Boy Scouts of America

By Martin Lier

Graduate Student, Ferris State University - Grand Rapids Campus

Definition

The Boy Scouts of America was developed as a community program to teach character, citizenship, and physical fitness. The mission of the Boy Scouts is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. The vision is to offer character development and values based leadership training (Boy Scouts of America).

The Boy Scouts of America have very specific ideals.  There slogan is “do a good turn daily” and their motto is “be prepared.” Their Scout Oath is “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight” (Boy Scouts of America 1978).

Historic Roots

Historically, the need for a boys club became evident when our nation became urbanized in the early 1900s due to industrialization. Many individuals in the society, remembering our countries’ rugged past, felt that boys were becoming unfit, lazy, and less resourceful. Youth were no longer able to spend time in the woods or on farms because they lived in cities. They hoped to change the youth population that was being forced to deal with industrialization. It was a hope for a program of outdoor activities that no school could teach. These visionary individuals all shared a desire to develop skills in young boys for the sake of our countries’ future (Boy Scouts of America 1978).

Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell is known as the founder of modern day scouting. He was British military hero who had written a book on wilderness survival for British soldiers. He found that British boys were reading his book. He rewrote his book as a non-military skill book and called it Scouting for Boys.  In 1907, he took 22 boys on a camp out and tested his book. It became an instant success and thus the start of Boy Scouts.  This success was so contagious that it spread to the United States as well (Boy Scouts of America).

Importance

Today there are over 6 million active Boy Scouts in the United States and a total of 25 million around the world. In the United States, there are over 545,577 adult volunteers and a total of over 52,377 troops (Boy Scouts of America).

The Boy Scouts has been a significant part of over 70 million American boys’ lives with many of our nations top leaders having been Scouts as youths.  Over 64 percent of congressional members had participated in Scouting. Over 90 Scouts were selected as astronauts and several presidents were Scouts as well (ibid.).

The Boy Scouts has touched the lives of a wide and very diverse group of individuals through its non-discriminatory membership policies. As an example, the Boys Scouts, since it was founded, has fully-participating members who suffer from physical, mental and emotional disabilities.  There is a special badge for Scouts that are handicapped. The Scout’s goal is to keep handicapped boys in the mainstream of Scouting while realizing their special needs (Soto 1987).

The future of Scouting appears strong in that Americans are still tied to a code of values that warrant the need to continue programs that offer excitement, adventure, and challenge for young people to develop their potential.  However, Scouting may have to adjust programs with the change in family’s nucleus and technology (Peterson 1984).

Ties to the Philanthropic Sector

The ties to the community and to volunteering are immense.  The Boy Scouts leadership is mostly comprised by volunteers.  All Scouts pledge to serve God, others, and to remain fit. They strive to help others and to build their community. Citizenship is a key philosophy and to serve others before oneself. Respect for nature is also very significant. Leadership skills are stressed and taught (Boy Scouts of America).

The Boy Scouts are supported by local institutions called charter partners, which provide a meeting place and adult leadership. Nearly half of the chartered partners are churches, temples and other religious bodies. Others are public and parochial schools, parent-teacher groups, civic and service organization, and businesses (Peterson 1984).
The organization’s budget comes mostly from registrations & fees. They are also funded partially by the United Way (Boy Scouts of America).

Key Related Ideas

By Scout Law, scouts are trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent (Boy Scouts of America).

Brave:  possessing or displaying courage (Dictionary.com)

Courteous:  giving gracious consideration to others (ibid.)

Loyal: being steadfast in allegiance to one's homeland or government and being faithful to a person, ideal, custom, cause, or duty (ibid.)

Trustworthy: being worthy of confidence (ibid.)

Obedient:  complying with the instructions, commands or orders of an authority figure (ibid.)

Reverent:  feeling and showing respect, often in relationship to leading a godly life (ibid.)

Thrifty:  being wise economically through industriousness for prosperity (ibid.)

Important People Related to the Topic

• Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857-1941): Baden-Powell was the original founder of Boys Scouts in England.
  
  
• Daniel Carter Beard (1850-1941): Beard designed the original Scout uniform and badges.
  
  
• William D. Boyce (1859-1929): Boyce met with the Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden Powell upon meeting one of his scouts. He incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910.
  
  
• Ernest Thompson Seton (1860-1946): Thompson was born in England and immigrated to America as a young person. He created a youth organization in the United States called the Woodcraft Indians. He was the first Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts of America.
  
  
• James E. West: West was appointed the first Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America in 1911.