About Scouting
Scouting
is.....
In short, Scouting is a youth
organization that uses a fun program to promote character
development, citizenship training, and mental and physical
fitness for every member.
The Boy Scouts of America
makes Scouting available to our nation's youth by chartering
community organizations to operate Cub Scout Packs, Boy Scout
Troops, Varsity Scout Teams, and Explorer Posts. The chartered
organization must provide an adequate and safe meeting place and
capable adult leadership, and must adhere to the principles and
policies of the BSA. The BSA local council provides unit leader
training, program ideas, camping facilities, literature, and
professional guidance for volunteer leaders. Scouting's adult
volunteers provide leadership at the unit, district, council, and
national levels. Many are parents of Scouts; many entered
Scouting as youth members.
How
Scouting Came To America.......
The Story of a Good Turn, Boy
Scout Handbook, Tenth Edition, Chapter 26, Boy Scouts of America.
How good must a Good Turn be
to be good?
The answer is best given by
telling you the story of how Scouting came to America. It shows
that it isn't the size of a Good Turn that counts. What is
important is the spirit with which a Scout does a Good Turn.
"Do a Good Turn Daily"
is the Scout Slogan.
One Day in 1909 in London,
England, an American visitor, William D. Boyce, lost his way in a
dense fog. He Stopped under a street lanp and tried to figure out
where he was. A boy approached him and asked if he could be of
help.
"You certainly can,"
said Boyce. He told the boy that he wanted to find a certain
business office in the center of the city.
"I'll take you there,"
said the boy.
When they got to the
destination, Mr. Boyce reached into his pocket fora tip. But the
boy stopped him.
"No thank you, sir. I am
a Scout. I won't take anything for helping."
"A Scout? And what might
that be?" asked Boyce.
The boy told the American
about himself and his brother Scouts. Boyce became very
interested. After finishing his errand, he had the boy take him
to the British Scouting office. At the office, Boyce met
Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the famous British general who had
founded the Scouting movement in Great Britain. Boyce was so
impressed with what he learned that he decided to bring Scouting
home with him. On February 8, 1910, Boyce and a group of
outstanding leaders founded the Boy Scouts of America. From that
day forth, Scouts have celebrated February 8 as the birthday of
Scouting in the United States.
What happened to the boy who
helped Mr. Boyce find his way in the fog?
No one knows. He had neither
asked for money nor given his name, but he will never be
forgotten. His Good Turn helped bring the Scouting movement to
our country.
Boy Scout Alumni
are:
71% of
football captains
65% of
basketball captains
85% of
student council presidents
88% of school
newspaper editors
77% of school
newspaper editors
75% of
business managers of school publications
80% of junior
class presidents
89% of senior
class presidents
65% of
college graduates
72% of Rhodes
Scholars
75% of
Military Academy graduates
65% of US
Congress
85% of
airline pilots
85% of FBI
agents
26 of the first 29 astronauts.
11 of the 12 who walked on the moon.
108 of 172 astronauts were Boy Scouts.
Over half of the 108 attained Star,
Life or Eagle rank.
For Every 100
youths involved in Scouts:
12 will have
their first contact with a church
5 will earn
their religious emblem
1 will enter
the clergy
1 will use
Scout skills to save a life
1 will use
Scout skills to save his own life
2 will become
Eagle Scouts
8 will enter
professions first learned through the Merit Badge system
17 will
become Scouting volunteers
18 will
develop hobbies that will give them lifelong interest
Only rarely
will one appear in juvenile court.