Scouting Spirit... From the Handbook

[OldGreyEagle]

the following is what the Boy Scout Handbook says about Scouting Spirit:

 Tenderfoot Defined p 47

Scout Spirit refers to the effort you make to live up to the ideals of Scouting. The Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan serve as everyday guidelines for a good life.

Tenderfoot, Requirement #13 p60

Discuss scout spirit with your scoutmaster and with older boy scouts in your troop. Ask them for examples of how you can demonstrate Scout Spirit . You will likely hear examples of the Scout Oath and Law as ways to show your Scout spirit

Second Class Requirement #9 p108

 Most requirements for Scout ranks can be measured by other people. When you set out to swim 50 feet for the Second Class swimming requirement, anyone can see that you have covered the distance. How well you live the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your life, though is something for you to judge. (emphasis added) You know when you are being kind, when you are helpful and a good friend. You know when you are trustworthy. and reverent. You alone know how you act when no one is around to witness what you do. Do the best you can to live each day by the Scout Oath and Law. You might look back on some of the decisions you've made and wish you had acted differently, but you can learn from those moments and promise yourself you will do better in the future. And dont be surprised that when you use the scout oath and law for guidance, others will recognize those values in you and respect you for it. Set high standards for yourself and strive to reach them. No one can ask anymore of you

First class Requirement #10 p164

At troop and patrol gatherings you've recited the Scout Oath and the Scout Law dozens of times. The words come easily to you, but do you know what those words mean? The Scout Oath and Scout Law are not just for reciting at meetings. They are not just to be obeyed while you are wearing a uniform. The spirit of Scouting that they represent is every bit as important when you are at home, at school and in your community. The Scout Oath begins with the words, "On my honor. . ." Your honor is your word. By giving your word, you are promising to be of good character and to keep your reputation untarnished. Be trustworthy in all you say and do. Extend friendship to others. Be thrifty with your time and resources. Be tolerant of others, regardless of their differences, and celebrate the great diversity that enriches our nation and the world. Express reverence in accordance with your beliefs. Offer a helping hand because you want to, not because you expect a reward. The standards set by the Scout Oath and Scout Law are very high Strive to reach them every day, and you will find that they become as natural for you to live by as they are for you to say.

 Star/Life/Eagle p170

 BY NOW, DOING GOOD TURNS should be a regular part of your life You are always on the lookout for ways to help others. By now, Be Prepared should describe your efforts to make the most of educational opportunities, get along with others, and take part in outdoor adventures. By now, the Scout Oath and the twelve points of the Scout law should be the guidelines by which you direct your actions in your family, community, church, school, and nation. Living by these high standards is always a personal choice and something only you can fully measure. But by now, many other people should be seeing qualities in you that make it clear you are choosing "Your standing as a Scout does not depend so much on the skills of your hands or the badges an your merit badge sash, as an the spirit in your heart on what you are willing to do for others, on whether you are doing your very best to live the Scout Oath and Law:'

This is why BobWhite asks how can others sign off on scouting spirit, what do the requirements say and how does the handbook address it?

 

[ASM59]

OGE,

 

Based on what you've posted, the Scout should be signing off the requirement to show Scout Spirit. I guess this could take the form of the SM sitting down during the SM Conference and discussing the matter with the Scout and the two of them coming to an agreement that he has been living it.

 

ASM59(This message has been edited by ASM59)

[anarchist]

OGE

 

Thanks for the opportunity...

 

One of the recurring themes of my brothers in the "a Scout is active in the troop" cadre is that the scout hardly shows Scout spirit if he does not take part in "Outdoors Adventures"...(third and fourth line of star/life/eagle section). Which is (or should be at any rate) also one of the easier elements of scout spirit to evaluate...so how do we square that with the "eagle" who is missing in "in-action" for two or three years?

 

Anarchist

[ozemu]

I thought Scout spirit was that liquid that got my very wet fire going?

[Bob White]

You are very close ASM59, while this is an excellent topic for the Scoutmaster's Conference there is nothing that says the Scoutmaster must concur.

 

What the BSA Boy Scout Handbook says is that while other requirements can be measured by other people, the Scout Spirit requirement is best judged by the scout himself. That neither suggests or requires that the scoutmaster must concur in order for the Scout to judge himself.

 

Nor does the requirement in anyway suggest that it is linked to any number of nights camping, or attendance at unit meetings.

 

While it was nice of OGE to take the time to retype passages that are readily available in the Boy Scout Handbook for posters, it would be nice if leaders took enough interest in their role in scouting to at least READ the handbook for themselves.

 

(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[fgoodwin]

One of my pet peeves is that SMs use "Scout Spirit" as the catch-all requirement to hold a boy back from advancement if the SM (or Committee Chair, Advancement Chair, etc.) can't think of a more specific reason.

 

A boy could be a model citizen at home, school and church, but miss a few troop meetings, and watch out! Since attendance requirements are a no-no now, the SM will simply say a boy's absence means he is not demonstrating Scout Spirit.

 

The problem with that, of course, is that the intent of Scout Spirit is that the boy live by the Scout Oath and law in his everyday life. The SM responds, "well troop meetings and troop campouts ARE a part of the boy's everyday life!"

 

I don't think that comports with the intent of the requirement, but you'll never get most SMs to agree with that. They LOVE the power that comes from the fact that they can hold a boy back with virtually no documentation at all by claiming lack of Scout Spirit.

 

And how can anyone (least of all the Scout) contest so subjective an opinion?

[Stosh]

Very nice, except how can one tell when a habitual liar is telling the truth?

 

I do believe if the editors of the handbook wanted to have it phrased the way some have interpreted it, they could have said, "How well you live the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your life, though is something ONLY you CAN judge."

 

But alas, they didn't and thus it is very easy to conclude that there are others in scouting that will ALSO judge one's scout spirit and indeed will determine whether or not it reflects the teaching of the Law and Oath. The SM being but one of those.

 

Sometimes there are those who can read and then there are those who can read and understand, but there are still others who read and understand only what they want to understand.

 

Stosh

 

 

[Bob White]

And when someone uses the information as a way to hobble a scouts advancement rather than as a way to develop scouts in an encouraging way, which type of a person are they?

[scottteng]

"Demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath (Promise) and Scout Law in your everyday life."

 

This is the requirement in question it is part of every rank. It is specifically addressed to the scouts everyday life to my mind that means it generally excludes scouting activities. It is easy to act scoutlike when you are at a scout function. My question is always what do you do outside of scouting that shows scout spirit, that you live by the scout oath and law. This is supposed to be one of those self evaluation exercises because most of us do not follow our scouts around in their daily lives. I would suggest that if you are having a problem with habitual liars that you not accept their registration money next time recharter comes around rather than stretch requirements beyond their bounds. Noone has a "right" to be in your troop if you are not happy with em send em packin maybe they will find a better fit elsewhere.

[Venividi]

scottteng,

 

Is there not a middle gound between giving an award and sending him packing? Perhaps working with a scout to help him improve? And providing high expectations and the encouragement to meet them?

[SMT224]

I have held Scouts back on this advancement element when I observe them cheating on service projects or Scout games, getting out of camp clean-up, being disrespectful to adult leaders or other Scouts, or acting in an un-Scout-like way. These may small things, but they do not fit within the Scout Spirit. Subjective? Yes! But some boys like camping and other Troop activities, but don't see why they should be bound by the Scout law. They are there to have fun and thats it - unfortunately their brand of fun usually means more work for others, hurt feelings, and sometimes damage to property. I do the Scout Spirit sign off as part of the Scoutmasters Conference, and engage them in conversation as to how they think they live the law and oath. The Scouts who are active member of the Troop and care about being a Scout are interested in telling me how the live the Scout Spirit everyday. Most of the boys I have held back on this are embarrassed and understand what they did wrong and their behavior improves significantly. Those that don't get it usually quit, and the Troop is better without them.

[scottteng]

Classifying someone as a habitual liar means that that person has already made up their mind about the person in question and has given up on attempting to influence for the better. Both parties may well be served by a change in venue. If you reach the point where you have given up on a boy let him go maybe someone else will reach him.

[evmori]

For a Scout, Scouting is part of his everyday life. So to say Scout Spirit only applies to those activities outside of Scouting isn't accurate.

 

The Scoutmaster is the person in the unit responsible for signing off on rank advancement. The SM can delegate this to someone else in the Troop but doesn't have to. And since Scout Spirit is a rank requirement, the SM is the one who signs off, not the Scout.

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[Stosh]

Gotta take a breather here. I was not making any reference to any one person, I was making a comment about how can anyone take the word of a habitual liar? If a habitual liar tells someone they go to church every Sunday, do they really go? If one is going to only go by what that person says, then surely they go to church every Sunday. However, if their actions belie that conclusion, then what does a person do?

 

To have the boys check off their own scout spirit is no different than turning over the hen house to the fox. Why bother wasting everyone's time and energy on a requirement that means nothing?

 

And no, I don't have a hen house, nor do I have any relationship to any foxes.

 

And by the way, I have stuck it out a lot longer than most in the hopes of turning some of my difficult boys around. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but everyone gets the same chance. Do they have to do what I want them to do to get credit for Scout Spirit? Nope, but they have to make an effort to do what the requirement says.

 

Stosh

[ASM59]

BW,

 

To clarify, we typically sign off on the Scout Spirit requirement during the SM Conference. When I have the opportunity to conduct the SM Conference, I spend quite a bit of time discussing the Scout Law, Oath and Scout Spirit with the Scout. I do lead the discussion to try to get an honest answer from the Scout as to how he feels he is doing with fulfilling this requirement. So, yes, I typically let the Scout tell me if he is demonstrating Scout Spirit.

 

Only once has the discussion revealed, and the Scout admitted, that he was not properly demonstrating Scout Spirit. So in that instance it was not signed off until we met again a couple of months later (his choice to wait that long). Most of the other times we discuss that the Scout finds it difficult to always live the Scout Law and Oath at home with siblings and parents or at School with certain people. In those cases we will talk about how to improve and to keep trying to improve. Not everyone can say they meet this requirement 100% of the time, and I don't expect the Scouts too either, but I do expect that they should try and if they fall, to get back up and keep on trying...

 

ASM59