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Becoming a Member
What Is Boy Scouting?
ADVANCEMENT RANKS
Tenderfoot
Tenderfoot
Second Class
Second Class
First
Class
First Class
Star
Star
Life
Life
Eagle
Eagle
Purpose of the BSA
The Boy Scouts
of America was incorporated to provide a program for community organizations that offers effective character, citizenship,
and personal fitness training for youth.
Specifically, the BSA endeavors to develop American citizens who are physically,
mentally, and emotionally fit; have a high degree of self-reliance as evidenced in such qualities as initiative, courage,
and resourcefulness; have personal values based on religious concepts; have the desire and skills to help others; understand
the principles of the American social, economic, and governmental systems; are knowledgeable about and take pride in their
American heritage and understand our nation's role in the world; have a keen respect for the basic rights of all people; and
are prepared to participate in and give leadership to American society.
Boy Scout Program Membership
Boy Scouting,
one of the traditional membership divisions of the BSA, is available to boys who have earned the Arrow of Light Award or have
completed the fifth grade, or who are 11 through 17 years old. The program achieves the BSA's objectives of developing character,
citizenship, and personal fitness qualities among youth by focusing on a vigorous program of outdoor activities.
Boy
Scout program membership, as of December 31, 2003, is
997,398 Boy Scouts/Varsity Scouts
545,577 adult volunteers
52,377 troops/teams
Volunteer
Scouters
Thousands of volunteer leaders, both men and women, are involved in the Boy Scouting program. They serve in
a variety of jobs—everything from unit leaders to chairmen of troop committees, committee members, merit badge counselors,
and chartered organization representatives.
Like other phases of the program, Boy Scouting is made available to community
organizations having similar interests and goals. Chartered organizations include professional organizations; governmental
bodies; and religious, educational, civic, fraternal, business, labor, and citizens' groups. Each organization appoints one
of its members as the chartered organization representative. The organization is responsible for leadership, the meeting place,
and support for troop activities.
Who Pays for It?
Several groups are responsible for supporting Boy Scouting: the
boy and his parents, the troop, the chartered organization, and the community. Boys are encouraged to earn money whenever
possible to pay their own expenses, and they also contribute dues to their troop treasuries to pay for budgeted items. Troops
obtain additional income by working on approved money-earning projects. The community, including parents, supports Scouting
through the United Way, Friends of Scouting campaigns, bequests, and special contributions to the BSA local council. This
income provides leadership training, outdoor programs, council service centers and other facilities, and professional service
for units.
Aims and Methods of the Scouting Program
The Scouting program has three specific objectives, commonly
referred to as the "Aims of Scouting." They are character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness.
The
methods by which the aims are achieved are listed below in random order to emphasize the equal importance of each.
Ideals
The ideals of Boy Scouting are spelled out in the Scout Oath, the Scout Law, the Scout motto, and the Scout slogan. The Boy
Scout measures himself against these ideals and continually tries to improve. The goals are high, and as he reaches for them,
he has some control over what and who he becomes.
Patrols
The patrol method gives Boy Scouts an experience in
group living and participating citizenship. It places responsibility on young shoulders and teaches boys how to accept it.
The patrol method allows Scouts to interact in small groups where members can easily relate to each other. These small groups
determine troop activities through elected representatives.
Outdoor Programs
Boy Scouting is designed to take
place outdoors. It is in the outdoor setting that Scouts share responsibilities and learn to live with one another. In the
outdoors the skills and activities practiced at troop meetings come alive with purpose. Being close to nature helps Boy Scouts
gain an appreciation for the beauty of the world around us. The outdoors is the laboratory in which Boy Scouts learn ecology
and practice conservation of nature's resources.
Advancement
Boy Scouting provides a series of surmountable
obstacles and steps in overcoming them through the advancement method. The Boy Scout plans his advancement and progresses
at his own pace as he meets each challenge. The Boy Scout is rewarded for each achievement, which helps him gain self-confidence.
The steps in the advancement system help a Boy Scout grow in self-reliance and in the ability to help others.
Associations
With Adults
Boys learn a great deal by watching how adults conduct themselves. Scout leaders can be positive role models
for the members of the troop. In many cases a Scoutmaster who is willing to listen to boys, encourage them, and take a sincere
interest in them can make a profound difference in their lives.
Personal Growth
As Boy Scouts plan their activities
and progress toward their goals, they experience personal growth. The Good Turn concept is a major part of the personal growth
method of Boy Scouting. Boys grow as they participate in community service projects and do Good Turns for others. Probably
no device is as successful in developing a basis for personal growth as the daily Good Turn. The religious emblems program
also is a large part of the personal growth method. Frequent personal conferences with his Scoutmaster help each Boy Scout
to determine his growth toward Scouting's aims.
Leadership Development
The Boy Scout program encourages boys
to learn and practice leadership skills. Every Boy Scout has the opportunity to participate in both shared and total leadership
situations. Understanding the concepts of leadership helps a boy accept the leadership role of others and guides him toward
the citizenship aim of Scouting.
Uniform
The uniform makes the Boy Scout troop visible as a force for good and
creates a positive youth image in the community. Boy Scouting is an action program, and wearing the uniform is an action that
shows each Boy Scout's commitment to the aims and purposes of Scouting. The uniform gives the Boy Scout identity in a world
brotherhood of youth who believe in the same ideals. The uniform is practical attire for Boy Scout activities and provides
a way for Boy Scouts to wear the badges that show what they have accomplished.
Outdoor Activities
Local councils
operate and maintain Scout camps. The National Council operates high-adventure areas at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico,
the Northern Tier National High Adventure Program in Minnesota and Canada, and the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base
in the Florida Keys. About 70 councils also operate high-adventure programs.
The BSA conducts a national Scout jamboree
every four years and participates in world Scout jamborees (also held at four-year intervals). Fort A. P. Hill, Virginia,
was the site of the 2001 National Scout Jamboree.
The Beginning of Scouting
Scouting, as known to millions of youth
and adults, evolved during the early 1900s through the efforts of several men dedicated to bettering youth. These pioneers
of the program conceived outdoor activities that developed skills in young boys and gave them a sense of enjoyment, fellowship,
and a code of conduct for everyday living.
In this country and abroad at the turn of the century, it was thought that
children needed certain kinds of education that the schools couldn't or didn't provide. This led to the formation of a variety
of youth groups, many with the word "Scout" in their names. For example, Ernest Thompson Seton, an American naturalist,
artist, writer, and lecturer, originated a group called the Woodcraft Indians and in 1902 wrote a guidebook for boys in his
organization called the Birch Bark Roll. Meanwhile in Britain, Robert Baden-Powell, after returning to his country a hero
following military service in Africa, found boys reading the manual he had written for his regiment on stalking and survival
in the wild. Gathering ideas from Seton, America's Daniel Carter Beard, and other Scoutcraft experts, Baden-Powell rewrote
his manual as a nonmilitary skill book, which he titled Scouting for Boys. The book rapidly gained a wide readership in England
and soon became popular in the United States. In 1907, when Baden-Powell held the first campout for Scouts on Brownsea Island
off the coast of England, troops were spontaneously springing up in America.
William D. Boyce, a Chicago publisher,
incorporated the Boy Scouts of America in 1910 after meeting with Baden-Powell. (Boyce was inspired to meet with the British
founder by an unknown Scout who led him out of a dense London fog and refused to take a tip for doing a Good Turn.) Immediately
after its incorporation, the BSA was assisted by officers of the YMCA in organizing a task force to help community organizations
start and maintain a high-quality Scouting program. Those efforts climaxed in the organization of the nation's first Scout
camp at Lake George, New York, directed by Ernest Thompson Seton. Beard, who had established another youth group, the Sons
of Daniel Boone (which he later merged with the BSA), provided assistance. Also on hand for this historic event was James
E. West, a lawyer and an advocate of children's rights, who later would become the first professional Chief Scout Executive
of the Boy Scouts of America. Seton became the first volunteer national Chief Scout, and Beard, the first national Scout commissioner.
Publications
The
BSA publishes the Boy Scout Handbook (more than 37.8 million copies of which have been printed); the Patrol Leader Handbook,
which offers information relevant to boy leadership; the Scoutmaster Handbook; more than 100 merit badge pamphlets dealing
with hobbies, vocations, and advanced Scoutcraft; and program features and various kinds of training, administrative, and
organizational manuals for adult volunteer leaders and Boy Scouts. In addition, the BSA publishes Boys' Life magazine, the
national magazine for all boys (magazine circulation is more than 1.3 million) and Scouting magazine for volunteers, which
has a circulation of over 1.1 million.
Conservation
Conservation activities supplement the program of Boy Scout
advancement, summer camp, and outdoor activities and teach young people to better understand their interdependence with the
environment.
Scout Law
TRUSTWORTHY
A Scout tells the truth. He keeps his promises. Honesty is part of his
code of conduct. People can depend on him.
LOYAL
A Scout is true to his family, Scout leaders, friends, school,
and nation.
HELPFUL
A Scout is concerned about other people. He does things willingly for others without pay
or reward.
FRIENDLY
A Scout is a friend to all. He is a brother to other Scouts. He seeks to understand others.
He respects those with ideas and customs other than his own.
COURTEOUS
A Scout is polite to everyone regardless
of age or position. He knows good manners make it easier for people to get along together.
KIND
A Scout understands
there is strength in being gentle. He treats others as he wants to be treated. He does not hurt or kill harmless things without
reason.
OBEDIENT
A Scout follows the rules of his family, school, and troop. He obeys the laws of his community
and country. If he thinks these rules and laws are unfair, he tries to have them changed in an orderly manner rather than
disobey them.
CHEERFUL
A Scout looks for the bright side of things. He cheerfully does tasks that come his way.
He tries to make others happy.
THRIFTY
A Scout works to pay his way and to help others. He saves for unforeseen
needs. He protects and conserves natural resources. He carefully uses time and property.
BRAVE
A Scout can face
danger even if he is afraid. He has the courage to stand for what he thinks is right even if others laugh at or threaten him.
CLEAN
A Scout keeps his body and mind fit and clean. He goes around with those who believe in living by these same ideals. He
helps keep his home and community clean.
REVERENT
A Scout is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious
duties. He respects the beliefs of others.
Scout Oath (or Promise)
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To
keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.
Scout Motto
Be Prepared
Scout
Slogan
Do a Good Turn Daily
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