p. 5 | The Boy Scout Movement by S. B. Horton

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 21, 1914

The Boy Scout Movement

By S. B. Horton

S. B. HORTON

THERE is so much in the Boy Scout Movement to attract favorable notice that one hesitates to point out any unfavorable feature connected therewith.

That movement may be said to occupy a world of its own. It was introduced into America in 1910, under the tutelage of Lieut.-Gen. Sir Robert S. S. Baden-Powell of the British army. It has about three hundred thousand members in the United States, officered by a president, three vice presidents, chief scout, three national scout commissioners, and treasurer, and has for its honorary chief the President of the United States. Its national council includes senators and representatives of Congress, army officers, lawyers, doctors, clergymen, and other men of prominence and influence in the nation. It is not a religious organization, yet in its membership oath it declares, 'I promise on my honor to do my best to honor my God and my country.' The purpose of the movement is stated in its literature. 'The aim of the Boy Scouts is to supplement the various existing educational agencies, and to promote the ability in boys to do things for themselves and others. It is not the aim to set up a new organization to parallel in its purposes others already established. The opportunity is afforded these organizations, however, to introduce into their programs unique features appealing to interests which are universal among boys. The method is summed up in the term scoutcraft, and is a combination of observation, deduction, and handiness, or the ability to do things. Scoutcraft includes instruction in first aid, life saving, tracking, signaling, cycling, nature study, seamanship, campcraft, woodcraft, chivalry, patriotism, and other subjects. This is accomplished in games and team play, and is pleasure, not work, for the boy. All that is needed is the out of doors, a group of boys, and a competent leader.'

At the fourth annual meeting of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of Agriculture, and five United States senators spoke in approving terms of the movement. Chief Scout Executive James E. West told of the disappearance of successive barriers which, through misunderstanding, have to a greater or less extent interfered with the extension of the benefits of scouting to all boys. He referred to the fact that the National Socialistic party, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Mormon Church are now actively encouraging the Boy Scout Movement, and that chambers of commerce and boards of trade in many cities are also cooperating to make the movement a success.

Scoutcraft demands that its members shall be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent—most desirable attributes to be sure. But the question must appeal to the careful student, What reason is there for seeking other than the natural realms in which to develop these attributes? What has become of the home and the church in the matter of training the boy? Is there not positive danger that the seeds of alienation will be sown by this well-intentioned movement? As the Lutheran for January well observes, the movement is 'an irresponsible organization beyond the jurisdiction of the church. It touches the boy's life at a point where he is most responsive, and hence commands his interest and loyalty to a greater degree than either the home or the church can [apparently]. It comes into direct competition with the spiritual and redemptive agencies of the home and the church, and necessarily detracts from their influence and power. In other words, the agency that supervises the boy's sports wins him, and the agency that exercises guardianship over his spiritual and eternal interests is left a poor second. It strikes its roots in soil that is foreign to the church, and hence becomes parasitic in character.'

Furthermore, the Boy Scout Movement tends in the direction of developing the spirit of militarism; and who does not know that the spirit of militarism is a barrier and a constant menace to the development of peace and the furtherance of the golden rule doctrine? Boys with a military training are certain to long for an opportunity to show their valor upon the battle field sooner or later, and it should be remembered that the American republic was reared upon the fundamental principles of antimilitarism. In this connection we refer to the following quotation:—

'Monarchies may flourish and aristocracies may fatten on war, but republics live by minding their own business and respecting the rights of their neighbors. Under whatever name or form, the military republic becomes the subject of personal government, because militarism generates in its armies an esprit de corps, which proves stronger than the loyalty of the soldier to the law.'—'The Hand of God in American History,' by Robert E. Thompson, president Central High School, Philadelphia, page 197.

Besides, there is a tendency in such movements to monumentalize the principles of federation, or combine, against which the Scriptures admonish us. See Isaiah 8.

In the light of these observations there is necessarily a clashing of interests, especially where the responsibilities of home and church influence obtain. Where the Boy Scout Movement directs its activities in behalf of boys who are not under Christian, parental, or church influence, it may not be objectionable. But the theory that boys must be trained along the lines of least resistance is wrong in principle. The strength of the great oak is the outcome of its experience with the winds and the elements. We coincide with the editor already quoted: "It is more important for him to be trained in the sphere of his duties than in the sphere of his sports." It is true that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," yet how eminently superior from the viewpoint of fundamentals is the play which is supervised by parental and church influences; the play in which father, mother, or sister may take part if they desire. It must also be remembered that if parental responsibility is to give way to outside specialization, God is not honored. The training of the boys and girls must be supervised by father and mother if the Word of the Lord is to guide.

This article is not intended to discount the commendable aims of the Boy Scout Movement, but to indicate that by committing to foreign realms those duties in training which naturally and very properly belong to parental and church precincts, we invite alienation of the boy from the parent and the church. Any plan to develop character by training the boy in spheres beyond his years and environment is unsafe and unreliable. It will be a sad day for the country's future when character-building responsibility shall be transferred from the home to the forest, the mine, camp fires, trailing, and military discipline.