The 12 Points

The State of Georgia announced a partnership with the Boy Scouts of America to save, conserve, and improve the State Parks throughout the State. From the press release:

The program brings together thousands of youth, leaders and volunteers from Boy Scout groups across Georgia. Each of the state’s 13 councils has committed to undertake a large-scale service project for a local state park during 2010. Additionally, the councils will encourage youth pursuing Eagle Scout to perform their capstone service project in a state park. Annually in Georgia, 1,200 youth earn Scouting’s highest rank.

This is an amazing example of A Scout is Helpful and shows just how Scouting can do more for people than what is typically thought of when we talk about Scouts helping out. Firstly, Scouts use the parks and pay the fees to do so. Secondly, the Scouts are investing in the future of Scouting and the State by conserving this natural resource. Third, these projects cost the State money and with the help of Georgia’s Scouting community the parks can stay open and serve the public.

Yes, there is some good publicity on this issue but I suspect, just as the unknown Scout helped Boyce, these Scouts just want to help.

Image Source: Georgia State Parks, thanks.

The Chilean 8.8 Magnitude earthquake has been in the news since the quake on February 27th. Scoutmaster Blog covered a wonderful story about Chilean Scouts helping their nation and community recover from this disaster. Without recovering everything Scoutmaster Clarke put into the post, please go there and read his report on the matter.

After posting a story on how Scouts in America might be too risk adverse, I am humbled by this example of A Scout is Helpful. The support of these young men and women is in the truest sense, helpful. My thoughts and prayers are with the Chilean Scouts and Guides as they rebuild.

So many Scouts, Scouters, and Scouting Families see Boy Scouting as a joint effort between the Council and local units. As collaborators they work together to provide an excellent program, raise funds to sustain the program, and support Council initiatives to strengthen Scouting for all of our youth members. Then there are the naysayers and curmudgeons that would sooner disband than support the Council; yet, take up all the time of the Council officials and volunteers in an effort to serve their own units and take time away from the council initiatives. It is a frustrating situation and one that can be controlled from both sides.

Council side fixes. I think Council volunteers and officials need to realize the importance of proper customer service, planning, and communication. By carefully controlling the experience of units and volunteers much of the confusion can be eliminated. Officials can better organize initiatives and more readily onboard volunteers to help kick them off. The elimination of multiple layers of committees, sub committees, decision making, etc would both streamline Scouting for all and put more volunteers in units. Probably most importantly, Councils should serve units who work with the Council, provide an excellent program, support Council initiatives, and follow fund raising initiatives first and all others after that.

Unit side fixes. Let go of old grudges. Ask your Council officials and volunteers where you can help to bring a great program to the Scouts. Don’t treat Council officials and volunteers as waiters and waitresses but as partners. Support Council initiatives with enthusiasm and energy.

Essentially we need to understand that dues and fees provide only the basics and don’t do much to keep camps, offices, programs, etc running. When we work together to help Scouting, we are helping ourselves. We must maintain a professional organization that showcases the best for tomorrow’s leaders so they can inherit a great program that is professionally run. Sure, it sounds easier than it probably would be. I would ask first that we start by understanding what it means to be helpful and then turn that learning into how we can help ourselves.

Image Source: WorthPoint: Discover Your Hidden Wealth, thanks.

A Scout is Helpful is a notion that evokes the feelings of a band of uniformed young men active in the community during good times and in times of crisis. A few years ago, we had a freak Fall storm that rendered my community without power or access for several days. My friends (all Eagle Scouts, former Scouts, or Scouters) banded together to help our circle of friends and local neighborhoods. For several days we met in the morning and selected our projects for the day. One by one we dug each other, our families, and our neighborhoods out of the disaster. During the course of the days of work we began a conversation about Scouts and helpfulness. One observation we had was the noticeable absence of Scouts in action. Certainly the work was tedious, a little dangerous, or even a little off-putting but we felt as though this was a shining opportunity for Scouts to represent the helpfulness edict and help the community at large.

Once power was restored there were stories of this group and that group lending hand but Boy Scouting was absent of the news coverage. It saddened me to think that there weren’t Boy Scouts out there doing something to get our region back online. Perhaps I was wrong, were they there and anonymous? Perhaps.

It did start an interesting conversation about the risk and Scouting. It seems that Scouting is changing over time and just as my predecessors said my generation was different or softer, we feel the same of the subsequent. It is human nature but in reality things are just different for each generation of Scouts. But at what point is it too risky to be helpful?

In emergency response training, we learn to survey the scene and determine the safety for rescuers. We get special training to help understand our capabilities and adjust to risks more than the average person. Isn’t the same true of Scouting? We learn how to be helpful in different situations. But when do we forego our helpfulness requirement?

In my mind Scouting Families, Scouts, and Scouting in general has become very risk adverse. Cowering rather than charging forward when things get more challenging. I might be jaded on that point and perfectly willing to concede to the contrary with evidence to support an alternative viewpoint. The world has become so risk adverse I wonder how we can be selfless in our helping, respond in times of crisis, and still provide community support in good times. At what point do we surrender our stewardship for risk adverse observation?

Image Source: Scouting Cartoons by Rich Diesslin, thanks.

One of the key aspects of Scouting is the concept of youth led troops and units. In many units youth led is something central to the culture of the group. While there are many learning theories that support older Scouts teaching younger Scouts, I won’t go into that detail. Underlying the premise, however, is the notion of Scouts helping Scouts.

When I was a boy, our troop was organized into patrols based on the tenure of the youth members; first year, second year, third year, etc. This was a model that left some patrols to figure it out for themselves when there weren’t troop meetings where we all gathered to learn together. In my mind, this was an unsuccessful model. Fortunately for me, our Scoutmaster, Mr. Myers, saw that this hindered the youngest boys and compromised their ability to perform well on camping trips etc. Instead the troop re-organized the patrols with a mix of tenure. This gave each patrol the ability to learn, teach, and help each other grow in Scouting and skill.

The premise of Helpful is helping one another. While typically associated with the folklore of helping little old ladies across the street, and more commonly thought of in the community, helpful also applies to the troop. Older Scouts helping younger Scouts learn the needed skills to be in Scouts is critical. It is more than teaching, it really is helping. One thing that stands out in my mind is the helpfulness in preparing for a Winter camping trip. Here in the Northeast, Winter camping is Cold-weather camping not cool-weather camping. In a helpful-oriented patrol with a mix of experience, Scouts can aid each other in preparing, leading newer members to success, and be on the look out for one another more closely than a unit organized into patrols based on tenure.

Helpful, in Scouting, begins with the unit. A Scout needs to see how this works first hand before understanding how it applies outside the unit. This is probably true of each point of the Scout Law, but with this one we learn from helping it ourselves and then extend that into helping others.

The danger probably lies with units and programs that are adult led. Where the adult leaders cannot relinquish control long enough to let the Scouts be Scouts and learn together without interference. This is a sad and anti-programmatic behavior and one that hinders our Scouts from really learning according to the Scouting model.

How are your Scouts helping one another and demonstrating A Scout is Helpful? Leave a comment and tell us.

Image Source: Henning’s Scouting Pages, thanks.

Drive around most any town in America and you’ll probably see an Eagle Scout or Boy Scout Service Project. These service projects aid in attaining rank but the purpose isn’t to check something off a list; it is, instead, to help the community. Being helpful means more than lending a hand when it is needed. It often means being a good steward to your friends, family, Scouting, and the Community.

Where I grew up there were park maintenance projects, community beautification, fundraising or drives to lend aid. Today you see so much more. As the world becomes more complex and diverse (which is a good thing) Scouting responds with the ingenuity of the Scouts and their projects.

John F. Kennedy, a Boy Scout, not an Eagle, was the first US President to have Scouting in his background. Regardless of politics, we understand that Kennedy knew about being helpful. He called upon the citizens and US public to:

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.

Read the full speech here.

Kennedy called upon us to be citizens of our country and the world and to be helpful without the expectation of return. Rather, history will judge our helpfulness.

This isn’t unique but it is the first former Scout in the Oval Office to call upon a Scouting value: A Scout is Helpful. Since then, Presidents, community leaders, and others have called upon people to lend a hand in the community. This is never more important as it is today.

I think on all the entitlements and government funded action, then consider my volunteerism and helpfulness, and finally consider how much I pay out to have the government act on the notion of being helpful on the citizenry’s behalf. It saddens me that we call for help without being ready, being prepared, to help ourselves. This isn’t a blanket judgment at all. Many groups help, many people help. Those rays of light shine out and guide the rest.

When I was a Scout, our Scoutmaster, Mr. Myers, understood the value of being helpful in the community. This extended to our Scouting community as well. We routinely involved ourselves in projects like Scouting for Food, clothing drives, community events, cleanups, etc. In Scouting, it seemed that while other Troops were running free in the camp, we were working on a service project. I can remember being grumpy about it but in hindsight totally understand the premise, idea, and commitment to being helpful. Mr. Myers would refer to this as Cheerful Service; a tip of the hat to the Order of the Arrow and the Fleur-de-Lis’ third point.

I learned early on that being helpful was more than helping little old ladies across the street but being a helper in general and being in service to others. My entire involvement in Scouting is founded on the premise of being in service. It is something that I came to admire, cherish, and represent without any expectation of kindness or favor in return.

How did you learn A Scout is Helpful?

Image Source: Henning’s Scouting Pages, thanks.

March brings us to the 3rd point in the Scout Law; A Scout is Helpful. According to the US Scouting Service Project

A Scout cares about other people. He willingly volunteers to help others without expecting payment or reward.

This is the very point of the Scout Law that inspired the beginning of Scouting in America. According to the story, William D. Boyce was lost on the streets of London in a dense fog. He happened across a young man in uniform who aided Boyce’s travels and refused to take anything in return. Instead offering a pamphlet on Scouting and an explanation that it was his duty to help and no exchange was needed. Boyce, so enamored with the experience promptly came back to America and, along with others, built the movement of Boy Scouts of America.

The idea of being helpful is wonderful and made more so when no expectation of return is needed. I chuckle at some recent commercials from the Disney Corporation offering a free night at the resort for helping one of their selected aid organizations. The commercials are cute and fun with the Muppets but the premise of expected return on helping (ROH) is disturbing. I think it highlights how jaded we’ve become. Sure there are many examples of Scouts and non-Scouts helping without expected return, payment, exchange, or tip. Those stories warm my heart and reinforce the importance why Scouts are so important today.

This month we will explore A Scout is Helpful together and we’ll use the new blogging plan to help that exploration be more effective. So be prepared to help and participate. I’ll be sharing some stories and I hope you will too.

Image Source: Henning’s Scouting Pages, thanks.