traditional scout skills

[neil_b]

I recently bought a 1948 edition of How to Run a Troop by Ernest Young. (You can find an electronic version of the 1923 edition on-line if you google for it.) This book offers 39 weeks of pre-planned meetings for the new Scoutmaster. It is an English book, and I assume the BSA had already diverged significantly from the program in England, but it is still interesting.

 

The thing that really struck me about this book is that signaling (semaphores), first aid, map reading, and tracking were learned throughout the year. Tracking was learned through a number of games, especially Kim's Game. The book refers constantly to another book called Scouting Games written by B-P.

 

Today it seems that first aid is mostly taught at summer camp and/or at merit badge clinics, depending on the troop. Map and compass are still important, but I would think seldom receive year-round attention. Signaling and tracking are, of course, no longer required at all.

 

In the thread this one was spun from it was stated that at one time a lot of boys never made 1st class scout because of the signaling requirement. Maybe that is part of the reason they got rid of it, although if it were given the amount of attention it was in How to Run a Troop I can't imagine it being a problem.

 

In 2010 we had the historic merit badges (Carpentry, Pathfinding, Signaling, and Tracking) offered temporarily. The way these were done in our district is that boys worked on them with their troops and then got them signed off at camporee. In our troop they were taught at a couple different camp outs in just a few hours each. That didn't really seem sufficient for learning them properly.

 

Of these I think only signaling has lost much practical value in our modern world. Carpentry seems like something every guy should know a little about. Tracking could be used by hunters, law enforcement, and military. Pathfinder or Pathfinding was basically just about knowing your own neighborhood very well, so I can't imagine why that is not still valued.

 

I'd like to hear about how other troops include traditional scout skills in their programs. Do you work on skills that were phased out of the official program and no longer required? Are they worked on throughout the year, or just on an occasional basis?

[neil_b]

BTW, the games from B-P's Scouting Games (or at least some of them) got added into later editions of Scouting for Boys, and the 1948 edition of How to Run a Troop refers to games by which Yarn number they were inserted after. (If you're not familiar with Scouting for Boys, it is divided into Yarns instead of Chapters.)

 

Also, we played Kim's Game at Wood Badge, although like everything at WB they were using it to make a point, not trying to teach tracking skills (or even teach us how to teach tracking skills).

[UCEagle72]

If you think signalling has no purpose in our modern world, then I invite you to places of natural disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons) when those lines of communication are cut.

 

Skills like being able to communicate by Morse code on the radio are still valued.

 

Had it not been for the amateur radio operators in 2004 in Florida and again in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast during Katrina, little to no communication would have been received.

 

 

[AvidSM]

We offered all four historical merit badges at a spring camporee in 2010. Not a single scout earned the Signaling one. We had plenty that earned the other three.

[neil_b]

Thanks, uceagle72. Evidently, ham radio operators aren't required to know Morse code anymore, but it's still being used.

 

Also, Morse is an optional part of the Radio merit badge.

 

So, technologies come and go, but Morse isn't dead yet.

[KC9DDI]

Had it not been for the amateur radio operators in 2004 in Florida and again in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast during Katrina, little to no communication would have been received.

 

As a ham myself, I have to wonder what you're basing this claim on?

[Eagledad]

>>The thing that really struck me about this book is that signaling (semaphores), first aid, map reading, and tracking were learned throughout the year. Tracking was learned through a number of games, especially Kim's Game. The book refers constantly to another book called Scouting Games written by B-P.

 

Today it seems that first aid is mostly taught at summer camp and/or at merit badge clinics, depending on the troop. Map and compass are still important, but I would think seldom receive year-round attention. Signaling and tracking are, of course, no longer required at all.

[eisely]

I became a First Class Scout when Morse Code was still a requirement. Based on my own limited experience I would have to confirm that this requirement was the most difficult requirement for scouts, self included, at that time. Perhaps because this was a skill that one never exercised and required a great deal of pure memorization. I never heard an explanation as to why it was dropped, but perhaps it was dropped simply because it was difficult.

[UCEagle72]

KC9DDI --

 

The reports issued by ARES, MARS and ARRL.

 

73s,

AJ4RB

 

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello eisely,

 

 

>

 

 

I'm not disputing your experience in learning code. It was what it was.

 

 

When I learned the code to pass the 5 WPM Novice Amateur Radio test, it took me abourt two weeks to develope that proficiency.

 

Even at that stage, it mostly wasn't about memorizing letters, just as learning to read isn't about sounding out the letters of a word.

 

A minimal proficiency is about hearing the character and having that symbol appear in you mind to be copied. As you get better, it's more and more like reading, where words rather than characters appear in your mind.

 

Those who are really good (I never was!) can hear the words of a conversation in their mind as they listen to code being reeled off at 40-60 WPM.

 

Not much demand for code as a skill these days I don't suppose. I imagine that's true in the military these days too.

 

Probably hit it's peak value in WWII when huge amounts of traffic were sent by morse code.

[neil_b]

I found an interesting story about morse code still being taught by the US Army and used by the USAF as of 5/3/2011:

http://www.goodfellow.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123254246

 

Says Maj. Scott Morrison, 17th Training Group, Det. 1 Commander, FT. HUACHUCA, Arizona, "... just because Morse code is not high-tech does not mean it's useless. Many times, older forms of communication are more reliable than newer ones. Morse code might seem archaic, but it works and does not require much investment in expensive technologies. Also, many adversaries will revert to methods that are tried and true when modern communications are denied."

[Eamonn]

While of course it's a mistake to make generalizations.

I have visited a lot of Troops on both side of the pond. The UK and the USA.

For the most part English Troop meetings seem to be a lot more about having fun, with only a small amount of time set aside for any type of formal instruction.

The instruction being done in the and with the Patrol. Followed up by some sort of inter-patrol type game or quiz.

Advancement wasn't based on Merit Badges.

As a Scout Leader in the UK, I used the PLC meeting as a time to ensure that the P/L's were up to snuff on the skills that they would be covering over the coming month.

I also kept a log with a record of each meeting showing what we'd done with a rating of how well it had gone over and a few notes.

The meetings were fast paced, with very little down time.

Sadly (I'm now ready to duck!!)A lot of the Troop meetings I have seen over on this side of the pond seem to have become so focused on advancement that fun has been put on the back burner and Troop meetings are not that far from just being an extension of school work.

As a SM here in the States, some parents were upset that the Troop wasn't spending as much time on advancement as they would have liked.

Activities such as tracking, signaling and orienteering are great opportunities for helping build Patrol spirit, get the Scouts doing more stuff out doors and let off some steam.

With the Ship, some of the Sea Scouts became really good at all sorts of signaling and found ways of making it into fun activities.

Most activities can with some imagination be made fun and presented right the Scouts will enjoy and learn at the same time. Of course presenting them at some sort of a clinic? They become just another boring something that is about as much fun as watching paint dry.

Finding ways that boring type stuff can be presented as being fun, does take some hard work and some imagination along with a good deal of planning.

More and more it seems to me that leaders are worried about looking at new ways of doing things and un-willing to spend any time planning and working with the PLC to ensure that Troop meetings are something that Scouts don't want to skip or miss.

I'm sure if I was 14 years old, I'd much sooner spend an hour running around like crazy doing tracking than sit through a Merit Badge class.

Ea.

[Kudu]

neil_b writes:

 

Of these I think only signaling has lost much practical value in our modern world.

 

You can say the same thing about baseball. Swinging a club has not had a "practical value" since the Stone Age.

 

If "practical value" was the criterion for signalling requirements, then why were the Indian and deaf sign languages added as additional alternatives in later years? Indian sign language had a "practical value"? Conversely, did we eliminate the deaf sign language signaling requirement because deaf people have less "practical value" than "urban youth"?

 

Back when "Scouting" was popular it was based on an English activity called "scouting" (similar to what Americans call "playing army"). The basic idea is to learn how to "scout" behind "enemy lines" so as to improve a boy's powers of observation and deduction.

 

In common with tracking skills and Kim's Game; Morse, semaphore, Indian and deaf sign require the ability to "observe" and the ability to deduce meaning (with the added natural appeal that "secret languages" have for boys).

 

Presumably the learned ability to concentrate the mind lost its "practical value" with the invention of Ritalin.

 

neil_b writes:

 

Today it seems that first aid is mostly taught at summer camp and/or at merit badge clinics, depending on the troop.

 

Baden-Powell's version of Scouting is based on the principle of "Current Proficiency."

 

The difference between his "Proficiency Badges" and the BSA's "Merit Badges" is that Proficiency Badges indicate current proficiency. The key badges for each rank, called "Qualifying Badges," must be retested every 12-18 months depending on each badge's importance.

 

The idea that a Boy Scout's ability to save lives should be recertified by an outside agency every year is the very opposite of "Once an Eagle, always an Eagle."

 

Given your interest in Traditional Scouting Skills, you might some day like to learn how Baden-Powell's program works (his "PO&R"). His technical Rules on How to Play the Game of Scouting for Boys, Chapter 12 is the best place to start:

 

http://inquiry.net/traditional/por/proficiency_badges.htm

 

neil_b writes:

 

Map and compass are still important, but I would think seldom receive year-round attention.

 

Baden-Powell's program is based on physical distance: A series of required "Journeys" and "Expeditions" in which a boy's Scoutcraft Skills are tested (without adult supervision) against significant backcountry ordeals of increasing difficulty for every rank after Tenderfoot.

 

The "practical value" of these skills is that they are then used for regular fortnight or monthly Patrol Outings: Boy-run adventures in which what we call "Advancement" is mastered without adult supervision. So in B-P's program "Map and Compass" is not just something that some adult initials in your handbook, nor does it involve a "Scoutmaster Conference" or a "Board of Review."

 

At one time the BSA program did include a simple First Class Journey and the "Real" Patrol Method.

 

Here is a summary of B-P's system of Journeys and Expeditions:

 

http://inquiry.net/advancement/traditional/journey_requirements.htm

 

neil_b writes:

 

I'd like to hear about how other troops include traditional scout skills in their programs.

 

When Scouting was popular, the whole point of learning "Scout Skills" was to play games.

 

Wide Games still rule!

 

See:

 

http://inquiry.net/outdoor/games/wide/index.htm

 

The trick is to read them yourself and then explain your "four new favorites" at every PLC meeting.

 

The basic idea of most Wide Games is to "scout" behind "enemy lines."

 

Treasure Hunt Wide Games lend themselves to GPS units (a Patrol protecting its treasure can "kill" the Patrol with the GPS).

 

A Man Hunt game will move faster if the human quarry must tag with a laser beam a tree near the hunters every couple of minutes. Our Scouts use a strategy based on two older Scouts (each with his own laser) confusing the younger hunters.

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

http://kudu.net

 

 

[qwazse]

I WISH my cell had a Morse code repeater/converter. Texting is so slow and requires so much concentration.

 

I never really remembered Morse code more than a year after I'd (re)learn it, but if I had a way to integrate it into rountine communication, I bet that would change.

[CalicoPenn]

I'd like to be around in 100 years when Scouters bemoan the loss of traditional scouting skills like utilizing social networking and I-pod management.