Self-Esteem Machine
Character is not built by protecting people from failure...The Anti-Hazing Movement
If one more person tells me we can't do a thing because it might "negatively impact a Scout's self-esteem" I'm going to go postal. The trend, of course, began with the anti-hazing movement that hit Scouting in the early 1980's. Don't get me wrong, that movement was important and long overdue. Like the French Revolution, though, once it got started it quickly grew out of control.
The anti-hazing movement was started to address a real problem that had existed in Scouting for many years. Many troops had long traditions of elaborate initiation ceremonies. Some of these ceremonies had the potential to be physically and emotionally harmful. None of them reached the proportion of idiocy associated with fraternity or military initiations, but they were still pretty intense.
To give you an idea what I mean, let me describe for you the initiation ceremony endured by a friend of mine many years before the anti-hazing movement began. The initiation began on the boy's first campout where he was given all of the jobs the older Scouts didn't want. First time campers spent most of their time collecting firewood, washing dishes, fetching water, and in some cases acting like a personal servant for the Senior Patrol Leader.
This sounds pretty tame, but it was only the beginning. The real initiation began at dusk after all the work was done. I want to warn you, this is not your typical snipe-hunt sort of initiation. A couple older Scouts assembled all of the new Scouts in the center of the campsite. Their hands were bound and the trailing end of that line was tied to the belt of the Scout in front of them. Once the Scouts were secured, they were blindfolded and lead on a long hike. Their "guide" held the line tying the first Scout's hands and there was usually a lot of stumbling, frequent turns, and low branches slapping them in the face. Apparently, the more difficult the trail, the greater the Scouts would "appreciate" their "ordeal."
After traveling this way for long enough to be hopelessly confused about their location, the Scouts were brought to a clearing where a ceremonial campfire was lit. One by one, the new Scouts were taken from the group to a place near the fire where they were told tales of deep traditions and dire consequences. Following that, the Scout was told he would now be given a special mark to "bind him to the brotherhood of the troop."
At this point the Scout was forced into a kneeling position and his shirt was removed. While still blindfolded, the Scouts were "branded" with a "secret symbol." The branding often resulted in screams and tears. It was accomplished through the use of a piece of ice and a piece of raw meat. In perfect synchronization one older Scout would place the ice against the skin of the new Scout while another older Scout would place the raw meat in the fire. The meat produced the sound and smell of burning flesh, while the ice produced the feel of a "hot" branding iron. The new Scout, of course, was held fast by one or more other Scouts.
I probably don't need to tell you what kind of effect such an ordeal has on an eleven-year-old boy. It's just this sort of thing that brought about the anti-hazing movement. The movement, however, served its purpose and in many ways kept going. Now, it is concerned with purging anything that may "potentially cause emotional harm." The problem is that the definition of "emotional harm" is such that nearly everything Scouts do qualifies.
No Hazing, No Failure
In my days as a staff member at my local council camp, we encountered a great deal of this. At Cub Day camp the staff was often admonished for handing out awards and having competitions. We were told that doing these things singles out the Cubs who aren't good at a particular activity and makes them feel bad. We could have competitions, we were told, as long as we gave everyone an award.
At summer camp, we were told many of the dining hall games we played after meals should be stopped because they often involved laughter and other things that could make a boy feel bad and therefore caused emotional harm. We could still play some of the games, but the games that usually resulted in laughter could only be played if a member of the staff was the target of the laughter.
As a Scoutmaster, I encountered an even more troubling target of the new anti-hazing movement. They had turned their attention toward the advancement requirements. Now, instead of actually completing a requirement, a Scout need only make the attempt. He should be passed even if his attempt failed because failure would make him feel bad and could lead to ridicule by other Scouts. I was told the Scout's self-esteem was much more important than whether or not he successfully passed a test.
Challenging Personal Growth
Self-esteem is pretty important. It's our sense of self; our pride in our abilities; our respect for our worth as individuals. So, you may be wondering why it's a bad thing to be concerned with a Scout's self-esteem. In actuality, it's not a bad thing. Unfortunately, what the anti-hazing movement would have us believe is completely backwards from reality.
A good example of this is the Second and First Class swimming requirements. These requirements are hard, require a great deal of confidence to complete, and are the requirements Scouts spend the most time worrying about. The anti-hazing movement would have us believe that expecting a Scout to actually succeed in passing the Beginner swim test can "negatively impact his self-esteem." Let's go with that for a moment.
If the Scout is an average Scout not a particularly great swimmer, he'll worry about the requirement for some time. When he finally steels up the courage to attempt the requirement he'll be nervous. Suppose he jumps feet first into the water, splashes a few times, and then starts to panic. That, of course, in no way meets the requirement, but according to the self-esteem folks we should pass him anyway so he won't feel bad about his attempt.
Staying away from the psychological consequences of this, suppose we go ahead and pass him. We pat him on the back, tell him he did a good job, and reward his effort with a badge. He has been deluded into believing he can swim, and we've told everyone else that he can swim. He and we move on.
Now, it's time for the Scout to attempt the First Class swimming requirements. Despite our pat on the back and our reward, the Scout knows deep inside that he can't swim. He can read the requirements and he can see that these requirements are at least twice as hard. Now, instead of having the confidence to do his best, he's twice as scared as he was the first time. The panic starts long before he jumps into the water. In fact, if he even manages to jump into the water, he doesn't bother even splashing. He knows he can't swim.
Once again, the attempt is all that's important, so the self-esteem folks tell us we need to pass him on this requirement as well. And, after we drag him coughing and sputtering from the pool after he tries to inflate his clothes, we should pass him on that requirement as well. So, we pat him on the back, tell him he did a great job, and reward him with a badge.
Now, we wonder what we've accomplished. The Scout has been awarded First Class, and the only trauma he suffered is the few moments of panic he experienced before being pulled out of the water three times. We are told that the Scout's self-esteem is in great condition because he hasn't suffered from any failure. But, he hasn't learned how to swim either. In fact, if he's a normal Scout, he's already started to think there's something wrong with him. Some of his friends managed to make it all the way to the other side of the pool, why can't he? Deep inside he knows he still can't swim. Every summer, just before he decides not to take the swim test, the thinks about it.
The more he thinks about the swimming, the more he thinks there's something wrong with him. He has no confidence around the water, even though he's been awarded First Class, because he knows he can't swim. He's not concerned with whether or not his friends will laugh at him if they find out. He's more concerned about the fact that going into deep water and not being able to swim is extremely dangerous - he could drown!
As he thinks about this and questions his abilities, he starts down the path of questioning his abilities in other areas. "If I can't swim," he thinks. "What other important thing can't I do?" After a while, he starts to question his ability in everything. Since he "passed" the swimming requirements and can't swim, he has no frame of reference to judge his abilities in other areas. Passing the requirement is no longer a guarantee that he knows the skill.
Ultimately, this leads to hesitation before taking an action. He starts to question everything he does; every decision he makes. The more he questions, the more he wonders about himself. He starts to lose confidence in himself. As his self-confidence slips, his sense of self diminishes. His pride in his abilities disappears; and his sense of self-worth dwindles to nothingness. In short, his self-esteem goes away.
Learning From Failure
For those who believe that this is an exaggeration let me assure you it is not. I cannot show you hard scientific evidence. I cannot cite psychological case histories. All I can tell you is that I am very familiar with this process. There is usually one of two possible results to this scenario. Worst case, the boy enters a period of depression. He begins to become preoccupied with death and mortality. He will likely quit Scouting and stop hanging out with his friends. His grades will drop. He'll spend most of his time alone; or in a group he will be silently detached.
Hopefully, you understand where that is going. If you don't I suggest you look into learning the signs of suicidal tendencies. Like I said, that is the worst case. The best case eventually leads to a confident, well-adjusted individual; but not without some emotional pain and suffering along the way.
While we as Scouters should be concerned with protecting Scouts from emotional harm, we should not go as far as I've described. Failure is as important to Scouting as success. In Scouting, the system is designed to make the environment safe for failure. In other words, failure in Scouting is not catastrophic. A Scout's failure, combined with the safe environment and the compassion of adult leaders leads to greater confidence and a motivation to succeed.
We all know that life is hard, especially in the adult world. We also know that two of our greatest weapons in the fight to survive that world are our sense of self-worth, and our confidence in our own ability to survive. These are elements of self-esteem, which is an element of our character. In Scouting we are in the business of building character and we do that by presenting challenges for youth and helping them develop the confidence to meet those challenges. As each challenge is met, the Scout's confidence grows, as does his self-esteem. It is the process of trying and failing then trying and succeeding that does that.