Scouting, Volume 50, Number 8, October 1962 Page: 19
32 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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front UNE STUFF
This Scoutmaster thinks dads ar*
muCh with us. What do you
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I n our May-June issue Scoutmaster
B.G., who is down on dads, told of
his troop being overrun with dads-
dads acting as committeemen, board
of review and court of honor mem-
bers—sometimes objecting when then-
sons are disciplined or greasing the
way for their advancement; "Scout-
mastering" and interfering with B.G.'s
role of being almost "a second
father."
Readers, 97 of them from 31 states
and all walks of life and all positions
in Scouting, answered him. They
wrote with insight and emotion, often
both in the same letter. One wrote
from a hospital bed, another from the
United States Naval Academy. A
couple began to the effect that "This
is the first time I have ever been mad
enough to answer any article in any
magazine." The majority were up on
dads. Here are some of their answers,
up and down.
K.L.M., mother, Circle Pines, Minn.
Breathes there a man without a son,
Who's ready to see that the job is
done?
Not many, it's all too true;
So the Scouting gets left for dad to do.
D.R.G., institutional representative,
Smyrna, Ga —Youd better hope those
dads keep coming around, brother. The
old one-man-band Scoutmaster is as
dead as the dodo ... In our troop
no dad sits on a board of review or
signs a test for his son (an unwritten
rule). If a boy is disciplined, the dad
looks the other way. He may argue
with the leader or complain to the
committee later, but never in the boy's
presence.
B.R., Scoutmaster, Norfolk, Va. —
Sons do not generally enjoy having
their fathers accompany them on out-
ings, nor do they appreciate their ex-
periences when father is always around
to do the correcting ... A troop is a
place where a boy can "get away" to
be a boy, to explore nature, to do
things on his own without being
pushed. It is a place of creativity—of
growing up. Make parents understand
that their son joined your troop to
learn Scouting his way.
A.N., Rochester, N. Y.—Parents are
taking on the supervision of children's
activities to the point where the chil-
dren no longer seem to be able to go
without that crutch. The child's imagi-
nation, his versatility, his ability to
improvise, and his own method of
social control are being subordinated
to adult standards.
A.P.S., troop committeeman, Can-
ton, Ohio.—Any man who thinks he can
run a troop in this day and age by
himself is either a glutton for punish-
ment or pretty conceited on how good
he really is. No one man can, in the
short period of a weekend campout,
give every boy as much attention as he
would like to, so he has dads to help
him.
F.L.F., mother, Roswell, N. Mex. —
Generally there are two types of dads—
those who expect too much of their
sons and those who expect too little.
Neither type should be in a position
to pass final judgment on his son's
Scouting achievements.
N.H.W., Scoutmaster and dad, Sko-
kie, 111.—^4 boy will work harder if
his parents are interested and he can
talk things over with them. Scouting
brings a family closer together.
L.A.M., assistant Scoutmaster, Me-
tairie, La.—/ have noticed that one of
the major causes of a poor record of
advancement is the lack of interest by
parents. It makes a boy proud to have
his father backing him up. Is there
anything wrong with a father signing
a son's advancement card, provided
the dad is qualified? Father and son
both feel a deep sense of pride in work-
ing together.
L.M.H., assistant Scoutmaster, New
Haven, Conn.—I have found fathers of
boys in my troop to be my best volun-
teers. They have a natural interest in
helping the troop, not only to help
their own sons, but also because it is
a form of community service to which
they can point with pride. Most fathers
have a sense of fairness and are not
partial to their own sons.
R.E.K., pastor, St. Louis, Mo.—As a
Scout I learned a lot from my Scout-
master. I appreciated that he was a
man I could talk to in a "man-to-man"
relationship. This experience I would
not exchange for anything. It was part
of growing up. I do not think I would
have had the same experience if dad
had been Scoutmaster.
W. W. S., Scoutmaster, Nashville,
Tenn.—Let's face it, B.G., as a Scout-
master you hold an executive job with
an obligation to let your operating
policies be known and to make it clear
who is in charge of what . . . It's fun
to do something yourself, but don't
turn down volunteer help, and you
will see a lot more accomplished than
without those dads.
W.R.M., attorney, Santa Ana, Calif.
—Scouting should provide boys an op-
portunity to demonstrate a capacity
for independent action. A boy cannot
exercise independent judgment if his
father is present.
G.L., Boy Scout mother and Girl
Scouter, Chicago, III. — If a boy de-
serves discipline, why hold off because
(Continued on page 27)
19
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 50, Number 8, October 1962, periodical, October 1962; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth331735/m1/23/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.