“As you find an idea that suits your needs, I hope that you do not read it to your boys. Take the idea and express it in your own words.”
— Veteran Scouter Victor Reinholz - 1958
2023-02 Pearls of Wisdom - Quotes From Baden-Powell
82 years ago today Lord Robert Baden-Powell passed away. Here are some quotes from this great man.
This Scouter’s Minute is a redo from back before I had this podcast in 2018. This redo also seems very fitting for today, since Lord Robert Baden-Powell left this earth on January 8th, 1941, that we reflect on some of his quotes. Now, I realize that most of his quotes here do not include girls even though Baden-Powell assisted with the beginnings of the Girl Guides. That’s because this was back in the early days of the Boy Scouts and the Boy Scouts of America with only boy membership. With that being said, you could apply “girl” for most of these and they would be applicable. So, without any further ado, here are some of the awesome things that this great man said.
"We Must change boys from a 'what can I get' to a 'what can I give' attitude"
"The code of the knight is still the code of the gentleman today"
"The real way to gain happiness is to give it to others"
"In Scouting you are combating the brooding of selfishness"
"Scoutmasters deal with the individual boy rather than with the mass"
"A boy on joining wants to begin Scouting right away"
"A fisherman does not bait his hook with food he likes. He uses food the fish likes. So with boys."
"Scouting is a man's job cut down to a boy's size."
"Scouting is a game for boys under the leadership of boys under the direction of a man."
"Where is there a boy to whom the call of the wild and the open road does not appeal?"
"It is important to arrange games and competition so that all Scouts of the troop take part."
"We are not a club or a Sunday school class, but a school of the woods."
"Fun, fighting, and feeding! These are the three indispensable elements of the boy's world."
"Scoutmasters need to enter into boy's ambitions."
"A boy is supremely confident of his own power, and dislikes being treated as a child."
"Boys can see adventure in a dirty old duck puddle, and if the Scoutmaster is a boys' man he can see it, too."
"The spirit is there in every boy, it has to be discovered."
"Teach Scouts not how to get a living, but how to live."
"Can we not interpret our adult wisdom into the language of boyhood?"
"It is only when you know a boy's environment what you can know what influences to bring to bear."
"It's the spirit within, not the veneer without, that makes a man."
"It is risky to order a boy not to do something; it immediately opens to him the adventure of doing it."
"You can only get discipline in the mass by discipline in the individual."
"The Scoutmaster must be alert to check badge hunting as compared to badge earning."
"The Scout Oath and Law are our binding disciplinary force."
"A week of camp life is worth six months of theoretical teaching in the meeting room."
"A boy is not a sitting-down animal."
"Vigorous Scout games are the best form of physical education because most of them bring in moral education."
"A boy is naturally full of humor."
"An invaluable step in character training is to put responsibility on the individual."
"When a boy finds someone who takes an interest in him, he responds and follows."
"The sport of Scouting is to find the good in every boy and develop it."
"Success in training the boy depends largely on the Scoutmaster's own personal example."
"Correcting bad habits cannot be done by forbidding or punishment."
"Show me a poorly uniformed troop and I'll show you a poorly uniformed leader."
"The more responsibility the Scoutmaster gives his patrol leaders, the more they will respond."
"The Scoutmaster teaches boys to play the game by doing so himself."
"O God, help me to win, but in thy wisdom if thou willest me not to win, then O God, make me a good loser."
"In Scouting, a boy is encouraged to educate himself instead of being instructed."
"There is no teaching to compare with example."
"We do not want to make Scout training too soft."
"The Good Turn will educate the boy out of the groove of selfishness."
"When you want a thing done, "Don't do it yourself is a good motto for Scoutmasters."
"Loyalty is a feature in a boy's character that inspires boundless hope."
"See things from the boy's point of view."
"The boy is not governed by don't, but is led by do."
"The object of the patrol method is not so much saving the Scoutmaster trouble as to give responsibility to the boy."
"The most important object in Boy Scout training is to educate, not instruct."
"Scoutmasters need the capacity to enjoy the out-of-doors."
"If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk."
"A boy carries out suggestions more wholeheartedly when he understands their aim."
"The Scoutmaster guides the boy in the spirit of an older brother."
2021-11 Circle Up
You are a part of the circle of scouting, and just like the mathematical constant Pi, that keeps going on and on for infinity, the experiences and lessons learned as a scout will stay with you forever.
Today is the fourteenth day of March, which means its Pi Day! When doing a simple Google search, or by pushing the Pi button on your calculator, one will discover that the result is 3.141592654. Pi, one of the most well-known mathematical constants, is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. For any circle, the distance around the edge is a little more than three times the distance across. What’s interesting about this calculation is that it continues on to infinity. We usually stop after the 9th decimal when describing this constant due to your calculator’s display.
One circle that we create at the end of every den, pack, patrol, and troop meeting in our unit is a closing circle. This tradition dates back many years ago with other packs and troops. The Living Circle was usually held at the end of den and pack meetings. Cub scouts would form a circle, give a thumbs up with their left hand, and grab the thumb of their neighbor. While pumping their left arms up and down they would chant,”Ah-h-kay-y-la! We-e-e'll do-o-o ou-u-r best!". At the word “best” all would snap into the Cub Scout salute. There are many different variations of this ceremony. Within the troop, there are also circle up ceremonies with multiple variants. One that comes to mind is the Circle Count Off. This is where the troop circles up and each scout counts off their number individually clockwise. As the scout says their number, they place their left hand on the left shoulder of the scout to their left. When all have counted, everyone makes the scout sign and recites either the Scout Law or Scout Oath.
In our unit, pre covid, we form a circle, fold our arms right over left, and clasp hands with the person next to you on each side. We then sing a closing song, usually Scout Vespers or Paddles. After which we will have a scoutmaster’s minute.
When we create the closing circle, all are included. Parents, Scouts, Leaders, siblings, and anyone else who is in attendance. We, as scouts, have a comradery with each other. We include each other in all that we do, always. Since we are “kind” scouts, we also include those around us. Tonight as you stand hand in hand with your fellow scouts in the circle, look around at everyone. We are all brothers and sisters of this troop. We help each other at all times. We look out for each other, and not just because you were assigned to each other as buddies during the last camp out. You are a part of the circle of scouting, and just like the mathematical constant Pi, that keeps going on and on for infinity, the experiences and lessons learned as a scout will stay with you forever.
Finding Your Way
Scouts, where did the design for the Scout badge come from?
Scouts, where did the design for the Scout badge come from? Did you know that it's from the north point of the mariners' compass? Now why did Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, select that symbol for the first Scout badge? In his book, Scouting for Boys, Baden- Powell told us. He said, "It is the badge of the Scout because it points in the right direction, and upwards. It shows the way in doing your duty and helping others. "
In other words, just as the north point of the compass helps us find our way in the field, so the Scout badge helps us find our way through life. So the shape of our Scout badge should be a constant reminder to us of the things we pledge when we say the Scout Oath or Law. Let's think about that badge and what it means the next time we're tempted to do something we know is wrong.
How To Catch A Monkey
Anybody here want to know how to catch a monkey? Well, I can tell you how they do it in India...
From the 1958 printing of Ideas and Stories for The Scoutmaster's Minute
Anybody here want to know how to catch a monkey? Well, I can tell you how they do it in India. They take a coconut, cut a small hole in it, and put some rice inside. Then they tie the coconut down securely and wait for the monkey.
Monkeys are greedy and selfish. I guess you could say anybody who is greedy and selfish is a monkey. Anyway, monkeys are so greedy and selfish that they fall for the coconut trick every time.
The monkey sticks his paw into the coconut to get the rice. He gets a handful -- but then he can't get his hand out of the coconut. His fist won't go through the small hole. And he's so greedy and selfish that he won't let the handful of rice go. He just waits there with is greedy fist wrapped around the rice until the men come and take him.
Well, you've got the moral to this story: Don't be greedy and selfish, or you may make a monkey of yourself.