The following Ethics in Action videos are available for DELV and DELTA through the Viking Council. The first four are stories that explain and detail some of the important Ethics in Action concepts. The fifth, "The Foxes and the Hound", is a stop-and-do film during which you lead your troop through a problem-solving exercise. You apply the skills learned in the video to the story and then to problems in your own troop.
"Out of the Woods"
Time required: 19 minutes. For parents, community leaders, chapter partners and others. An overview and rationale for Ethics in Action.
In "Out of the Woods", you meet many of our DELV and DELTA Scouts. You are introduced to Paul the Scoutmaster, who is out camping with his troop. During a visit by a mysterious stranger, Paul envisions a program that seems ideal for helping Scouts learn and live the values inherent in Scouting. He looks back at his own past to understand problems that boys in his troop are having, and into the future for their solutions.
"Reflecting"
Time required: 13 minutes. For adult leaders and camp staff. An explanation of the concepts of reflecting and processing.
"Reflecting" shows a den leader and a Scoutmaster helping Scouts to make sense out of an activity so they can learn from experience. In a camp setting, the value and values of Scouting are made clear to the boys through the process of reflecting.
"Ages and Stages"
Time required: 13 minutes. For parents, Scout leaders, camp staff, and other adults. A brief look at stages of youth development.
"Ages and Stages" provides a glimpse at the natural progression of ethical development in youth in order to promote an understanding of and a good working relationship with adolescents. The setting is a summertime family reunion, with children ranging in age from seven to sixteen. We learn about the profound developmental differences between the ages, and how changes come about over time in a child’s life.
"Make A Difference"
Time required: 12 minutes. Four Scouts and Scouters, and Parents. An explanation and justification for the DELTA Good Turn.
A rock This film explains the who and why of the DELTA Good Turn. A Rock star magically steps out of a poster on a boy’s bedroom wall. He teaches the boy not only how to organize his troop in a DELTA Good Turn, but shows him the answer to his questions "What’s in it for me?"
"The Foxes and the Hound"
Time required: 13 minutes. For Scouts and Scouters. An exercise in problem-solving.
This video will help you give your Scouts a plan for solving problems in a thoughtful, ethical way. Its message is illustrated through a fable, but carries into a troop setting where boys use the plan to solve their own problems. At two points in the story, you’ll be instructed to turn off the video for a leader activity. Those are times when you should lead a discussion, using questions like those suggested in the video.
A Leader’s Guide for this video is included in this chapter, p. 115.
These videos can be shown at troop meetings, committee meetings, parent meetings and the like. Although they were written for scouting audiences, anyone watching them would benefit from viewing them. Don’t hesitate to share them with your colleagues, or to make them available to your boys to watch with their families!
After you turn off the video the first time, begin the discussion by talking about the foxes’ point of view.
In the video, the hound tells us how he feels. But if we are to understand the entire problem, we need to know how the foxes feel, too.
When your Scouts have listed their feelings, encourage them to define the problem they’re describing in very precise terms.
Answering questions like these helps Scouts see what problems are on both sides. They come closer to knowing what another person is feeling and that’s empathy!
When your Scouts understand the problem thoroughly, it’s time to begin an invention session. Inventors everywhere are solving problems with creative solutions. Ask your Scouts to be come inventors, too. Lead an invention session much as you lead a brainstorming session. Here are some ground rules:
Begin the selection process when the Scouts have generated several ideas. Try to choose a solution that helps both sides. Talk about the suggestion offered here.
Circle your selection. Turn on the video again after you’ve talked through the foxes dilemma and have come to a consensus on a solution.
In the next section, the video troop practices empathy, invention, and selection on its problem with Alan. In the second leader activity period, you may focus on the problem with Alan or on a real problem in your own troop.
Remember that in this fable, the hound is big and clumsy, and that makes him behave in a certain way. But he can’t do much about either his looks or his behavior. Ask your Scouts to think about their own troop.
These are the kinds of questions that lead to empathy. When you have completed the problem-solving steps of invention and selection, compare your solution with the video troop’s solution. In the video, one Scout suggested that the troop should tell Alan he couldn’t belong there.
Turn on the video when your troop has solved Alan’s problem.
This video ends just as someone in the troop is about to act on the solution. But finding the solution doesn’t end the problem. Problem solving takes courage. One of these Scouts must step up and say "Alan we’d like to talk to you about something." That can feel risky.
And besides feeling risky, having to point out problems requires tact and care to minimize hurt feelings. Often both sides must compromise. The boys in the video troop want to let Alan know they’d like to be friends with him. They’ll compromise for the sake of the troop by changing the way they’re treating him.
This plan for problem-solving is not the only plan, but it’s a beginning, and an opportunity for dialogue between Scouts and leaders. The video could prompt some big questions from your Scouts – ethical issues do provoke serious consideration. It’s not a leader’s task to give Scouts answers to these questions, but it is their job to help boys find good answers within themselves.
Often the best approach is the most simple. Can your Scouts answer how they would feel if they were a fox, a hound, or Alan? Invite them to take that other person’s perspective, see the world through his or her eyes. If the choices they make for someone else were made for them as well, would they be happy with the outcome?
This list of selected references is provided for Scout leaders and parents who would like to read more about moral development in children or teaching ethical decision-making. The references offer a variety of viewpoints. Most are currently available in paperback editions through your local book store, or can be found in libraries.
Publications of the Boy Scouts of America.
These publications are available through your local Scout shop.
Publications of the Viking Council –
The following Ethics in Action resources are available through the Viking Council, Boy Scouts of America, 5300 Glenwood Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55422.
Benson, Peter, Williams, Dorothy, and Johnson, Arthur. The Quicksilver Years: The Hopes and Fears of Early Adolescence. Harper & Row, 1987.
Summarizes several national surveys by the Search Institute based in Minneapolis, which in total polled 8,000 youth in grades five through nine, and over 10,000 of their parents. The report includes information about beliefs, values, worries, school life, and more; it offers comparisons of parent and youth responses.
Cherry, Clare. Please Don’t Sit on the Kids: Alternatives to Punitive Discipline. David S. Lake, Publishers, 1983.
Written for teachers, but relevant for anyone who works with groups of children. Rejects the notion that "discipline equals punishment" and suggests alternatives.
Claby, John, and Elias, Maurice. Teach Your Child Decision Making. Doubleday, 1986.
Based on the premise that decision-making can be taught in an 8 step process. Written for parents, and provides them a way of analyzing their own decision-making patterns. Many examples of situations, some unexpected and unusual.
Crary, Elizabeth. Kids Can Cooperate: A Practical Guide to Teaching Problem-Solving. Parenting Press, 1984.
Written for parents of school-age children; suggests problemsolving procedures and ways of teaching them.
Damon, William. The Moral Child: Nurturing Children’s Natural Moral Growth. The Free Press, 1988.
A "state of the art" summary of what is known about children’s growth. Advocates a relationship of "respectful engagement" that provides consistent adult response yet allows the child to experience personal responsibility and to make real moral choices. Suggests that service projects and similar activities are ways to affirm positive values in children.
Elkind, David. The Hurried Child: Growing Up Too Fast Too Soon. Addison-Wesley, 1981.
A harsh look at the pressures and stress that American society places on its children and youth to push them to premature adulthood.
Eyre, Linda and Eyre, Richard. Teaching Children Responsibility. Ballantyne Books, 1984.
Suggests practical ways of gaining a child’s cooperation in meeting his or her own responsibilities; somewhat heavy emphasis on obedience and discipline. Written by a couple with eight children.
Fasteau, Marc. The Male Machine. Delta Books, 1975.
One man’s search for the forces that shaped his own life and those of other American males. Argues for the need to adjust our institutions and patterns of living to support today’s complex and interdependent relationships.
Fleugelman, Andrew (ed.) The New Games Book: Play Hard, Play Fair, Nobody Hurt. Doubleday/Dolphin, 1976.
Fleugelman, Andres. More New Games … and Playful Ideas for The New Games Foundation. Doubleday/Dolphin, 1981.
Both books stress experiencing play for its own sake. Dozens of games are described and grouped according to the number of participants and activity level.
Gilligan, Carol. In A Different Voice. Harvard University, 1982.
Challenges Kohlberg’s view that morality develops according to one’s sense of justice and argues that a second perspective, that of caring for the welfare of others, is equally valid. Asserts that males tend to see the world in terms of autonomy (and are threatened by intimacy), while females view moral issues in terms of connnectedness (and are threatened by isolation).
Johnson, David and Johnson, Frank. Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills. 2nd ed. Prentice-Hall, 1982.
College textbook for small group dynamics and group skills development. Reviews current theory on group processes and integrates it with experiential learning exercises.
Lickona, Thomas. Raising Good Children From Birth Through The Teenage Years. Bantam Books, 1983.
Describes each stage of moral development according to Kolhberg and suggests ways to relate to and challenge children in age-appropriate ways. Written for parents.
Orlick, Terry. The Cooperative Sports and Games Book: Challenge Without Competition. Pantheon Books, 1978.
A collection of new games for children ages 3 through twelve. They are games of acceptance, cooperation and sharing for families and communities.
Orlick, Terry. The Second Cooperative Sports and Games Book. Pantheon, 1982.
Orlick’s second book offers over two hundred more games. This book includes games for adolescents and adults as well as a large number of activities from other cultures.
Ozer, Mark with Jean Collins. The Ozer Method: A Breakthrough Problem–Solving Technique for Parents and Children. William Morrow, 1982.
Focuses on solving problems within the family; suggests that by sharing problem-solving skills with children, they will be encouraged to move from taking orders to making responsible decisions.
Papilia, Diane E. and Olds, Sally W. A Child’s World: Infancy through Adolescence. McGraw-Hill, 1979.
A very readable basic text on child development covering basic theory and citing numerous research studies.
Reimer, Joseph, Pritchard, Diana, and Hersh, Richard. Promoting Moral Growth: From Piaget to Kohlberg. Longman, 1983.
Based on the work of Piaget and Kolhberg, presents a summary of theory and provides examples and teaching strategies for moral growth education using cognitive-development approach. Written for teachers.
Rohnke, Karl. Cowstails and Cobras. Project Adventure, 1975.
This is the definitive book on initiative games, low course activities and adventure education. An excellent resource for outdoor educators.
Schulman, Michael, and Mekler, Eva. Bringing Up a Moral Child: A New Approach for Teaching Your Child to be Kind, just, and Reasonable. Addison-Wesley, 1985.
Concentrates on processes rather than current approaches to moral education. A family-based program, it offers practical strategies for dealing with problems and building positive behavior patterns.
Simon, Sidney, B., and Olds, Sally W. Helping Your Child Learn Right From Wrong: A Guide to Values Clarification. McGraw-Hill, 1976.
Winn, Marie. Children Without Childhood. Pantheon, 1983.
Asserts that there have been profound changes in American childhood since the 1960’s. Parent attitudes have shifted from protection of innocence to early exposure to adult experience as preparation for a harsh world.
Burns, Marilyn. I Am Not A Short Adult: Getting Good at Being a Kid. Little, Brown, 1977.
To quote from the introduction: "Maybe you’ve noticed that some of the grown-ups in your life act like being a kid is mostly about getting ready to be an adult … This is a book about being a kid now, not preparing for later. Later is going to come no matter what."
Burns, Marilyn. The Book of Think (Or, How to Solve a Problem Twice Your Size). Little, Brown, 1976.
Suggests that ways of solving some of the book’s puzzles and riddles might be applied to real life situations. A major theme is that sometimes solutions evade us because we get in the way.
Schneider, Tom. Everybody’s A Winner: A Kid’s Guide to new Sports and Fitness. Little, Brown, 1976.
Invites young people to think about winning and losing in new ways. Winning may nave more to do with what you learn than being the best. Good information about physical fitness; contains may new ideas and describes new games.
(from DELV manual).
Piaget sees human cognitive development as a sequence of four stages. The way any given child will progress through these stages depends on a unique set of interactions between his own maturation and the environment in which he is growing up.
1. Sensorimotor (Birth to 2 years)
The newborn responds to his environment primarily through reflexes; through the use of his senses, he gradually acquires the ability to adapt to his environment and to organize his own activities within it. Although he can do a lot of things, he lacks ability to "plan ahead."
2. Preoperational (2 to 7 years)
Children in this stage will have basic language skills, and will be able to imitate the behavior of others. They still are very self-centered in their thinking, however. While some of their thinking may appear "logical," they have many lapses, and still lack the ability to predict outcomes.
3. Concrete Operations (7 to 11 years) In this stage, children learn to classify things and develop rudimentary understandings of space, time, numbers, and logic, as they relate the immediate environment. They still find it difficult to understand relationships in ways that will allow them to arrange things ahead Of time, however, and their assumptions about the way things work are still not those of the adult world.
4. Formal Operations (11 to adulthood) When he has reached this stage, a child can think, using abstractions. He is able to understand the basic principles of causal thinking, making it possible to anticipate consequences of his behavior. He can see the world in terms of a "scientific experiment," and begins to reach appropriate deductions about the way thing work.
Based on the work of Jean Piaget and associates.
For Kohlberg, moral development is the unfolding of a child’s sense of justice. He has identified six phases, beginning at about age 4, in the ways children reason about moral issues. The stage is set for moral development in the earlier years of infancy and toddler-hood, when youngsters establish warm, trusting attachments to others. As they develop confidence in themselves, they are able to take first steps toward independence and becoming their own persons, although they are very self-centered and tend to define what is "right" in terms of what they, themselves want!
Level 1 (4 to 10 years)
Type 1. Punishment and Obedience
Morality at this point is a matter of unquestioning obedience; children do what is "right" to avoid punishment. They have begun to see the value of trying to get along with others.
Type 2. Instrumental Exchange
Children begin to relate conformity to self-interest, as in the "You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours" approach. They begin to sense that they have rights, too. justice tends to be defined as, "an eye for and eye."
Level 2 (10 to 13 years)
Type 3. "The Golden Rule"
Children are able to judge the intentions of others as well as their own. For the first time, they really understand the part of the Golden Rule that says, "as you would have them do unto you." They have developed a sense of what a "good person" is.
Type 4. Maintaining social order
In this phase, children are capable of asking the question, "What if everybody did it?" They are concerned with doing their duty, by respecting higher authorities, so as to maintain the social order.
Level 3 (13 through adulthood; perhaps never)
Type 5. Morality of contract
At this level, they approach morality rationally, and value the rule of the law and can respect the will of the majority.
Type 6. Universal ethical principles
They can separate a sense of "what should be" from "what is." They may act according to their own standards, regardless of what others might think, feeling that they would condemn themselves if they did not.
Based on the work of Lawrence Kohlberg and associates.
Understanding another’s point of view, or "taking the role of the other" is related to moral reasoning. Selman’s views of the ways these skills develop are closely linked to the thinking of Piaget and Kohlberg.
Stage 0. Egocentric Roletaking (4 to 6 years)
In this period, a child sees his way of interpreting events as the only way. He cannot distinguish between his own motivations and those of others.
Stage 1. Informational Roletaking (6 to 8 years)
A child has begun to understand that another person may act for the same reasons as he does, or from motives that differ from his own.
Stage 2. Self-reflection (8 to 10 years)
A new level of awareness is added; not only does he (Person A) understand that another (Person B) can have his own motivations, but that "B" is also taking what he thinks into account.
Stage 3. Mutual Roletaking (10 to 12 years)
The child can go even a step further to realize that there may be other points of view beside those of the immediate actors in a situation. They are able to make judgments about how various others might view things.
Stage4. Social System Roletaking (12 or later)
They are now able to make generalizations about view-points, and see that a "societal" perspective is needed to maintain social order.
Based on the work of R. L. Selman.
Scouts earn a DELTA segment for their camp patch by completing:
* Meet an advancement requirement.
Scouts earn a DELTA patch representing the completion of the following requirements:
* Meets an advancement requirement.
After earning a DELTA Guide patch, a Scout may complete the following requirements to earn either a personalized, engraved DELTA name tag or a DELTA neckerchief.
* Meets an advancement requirement.
After earning the DELTA Trailblazer, Scouts may be awarded either a DELTA baseball cap, a DELTA T-shirt, a neckerchief or a personalized name tag upon completion of the following requirements:
* Meets an advancement requirement.
DELTA Good Turn
Training for D.G.T.
Games
Stories/Problems
Leadership Activities
Other
Training Session, Aug.31, Viking Council Office, 7:30 pm.
DELTA Good Turn
Follow D.G.T. planning materials at Troop meetings
Contact Agencies
I.D. Comm. Vol. Coord.
Show Video on D.G.T.
Games
One Meeting: Do SE-1 "Centipede Race."
One meeting: Do IG-16-"Hog Call."
Stories/Problems
Leadership Activities
"Developing a Troop Profile"- (part of D.G.T.)
Other
Schedule parent meeting – show "Out of the Woods."
DELTA Good Turn
Continue D.G.T. planning.
Finalize projects
Assign Scouts to D.G.T. site.
Set schedules.
Arrange Transport to D.G.T.
Games
Do at least one SE at Camporee and one IG-Your choice!
Try IG-14 "Human Ladder"
Stories/Problems
Leadership Activities
Other
Use Scouting for Food activities.
DELTA Good Turn
All Scouts should have had at least two D.G.T. visits in
by the end of the month.
"Guide’ Reg. #1 completed.
Games
Choose 1 IG new or old!
Stories/Problems
Show Scouts video on Problem Solving
Read 2 "RWW" stories this month.
Adults lead process.
Leadership Activities
Other
Scouting for Food, Nov. 5 and Nov. 12.
DELTA Good Turn
Share Holiday Spirit with D.G.T. friends!
2 hours of D.G.T. for each Scout.
Games
Do SE, use as a game
Stories/Problems
Read at least I story in patrols.
Adults lead processing and problem solving.
Leadership Activities
Other
DELTA Good Turn
Adults talk with Scouts individually or in small groups
about their D.G.T. experiences.
2 hours D.G.T. for each Scout.
Games
Choose an IG or an SE for at least meetings.
Stories/Problems
Read at least 1 story in patrols.
Adults lead processing and problem solving.
Complete Guide Req. #5.
Leadership Activities
Training Session, Jan. 18, Viking Council Office, 7:30 pm.
Other
DELTA Good Turn
Minimum of 2 hours D.G.T. service for each scout.
Complete Guide Req. #2
Games
1 IG or SE
Complete "Guide" Reg. #4
Stories/Problems
Read at least I story in patrols-boys solve problems on own with an Adult Observer.
Leadership Activities
"What’s a Leader?" activity
Other
Schedule meeting-with parents and show video on Youth
Development
Could be at Court of Honor.
DELTA Good Turn
Minimum of 2 hours D.G.T. service for each scout.
Indiv. or sm. group conference w/Scouts on D.G.T. exper.
Complete Guide Req. #3
Games
Boy leaders lead IG or SE and processing
Meets "Trail Blazer" Req. #3
Stories/Problems
Boys read at least 1story in patrols and solve prob. on
own.
Report to Troop Completes "Trail Blazer" Req. #4
Leadership Activities
"Me a Leader… You’ve got to be Kidding."
Other
DELTA Good Turn
Minimum of 2 hours D.G.T. service for each scout.
Indiv. or sm. group conference w/Scouts on D.G.T. exper.
Complete "Trail Blazer" #2
Games
Boys lead and process IG or SE at 2 Troop meetings.
Stories/Problems
Boys read at least 1 story in patrols and solve prob. on
own.
Report solution to Troop.
Leadership Activities
Other
Submit D.G.T. to Governor’s Youth Service Recog. Program!
DELTA Good Turn
Minimum of 2 hours D.G.T. service for each scout.
Complete ‘Trail Blazer" #2
Games
Boys lead and process IG or SE at Camporee.
Stories/Problems
Boys read at least 1 story in patrols and solve prob. on
own.
Report solution to Troop
Leadership Activities
Other
Schedule meeting w/ parents to present program on D.G.T.
DELTA-Present Awards
Can meet Req. #3 on "Leader" award.
DELTA Good Turn
Plan a party or event w/D.G.T. friends to close out the
year w/ them!
Troop evaluates experience.
Games
Stories/Problems
Leadership Activities
Other
DELTA Troops meet at U of M for Evaluation and Recognition.
DELTA Good Turn
Games
Stories/Problems
Use stories at Camp for our Camp.
Leadership Activities
Other
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February 8, 1998