Scouting, Volume 48, Number 6, August-September 1960 Page: 5
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leader of the boys, is also an expert in a hobby or
profession.
Q Paul, some of these boys have what you would call
pretty bad backgrounds. Don't give me any names, but
would you say that when you met them these boys were
potential delinquents?
Y Yes, some of them actually were delinquents—al-
though 1 hate this word. I think they should be called
potentially good citizens.
Q Why?
A Because they really are. As far as their backgrounds
are concerned, I think they are the victims of poor home
life, broken homes, overcrowded tenements.
Q What were the boys doing ivith their free time before
they joined up with your Explorer group?
A They were just hanging around. They had no in-
terest in any special activity. Once in awhile they would
gang together on a street corner. Some one would sug-
gest something that would lead to petty vandalism. They
were probably sorry afterward; but this was something
to do, and it passed the time away.
Q In your opinion, ivhat were the reasons behind this
kind of behavior by these fifteen-, sixteen-, and seventeen-
year-old boys?
A Basically, these boys lacked adult supervision. They
don't get enough attention from an adult, and even if
they live with their parents there is a tendency for teen-
agers to grow away from their fathers and mothers. At
the same time, there is the great need to belong. There
are a lot of other boys in the neighborhood, and, natu-
rally, they form a gang. This word gang has much worse
connotations nowadays than it ought to have. It is just
a group of fellows who want to do something together.
Q How do you account for the fact that they apparently
wanted to join your Explorer post—or didn't they want
to at first?
A Well, I guess they came to the first meeting because
it was something new. It was something to do. Or per-
haps it was just to see "what's cooking!"
Q Did one boy alway seem to be the leader or did the
leadership change?
A Their leader came along with them, and it is only
natural that when you have "democratic" elections—
and I put that in quotes—these boys behaved like any
American boys and elected their natural leader.
Q Did you feel at any time this group might be a little
too tough to handle?
A My first impulse was to walk the other way. They
wore the standard "uniform"—leather jackets and mo-
torcycle boots and had long wavy hair, and a comb
sticking out of their back pockets.
Q But, it ivas up to you to prove that you could do
something to hold their interest—otherwise they would
have walked out on you, too, wouldn't they?
A That is true, but at the very first meeting we made
it seem exciting enough to them. 1 told them of some of
my exploits in the Alps. This was something that none
of their acquaintances had ever done.
Q Did this kind of put you in a tough category in their
minds, that anybody who can climb like that cant be
exactly a sissy?
A Yes, I suppose they thought I was tough, and now I
am having a hard time proving it.
Q Paul, did the parents of these boys ever show any
interest in the Explorers?
A Since many of them are from broken homes, parent
interest is not very great in the first place. The boys
were in the way at home. In the Explorer post somebody
took care of them at least one night a week and took
them away for a weekend once in awhile.
Q. Would you say that without even meaning to, you
eventually became a sort of father-substitute in the minds
of these boys?
A I don't like to admit this, but I suppose I have to.
To many of these boys I have gone beyond being their
hero; they confide in me, they talk over problems that
fathers should discuss with them. Many of them, for
example, when they go into the army, write to me week
after week; they ask for my picture.
Q Did you find these boys resented any kind of author-
ity or did they eventually begin to see the value and the
necessity of it?
A I don't know whether they resented authority, but
they simply had a different value for it. Authority meant
power—physical power, strength. It takes a period of
time to teach them that authority also means knowledge.
Certainly in the mountains the leader has the authority,
and they readily accepted it from me because of my
knowledge of mountain climbing and for the sake of
safety.
Q Paul, did they always retain their roughness in their
dealings with each other?
A No, they changed tremendously in the last year and
a half since they affiliated with the Explorer program.
They treat each other with more respect, they have a
feeling of belonging to the organization that sponsors
them, and they certainly have a better outlook towards
their community.
Q You mean you've turned them into little gentlemen?
A Well hardly, there is quite a difference between
gentlemen and the rough kind of juvenile delinquent
that is pictured in newspapers. These are basically nice
fellows; they just haven't had the advantages that you
and I have had.
Q AJow Paul, suppose that you were unable to continue
advising these boys for some reason, ivould the organiza-
tion fold up?
A I think the post would fold up unless an adult could
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 48, Number 6, August-September 1960, periodical, August 1960; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth329288/m1/7/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.