Sir Robert S. S. Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scout movement back in 1907. Like many people in those days, he recognized that the schools could not do all that was needed to help boys survive and prosper in Great Britain’s rapidly growing urban, technological society. The non-formal Boy Scouting educational program was designed to supplement what boys were learning in school. It sought to help boys learn attitudes, values and skills. When Boy Scouting came to America in 1910, it kept Baden-Powell’s original focus on personal character, physical health, practical skills for a work career and service to others. The Boy Scouts of America continues to provide today, a model program of non-formal education in which youth learn about citizenship, recreation, responsibility, caring and inter-dependency-the ways in which we are linked to others in friendships, groups, families and community.
Life now is complex, sometimes even frightening. Youth are confronted with a wide array of possibilities, choices and risks. They must learn so much about the nearby world of the neighborhood, community, town or city; they must master the intellectual and interpersonal skills to be effective in our rapidly, ever changing economy. Being a youth now is hard!
Today’s world can be a scary place for kids! Even small-town youth know that the alcohol and drugs that seem to be everywhere can hurt, even kill. And these are not the only real dangers in their lives. Life can be frightening and confusing. It is hard to know what is right; it-is hard to figure out what to do. School doesn’t teach wisdom, and often doesn’t teach how to think about situations and how to decide what is right. Programs like the Boy Scouts can help, and there is a real place for them.
Scouting comes to boys through you, the leader. It is a place where youth can struggle with trying to understand, sort through and do something about the things which matter, the ideas they believe and the people about whom they care. Scouting is a place to think about and act on what matters – one’s values.
This is what DELTA is about-helping youth master the skills they need to figure out what they believe and then to act responsibly.
DELTA builds upon and extends four core Boy Scout values:
DELTA IS BOY SCOUTING!
The core of the Boy Scout mission is to enhance youth’s ability to make ethical decisions:
It is the mission of the Boy Scouts of America to serve others by helping to instill values in young people and in other ways prepare them to make ethical choices over their lifetime in achieving their full potential.
The Viking Council of the Boy Scouts of America believes fully in this mission and has tried to implement it in its programs. in 1984, the Council surveyed parents and found that they agreed with this emphasis on personal value development, but wished more help in working it out.
DELTA is the result. This new program reflects the concerns of the organization, the Viking Council and Scouting parents. Ethics in Action means just that-that youth will define their personal values and ethics as they act, and then reflect on their actions. This is called action-learning and it is an unmatched way to enhance value development.
DELTA means Developing Ethical Leaders Through Action. The words are crucial: Through Action means action-learning. It means that it is not enough just to talk about ethics and values, but that they must be lived in everyday life. Although putting ethics into action is important for everyone, it is crucial that those youth who want to help others .find their way and achieve something in their schools, troops or communities be Ethical Leaders. Finally, Developing means that this is a process, not a one-shot experience or activity. It means that in the course of this development, youth leaders will change, and adults leaders will change too, and that the change can be ongoing.
DELTA is youth and adult development in the sphere of ethics and values-in the sphere of ideas and beliefs which really matter.
DELTA is a program constructed of old and new ideas and approaches. Some parts of it will look familiar, while others will be less so. However, any way you look at it, take it apart or rebuild it,
DELTA IS BOY SCOUTING!
Values are those things which really matter to us. They are the ideas and beliefs which we hold as special. For example, Democracy is a value; so too is caring for others. We may value certain traditions such as the Sunday family dinner or certain ideas such as that all people are equal, regardless of race, gender, age or social class.
Ethics deals with what we believe to be good or bad and with the moral obligations that these beliefs imply. Ethics involves the rules for deciding right and wrong and the code of conduct that is based on our decisions. While there are some things that not everybody sees eye-to-eye with in this area, there are a whole lot more that we do agree about. For example, to steal is wrong, for most of us. So too is physical assault. Most of us don’t think it is right to cheat in school; many of us think it is injustice to punish someone who didn’t do anything wrong. As an idea, ethics is simple, but the consequences are profound!
Values and ethics together give our lives meaning. They are the criteria we use to decide what matters to us in our everyday lives. Our uniqueness as individuals lies in part in our ethics and how we live out our values. These are the criteria we use to judge other people and decide whether we want them as friends or consider them to be enemies. Values and ethics really matter.
Values and ethics come to us from many places in a variety of ways. Sometimes directly, and sometimes indirectly, parents teach us their values and ethical rules. Schools expose us to the values and ethical codes of others beyond our own families. Our religious training helps us to master values and ethics based on ancient traditions. We learn from our friends and neighbors, even from our enemies. We cannot forget the media-books, newspapers, films, television, etc.-as other important sources of values. So are the clubs, teams and groups to which we belong. Among these, of course, is Scouting.
Scouting is a set of values and a code of ethics, It is not the uniform or ranks or badges; it is what these things stand for that matters about being a Scout. What matters is that Scouts stand for something-they stand for a set of values about living with people, animals and things. Scouting as we find it in the Oath and the Law, is about the quality of our relationships to the world.
On my honor I will do my best,
To do my duty to God and my country,
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and
morally straight.
A Scout is:
Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean
Reverent
Interest and concern about values and ethics is as old as organized living. We have carried these concerns from the caves of our ancestors to our houses and apartments of today. In ancient times, parents, teachers and youth leaders worried about the same kinds of things that we do. To be sure, the specifics may look rather different, but the similarities are there when we look closely.
At all times and in all places adults have been concerned about children and youth. To keep going, every society must deal with the questions about what kinds of adult people are wanted in its communities, and what must be done to make sure they come out that way. In the very broadest sense, education deals with what and how young people must learn to become good citizens. This is people-making; it is the development of child, youth, and adult character and personality.
In our pluralistic American society, we have a wide range of character and personality types from which to choose. In fact, this is a way that our values about social and political freedom are expressed: People can be different! Yet in our society there is broad agreement on ideal attributes and characteristics that cuts across our differences. Ethics is an area where there is some consensus. This is reflected, for example, in what "makes news." Public outrage follows the violation of trust. It becomes "ethical misconduct" when a government official gains from "conflict of interest," or a religious leader compromises his or her marriage vows, or a parent abuses a child.
As our society has become increasingly diverse, both in its peoples and in its technologies, maintaining the things that matter to us has become increasingly complex. As was true in Baden-Powell’s day, it remains true in ours: the schools cannot do it all. We cannot be content with assigning responsibility to parents, or "the community" for failure to educate youth to be the kinds of good people we want and need. Nor can we sit back and blame the television that we watch for our "loss of values." Our values say that the development of our young people must become everybody’s concern and Scouting can continue to have an important part in enhancing value and ethical development. It is not enough to react when things go wrong. We must be proactive in changing how youth learn values and ethics. We must do something!
 |
Chapter Two: Boy Scouting is Youth Development |
|
|
Return to Table of Contents |
April 14, 1996