Scout Law & Oath on ScoutmasterCG Archive

A Scout is Helpful

Wed, 14 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

A Scout cares about other people. He willingly volunteers to help others without expecting payment or reward. A crucial signpost in the road to maturity marks the point when we look beyond ourselves to the interests of others.

Altruism is selfless concern for the welfare of others, action that has no real benefit to us personally.

Philosophers argue over the theoretical questions of true altruism, of what constitutes real selflessness. They measure levels of sacrifice, action and the motivations behind them.

The Pith of Sense and Pride of Worth

Wed, 14 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

In 1785, just a year before his death at age 37, Robert Burns enshrined ’the pith of sense and pride of work’ above wealth or aristocratic birth in his poem A Man’s a Man for all That .

Burns knew the privations of poverty from the earliest age yet became a legendary poet and favorite son of Scotland. He deftly strips away the affectations of rank and declares; “The honest man, though ever so poor, Is king of men for all that.

What Are We Walking On?

Wed, 14 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

It is healthy to test and question even the most elemental forces, ideals and influences in our lives: Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear. -Thomas Jefferson Do you spend a great deal of time questioning gravity?

I suppose when we were little we had to learn about the consequences of gravity – we all fell down a few times when we were learning to walk. We learn about gravity through the process of trial and error. It would seem we only pay real attention to these elemental forces when we put them to work for us, or when we try to defy them. The Scout Oath and Law is much like gravity. It effects everything we do. We aren’t often conscious of its influence because, like gravity, it is such a basic principle we tend not to notice it. The more we examine, the more we test, the more we observe the more we learn about those things we often take for granted.

Language of Scouting

Tue, 13 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t think of myself as particularly a persnickety or doctrinaire so what follows is probably out of character.

I do like to write therefore I strive to observe the rules of grammar and rely greatly on my spell checker. As someone who regularly writes about Scouting I have developed my own rough and ready conventions of usage and capitalization. Now that I have found the Language of Scouting I shall do my best to mend my ways. For example when should the word Scout be capitalized?

Ideas and Ideals

Sat, 19 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Ideals are like stars: you will not succeed in touching them with your hands, but like the seafaring man on the ocean desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them, you reach your destiny. – Carl Schurz My work as a scoutmaster is assisting my scouts in proving the ideas, and thus accepting and understanding the ideals, that form the foundation of scouting.

Ideals imposed on us are not as valuable as those we test and accept independently .

Resolving Scouting Problems

Sat, 19 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I often hear from Scouters and parents who ask me to help them resolve Scouting problems involving a personality conflict, a disappointment, or other difficulty. Here’s a few recent examples – A parent of Scout who was disappointed by the outcome of an election was pretty sure that the election was unfair.

Someone who wanted the Scoutmaster in their troop to hold youth leaders to a higher level of “accountability”. A Scoutmaster who wanted to find a policy that would keep an interfering parent from attending camping trips. Many times these folks are asking me to help them find a policy or rule that supports their position, but that’s putting the cart before the horse.

Goethe and the Scout Law

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832) is an important writer in the German language and Western culture. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, literature, theology, philosophy, and science and continue to be an inspiration. His wide-ranging thinking lends itself well to defining the twelve points of the Scout Law: Trustworthy Trust yourself, then you will know how to live.

Loyal Love can do much, but duty more.

Conduct, Character, and Scouting

Fri, 28 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Remember being young when the ground was constantly shifting under our feet?

Remember wanting to be an adult but not wanting to be like the adults you knew?

Remember how you wanted to change things? What an energizing, exciting, challenging, and sometimes confusing world we lived in! Our growing brains and bodies were in a constant state of change, every day was full of new ideas, new experiences, new people, new challenges. In our search for some stable ground we questioned and challenged authority, changed poses and attitudes. All that uproar came from looking for something and, perhaps, someone we could count on. Our emotions ran faster than our reason. Our conduct was variable, we tried on different personalities and poses searching for ourselves in a vast cultural landscape of choices. We were trying to belong, to win the approval of our peers. We experimented, we tested.

B.P.'s Blog - Scout Shorts

Sun, 23 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters. Here’s a selection from his writings.

A CERTAIN slackness has crept in during the war in some Troops, as regards wearing shorts, which suggests a possible deficiency in the Scout spirit. It would be an interesting study to find out why each boy who is a Scout first joined the Scouts. It would also be equally interesting to ascertain why each ex-Scout left the Scouts. So far as I have gone in such investigation on my own account the conclusion that suggests itself is briefly this: Want of adventure brought the boy in — lack of adventure took him out. By “lack of adventure” I mean too much drill or too much school method and too little scoutcraft, backwoodsmanship and camping, with a consequent absence of the Scout spirit.

More Rules = More Enforcement

Sat, 22 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

From Rules of Thumb , a collection of hitherto unwritten wisdom that keeps the world from crashing to a halt: The more rules you have in the classroom, the more time you’ll spend enforcing them. Cookie Ohlson, teacher, Prospect Park Middle School, Pennsylvania

Scoutmasters, like teachers, can fall into the rule making rut pretty easily.

Rules often evoke their intended targets to seek out and exploit flaws in the rule making rather than modify or control behavior. This response requires the rule maker to, wait for it, make even more rules. At the inevitable tipping point the proliferation of rules require a Scoutmaster or teacher to spend more time policing than pursuing their true mission. Some years ago it was discovered that several Scouts had attended an Order of the Arrow work weekend at our camp without paying the fee for the weekend. This caused predictable righteous outrage and subsequent adoption of rules intended to prevent a recurrence. From that weekend on registered attendees now had to wear a wristband indicating that they had paid their fees. This wristband had to be shown on entering the dining hall inconveniencing several hundred people.

Constructive Scouting Discipline

Wed, 12 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Sitting down, a sigh of relief, a cup of coffee, close your eyes, and think about a nap. What’s that?

Somebody walking through the leaves. You open your eyes just enough to see the senior patrol leader striding purposefully in your direction, he stops a couple of feet away, wondering if you are awake.

After playing possum for a few seconds, you look again. He’s still there. “Hey Mark, what’s up?” you ask. “John and Jim are arguing,” he replies. “Okay, you haven’t been able to sort things out?” “No, they are still pretty angry with each other.” “Has everything calmed down, or do I need to go down there?” “I don’t think so, things have mostly calmed down.

B.P.'s -Blog - Don't

Sun, 19 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters. Here’s a selection from his writings.

I NOTICE whenever we have people rising up to improve our code of Scout Law, etc., they are generally blind to the spirit which underlies it. They think that we have forgotten some of the boyish vices, and they start to set us right by ordering the boys not to do this and not to do that. What happened a few years ago in Ireland? A certain political faction there issued notices everywhere “No boy is to be a Boy Scout.” “Boy Scout? What is that?” at once asked every boy. When he found it was a young backwoodsman with bare legs and a hat and staff, and he was forbidden to be one , Patrols and Troops sprang up like mushrooms! May , 1914.

Social and Emotional Development in Scouting

Sat, 18 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

From an emotion development article at Edutopia: Social and emotional learning can help students successfully resolve conflict, communicate clearly, solve problems, and much more.

Whether it’s in the boardroom or the classroom, individuals need the skills to communicate, work in teams, and let go of the personal and family issues that get in the way of working and learning. Such skills add up to what is known as emotional intelligence, and they are even more important as educators realize that these skills are critical to academic achievement.

Trophic Cascades and the Scout Law

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

One of my favorite writers and noted American naturalist Aldo Leopold is, perhaps, the first to describe what is now known as a “trophic cascade”.

Leopold observed over-grazed mountain slopes and connected this with the extermination of wolves. How trophic cascades work, and how they can be restored is explained in this video about the far-reaching effects of the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone; Scouting provides young people the opportunity to understand how our own lives are woven into the fascinatingly complex web of life. This understanding has its own cascading effect. How we are connected to the web of life informs how we exercise our rights and obligations as citizens, how our actions affect these connections, and our solemn responsibility to act with integrity to protect and preserve our connections to the natural world.

Vespers - Evening Reflections for Scouts

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

“Vesperas” is a Latin word that means “evening” and is a root of the English word “west” where the sun sets.

Gathering for a moment of reflection or a religious service in the evening has a long history in practice and symbolism; The Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday.

Christians of many denominations observe evening vespers services.

Muslims pray five times a day, the forth being the sunset prayer Hindus practice Puja or prayer facing west in the evening. The medicine wheel of the Native Americans recognizes the west as the direction of change and reflection. The evening is often the best time for Scouts to assemble while camping and reflect on that part of the Scout Oath that pledges Duty to God and that part of the Scout Law that encourages us towards reverence.

A Nation of Wimps?

Sat, 23 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I post this because I run into a fair number of Fellow Scouters who rail about the current state of the world. Such nihilists suck all the optimism out of the air and seem to take honest pleasure in their negativity.

Someone recently asked “Are we turning into a nation of wimps? Do boys need to be boys? Is there something parents and schools should be doing differently?” Here’s the exchange that followed - Fellow Scouter – In a nutshell, absolutely! And it’s causing more trouble than ever > imagined by those that implemented the ideas that started it back in the late 60s early 70s (Betty Friedan and crew). Me - In a nutshell – not on your life!

How do YOU Handle Mistakes?

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The way I see it there are two ways to react to the consequences of mistakes we’ve made:

Deny, blame others, cover up, and hope nobody finds out.
Own up and take responsibility for the consequences.

Which is the right way? If you are reading this, there’s a pretty good chance you are a Scout, and I know that you know the right answer. When I first joined my Scout Troop, I was impressed by a Patrol Leader who had a cool, laid-back personality… One campout, though, the older Scouts confronted him about problems his Patrol had caused. He pointed the blame at everyone else, but I knew he was personally responsible for part of the mess. When the Senior Patrol Leader pressed him to take responsibility, he got that much louder trying to prove his own innocence. When I heard him trying to deny responsibility, I lost respect for this Patrol Leader. He acted like everything was cool… But when faced with a problem, he blamed others so he could keep up his ‘cool’ act. When I thought more about this, I realized that I did this quite a bit myself. When I made a mistake, my gut reaction was covering it up as quickly as possible and denying any responsibility. We all do this don’t we?

Scouting's Ulterior Motive

Thu, 03 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Keep before your mind in all your teaching that the whole ulterior motive of this scheme is to form character … Baden-Powell Scouting’s ulterior motive, our goal as Scouters, is forming character. The methods of Scouting , (the patrol system, outdoor adventure, etc.), are the tools of character development. We track this development using reflection, counselling, mentoring and coaching. If our work is invested in developing an individual’s mental and moral qualities what milestones indicate we’ve succeeded? What direction do we want to see this formation take? The Scout oath and law define the ideal character we aim to develop; the ability to resolve conflicts, solve problems, empathize with others, persevere through difficulties, control impulses, communicate clearly, make thoughtful decisions, and work cooperatively with others. As we observe our Scouts we are looking for these indicators of character development: A sense of curiosity – the drive to collect information and expand knowledge.

A Scout is Loyal - Scoutmaster Minute

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

In the early years of our national history President John Adams signed a set of laws were enacted to prevent people from writing or speaking against the government.

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison thought the laws were unconstitutional as they restricted free speech. In the end they won the argument. Were Jefferson and Madison disloyal? It would appear so because they disagreed with the laws and the President. But they held that loyalty to the principles in the Constitution were more important. The commodity of loyalty must be invested wisely and never blindly. When the demands of loyalty require a compromise of principle principle should win.

A Scout is Trustworthy - Scoutmaster Minute

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A Scout tells the truth. He is honest, and he keeps his promises.

People can depend on him.

Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882), A stable life hinges on unconditional trust in many things. As minor as a bus schedule or as significant as the daily path of the sun we trust the predictability of things and events. A trustworthy person, though dependable, is not merely predictable. We trust people who have consistent, ethical judgment, who’s actions spring from intellectual integrity.

What is Scout Spirit?

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A reader asks: I would like to get your thoughts on how you evaluate Scout Spirit. Is it standard practice for a scoutmaster to ask a scout to write out what the scout’s interpretation of Scout Spirit is? Each rank in Scouting requires that a scout “Demonstrate scout spirit by living the Scout Oath (Promise) and Scout Law in your everyday life.”

Evaluating this is usually the simplest part of a Scoutmaster’s conference (that’s where I usually check the requirement). I’ve never felt that this takes extensive examination.

Heart of the Scout Law

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The heart of the Scout Law is Helpful, Friendly, Courteous and Kind. All the points of the Law are equally important and vitally important to Scouting.

These four points, however, define the basics of how we interact with each other in the Scout Troop.

Scouts who live by these four points of the Law will find their time in Scouting to be enjoyable and will avoid many troubles in life after Scouting. A couple of times a year I sit down with the Troop during a regular Scout meeting, at a campfire or in a Scoutmaster minute and we talk about the Heart of the Scout Law.

Promises to Keep

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The 11th edition of he Scout Handbook begins with these promises: Scouting promises you the great outdoors. As a scout you can learn how to camp and hike without a trace and how to take care of the land. You’ll study wildlife up close and learn about nature all around you.

There are plenty of skills for you to master and you can teach others what you have learned.

Everyone helping everyone else – that’s Scouting too.

A Scout is Brave - Scoutmaster Minute