholarship recipient is an Eagle Scout who is a multiple-subject GATE-AP student, school academic team captain and two-time MVP, four-year soccer team player, and president of his school\u2019s student government. Together, these five Scouts received nearly $150 thousand, and deservedly so.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do these two aspects\u2014the cooperation of Scouting with \u201cother forces\u201d and multi-faceted Eagle Scouts\u2014fit together? This way:<\/span> These young men\u2019s Scoutmasters understood 96 year-old precepts and made certain that Scouting remained flexible to accommodate their busy, active, involved, and broad-based lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Far too often, I receive letters from Scouts and <\/span>their <\/span> parents at odds with a Scoutmaster who, instead of cooperating with other factors in a boy\u2019s natural life, establishes an either-or rule: \u201cIt\u2019s either Scouts or other stuff, and you\u2019d better pick, because I\u2019m go<\/span>ing to<\/span>\u2018flunk\u2019 you on \u2018active\u2019 and \u2018Scout spirit\u2019 unless you show up for XX% of all troop meetings and campouts.\u201d Far too often, I hear from a Scoutmaster irate that any Scout in \u201chis\u201d troop would deign to go out for a team sport and have to show up for practice and games, <\/span>or <\/span> participate in debate after school, <\/span>or <\/span> go to band camp instead of Scout camp, <\/span>or <\/span> ditch a meeting because he\u2019s an actor or tech in a school play, and on and on. <\/span>The pity is these people just don\u2019t get it\u2026 <\/span>They don\u2019t get that the true \u201cvolunteers\u201d in Scout aren\u2019t the adults; they\u2019re the boys and young men who are getting something out of the Scouting program that, if managed right, can last a lifetime. Remember, there\u2019s<\/span> nothing \u201ccompulsory\u201d about Scouts: If a youth is harassed, threatened, brow-beaten, or just plain bored with an unimaginative program, he\u2019s gone. Likely forever.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe we need something like a \u201cHippocratic Oath for Scoutmasters<\/span>\u201d\u2014I will keep the youth in my care <\/span>from injustice<\/span>, and never do them harm. How? Simple: We just need to make room in our thinking for the whole variety of forces invested in bringing up our country\u2019s next generation to be happy, productive, responsible citizens.<\/span>So, back to \u201csquare one\u201d\u2014Let\u2019s all work in cooperation with <\/span>all<\/span><\/em> of the forces that are trying to help the boy to live rightly in his community\u2026and the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Happy Scouting!<\/p>\n

\n

Andy<\/h3>\n<\/form>\n

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Got a question? Have an idea? Send it to AskAndyBSA@yahoo.com<\/a>. (Please include your POSITION and COUNCIL NAME or TOWN & STATE)<\/p>\n

(May 20, 2010 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2010)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Letters to AskAndy may be published at the discretion of the columnist and the editor. If you prefer to have your name or affiliation withheld from publication, please advise in your letter..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1914 marked the year the Boy Scouts of America first published its own version of the HANDBOOK FOR SCOUT MASTERS. While certainly a \u201chow-to\u201d guide for hands-on Scoutmastership, much as today\u2019s editions, this book, uniquely, discusses at length the fundamental philosophy underpinning the Scouting movement. Importantly, this philosophy has changed little in the past 96 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-6"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":831,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830\/revisions\/831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}