The Future of the Boy Scouts of America

Our modern culture is much more complex than that of our parents, and even that of our own youth. We are more sophisticated than we were twenty five years ago. One can't help but wonder what the future will hold and what our culture will become. No matter how sophisticated we as a culture becomes, there are elements of our past that we continue to embrace. Even though it may seem corny, one of those elements is the Boy Scouts of America.

I remember the Boy Scouts from my youth, and the Cub Scouts as well. Scouting was one of those things that every boy seemed to participate in as a rite of passage. You couldn't consider yourself having a complete boyhood experience unless you wore a green uniform with a red neckerchief. We learned how to camp, how to handle ourselves in an emergency, how to remain safe during hiking and canoe trips. We learned how to tie almost every conceivable knot, how to create a flagpole out of sticks lying on the ground. We were schooled in starting a campfire and keeping it from endangering the forest and the creatures that called that forest home. We learned camaraderie, teamwork, and respect of others as well as ourselves.

Almost everyone knows the first words of the Boy Scout Oath: On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country. But how many people really know and practice the oath and the Boy Scout Law? Is it something we should take into our daily lives now, or is the world we inhabit too sophisticated for that kind of sentiment?

On my Honor - This is the most valuable thing we hold as human beings. If we don't have honor, then we don't have very much.

I will do my best - This should be the thing we promise ourselves every day, for if we fail to do our best then how can we call anything we have done satisfying?

To do my duty to God and my country - As I see it, duty to God, whichever God you choose, is simply to be the best human being you can be. Duty to country is to be the best citizen of that country you can be.

And to obey the Scout Law. - This is a contract with yourself that has 12 points. Each one designed to make you a better person.

To help other people at all times. - This part of the promise requires you to give something back to the community without expecting monetary gain. While it may be a hard concept for people to grasp, it will make you feel better in the long run.

To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight. - This part of the promise is the promise to yourself. It is easy to fall down a wrong path, but it takes true courage and inner strength to keep this part of the bargain.

The Scout Law, as mentioned before, comes in 12 points. A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.

Would these sentiments not make for a better world if people followed them? Wouldn't you like to have friends that posses these traits?

Some may ask what kind of superman could possibly keep all of these requirements, but boys have been attempting to follow this path for 98 years. Boy Scouts of America will celebrate 100 years in 2010, and for all of that time boys have learned the Scout Oath and the Scout Law and have followed them not only as boys but into their adult years. Boy Scouts tend to be over achievers. In fact, of the twelve Apollo astronauts who have walked on the moon, all twelve of them were Eagle Scouts, the highest rank in Boy Scouting.

I learned these values as a boy, and now as a grown man I tend to live by them without having to think about them. I have two sons, both of them now Boy Scouts. I became a Cub Scout leader when they first joined scouting and continue to lead them in Boy Scouting as well as other boys as a Scoutmaster. It is satisfying to see these fine young men grow into responsible adults. And as I watch these guys begin to master the art of being an adult and making responsible decisions, I see just how important those words I learned so long ago and they labored to learn has influenced them. They are trustworthy, loyal, helpful and friendly. They are courteous, kid, obedient and cheerful. They are thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. They practice what they preach, and they do it naturally because they live by their code in everyday life aside from their scout meetings.

With these outstanding young fellows at the helm, our future will be in very good hands.