I have been involved in Scouting for over two decades: first, as a youth, then as an adult. What is Scouting’s enduring attraction? What led me to the BSA as a child initially, and then again as an adult?
My Youth Involvement
As a kid, I joined Cub Scouts because a bunch of friends did, or because my parents recommended I do: at least, that’s my guess. Certainly, as an eight year old boy growing up in the central part of New York state, I never had any clear idea of Scouting purposes, goals, mission—nor, then, of its values. Scouts was something fun to do with friends, and that, really, was all there was to it. Sure, there was lots of fun, especially the Space Derby and the Pinewood Derby, along with skills I’m sure I acquired but cannot enumerate (such as safely handling a pocket knife), but it was mostly something that seemed fun and that some of my friends were doing. (Why were they doing it? Undoubtedly, the same reason I was: their friends were in Cub Scouts, and their parents said they should be in Cub Scouts.)
But, what motivated me to continue on to Boy Scouts? Probably, because I had fun in Cub Scouts. And, that’s important to remember, if you’re a Cub Scout leader (or parent) and believe that Scouting is a good program: the real goal of Cub Scouts is to entice ten year old boys to want to join Boy Scouts.
After Cubs (were we Den 6? I rather think so, though I don’t recall our pack number), our Den had the opportunity to join, en masse and intact, the troop based at Temple Adath. At least many, probably most, of us declined, choosing Troop 21 instead, even though—or perhaps because—21 said we could not stay together. I don’t know if 21 was more attractive, or if we somehow understood that splitting us up would be more beneficial; regardless, most of us joined Troop 21, at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, even though most of us were Jewish.
It’s a little hard to say exactly what I learned in Boy Scouts. Certainly, I learned camping skills that I have enjoyed using ever since: skills ranging from selecting a good campsite to making a fire, from tying knots and throwing lashings to basic first aid, from using a map and compass to finding north with just what nature provides in the moss, the stars, and the sun. I know I improved my skills as at reading aloud to a group, and in public speaking. And, though I was far less aware of it when I was a teen, I learned the rudiments of how to lead: I realize that now, with the additional perspective of a few decades.
My Adult Involvement
I was initially drawn back into Scouts, as an adult, through my son, as many parents in this country are. He was interested in joining Cub Scouts while in elementary school, and I encouraged this. My wife even helped as his Den Leader for a few years. During his last year in Cub Scouts, no adult volunteered to serve as Cubmaster. For a couple of months, some of the adults rotated as Cubmaster; this arrangement did not work, as it led to a program with no continuity and no real direction. I was reluctant to volunteer. For some reason I still don’t understand, I wanted someone, especially my son, to ask me, specifically, to serve. When my son did ask me, I readily agreed, and Pack 6 had a Cubmaster for the rest of the year.
We—truly, my son—ended up in Troop 14 because my son chose that troop. He visited a few troops in the neighborhood, liked the feel of and the boys in 14, and there he went. My philosophy, in line with that of Scouting, was that he should choose his troop, not my wife or I, as long as I (and she, but I was taking the lead) felt it was a reasonably-run unit. It was a great choice for him and, as it turned out, for me, too.
I stayed uninvolved in the Troop for about my son’s first year in Boy Scouts, wanting to allow him to find his own way and establish himself without any parental “interference.” Only after a year or so did I volunteer to accompany the Troop on a backpacking trip, and to volunteer as an Assistant Scoutmaster, later to serve as Scoutmaster. After a couple of year as Scoutmaster, building a program that increased the leadership involvement of the boys and helping push the older Scouts into more adventurous backpacking experiences, I stepped down as Scoutmaster and focused mostly on the older Scouts, those from 13 or 14 to 18. While Scoutmaster, my emphasis was less on advancement in rank, though I certainly encouraged and facilitated Scouts’ work toward and on Eagle, than on encouraging participation in and providing opportunities for more interesting outdoors activities, including more interesting backpacking trips, scuba diving, and international experiences. I strongly encouraging our older Scouts to attend the World Scout Jamboree in 2007, which marked World Scouting’s centenary; five of the roughly 20 Scouts who were eligible did attend that year. I know that at least most of them attended because of my encouragement.
Scouting’s Attraction, Scouting’s Value
With that as an historical perspective, I return to the question, “What is Scouting’s enduring attraction?”
For me, Scouting is an unusual program for teenaged boys. Scouting, among all it teaches, all it provides, all it entices, provides structured, guided opportunities for nascent young men to learn to lead, by leading their peers.
As I talk with parents of Cub Scouts who are considering Troop 14, and moving into Boy Scouts in general, I talk about the principle difference between Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, between Boy Scouts and most other youth activities—not just those for elementary school children, but for pre-teens and teens as well. Most other youth programs are for our youth, run by adults. Boy Scouts, though, is for our youth, run by the youth themselves. Because Boy Scouts, whether in the US or elsewhere, is run by youth, it provides opportunities for those young people truly to lead: to be responsible for outcomes, to convince others of what they think is an important position, to make decisions, to organize a group and to delegate, to teach and to mentor, to work with adults rather than for adults—indeed, within reason even to tell the adults what the group should do.
What, then, is the adults’ role, especially the Scoutmaster’s role? I see it as three things: to oversee safety, to help set the strategic direction of the troop, and to serve as a mentor to and role model for the youth leaders, especially the Senior Patrol Leader (the Scout who, in fact, is in charge of running the troop). I’ll address these in order.
Oversee Safety
Face it: teenaged boys are, typically and beyond, usually not very aware of safety. An important role of the adults in the troop, led by the Scoutmaster, is to manage risk, in order to arrive at the right balance between safety and excitement, between safety and opportunity, between safety and adventure. A good Scoutmaster takes the charge very seriously, and works hard to ensure, for one, that over-protective parents are kept at bay. The goal is to manage risk, not to minimize it.
Strategic Direction
It is a rare teenager who can see beyond the immediate needs. One of the important roles of the Scoutmaster is to look at the long-term direction and needs of the troop and its Scouts. Are basic Scoutcraft skills weak or strong? Is there an adequate pipeline of youth leaders? Are the recruiting efforts bearing fruit, and are they adequate to meet the future needs of the troop? Is the troop retaining its older Scouts, by providing them activities and opportunities that promote their growth and continue to entice them to stay involved, in order both to continue to enrich their lives and to provide training and leadership for the younger Scouts in the troop?
Are the youth leaders leading?
Based on these observations, the Scoutmaster talks with the Senior Patrol Leader and discusses the troop’s direction and strategic initiatives. Working together, they’ll determine those, and the Senior Patrol Leader will develop a plan for programs to realize those initiatives and that direction.
Mentoring
It is not the adults’ role to lead the troop. It is not the Scoutmaster’s job to run the troop. It is the Senior Patrol Leader’s job to run the troop, and the youth leaders’ job to lead the troop. But, few teenagers understand much of anything about leadership, delegation, building others: they must be taught that, shown that, mostly through example. The best example is the way the Scoutmaster works with his or her Senior Patrol Leader. Does the Scoutmaster tell or does he (or she) teach? Does the Scoutmaster decide, or does he coach? Does the Scoutmaster run the meetings, or does the Senior Patrol Leader?
Scouting’s Attraction, Scouting’s Value
Scouting, to reiterate, provides structured, guided opportunities for nascent young men to learn to lead, by leading their peers. I think this is valuable; I think, by being involved in Scouting, that I can enrich the lives of some of our youth. So far, based on what a number of those young people (and, now, formerly young people) have told me, the results are gratifying indeed.