Something's Missing
Make sure you're not missing any of these...The Long Hike
Imagine you are planning to take your Scouts on a long hike. We know from practice what needs to be done. First we decide where the hike will start, and where the hike will end. This is the aim of our hike. The starting place and the ending place are comparable to the aims of Scouting. When a boy joins Scouting, he's essentially the raw material. What we want him to become is suggested by the aims, and we can look at him and understand how far we have to go to get there.
The next step in planning our hike is to determine the route we will take, what equipment we will need, what type of clothing the Scouts need to have, where we will stop for lunch, and what if anything we will do along the way. This is the actual plan of our hike. It is comparable to the methods of Scouting. When a boy joins Scouting, we start him on that hike and use the methods as tools to keep him going in the right direction. Whatever the situation, we use different tools in different combinations.
Keeping the aims in mind as we journey along is important. If we don't pay attention to our destination or our progress toward it, we can easily get lost. The aims help us keep the big picture in view. But the aims should not obscure our path. Scouting works best when we utilize the methods, concentrating on that, with the aims always in the back of our minds.
As in any journey, though, obstacles will crop up or we'll be faced with what looks like a roadblock. This is when we have to be careful. The immediate route around the obstacle may not be the best route, and sometimes roadblocks don't really block the road.
Taking A Shortcut
In Scouting, these things usually manifest themselves as an individual Scout or a type of Scout who doesn't seem to be affected by our efforts. Faced with this, unfortunately, our first response tends to be to question the route we've chosen - the methods we are using. The first apparent solution to the problem is to change the route or take a shortcut. This translates in Scouting to ignoring an inconvenient method, or changing the method so it will work. The question is, what do we gain by this?
Scouting Ideals
The ideals of Scouting are the trail markers, landmarks, the stars we look to for guidance. They aren't our destination; they're the trail we follow to get to it.
The Patrol Method
The patrol method is a building block of Scouting. When it's used, the trail is easier to follow, when it's not used it's not hard to get lost.
The Outdoors
The outdoors is the belt of Scouting. It's what keeps Scouts in Scouting and moving forward on the trail.
Advancement
Advancement is the steps we take to get where we're going. Every step we take gets us closer to our destination.
Personal Growth
Personal growth is the joy we feel getting where we're going. Every step we take makes us happy to be here, impressed with where we've been, and determined to get where we're going.
Adult Association
Adult association is our compass, guiding us along the way, keeping us pointed in the right direction, and showing us the way to go.
Leadership Development
Leadership development is our walking stick. We use it to overcome obstacles, help our fellow hikers, and to help ourselves along when the trail gets tough.
The Uniform
The uniform is the shirt on our backs, the shoes on our feet, and the things we have in common that keep us together as we go.
Keep To The Path
Adult leaders are the guides on our little hike. To them falls the responsibility of keeping the hikers on the right path and not getting lost. That's a pretty big responsibility. Our commitment in Scouting is that we will set the example and do the best job we can for the boys in our charge. Therefore, it's important for us to be careful when making changes to our route. We need to make absolutely sure that a shortcut will have the effect we want without adversely affecting our environment or progress. We need to weigh each change and always keep the aims in mind. Otherwise, at the end of our journey, something may be missing.