The Magic of Scouting

The philosophy of Scouting and our troop leaders is to teach the boys many of the same values that you as parents have been teaching at home. By using an outdoor environment, the patrol method, advancement and the exposure to adults of good character, the program teaches the ideals spelled out in the Scout Oath, Law, motto and slogan. You can read about these ideals in your son’s Handbook. Flip through the pages to recognize the skills, values and lessons that your son will learn independent of school, his parents and television.

All boys are busy with sports, music, church and many other activities in addition to Scouts. We recognize and encourage participation in all these activities that contribute to the boy’s growth.  Scouting is an excellent component in a boy’s development due to opportunities for personal success, leadership and character development. High priority is given to providing a physically and emotionally safe environment for every aspect of the program.

After understanding all of the above, we must be conscious of why boys join Scouts, which is best explained by quoting David Easton in the April ’95 edition of a UK Scouting magazine.

Why do they join..?

A youngster joins us because he wants to sleep in a tent… because that’s what Scouts do!

He doesn’t care how he puts it up and should it fall down in the night, or if he gets wet, he’ll find out why and do it differently next time– that’s the education – a result of the fun! That’s the magic of Scouting!”

Scouting is not part of the formal education system and never should be. It is part of the non-formal educational process. In effect, it’s learning from life, from new experiences, from challenges, from adventures, from friendship, from disappointments, from triumphs, and above all, from that all important desire to learn for oneself because we WANT to …not because we have to!

That’s the fun which is, I believe, the essence and magic of Scouting!