Scouting, Volume 62, Number 6, September 1974 Page: 74
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Scouting Magazine and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.
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INTEGRITY
BY GERALD A. SPEEDY
Director of Program Development.
Boy Scouts of America
♦
Though I do not wish to appraise recent events, I feel safe in saying that they
have caused integrity to be uppermost in the minds of Americans, young and
old alike. That is significant for a movement whose purpose is to inculcate integ-
rity. So maybe it is more important than ever to look into how we do it.
Recently I read an article in which a young girl observed, "Youth is in need of
more sages to show us the way we should go." I suppose that lament should
comfort an older person like me, but it disturbed me instead. Because I am still
struggling to find the way I should go. Perhaps we adults must do more than tell
young people the way they should go. Perhaps we can help them discover the
meaning of integrity and the struggle to find it. Could we convey ideas like those
which follow?
The dictionary says integrity is "adherence to a code of moral, artistic or other
values." The important words are adherence, code, values. If one is in search of
integrity, he must find something which he considers so dear that he will adhere
to it no matter what comes. It becomes a code against which he designs his
values. But integrity is a very personal thing to be defined by the individual
within a framework of responsibility toward society and self.
To hammer out one's own essential integrity is a life-long task. It is never fin-
ished. It is never simple. One must constantly ask of circumstances, "How do I
feel about that?" But as one copes with that question, the answers fall into a pat-
tern wherein one finds his own sense of integrity.
As the pattern forms, one realizes he is establishing some boundaries for his
life. He begins to find the basis for drawing some lines, establishing some limits.
But throughout one's life, his own integrity comes in conflict with the externals
surrounding him.
So what sort of sages shall we be to the young? Shall we only tell them the way
they should go? Shall we merely try to impose our way on them? Are we sure
enough merely to wish to make young people carbons of ourselves?
So far as I am concerned, if I am to be a sage at all, it is by helping youth under-
stand the nature of the struggle: the universality of struggle, the excitement of it;
the worthwhileness of it; the inevitability of it. It is by helping them to understand
integrity and discover they will have some options when their vocation offends
their integrity, rather than merely tell them which option to choose. It is by help-
ing them know the importance of articulating their own sense of integrity rather
than merely articulating it for them.
I do not feel like a sage at all, for a sage is one who is wise, prudent, venerable
— in whom good judgment always prevails. I don't even know a sage like that!
But I have learned something about the struggle for personal integrity. And the
greatest contribution I can make to youth is to awaken their love and relish for
the struggle. For it is the person who does not struggle who loses integrity. ■
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SCOUTER
SERVICE DEPT.
•
REMINGTON
MAKES SPECIAL
OFFER OF
HANDSOME BUCKLE
WITH BELT
Remington Arms Company,
Inc., has announced a special
and particularly timely offer to all
its ammunition customers.
It is a combination leather belt
and strikingly good-looking tro-
phy belt buckle. The belt is 1%"
wide, attractively saddle stitched,
dark brown in color, of top grain
Latigo leather. It has a triple snap,
folding loop at the end to accom-
modate any trophy buckle made
for 1%" belts. Four sizes are
available: small (30-32), medium
(34-36), medium large (38-40) and
large (42-44).
Obtaining the new Remington
belt and buckle is easy. Just tear
off the box tops from any two
boxes of Remington ammunition.
Send the box tops and a check or
money order for $5.00 made out to
Remington Arms Company, Inc.
Be sure to indicate the size you
want. Mail to: Remington Arms
Company, Inc., P.O. Box 9500,
Bridgeport, Conn. 06602.
Chuck Wagon Foods is now offer-
ing exclusive sales territories to
part-time men and women. No in-
vestment. Only time and effort, by
experienced campers with some
selling experience. If you have
time and need extra income a let-
ter to them will bring full details.
Address is CHUCK WAGON
FOODS, Dept. PTS, Woburn,
Mass. 01801
"Before You Hunt":
A New Film By
Federal Cartridge
Corporation
Basic hunter safety and ethics are
clearly explained in this 27 V2 min-
ute instructional film intended for
youth hunter safety programs. Us-
ing a dialog between two ani-
mated characters named
"Barney" and "Al", viewers are
taught the fundamental principles
of hunter safety, hunting eti-
quette, and game conservation. A
variety of live scenes are used to
illustrate these principles as they
are discussed.
This 16mm color film may be
obtained for free viewing by
groups. For information write Fed-
eral Cartridge Corporation, 2700
Foshay Tower, Minneapolis, Min-
nesota 55402.
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74
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 62, Number 6, September 1974, periodical, September 1974; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353624/m1/74/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.