Scouting, Volume 6, Number 15, August 1, 1918 Page: 9
16 p. : ill. ; 31 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Scouting and Recreational Leadership
By Scout Commissioner Pirie MacDonald
(From an address delivered at Teachers' College, Columbia University. Continued from July 15th Scouting)
-^T^ALKING about knots, the actual tying school, his physiology,—a thing that they scoutmaster is very frequently led by the
of the knot is an asset when well done, all get away from as far as they can—and desire to have a big showing so that he
but doing it well is infinitely more lie proceeds to take an interest, because to may be patted on the back, and the paid
valuable than the tying of the knot. By him it is the gate which opens the door to worker is led to create a paper result to
way of illustration (demonstration) the the woods. "If we do first aid so well go to that infernal committee who is pay-
clove-hitch, which is the knot that is used that I know I am able to trust one of you ing his wages; but the real work in Scout-
in a case of that kind (to go over a spile) with another, you can go camping alone ing has to be done carefully and slowly—
is one of these (demonstrations). You can- when I cannot take you." The standards so carefully and so slowly that you are able
not teach this in class. You have to take for first aid should be positive and definite, to really get your hands down deep into
every boy apart and teach it to him. You This is criticised by some scoutmasters, the soul of that youngster, so that instead
have to put your arms around that young- who, in my opinion, are merely trying to of being fair to the eye he is fair to him-
ster and take his grubby little hands in scamp the job, as being too rigid for the self.
yours and you have to show him how that boy. However, that is twaddle, and, any-
thing is done with at
solute dead certainty
every time. You have
to get him so he is
able to throw it and
be dead sure it is there
every time. You have
to get him so that he
is sure of himself.
You have to teach
him that knot from
every possible angle,
and youngsters love it
when they do it so
well that they are
proud of it. If you
don't teach boys to do
things just so well,
leave Scouting alone.
That is all there is
to Scouting. You have
to learn yourself how
to do those things—
not merely the tying
of knots, but the
doing of things well.
Importance of
Obedience
"In order to take
boys out they must be
obedient to the abso-
lute limit, or I cannot
1
T
The Boy Scouts of Holdenville, Okla., are proving most helpful to the <ers of their county,
who are unable to get labor from outside sources. Under the supervision■ of two scoutmasters,
they helped the farmers chop their cotton. They worked in the fields one month, while grown men
burnt out and went back to town.
It's Up to YOU
You are the man.
The father and mother
have other things to
do. The boy slips out
—down to the dock.
The man with the
roughest voice, who
swears hardest and
spits tobacco the
farthest—he's it. The
boy imitates that man.
There is a lure in any-
thing that they don't
know. You are the
scoutmaster, and by
really knowing how
to do things you in-
vest yourself with that
mastery that the boy
loves. He believes you.
You are the man.
If you have the
knowledge and if you
have the spirit you
are able to do incal-
culable good, and if
you have not the spirit
you are able to do in-
calculable harm. Bear
in mind that just as
sure as you slip up on
an engagement you
trust myself to take them out." That way, I am not teaching the requirements. I are putting a mark on these youngsters
is what you tell the boy, and in order am not trying to teach anything. I am that may last for generations. Just as sure
that they may be obedient in the pre- trying to get the spirit of scouting into as you promise a thing that you don't do,
cise way that you and I—the immediate you. When the boy has really mastered you are giving them precedent. Just as
scoutmaster—prefer, we teach a close his first aid he is then competent to do sure as you pretend you know how to do
order drill, the regular United States army something for "other people." a thing that you cannot do, you are giving
drill the real thing. It takes time, but it is Real Nationalism Our Aim them Precedent *°.r pretending. _ Just as
worth while. It is worth while because the sure as your decision is unjust in a case,
American boy learns the drill better and fas- The fundamental law of Scouting is that you are giving them precedent; and so on.
ter, to more advantage to himself, than any they shall "do a good turn every day." The You can see it. I do not have to explain it
other boy in the world. He does it with more most important point of the oath is that he to you. There is an opportunity in this
vim, snap and go and intelligent unison than shall help other people at all times. In work if you really want an opportunity,
any set of boys in the world. He has an that way we are putting a hole into in- The material is given to you at a stage
instinct toward solidarity when he sees dividualism; we are warring on selfishness, when it is most pliable. You are perfectly
that it is worth while. He doesn't irk at We have the boy able to help, and when a competent to become an expert and
being driven ; he loves to be driven when it boy is able to help and has been shown what thereby hold the respect and the ad-
is a thing that he realizes is the thing to do. helping is, he helps. We are locking the miration of the boys now. Put the Ameri-
So bear in mind that you have to be just, boy who helps together with the person can boy in his rightful place, which you
After that the boy realizes that obedience who has been helped, and we are creating can do because he does have adventure,
really means the coming up when a com- in the American boy that one quality which because he does have in his blood that
mand is given—on the dot—instantly. Sup- is so needed today—solidarity. We are which makes him infinitely harder to
pose they are swimming; you can blow trying to make the people interlock. They handle and better when he is finished than
your whistle and even the boy who loves won't interlock in twenty-five minutes or any other boy in the world. You are going
swimming most will turn in on the sound twenty-five years, but this is the first step to do a piece of work that this country
of the whistle. There is the safety. They of real nationalism; teaching the boy fair needs more today than ever before—that
are doing the thing they do not prefer to play, cutting down the edge of his extreme of making the American boy into a real
do and doing it well. individualism, teaching him how he can American man through making him do
Then we say: "First aid is one of the do some real thing for somebody else. things well.
things that you must learn. You must learn Now, how are we going to teach it?
first aid if you come with us. You are Make everything that you teach vital. The Mayor of Madison, Wis., recently be-
alone with another boy. He may be hurt. Teach them how to tie those knots so that came a scout by accepting membership in
You have to take care of him; and, for the their minds work. There are men who troop 33. He said on taking the Oath: "I
safety of the other boy, I must teach you." would have scouts examined and given greatly appreciate the honor done me by
There is our wedge, and the boy perhaps second-class or first-class badges, knowing troop 33 and am prouder to become a scout
will learn that which he has "chucked" in that they do not know! The volunteer than the boys are to have me for a member."
August 1, 1918 9
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 6, Number 15, August 1, 1918, periodical, August 1, 1918; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282960/m1/9/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.