What Are We Teaching & Scout Spirit (Part III)

Gather 'round friends. My subject for this evening is: SCOUT SPIRIT!

My experience with Scouting tells me that there are two ways of defining
what is meant by the requirement to "Show Scout Spirit..." It is either the
Scoutmaster's (or Troop Committee's) last chance to deny advancement to a
boy, or it is the EVALUATION portion of each Scout's rank advancement.

In training, Scouters learn that we should evaluate everything we do.
Campouts should be evaluated to determine if planning and execution were
successful. Annually, prior to planning the next year's activities, we
evaluate the previous program year to determine which activities were
popular and which were flops. Evaluation gives us a chance to figure things
out, and plan ways of doing it better next time.

Usually, if Scout Spirit is viewed as a last chance, the Scoutmaster has in
mind a set of standards each Scout should have met at each stage in his
advancement. Ironically, the Scout Spirit requirement is the most often used
requirement to delay advancement, and the hardest to justify. If you tell a
Scout he can't advance yet because he hasn't shown Scout Spirit, you open
the door to a lot of hard questions about just exactly what it is.

For most of my Scouting career the Scout Spirit requirement (for me) has
been observational. I don't usually make a judgement until the Scout is
ready for his BOR. As I prepare for the Scoutmaster's Conference, I have a
chance to ask myself some questions about what I have observed from this
Scout. Has he really tried to live by the Scout Oath and Law? Does he act
differently in Scouting than he does outside Scouting? Has he shown that his
iterpretation of the Scout Oath and Law has grown since attaining his last
rank? Does he challenge himself, or does someone have to continually push
him?

The answers to these types of questions usually give me an idea of in what
direction I want the Scoutmaster's conference to go. During the
Scoutmaster's Conference, I can find out how the Scout feels about his
conduct and his endeavors to follow the Scout Oath and Law.

Obviously, a Scout who has severe conduct problems shouldn't be signed off
on Scout Spirit. But that doesn't mean I have to wait until he's ready to
advance to have a conference with him. Councelling is another aspect of
Scouting that is intended to happen more often than just rank advancement.
In fact, councelling should be happening often. If the front line Scouters
simply wait until rank advancement to talk to a Scout about his conduct and
the meaning of Scout Spirit, they aren't giving the Scout much of a chance
to correct his behavior. Likewise, if Scouts who aren't advancing aren't
councelled by the Scoutmaster, problems arise when the are called into a BOR
for that purpose.

YIS
Anthony J. Mako, ajmako@apk.net
Scoutmaster Troop 381 http://members.aol.com/Scouts381/
Home of the Unofficial Boy Scout Desktop Theme
Great Trail Council - Copley, Ohio

"I used to be an Eagle (BSLT 1982, C-7-97), but I'll always be an Eagle
(1981)"

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