CNYScouter 46 Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 What is a Scouter? Ive been saving this question waiting for the return of Bob White and evmori. What makes up a good Scouter? I have been asking myself these questions, to try to be a better Scout Leader What qualities and attitudes do you find in someone that really knows, follows and lives the Boy Scout program? One sign for sure that I have seen is the Wood badge beads. Anyone that I have met with the beads has met my expectations of what a Scouter is. Any other ways of telling? Any other signs of a Scouter? Is the guy who shows up once a week for a troop meeting for 30 years, but does little else a Scouter? What about the guy who for 8 years has made every meeting and every trip but the only time he has ever worn the uniform (and the only reason he has one) was to be on staff for Jamboree? Is he a Scouter? What do you all think? Link to post Share on other sites
LongHaul 10 Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 Scouter or Leader? One sign for sure that I have seen is the Wood badge beads. Anyone that I have met with the beads has met my expectations of what a Scouter is. With the changes in WB the course has less and less to do with being a Scouter but is a great tool to improve your leadership skills. You can be a good Scouter and not a good Leader and visa versa. What qualities and attitudes do you find in someone that really knows, follows and lives the Boy Scout program? Someone that really knows, follows and lives the Boy Scout Program, that is the quality. There are many adults associated with the Scouting Program. We have parents without whom there would be no need for the program. We have volunteers, usually parents who help produce the program. They sit on committees, drive to and from outings and provide the needed supervision necessary for a safe program. If we are lucky they even take training and serve in a specific position. These same adults will also be found as Band boosters, team parents, chaperones, sport team coaches, and active community members. They are involved with their children. We have the professional, opinions on these vary with the individual. Ive seen some I would like to clone and those....I wouldnt clone. Then we have Scouters. Scouters believe in the Scouting Program, maybe not always with those chosen to administer it but their faith in the scouting program itself is absolute. Scouters, as with that young man in England on that foggy morning, do not accept payment for their service. They will in fact gladly pay you to allow them to take training, be on staff to provide training or supervision. They do wear the uniform and most have more than one, either because of training, having staffed, or just because they feel the need to have an everyday uniform and a dress uniform. Most of all is that they live the Boy Scout program in their daily lives. On my honor are not just three words we string together once a week, they are the beginning of an Oath taken freely and in earnest each and every time. LongHaul Link to post Share on other sites
evmori 11 Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 What makes a good Scouter? One who has the best interest of the Scouts at heart. Ed Mori Troop 1 1 Peter 4:10 Link to post Share on other sites
nldscout 18 Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 Long Haul, Surly your not saying that those who took the other woodbadge course are better scouters than those that nook the present course? Link to post Share on other sites
ScoutNut 147 Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 And hopefully CNYScouter is not saying that just because someone can afford to attend Woodbadge he is a better Scouter than someone who can't. Personally, I don't care if a person wears a uniform or not, has an extra $200 to spend on advanced training or can barely afford Basic Training, volunteers for everything under the sun or just does odd jobs when asked. If they are doing their best to help deliver the very best BSA program they can to the boys, that is what counts. To me, that makes them the best Scouter around!! Link to post Share on other sites
CNYScouter 46 Posted November 1, 2005 Author Share Posted November 1, 2005 As far as the new or old Wood Badge course, it doesn't matter which one. The people that I have met that I consider Scouters some have taken the old course, some have taken the new course and some have done both. I have also met people who have not taken WB but I would consider them a Scouter also. I can say that so far everyone I have met that has the beads I consider to be a good Scouter and a good leader. Link to post Share on other sites
gwd-scouter 11 Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 I've met adults with Woodbadge Beads with less than admirable Scout Spirit, who seem only interested in themselves. I've met parents that volunteer whenever needed to help out with activities large and small. Registered or not, trained or not, Good Scouters (to me) are those individuals that see the value in what the Boy Scouts of America has to offer and do whatever they can, large and small, to promote the program. Link to post Share on other sites
CNYScouter 46 Posted November 1, 2005 Author Share Posted November 1, 2005 ScoutNut - I am not saying that a person that has not taken WB can not be a good scouter and I have met some. However I have yet to met a Scouter with beads (new or old course)that isn't trying to deliver the BSA program as intended and I have yet to meet a Scouter with beads thats "off doing their own thing". In fact, all the Scout Leaders that I have met that are not following the program, none have beads or attended a WB course. One of the things I was looking for in this thread was how to identify someone that really is a Scouter, with or without WB beads. Link to post Share on other sites
jr56 92 Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 If you get paid to provide scouting, you're a professional. If you don't get paid to provide scouting, you're a volunteer. If you pay to provide scouting, you're a scouter. Link to post Share on other sites
SueM 10 Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 My thought is very much the same as Ed's...to me a Scouter is someone who always keeps what is in the best interest of the boys first and foremost in everything they do! sue m. Link to post Share on other sites
Eamonn 61 Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 Trying to answer "What is a Scouter?" Is like trying to answer "What is a bird?" Just when you think you have it all worked out along comes the duck-billed platypus! I like Wood Badge, I like uniforms, I even like kids!! But I have known and do know people who do a lot for Scouting and the BSA who don't wear uniforms, have never been to Wood Badge and left alone with a bunch of kids would return them a few short!! I think the only way to be safe would be to say that a Scouter in the BSA is a person who is helping the BSA move toward meeting what the BSA outlines in the vision and mission statements and lives by the Scout Oath and Law. Eamonn. Link to post Share on other sites
SueM 10 Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 >One sign for sure that I have seen is the Wood >badge beads. >Anyone that I have met with the beads has met my >expectations of what a Scouter is. I was thinking about this statement again this morning and I'm not sure if I'll be able to explain it right but it occurred to me that maybe you have it backwards..it's possibly not that Wood Badger's are better Scouters because of taking the training...It could be that many dedicated Scouters just tend to take the Wood Badge training more readily..if that makes sense! And would you recognize the same contributions of these people without the visible sign of them wearing beads?? There are many dedicated scouters out there who get overlooked every day. We can't minimize the contribution that any of them make...large or small! sue m. Link to post Share on other sites
anarchist 10 Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 CNYScouter, Thought about your question a bit...I like Eds words. In our troop we have 60 registered Scouts and 28 registered Scouters...not all are REAL "leaders", some are "worker bees", some are gap fillers, some are utility players, and a couple border on...(er, whats the technical term?)...NUTZ...But they all give their time, efforts, money and hearts towards making our boy's BSA experience the best it can be and to building an "institution and tradition" that will last beyond their tenure. Wood Badge...Sue most likely is closer to the mark...some exceptional Scouters have the time and money to do it...but you would probably be impressed if you had met them prior to W.B. (some, perhaps not). Sometimes a landslide starts with the movement of a single pebble...and I do not discount the contribution of a single volunteer...In the end, it's what's in the heart and what a Scouters abilities allow...(we have an old guy who shows up at the committee meetings and monitors District Round Tables for us...his Health allows for little else)...but his desire to help is "there" and his willingness to go to roundtable gives a more "active" scouter a breather...Is he less a scouter? I don't think so... So maybe it's like the cliche about "art" ..."I can't describe it, but I sure as heck know it when I see it!" just a thought... Anarchist Link to post Share on other sites
SemperParatus 1 Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 "One of the things I was looking for in this thread was how to identify someone that really is a Scouter, with or without WB beads." Why? Link to post Share on other sites
evmori 11 Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 If an adult is involved in Scouting because they want to be noticed, then the adult is in Scouting for the wrong reason. Ed Mori Troop 1 1 Peter 4:10 Link to post Share on other sites
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