How Scouting Came to America

-excerpt from US Scouting Service Project (online)

The Story of a Good Turn, Boy Scout Handbook, Tenth Edition, Chapter 26, Boy Scouts of America

How good must a Good Turn be to be good? The answer is best given by telling you the story of how Scouting came to America. It shows that it isn't the size of a Good Turn that counts. What is important is the spirit with which a Scout does a Good Turn.

"Do a Good Turn Daily" is the Scout Slogan.

One Day in 1909 in London, England, an American visitor, William D. Boyce, lost his way in a dense fog. He Stopped under a street lamp and tried to figure out where he was. A boy approached him and asked if he could be of help.

"You certainly can," said Boyce. He told the boy that he wanted to find a certain business office in the center of the city.

"I'll take you there," said the boy.

When they got to the destination, Mr. Boyce reached into his pocket for a tip. But the boy stopped him.

"No thank you, sir. I am a Scout. I won't take anything for helping."

"A Scout? And what might that be?" asked Boyce.

The boy told the American about himself and his brother Scouts. Boyce became very interested. After finishing his errand, he had the boy take him to the British Scouting office.

At the office, Boyce met Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the famous British general who had founded the Scouting movement in Great Britain. Boyce was so impressed with what he learned that he decided to bring Scouting home with him.

Excerpt from Infed online

Famous for his contribution to the development of Scouting, Baden-Powell was also able to make a number of educational innovations. His interest in adventure, association and leadership still repay attention today.

 

Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857 - 1941) was an accomplished soldier who first came to wide public notice as the ‘hero of the Siege of Mafeking’(1899 - 1900) during the Boer War. He is better known as the founder of the Boy Scout movement. This achievement and his concern with 'old values' has sometimes obscured the innovational nature of his educational thinking. What is overlooked is his concern with the social lives and imagination of young people, and how he was able to build on this to develop an associational educational form. Robert Baden-Powell placed a special value on adventure; on children and young people working together - and taking responsibility (his 'patrol' building on the idea of 'natural' friendship groups and 'gangs'); on developing self-sufficiency; and on 'learning through doing' (he was deeply suspicious of curriculum forms). In this article we examine some of the key aspects of his approach.

One of the fascinating aspects of Robert Baden-Powell's scheme was his emphasis upon the group and of the young leader. In his reflections on the experimental camp at Brownsea Island he comments:

The troop of boys was divided up into 'Patrols' of five, the senior boy in each being Patrol Leader. This organization was the secret of our success. Each patrol leader was given full responsibility for the behaviour of his patrol at all times, in camp and in the field. The patrol was the unit for work or play, and each patrol was camped in a separate spot. The boys were put 'on their honour' to carry out orders. Responsibility and competitive rivalry were thus at once established and a good standard of development was ensured throughout the troop from day to day. (Robert Baden-Powell 1908: 344)

Harnessing the imagination: woodcraft and adventure

Robert Baden-Powell wanted children to be brought up ' as cheerfully and as happily as possible’. He also wrote, ‘in this life one ought to take as much pleasure as one possible... because if one is happy, one has it in one’s power to make all those around happy’. (From a speech made in 1902 and reported in the Johannesburg Star July 10, 1902 - quoted by Jeal 1989). One of the great innovations of Scouting was to harness the imagination and desire on the part of many boys and girls for 'adventure'. 

Conclusion: Robert Baden-Powell as an educator innovator

How are we to judge Robert Baden-Powell as an educator? While the 'faculty psychology' on which he based significant elements of his scheme may be discredited (Macleod 1983: 251) and his imperial vision of duty is distasteful to many - there is still much to admire and acknowledge in Robert Baden-Powell's work. He did look to the social lives and imagination of children and young people. He placed a special value on adventure; on children and young people working together - and taking responsibility (his 'patrol' building on the idea of 'natural' friendship groups and 'gangs'); on developing self-sufficiency; and on 'learning through doing'. It has been one of the ironies of youth work over the last fifty years that while club and project workers may talk of participation and question many of the methods of uniformed organizations, one of the most sustained and widespread example of self-organization and participation flows from Robert Baden-Powell's scheme set out in 1908. It may well be that we need to look again at notions of character, virtue and duty - to see how they may be reinterpreted for today's conditions and within a more dialogical, just and convivial framework.

Boy Scout Slogan

Do a Good Turn Daily!

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Be Prepared.

That's the motto of the Boy Scouts.

"Be prepared for what?" someone once asked Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting,

"Why, for any old thing." said Baden-Powell.

The training you receive in your troop will help you  live up to the Scout motto. When someone has an accident, you are prepared because of your first aid instruction. Because of lifesaving practice, you might be able to save a nonswimmer who has fallen into deep water.

But Baden-Powell wasn't thinking just of being ready for emergencies. His idea was that all Scouts should prepare themselves to become productive citizens and to give happiness to other people. He wanted each Scout to be ready in mind and body for any struggles, and to meet with a strong heart whatever challenges might lie ahead.

Be prepared for life - to live happily and without regret, knowing that you have done your best. That's what the Scout motto means.

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Boy Scout Oath or Promise

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.

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Note that the Boy Scout Oath has traditionally been considered to have three promises. Those three promises are delineated by the semicolons in the Oath, which divide it into three clauses. The three promises of the Scout Oath are, therefore:

• Duty to God and country,
• Duty to other people, and
• Duty to self

DUTY TO GOD AND COUNTRY: Your family and religious leaders teach you to know and serve God. By following these teachings, you do your duty to God.

Men and women of the past worked to make America great, and many gave their lives for their country. By being a good family member and a good citizen, by working for your country's good and obeying its laws, you do your duty to your country. Obeying the Scout Law means living by its 12 points.

DUTY TO OTHER PEOPLE: Many people need help. A cheery smile and a helping hand make life easier for others. By doing a Good Turn daily and helping when you're needed, you prove yourself a Scout and do your part to make this a better world.

DUTY TO SELF: Keeping yourself physically strong means taking care of your body. Eat the right foods and build your strength. Staying mentally awake means learn all you can, be curious, and ask questions. Being morally straight means to live your life with honesty, to be clean in your speech and actions, and to be a person of strong character.

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Boy Scout Law

A Scout is:

• Trustworthy,
• Loyal,
• Helpful,
• Friendly,
• Courteous,
• Kind,
• Obedient,
• Cheerful,
• Thrifty,
• Brave,
• Clean,
• and Reverent.

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The Outdoor Code

As an American, I will do my best to -

• Be clean in my outdoor manners
• Be careful with fire
• Be considerate in the outdoors, and
• Be conservation minded.

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