Observations

Good morning...first, a little news that I've picked up.

I don't know how many are already aware of this, but we've talked
about the Bobcat requirements a while back and National wants each new
Cub Scout and their parents to understand the dangers of drug and
child abuse. Therefore, starting with the fall program year, there's
going to be a new requirement that says that the parents must read the
parents's supplement and explain drug abuse and child abuse to the Cub
Scout. This would make it requirement number 8 for the first badge in
Cub Scouting. The intent, the way I understood it, is to allow for
the parents to interact early enough with their child and to "teach
them their values in those particular subjects".

It's a great move, but a little too late. This requirement I feel
should have been in place when we changed the program in 1973.

Okay...enought about that. What I wanted to talk about this morning
is how much the BSA has changed with regard to it's concept of
service. Let me give some *brief background* on this, then, I'll pose
the questions.

One of the tenants of the Boy Scouting program, ever since William
Boyce brought it here from England, was one of service to the
community and nation. History books as well as newspapers recount the
thousands of Boy Scouts that came to the nation's aid during the Great
Depression, by their manpower in doing projects for their community.
This was one of the greatest reasons why businesses and industry
snapped up the Boy Scout, because they at last found someone willing
to work hard for a purpose.

During both World Wars, the BSA mounted conservation and agriculture
campaigns aimed at feeding and supporting the troops overseas and the
families at home. At the same time, during the Great Flood of 1933
which wiped out most of the Ohio River Valley as well as the
Mississippi flood plain, Scouts rowed and delivered mail, they
assisted law enforcement personnel, and even acted as staff for city
halls as residents tried to get back to normal.

In the Cold War days, the BSA was one of the first "national members"
of the Civil Defense Committee (along with the Red Cross and the
Salvation Army). They all agreed to press their volunteer and
professionals to "active duty" in the event of a disaster and pledged
to work within the program to insure that volunteers and professionals
were trained in essential civil defense skills. The "emergency
communications chart" used by many Troops in the late 50s, throughout
the 60s and into the 70s was one of those "civil defense tools"

But something happened in the early 70s. The BSA faced regional
disasters and told its volunteers NOT to participate as Scouts or
Scouters. Many Scouters and Scouts disobeyed the directive and
sandbagged the Big Sandy and Ohio Rivers in eastern Kentucky and
northeastern Ohio; Law Enforcement Explorer Posts all over the nation
were continued to be "moblized" to assist people stranded by rain or
snow in many areas, and the Denver Search and Rescue Team (an Explorer
Post) continued to rescue stranded skiers from the ice and cold.

But the BSA continued on restricting volunteer and professional
support to disasters. During the Persian Gulf War, the BSA was stuck.
They clearly remembered what Scouting did during WW I and II, but
what did the BSA do during this war?? Very little (my personal
opinion is that the BSA made a little money off of the War, through
teeshirts and patches of support). When there were communities that
needed Scouts to get groceries or to watch younger children or to do
things that "children" can do, many local Councils opted for the
"safest way" to do those things.

During the terrible Hurricanes that ripped through southern Florida,
Louisiana, Guam and Hawaii, very few Scouts and Scouters were used as
Scouts or Scouters, even though we are organized by unit, District and
Council to do those kinds of things. The Southeast Region (in one of
their last acts as a Region), encouraged local Councils NOT to send
units or individuals down there, but instead to collect books,
uniforms and other materials to send down there (and it wasn't a lot,
gang. Besides, that's not what those folked needed...they needed
people to help them get back to some idea of normalcy...they needed
Scout Troops to be formed there, with the sole idea of being of
service to others living in the "tent cities".

So, that brings me to today's topic. Has the BSA been too much on a
"safety and insurance" kick that it has ruined the tenants of the
program? Have the pendulum swung too far in one direction as to
potentially ruin the concept of what Scouting is all about....

.....or is this just another reality of living in the 90s and we
cannot expect that kids let along adults, with job security and other
REAL issues that affect them and their families, would want or be
willing to do the things that their Scouting forebearers took for
granted as "being a part of being a Scout" or Scouter.

There was a series of earthquakes in California, and lots of snow and
ice in the Ohio River Valley. A while back, we had rain storms which
caused flooding again in the Mississippi Valley from Iowa and Illinois
southward through Missouri and western Kentucky. And we will always
have with us tornadoes. Where do Scouts fit in as part of the
recovery effort?

It's great to be off work a couple of days (yesterday was NOT a
holiday for me, but because of the heavy snow and ice (8 inches of
one, two inches of the other), everything (including K-Mart) was
closed. And when the K-Mart is closed, you KNOW that it's bad!

I've had a chance to catch up and even get a little ahead on my
emailing, but I've still got a stack three inches tall of things to
mail out to folks through the USPS.

And of course, it was great to actually SEE Jessiann yesterday,
instead of the blur that I usually get a glimpse of, as she RUNS to
the car and RUNS to teach at school...and as I RUN to turn the TV on
to CNN, RUN to make some coffee and RUN to swallow a hot cup, listen
to some news, and then RUN to the car and to work. All of that
RUNNING encourages both of us to lose some weight, but it does nothing
for homelife. While its great to have work and things useful to do,
sometimes it great just to be able to turn on the set and watch and
listen to a FULL DAY worth of news, and to talk with your honies
about "stupid" things like how pretty the snow is outside or how silly
people trying to get out in this wild weather are (and of course,
when the Michael Crawford commercial comes on, we look at each other
and say in unison "GAG ME!"). *loud laughter*

Have a great morning, folks, and please STAY WARM....and to my fellow
Kentuckian Scouters, "Do what the Governor says, and stay off the
roads..." (Carroll Hale in Richmond has about a foot and a half of
snow; classes were cancelled at EKU for Griz Grisanti; and Louisville
has close to 2 feet of snow and ice. As a result, our Governor
declared that all non-essential travel NOT be done and he closed ALL
of our Interstates and Parkways as of last night. He's also blocked
entry into the state from all points as of last night and closed state
offices until further notice).

Settummanque!@MAN! It's cold....wind chill of minus 27

--
 Settummanque, the blackeagle...   (MAJ) Mike L. Walton      (
    AIS/MR Recreation Specialist,  Lifeskills Inc.          ___)_
  (h) 502-782-7992  (f) 502-781-7279  (w) 502-842-2274      |-=-|]
 3201-D Cave Springs Avenue -- Greenwood, KY 42104-4439    -=====-
 WALTOML@WKUVX1.WKU.EDU (or via America OnLine) KYBLKEAGLE@AOL.COM
 "Not speaking for Lifeskills, Inc. or WKU...but I do speak well!!"

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