Scouting Spirit what is it and why is it so hard to teach to scouts when the first join the scouting program. What are the various levels of scout spirit can demostrate towards others. Why is scout spirit so important when dealing with the other community members you are bound to run into while wearing your uniform.
Scout spirit to me is about living up to your obligation. Your obligation for Boy Scouts in particular are set by the Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan. This obligation is something that you have to be willing to agree to and take to hear if you are going to get the most out of the scouting program as possible. Getting the most out of the program is accomplished by ensuring that you are a active participant and behave in appropriate ways that are defined by your leaders whether they are youth or adults and your obligation. But now the question becomes why is the obligation so important to our program. Our obligation defines who we are and what we stand for. Each person has a unique way of looking at what the Boy Scout movement is there for. I agree with National in the fact that we are trying to educate today's youth in making decisions that are morally and ehtically correct. Working on developing your spirit and your definition of what spirit is will continually change as the years you spend involved with the program move on.
Next defining what I like to call the levels of scouting spirit. To me their are four differnet levels that represent various levels of commiment. The first level is what I like to refer to as the beginner level because this is the level where you are introduced to the concept by becoming involved in a Unit. This level is where you start thinking of what it means to be scout but you are not questioned very often about your beliefs of the program because you have not had some experiences that will allow you to make justifiable decisions about the program. At level one you are willing to accept what the scout oath and law stands for. Level two is what I like to refer to as the denial stage. These levels of development do not necessarily represent the order in which the scout will follow. This stage of denial usually happens after the scout has settled in the Troop and learns that scouting is not just fun and games but is also work. This may occur in young or old scouts. Denial usually consists of the person wanting to challenge what the ideals of the program stand for. They are torn between wanting to follow the ideals because the rest of the Troop wants them to and wanting to lead a normal life and forget the high moral standards of the scouting program. This temptation of wnating to forget these standards of behavior is usually brought up by peers or other environmental conditions. The third level is the level that most scouts will achieve in their scouting career. These people usually stop scouting once they become a adult but the ideals still influence their behavior on a daily basis because of the fact that they realize that scouting teaches high moral standards and lifelong skills to scouts that can be used in any aspect of life. The four level is for those who become overly passionate about scouting and become obessesed with acting how the Scouting ideals demand from them. This obesesion becomes obvious over time because of how much these people are willing to put on the line to stand up for the ideals that they believe in. These are the people who will on a weekly basis are able to put in over 10 hours during that period of time. They also have no problem with putting in this much time because of the fact that they realize that the program must continue to thrive if others are to recieve the benefits of the scouting program.
Hopefully this all made sense about What scout spirit is all about.
Yours in Scouting
Mark West
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
