 | Scout Way of Teaching Points of Scout Law |
| A One-Month Program |
| Requires Advance Planning in PLC |
| No Equipment |
The Scoutmaster who developed and used this method says that he concentrated on one single Point of the Scout Law until, as he tells it, "Carrying out that point of law finally became the second nature of our Scouts." Before launching his program he discussed it with an educator especially interested in character development, who was a member of his Troop Committee. Later he presented the plan to the boy leaders and staff at a PLC meeting.
The First Week
Two Patrols, after discussing the twelve points of the Scout Law in their Patrol meetings, decided that of all twelve it was most difficult to live up to "A Scout is Trustworthy." A third Patrol thought "Obedient" was most difficult. The Patrol Leaders reported the decisions of their members in Troop meeting and the Scouts agreed that for one week's time they would all do their best to be trustworthy in school, and then talk about it at the next Troop Meeting.
The Second Week
As the Scoutmaster moved from Patrol to Patrol listening and observing he noticed that (1) the boys said not one word about the school playground and (2) they considered it difficult for a normal boy to be perfectly trustworthy in school. His brightest PL expressed the latter idea when he said to his members, "Gee you can't do all the things both in and out of school that your teacher expects and trusts you to do." The Scoutmaster gave much thought to this remark and out of it came a workable idea.
During the Scoutmaster's Minute he urged the Scouts to try harder the second week after a number of the Scouts admitted that they had not really done their best. The meeting was closed with the suggestion that the word Trustworthy be both the "Watchword" and "Password" of the Troop for the next week. The Scouts were to whisper the watchword to any fellow-member they saw do anything they thought violated the point - "A Scout is Trustworthy." The Scouts were to whisper the password to the Senior Patrol Leader before entering the Troop meeting if they had made an effort to be trustworthy on the playground as well as in the classroom.
The Third Week
The third week provided two surprises for the Scoutmaster. The first was when several Scouts failed to give the password because they said they had forgotten all about being trustworthy, and the second when he noticed quite an improvement in Troop discipline throughout the meeting.
To use the Scoutmaster's words, "Their differences of opinion as to whether or not the actions of certain of their Troop members on the school playground had been trustworthy ended in 'hot' arguments." It seemed to him, however, that the purpose of their arguments was to get at the truth of what trustworthy really meant.
At this meeting the Scoutmaster told them that the principal of their school had called on him because she was interested in the "trustworthy" experiment they were conducting in their Troop. Furthermore, she asked the Scoutmaster to tell the teachers at the school about it so that they might follow a similar plan for all the boys and girls in the school.
During the Scoutmaster's Minute the Scoutmaster suggested that the Scouts select another Point of Law, but no, the Scouts said, "Let's work on trustworthy one more week."
The Fourth Week
Every member of the Troop gave the password, and so no time was needed to discuss "Trustworthy"; instead, the Scoutmaster conducted what he thought proved to be a thrilling experience meeting, calling upon the Scouts to tell what their experiences of the month meant to them. What they said convinced him that his Scouts were thinking, feeling and acting much as they should about the first point of the Scout Law. The next month the boys decided to "kill two birds with one stone", combining "Help other people at all times," and the third point of the Scout Law - Helpful. The Scoutmaster reported that they did remarkably well in collecting and repairing toys for needy families.
