A Reflection on Scouting and Country

A recent controversy over President Trump’s speech to the Boy Scouts of America’s national jamboree has left some scouts and parents questioning their membership. I thought it would be an appropriate time to share some of the things I learned in scouting and why staying involved might be the right choice for you or your son.

We are all the same

You learn that family socioeconomic status goes out the window once in the woods. We are all just guys spending time in nature. When the sun rises and the boys are hungry someone has to cook the food and someone has to do the dishes. Your parents might drive a Mercedes and your father might be an Army Colonel but the patrol leader is going to make you work regardless. You will use the same facilities, swim in the same lakes, fish, set up camp, break down camp, learn songs, and hike together as equals. When someone chars the burgers and they are still raw (me sadly) the entire patrol has to pay the price. They make sure you know how next time or simply ask you to cook something else like… eggs.  Whatever pre-determined feelings you had about someone based on peer pressure, status, age, wealth, race, religion, etc. all go out the window when you cannot get the fire started and it is getting dark outside. You learn to get things done.

Sharing is caring

You learn that despite everyone in your patrol being a valuable member not all can afford a new uniform or summer camp. You work hard through car washes, popcorn sales, and district fundraising to make sure every opportunity is provided to those who want to go. You keep expenses light and focus on cheap meals so everyone only has to chip in a few dollars. Why? Because as I said someone has to cook the food and someone has to do the dishes. Strength in numbers. The more people who show up the more who can play a game or go on a hike or better yet do a community service project. You learn through service projects like cleaning up trash from the side of the road that working to help others as a unit can have an impact. You learn that sharing resources enhances the overall capabilities of the entire group and allow you to focus your efforts. You learn that you make people happy when you leave something better than you found it. You want to make people happy.

Having a plan

You learn that politics are natural and any time a group of people cluster there will be disagreement and disillusionment. Boy Scout units are mostly autonomous being “owned” or chartered by the organization that sponsors them. The national organization responsible for who speaks at the Jamboree is more of a referee and has little to no impact on the program and activities of the scouts and scouters in the field. The strength of your program will be directly tied to the parents and volunteers who stand up to lead. As a young scout, you are given opportunities to lead your patrol or troop and interact with other troops in your district and council. Through these interactions, community service events, fundraisers, etc. you get exposed to an early age to the world of politics.

You learn how to work with difficult people, find consensus, and raise impossible amounts of money to achieve seemingly simple tasks. To do so with a random group of teenagers makes it all the more rewarding because not only is it your duty; You do it because you can. The most important thing you learn about politics is that the people who run things in our country are the ones who show up. In any scout meeting, corporate meeting, local town meeting, or otherwise if you show up with an actionable plan to achieve a worthy goal you will be 90% ahead of everyone else. Most people do not show up to the meeting at all and those who do can become your most valuable allies. People want to follow someone who has a vision and a plan to reach it. The size and scope of the vision need not be fantastic or unattainable it merely only need to be reasonable. You discover and identify with being reasonable.

Dues are due

You learn that the tax man is always coming to get you. Every Monday the old scouter who had a son make Eagle Scout decades prior yells out “Dues are due!”. Each week you have to give the troop a dollar to assert that you are still a member and help the general fund. The fund is used for new equipment, advancement patches, and helping members who may have hit hard times. You might fall six weeks behind and the adult leader comes up to you and says, “son you owe us $6 and we need that money.” “Why?” you ask, and he replies “You are here, aren’t you?” By the time you owe $12 you are begging your parents for a $20 just to get the leader off your back. At the ripe age of eleven you are expected to pay taxes to an organization you know nothing about with older members picking on you and making you do all the work. At age sixteen you decide you want to have some say in how these dollars are spent because you are getting tired of paying them. If only you knew.

Waiting your turn

You learn to be patient and be persistent and stick with the program. In my case my parents did not give me a choice and maybe you should not have one either. The reality is when you first come in at age eleven and the sixteen year olds make you do grunt work while they cook s’mores you will get annoyed. They are bigger than you and seem smarter but you also look up to them because they are in high school and you are not. You are terribly insecure but also surprisingly confident because you get to hang out with them once a week. When the dishes stack up and you are tired of your Senior Patrol Leader you will say terrible things and maybe even rebel against the system. With time and experience however you learn that seasons change, time goes on, and leadership has term limits. One day if you come in with a plan and have paid your dues you too might get elected Senior Patrol Leader. When that day comes and you get the patch marking you as the boss you get to decide who does the dishes. You learn you like deciding who does the dishes.