AS A PRELIMINARY word of comfort to intending Scout masters, I shouldlike to contradict the usual misconception that, to be a successful Scoutmaster,a man must be an Admirable Crichton - a know-all. Not a bit of it.
He has simply to be a boy-man, that is:-
He must have the boy spirit in him; and must be able to place
himselfon a right plane with his boys as a first step.
He must realise the needs, outlooks and desires of the different
agesof boy life.
He must deal with the individual boy rather than with the mass.
He then needs to promote a corporate spirit among his individuals
togain the best results.
With regard to the first point, the Scoutmaster has to be neither schoolmasternor commanding officer, nor pastor, nor instructor. All that is neededis the capacity to enjoy the out-of-doors, to enter into the boys' ambitions,and to find other men who will give them instruction in the desired directions,whether it be signalling or drawing, nature study or pioneering.
He has got to put himself on the level of the older brother, that is,to see things from the boy's point of view, and to lead and guide and giveenthusiasm in the right direction. Like the true older brother he has torealise the traditions of the family and see that they are preserved, evenif considerable firmness is required. That is all. The Movement is a jollyfraternity, all the jollier because in the game of Scouting you are doinga big thing for others, you are combating the breeding of selfishness.Regarding the second point, the various handbooks cover the successivephases of adolescent life.
Thirdly, the business of the Scoutmaster-and a very interesting oneit is-is to draw out each boy and find out what is in him, and then tocatch hold of the good and develop it to the exclusion of the bad. Thereis five per cent of good even in the worst character. The sport is to findit, and then to develop it on to an 80 or 90 per cent basis. This is educationinstead of instruction of the young mind.
Fourth. In the Scout training the Patrol or gang system gives the corporateexpression of the individual training, which brings into practice all thatthe boy has been taught.
The Patrol System has also a great character-training value if it isused aright. It leads each boy to see that he has some individual responsibilityfor the good of his Patrol. It leads each Patrol to see that it has definiteresponsibility for the good of the Troop. Through it the Scoutmaster isable to pass on not only his instruction but his ideas as to the moraloutlook of his Scouts. Through it the Scouts themselves gradually learnthat they have considerable say in what their Troop does. It is the PatrolSystem that makes the Troop, and all Scouting for that matter, a real co-operativeeffort.
Success in training the boy largely depends upon the Scoutmaster's ownpersonal example. It is easy to become the hero as well as the elder brotherof the boy. We are apt, as we grow up, to forget what a store of hero worshipis in the boy.
The Scoutmaster who is a hero to his boys holds a powerful lever totheir development, but at the same time brings a great responsibility onhimself. They are quick enough to see the smallest characteristic abouthim, whether it be a virtue or a vice. His mannerisms become theirs, theamount of courtesy he shows, his irritations, his sunny happiness, or hisimpatient glower, his willing self-discipline or his occasional moral lapses-allare not only noticed, but adopted by his followers.
Therefore, to get them to carry out the Scout Law and all that underliesit, the Scoutmaster himself should scrupulously carry out its professionsin every detail of his life. With scarcely a word of instruction his boyswill follow him.
The Scoutmaster's job is like golf, or scything, or fly-fishing. Ifyou "press" you don't get there, at least not with anything likethe extent you do by a light-hearted effortless swing. But you have gotto swing. It's no use standing still. It is one thing or the other, eitherprogress or relax. Let us progress-and with a smile on.
Let the Scoutmaster remember that in addition to his duty to his boyshe has a duty also to the Movement as a whole. Our aim in making boys intogood citizens is partly for the benefit of the country, that it may havea virile trusty race of citizens whose amity and sense of "playingthe game" will keep it united internally and at peace with its neighboursabroad.
Charged with the duty of teaching self-abnegation and discipline bytheir own practice of it, Scoutmasters must necessarily be above pettypersonal feeling, and must be large-minded enough to subject their ownpersonal views to the higher policy of the whole. Theirs is to teach theirboys to "play the game," each in his place like bricks in a wall,by doing the same themselves. Each has his allotted sphere of work, andthe better he devotes himself to that, the better his Scouts will respondto his training. Then it is only by looking to the higher aims of the Movement,or to the effects of measures ten years hence that one can see detailsof to-day in their proper proportion.
Where a man cannot conscientiously take the line required, his one manlycourse is to put it straight to his Commissioner or to Headquarters, andif we cannot meet his views, then to leave the work. He goes into it inthe first place with his eyes open, and it is scarcely fair if afterwards,because he finds the details do not suit him, he complains that it is thefault of the Executive.
Fortunately, in our Movement, by decentralisation and giving a freehand to the local authorities, we avoid much of the red tape which hasbeen the cause of irritation and complaint in so many other organisations.
We are also fortunate in having a body of Scoutmasters who are large-mindedin their outlook and in their loyalty to the Movement as a whole.
A man dared to tell me once that he was the happiest man in the world!I had to tell him of one who was still happier myself.
You need not suppose that either of us in attaining this happiness hadnever had difficulties to contend with. Just the opposite.
It is the satisfaction of having successfully faced difficulties andborne pin-pricks that gives completeness to the pleasure of having overcomethem.
Don't expect your life to be a bed of roses; there would be no fun init if it were.
So, in dealing with the Scouts, you are bound to meet with disappointmentsand setbacks. Be patient: more people ruin their work or careers throughwant of patience than do so through drink or other vices. You will haveto bear patiently with irritating criticisms and red tape bonds to someextent but your reward will come.
The satisfaction which comes of having tried to do one's duty at thecost of self-denial, and of having developed characters in the boys whichwill give them a different status for life, brings such a reward as cannotwell be set down in writing. The fact of having worked to prevent the recurrenceof those evils which, if allowed to run on, would soon be rotting our youth,gives a man the solid comfort that he has done something, at any rate,for his country, however humble may be his position.
This is the spirit with which Scoutmasters and Commissioners, Committeemen,instructors, organisers and secretaries-the word "Scouter" describesthem all-work in the Boy Scout Movement.
The credit for the Organisation and the spread of the Scout Movementis due to this army of voluntary workers. Here we have remarkable if silentevidence of the fine patriotic spirit that lies beneath the surface ofmost nations. These men give up their time and energies, and in many casestheir money as well, to the work of organising the training of boys, withoutany idea of reward or praise for what they are doing, They do it for thelove of their country and their kind.
