Scouting, Volume 3, Number 5, July 1, 1915 Page: 3
8 p. : ill. ; 31 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
SCOUTING
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SCOUTING —By the Rev. J. Clifford Banham
The substance of a paper read at a Scoutmasters' conference
in England-—Reprinted from "The Headquarters Gazette"
Scoutmaster, Eighth North
London Troop
(CONTINUED—The first part of this article
in the June 15 issue of Scouting.)
VOLITION ALLY, the adolescent is
stubborn and independent. Up to
twelve, the boy has been con-
trolled by the rules and regulations of
the home. The parent has been the
legislator, and implicit obedience has been
expected and enforced. But now the
parents find a new resistance. The boy
has grown a will. It is harder to • en-
force the rules. Some fathers address
themselves to the task of "breaking the
boy's will" by laying violent hands upon
him. It is not a profitable occupation. If
he succeeds he will have done his boy a
great injury. For what is a man without
a will? The will wants shaping, not break-
ing. "Up to twelve the boy's chief busi-
ness has been to grow a conscience; now
it is to get power to use his will,"1 for
character is the sum total of volitional
activities.
Do not therefore attempt to correct by
violence the wilful boy. Cures are not
effected by this primitive method. Educa-
tion is not by repression, but by inspira-
tion. We trained the boy's conscience by
filling his mind with rules, but we can train
his will only by interesting and making
active his instincts. "Will," says G. Stan-
ley Hall, "is only a form of interest." "The
moral man," says J. W. Carr, "obeys him-
self." Lancaster says: "The training of
adolescence may be summed up in one
sentence, 'Inspire enthusiastic activity.'"
In other words, we shall train the char-
acter of the boy best, not by sternly for-
bidding him to do wrong, but by giving
him noble ideals, healthy interests, and
useful activities.
The Scout Movement's Use
In conclusion, what is the bearing of
all this upon our work in the Scout Move-
ment? I will try to show you how it ap-
pears to me. I have spoken of the im-
portance of training the character of the
boy; I have tried to show how delicate
a material we have to work on, and how
difficult the work is. Now those of us
who are out for business, whose chief con-
cern is for the boys, and not for the Scout
Movement or any other particular organi-
zation, are asking: Is this or that likely
to prove the most useful and effective
method I can employ? We have but one
life to live here, and we want to put
that where it will count for most.
As I have said (and you will forgive,
I hope, the personal references), I was do-
ing boys' work before the Scout Move-
ment was introduced. I had never been
engaged actively in Boys' Brigade or
Church Lads' Brigade work, because, ad-
mirable as those organizations are, they did
not satisfy me. I had read Ernest Thomp-
son Seton's account of the remarkable
boys' work in America, known as the
Woodcraft Indians. It seemed awfully
good, but very American, and not very
practicable in England.
Then came the Boy Scouts, an adapta-
tion in many ways of the Woodcraft In-
dians. I confess I was sceptical. I saw
the uniform, and thought it grotesque (now
I think it the most becoming dress in the
world). But I do not believe in con-
demning a thing without knowing about
1 Forbush.
it. I bought "Scouting for Boys" and read
it. Though there were some things in it
I queried, it converted me. It appeared
to me at once to be psychologically the
soundest scheme for boys I had ever struck.
I do not know whether the Chief Scout
had studied psychology. If not, "Scouting
for Boys" is almost a miracle; it is cer-
tainly a very fine testimony to our chief's
powers of observation and shrewd com-
monsense, for it seems to me the scheme
supplies just what is needed. It catches
the boy's instincts, and directs them to
legitimate aims.2 It offers him activities
FOUR SIDES OF THE BOY.
MR. BANHAM'S STATEMENT OF
HOW THE SCOUT MOVEMENT
SERVES THEM
PHYSICALLY—I have described what the
boy's nature is physically. The Scout Move-
ment offers him activities after his own heart
—the physical exercises, the manual training
required for some of the badges, the camping
and the exciting games—all these are excel-
lent.
EMOTIONALLY AND SOCIALLY, the sys-
tem is equally efficient. It gives him friends;
it offers him ready made a "gang" which
expects of him loyalty and service.
VOLITIONALLY, the Scout Movement aims
at the right thing. There is not too much
drill.
RELIGIOUSLY, the movement is very
much what we choose to make it. It is well
that the religious element is there, for with-
out it it would be fatally defective. But only
the broadest outline is suggested. "My duty
to God" or "Loyalty to God" are vague but
pregnant phrases. It is for us to devise our
own methods and make our own interpreta-
tions. My only plea here is for sanity and
sincerity To force abortive
religious experiences, to expect professions
that are not genuine, or to employ religious
forms that are not understood and not real,
is to my mind to do the boy a very grave
injury.
such as he loves. It provides him a gang
which commands his loyalty and devotion.
It employs his imagination, it encourages
his altruistic instincts, it supplies the
friendship he longs for. In a word, it
offers what the growing boy most needs,
"something to know, something to love,
and something to do." 8
What the Movement Offers
I have described what the boy's nature
is physically. The Scout Movement offers
him activities after his own heart—the
physical exercises, the manual training re-
quired for some of the badges, the camp-
ing and the exciting games—all these are
excellent. Emotionally and socially, the
system is equally efficient. It gives him
friends; it offers him ready made a "gang"
which expects of him loyalty and service.
Volitionally, the Scout Movement aims
at the right thing. There is not too much
drill. Drill and nothing but drill is some-
what repressive. Enthusiastic brigade of-
ficers have told me how their companies
would stand at attention without moving
a muscle during a long inspection or even
while the officer was out of the room. It
was a triumph of discipline, but I regard
such a triumph with the same sort of won-
der as I see a circus performer make a
tiger leap through a hoop or an elephant
sit on a barrel. The good man has violated
the laws of Nature, and I personally would
almost rather see the tiger dismembering
his keeper or the elephant proceeding to
wreck the circus (provided that I could
get out!). In the very varied and useful
occupations of the Scout Movement, I
think we are carrying out the injunction,
"Inspire enthusiastic activity."
Religiously—"What We Choose to
Make It"
Religiously, the movement is very much
what we choose to make it. It is well
that the religious element is there, for
without it it would be fatally defective.
But only the broadest outline is suggested.
"My duty to God" or "Loyalty to God"
are vague but pregnant phrases. It is for
us to devise our own methods and make
our own interpretations. My only plea
here is for sanity and sincerity. Whatever
may be our conceptions of a boy's religion,
let us seek those two qualities. To force
abortive religious experiences, to expect
religious professions that are not genuine,
or to employ religious forms that are not
understood and not real, is to my mind
to do the boy a very grave injury.
The "Point of View" Most Important
My plea is that we should regard every-
thing that we do from the boy's point of
view, not from the Scoutmaster's nor the
inspector's, nor from the public's point of
view. How does this affect the boy? How
does it strike him? How does it help him?
These are the supreme things. The more
we know boys in general and our boys
in particular, the better our work will be.
It must be a great thing to drill 130 boys.
It is a greater thing to know thirty boys.
It is useful to know the rules of scouting.
It is even better to understand the nature
of boys.
Mr. West Has Conferences
in Detroit and Chicago
The Chief Scout Executive, Mr. West,
went to Detroit on June 25 to confer with
officials of the Knights of the Modern
Maccabees, with reference to the possible
extension of scout work among their
junior members.
He also conferred with Mr. Pope, the
president, and other members of the De-
troit council at a dinner in the evening.
Saturday Mr. West spent in conference
with scout officials in Chicago.
2 Home.
3 Forbush.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 3, Number 5, July 1, 1915, periodical, July 1, 1915; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282751/m1/3/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.