Special Guest Column by
Gen. Colin L. Powell
(USA Ret) |
|
Paying our
“Debt of Service” |
Thomas Jefferson once said, “There is a debt of service due from every man to his
country, proportioned to the boundaries which nature and fortune have measured to
him.” To put it another way, we can not have a decent, democratic, and healthy
society unless we all do our part to make it so.
I can think of no better place to begin than with the young. First, by taking better
care of the younger members of our society; and second, by making them aware, as early as
possible, that serving others is good for them and good for the neighborhood, the country,
and the world in which they live.
When we lose our sense of responsibility for others, the most vulnerable members of
society are the first to suffer. Frequently, children suffer most of all. In my travels
throughout the country, visiting inner-city neighborhoods and talking to the kids I have
met there, I have been struck again and again by the stark differences between their
childhoods and my own. When I was growing up in the South Bronx, I wasn’t rich, at
least not in a material sense, but I had the matchless blessing of being reared by two
devoted parents – backed up by a platoon of doting aunts and uncles – who gave
me the love, discipline, and motivation I needed to be successful as an adult. And there
were other caring adults in my life: teachers, clergy, mentors – and Scout leaders
– who helped me as well.
 |
Too many of today’s youngsters are not getting the same kind of careful nurturing
in their formative years that I and most Americans once took for granted. Too many young
people are being lost to child abuse, drug addiction, street violence, and other social
pathologies of our day. Too many are having children while they are yet children
themselves. Too many are dropping out of school or are not getting the quality education
they need to get good jobs when they graduate. Too many are growing up unequipped for any
kind of life other than dependency or crime. Some are in danger of never growing up at
all. If we are going to have a civil and caring society in this country, we must start by
reclaiming the young people who are most at risk.
It was with that goal in mind that the Presidents’ Summit for America’s
Future was convened in Philadelphia, 18 months ago in April. For three days, some of
nation’s most prominent leaders – including 30 state governors, a hundred
mayors, and scores of business executives, government officials, heads of volunteer
organizations, and other community activists, joined together in a commitment to youth
endorsed by every living President of the United States and First Lady. The result was
America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth.
| America’s Promise is a national campaign, chaired by me, whose mission is to
provide at least two million youngsters by the end of the year 2000 with the five basic
resources they need to grow up into strong, capable, and contributing members of society.
These five resources are: |
| 1. |
An ongoing relationship with a caring adult; |
| 2. |
Safe places and structured activities during
nonschool hours to learn and grow; |
| 3. |
A healthy start and a healthy future; |
| 4. |
A marketable skill through effective
education; and |
| 5. |
An opportunity to give back through
community service. |
|
If you think about it, these five practical, coherent, and mutually-reinforcing
resources are not a bad basis on which to reconstitute our civil society. We may not be
able to provide America’s disadvantaged youngsters with ideal childhoods, but we can
provide them with the minimum requirements they need to become decent, self-supporting
adults. By doing that we can correspondingly reduce crime, drug addiction, pregnancy,
dropping out, and other grim statistics among American youth. By working together toward
this end, we can recover our sense of being a nation of caring neighbors. We can lay the
groundwork for a better America to come as these young people grow up.
States and communities nationwide are joining with us to become “States of
Promise” and “Communities of Promise.” Corporations, nonprofits, faith
communities, service clubs, and individual volunteers are also making commitments to help
provide needy youngsters with the five basic resources.
But one of the most heartening signs I’ve seen so far is the eagerness shown by so
many young people themselves to give back through community service. We had youth
delegates at the Summit in Philadelphia, and we work with young volunteers all the time.
The Boy Scouts of America is one of our major commitment-makers.
There is nothing surprising about that. For the better part of this century, the Boy
Scout movement has been putting caring adults in the lives of young men in the form of
Scout leaders. It has sponsored healthy outdoor activities. It has given inquiring young
minds the chance to discover new interests, explore possible careers, and develop useful
skills. Finally, through the Scout Oath to “help other people at all times” and
the slogan, “Do a Good Turn Daily,” the Boy Scout movement has made service to
others an integral part of the character of millions of our sons through generation after
generation.
 |
The response of the Boy Scouts of America to America’s Promise is everything we
might have expected, and more. The BSA and each autonomous local council will commit each
of the organization’s 4.4 million young people to provide an hour of service per
month for each of the next four years – for a total commitment of 200 million hours.
Cubs, Scouts, and Explorers will take part in a wide variety of community service
activities, ranging from park clean-ups, to volunteering at local hospitals, to fire
prevention, to visiting the sick and elderly, to a whole host of other useful projects.
Scouts who fulfill their community service requirement will be entitled to wear a
“Service to America” patch on their uniforms awarded by their local councils.
Young or old, we all need to “pay our debt of service” as Mr. Jefferson said,
and Scouting’s adult volunteers, who will supervise these activities, will be part of
this effort as well. But when young people give back, they often gain the most from the
experience. Giving back enriches their lives, helps them to develop their individual
talents and leadership skills and, ultimately, makes them a better, more useful, and more
productive adult citizens. America’s Promise gratefully acknowledges the commitment
of the Boy Scouts of America.
