The Scouting Program

The Scouting Program

Scouting is one of the most rewarding and fun organizations that boys can be a part of. The program focuses on the morals and character of the boys, and tries to teach them everyday skills that are basic to living in the world today. It seems that in our schools today there is more and more fear and our kids are becoming, in some cases, almost anti-social. This fear is not the fear of doing well or failing a test, but it is a fear of their fellow students. In our attempt to teach our children in a world that continues to be increasingly hectic, we may be failing at our job of providing them with the means of developing the basic human traits that build character. This training is desperately needed in our schools, but the school system does not have the time or resources to do this task alone. In the Webelos Scout Book the Scouting Oath reads:

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.

This appears to be a tall order, but in the teachings of the Scouts, you can start out at a simpler level by teaching about respect, pride, and friendly acts like offering others a smile or a kind word. Scouting helps gives our boys the knowledge and skills they need to become vital and caring members of the community.

The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated on February 8, 1910. Their first headquarters was opened in a YMCA office in New York. This group had developed from and idea that Robert Baden-Powell, a war hero from England, had when he saw the interest that boys took in a book he had written about tracking and stalking. The book had been written for his regiment while he was in the service, so he changed its contents somewhat and called it Scouting for Boys. Ernest Thompson Seton , a naturalist, artist, author, and founder of the Woodcraft Indians, a boys organization in the United States, became the first Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts of America.