The Boy Scouts
A century of honor, duty and service
by Elizabeth Johnson
As an American flag waves high in the morning sky at the Meridian Historical Village in Okemos, Mich. (pop. 22,805), more than 80 khaki-uniformed Boy Scouts raise their right hands in a three-fingered salute.
“On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight,” the Scouts recite in unison.
The recitation of the Boy Scout Oath marks the beginning of a weekend of camping and outdoor activities for the youngsters, who will delight in skipping stones, throwing tomahawks, building campfires and following map directions with a compass—just as Scouts have done for 100 years.
To fulfill their promise to “help other people,” the boys and their adult leaders take a break from the fun to trim trees and bushes, and spread 35 yards of mulch along the walking trails of the town’s Central Park.
As evening falls, the boys share a meal cooked over a campfire, then gather by Lake Catherine for a visit by a re-enactor portraying Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts.
Birth of the Boy Scouts
Baden-Powell, a 19th-century British military intelligence officer, penned an 1899 manual on wilderness survival and stalking game for British soldiers that became a hit with English boys. After learning of the book’s popularity with youth, he set out to write a new edition that focused on nonmilitary nature skills.
To research the ideas he wanted to include in Scouting for Boys, Baden-Powell took 22 boys of mixed social backgrounds on a camping trip to Brownsea Island, off the English coast. During that August 1907 campout, Boy Scouting was born, and the new organization caught on quickly with British boys.
Two years later, American newspaper publisher William D. Boyce became lost in one of London’s notorious fogs. A boy helped him find his way, but refused a tip for his service. When he explained that, as a Scout, he couldn’t take money for doing a “good turn”—one of Baden-Powell’s Scouting fundamentals—Boyce was intrigued. Boyce later met with Baden-Powell, and decided to bring Scouting to the United States. On Feb. 8, 1910, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was incorporated.
Do a good turn daily
Scouts have taken the “good turn” slogan and turned it into a tradition of community service. Throughout the nation, more than 2.9 million Scouts provide loyal, friendly service in hundreds of ways. BSA’s “Good Turn for America” program, begun in February 2004, has recorded 4.5 million service hours by Scouts working on their own and with other national organizations such as America’s Second Harvest and the Salvation Army.
In Fox Island, Wash. (pop. 2,803), Boy Scouts helped the Fox Island Community and Recreation Association (FICRA) transform a five-acre wetland purchased in 2004 into a community park and nature center. About 75 percent of the park’s features—including cedar picnic tables, wooden footbridges and boardwalks, park benches and a native species garden—were designed and built by local Boy Scouts as service projects, part of the requirements to attain Scouting’s highest rank of Eagle Scout.
“They made the park into what it is today,” says John Ohlson, 50, FICRA president and a leader of Cub Scout Pack 202, which serves boys in first through fifth grades. His son Alex is a Cub Scout whose pack worked on the nature center as well.
“We built birdhouses and we even got to climb ladders and hang them in the trees,” says Alex, 9, who’s been a Scout for four years. “It was fun cutting the wood with a saw and then hammering the pieces together into a birdhouse. I’m not sure if a bird is living in mine yet, though.”
In Illinois, Scouts spent a year collecting more than 3.5 million aluminum beverage cans worth more than $50,000 to sponsor a Habitat for Humanity house in Peoria.
“I asked everyone I knew for their cans, even local businesses,” says Alex Hoadley, 11, who belongs to Cub Scout Pack 85 in Morton, Ill. (pop. 15,198). He collected 14,000 cans in his family’s garage, then periodically sold them to a recycling center.
“I felt really good when I turned them in, because I knew that I was helping to build a house for someone who needed it,” he adds.
In Delta Township, Mich. (pop. 30,904), members of Troop 111 place American flags on the graves of veterans buried at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Lansing, Mich., prior to Memorial Day each year.
“It was kind of solemn and patriotic,” says Paul Milligan, 12, who worked with 10 other Scouts and their parents to mark nearly 1,000 graves last year. “I hadn’t realized how many people in the cemetery had served in wars. It gave me a good feeling inside to honor them. I have a lot of respect for veterans.”
Maintaining the tradition
Jan Medlam, an electronics/avionics technician and an Eagle Scout who has been active in the Boy Scouts for 40 years, believes the elements that made Scouting popular—outdoor activities, challenging yourself, achieving goals and becoming a leader—will help the tradition thrive for the next 100 years.
“I enjoy the positive attitudes, the environment, the goals of Scouting,” says Medlam, now a leader of Boy Scout Troop 497 in Andale, Kan. (pop. 766). “When I was a Scout, there were a couple of adults I looked up to; I want to be that kind of adult for today’s boys.”
Bradley Shuck, 18, of Williamston, Mich. (pop. 3,784), became an Eagle Scout last December. Only about 5 percent of all Scouts attain the rank, which requires serving as a troop leader for six months, earning at least 21 merit badges and completing a community service project.
As the sixth member of his family to become an Eagle Scout, earning the title was “like getting into the family—it’s a family tradition.
“A lot of people think that Boy Scouts is about helping little old ladies across the street,” says Shuck, a recent graduate of Williamston High School. “But I’ve been camping, canoeing in the boundary waters of Minnesota, stayed overnight on the USS Silversides submarine, supervised 25 people on a building project, and learned CPR and first aid.”
He adds: “I’ve learned so much and had lots of fun. When I get married and have kids some day, I want them to be involved in Scouting, too.”
Scouting Principles
Scout Law: A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
Scout Motto:
Be prepared.
Scout Slogan:
Do a good turn daily.
Famous Eagle Scouts
Neil Armstrong, astronaut
Bill Bradley, professional basketball star and U.S. senator
Gerald R. Ford,
president of the United States
Robert Gates,
U.S. secretary of defense
J.W. Marriott Jr.,
president of Marriott
Corporation
Michael Moore, filmmaker
William Sessions, former FBI director
Steven Spielberg, movie director
Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart
Elizabeth Johnson is a writer in Lansing, Mich.
first appeared: 6/17/2007
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6/19/07 1:09 PM
Enjoyed the article about Bou Scouting. With all the grief they endure from the ACLU, such positive articles are great. My father and my husband were Boy Scout leaders. Pur oldest son was a Cub Scout, moved up to Boy Scouts, achieving Order of the Arrow and Eagle Scout. While working for Eagle, he broke his Troop record for badges, with 51. He put off his Eagle Scout until almost 18 years in order to accomplish this. He now in the military and has held scouting postions at every assignment. his oldest son recieved Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts, Order of the Arrow and Eagle Scout, he has also recieved the Vigile honor. In July he will be going to England for the World Jamboree of Boy Scouting. His younger brother has just made Arrow of Light and will move up to Boy Scouts in the Fall. I have another son who made it up to Life Scout but his troop leadership changed and he lost interest and did not finish getting an Eagle. He has a 9 year old in Cub Scouting and is aiming for Arrow of Light. So you can see we have strong feelings about Scouting and the positive effectives it has on our young men and boys. I was sorry that you had to include Michael Moore's name to the list, since he stands for everything scouting is not.
6/20/07 12:34 PM
Being a long time Scout/scouter-since 1947- I think I know the organization rather well having been "thru the chairs". There is a dark side in that the BSA openly and notoriously rejects gay young people and potential leaders
systematically. A very large, powerful "religion" contributes financially significantly to the BSA to the point of control of BSA policy. See [url]Scouting for All.org. That being said BSA provides the standard for youth development
programs-it just does not practice what it preaches.
6/20/07 1:38 PM
The url for Scouting for All is[url] scoutingforall.org
6/21/07 4:11 PM
The post by "musician" notes he has been through the chairs and "knows" the dark side? Only large organizations, such as the one (or ones) he is referring to use that term. Leaders are never meant to start at one point and end at the other. I have been involved as a leader for 17 years and have never seen such use of "the chairs." As for his obvious spin on the story, the ACLU appears to be losing ground on that battle. Congress and the God fearing public are supporting the Scouting movement and it's wholesome approach to teaching leadership and diversity, and to accept and defend what every faith believes, and what every perosn has a right to believe. You may choose to accpet this or join some other organization, you are free to do that. Seems like the Boy Scouts exemplify what this great nation was founded on. The url "musician" notes is based on hatred and a very one-sided opinion with a refusal to allow the Scouting Organization to represent itslef. Sounds like the type of society we have fought to keep free from.
6/21/07 7:43 PM
I am an Arrowman since 1969, and an Eagle Scout since 1971. After a long hiatus, I returned to the uniform three years ago, and now serve as a local Scout Commissioner. In this forum, I speak strictly for myself, unless indicated otherwise.
The BSA's alleged position regarding gays is that "homosexual conduct is not compatible with the aims and purposes of Scouting and that a known or avowed homosexual does not present a desirable role model for the youth in the Scouting program." (from the website BSALegal.org) Those who choose to make a public issue of their sexuality among youth, in a manner pre-determined to be a liability, only bring disqualification upon themselves. The indulgence of a few would decimate the ranks, the majority of whom are within their rights to take exception.
Another misunderstood policy is the one concerning belief in God. The ranks of the BSA have included those of many faiths, including Buddhists (who do not believe in a personal God per se), the Latter-Day Saints (whose concept of God diverges markedly from mainstream Christianity), even followers of a spiritual leader named Meher Baba (who claimed during his lifetime to be an incarnation of God). Clearly, the BSA makes no attempt to define the notion of a Higher Power for any of its members, only the requirement to acknowledge that there is one, as understood within the realm of one's own conscience.
6/22/07 10:19 AM
I agree that anyone who takes any sort of antagonistic attitude when talking about their own beliefs or sexual orientation is doing a disservice to their scouts. Having said, that I don't think that the Boy Scouts should discriminate against atheists or homosexuals. Of course, they have a right to do that as a private institution, but I don't think that discrimination is the right thing to do.
Specifically, I know of a case of a professional working in a High Adventure program who was fired when it was discovered that he was a homosexual. More than one scout or leader was asked to leave for being an atheist. I just don't feel that that is consistent with overall excellent record the Boy Scouts has with diversity in other areas, such as race, ethnicity, national origin, socio-economic status, or religion in general. I think it would be great if atheists and homosexuals were included in scouting. It sends the right message to the boys about the acceptance of diversity, even when there are people who don't accept certain differences.
I live in Massachusetts where same sex marriages are legal, and are likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future. Many people hate that, but I don't. Why can't the Boy Scouts be on the inclusive side on this issue?
Bill
6/22/07 10:46 AM
Bill:
We're dealing with beliefs in this matter, with closely held convictions, not with what we "feel." As such, they are difficult to dismiss in the name of placating those who do not hold those beliefs. They are spelled out in the Scout Oath and Law, and further defined by those responsible for its care. They are, quite simply, what it is to be a Scout.
The question, then, is not why can't the Boy Scouts cannot include atheists, but why an atheist would want to be a Boy Scout.
The BSALegal.org website (which I would urge you to review) details its policy concerning homosexuals, in particular those whose behavior is "known" or "avowed." "'Known' is what is known about you. 'Avowed' is what you say about yourself. 'Known' focuses on cases where someone has engaged in conduct in the community which makes it clear that he or she engages in homosexual conduct. The major cases, however, have been those in which open or 'avowed' homosexuals have come forward to test the policy."
The question here, then, is not why an openly homosexual person cannot be in Scouting, but why they would want to belong to an organization, which states from the offset that their public conduct is immoral.
One would also have to question the motives of anyone who would use children as the backdrop for an ideological battle. Why can't they prove their point somewhere else?
6/22/07 11:08 AM
If you think the Boy Scouts are wrong in not allowing homosexuals to join
then you should start a group of campers for homosexuals so they can do what the scouts do.
They are correct in not letting them in as they work with young boys and this is not a role model for youth.
KayTheGirl
6/22/07 11:42 AM
“I live in Massachusetts where same sex marriages are legal, and are likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future. Many people hate that, but I don't. Why can't the Boy Scouts be on the inclusive side on this issue?”
The first question I would ask is, “Are there limits, then, to inclusivity?” If not, then we have replaced all other virtues with the single virtue, “tolerance.” Then we need not, by the Scout Law, be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly…”; we need only be tolerant, because all behavior, virtuous or not, is equivalent.
I certainly do not believe that, and I am certainly not in favor of that approach. We may differ, of course, on the relative importance of the many and varied virtues, but I think we all need to come to an understanding that tolerance is only one of the many virtues, and that the other virtues are indeed often in conflict with tolerance. I think to brand someone who has heart-felt questions and reservations about tolerance of deviant behaviors, including sexual behaviors, as a “bigot,” or as “practicing discrimination” is counter-productive and unreasonable. Moreover, I feel it is likewise unreasonable and unfair to exert legal pressure upon individuals or groups to compel them to conform their moral viewpoints to the popular cultural shift or movement of the current day and age, simply on the basis of political correctness or doing the alleged “right thing” or “coming into the 21st century.” All have a right to hold their own moral viewpoints.
As we have seen since the Dale decision in 2000, there are homosexuals who publicly identify themselves with their sexual behavior and seek government protection and explicit inclusion based on their sexual behavior. Do we want Boy Scouts or Scout Leaders who publicly identify themselves by their sexual behavior? Is this the kind of discussion we want taking place within the scouting program? My view is that Boy Scouts should be a haven for boys removed from the sexualization of our culture, given that this sexualization is morally questionable, largely destructive and an inappropriate concern for our youth; discussion of matters of sexuality should be left to parents and families. It seems to me that the explicit inclusion of a group publicly promoting its sexual rights is the antithesis of this aim.
My view is that the Boy Scouts has a long tradition of upholding the family and the development of boys in traditional masculine leadership. The basic objectives of the Boy Scouts are character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness. In my view sexuality has never been part of the scouting mission; indeed, much of the objective in the creation of the Boy Scouts in the first place was to provide wholesome outdoor activities that might help divert boys’ attention from sexuality until they are older and seeking marriage. Yet I feel that inclusion of homosexuals would almost invariably necessitate inclusion of sexuality in the scouting program. For instance, the Scouting for All website promotes a “rainbow merit badge” for Webelos Scouts (4th and 5th graders), the requirements for which involve answering 43 questions about homosexuality and atheism. If such is already promoted by Scouting for All, would this not be the very kind of program that would be urged upon the Boy Scouts should its membership policies change?
In my view this would be an unwelcome and unhealthy change for our boys, a change that would make the Boy Scouts something other than scouting as I understand it. I could not be a part of such an organization, nor would I want that for my children or the children of my community.
6/22/07 11:52 AM
We will not see in our lifetime any resolutions proposed by the anti-scouting web page "Scouting For All." Alternative lifestyles are not what we call "morally straight" and even though those folks are completely within their rights to practice whatever makes them feel good, The Boy Scouts has just as much right to exclude them.
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