Boy Scouts By Rachel Ison

The Scout Oath The Scout Law “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.” The Scout Law A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

Brief History of Boy Scouts Founded by Chicago publisher, William Boyce on February 8, 1910. Boyce intention was to create a business to enrich young boys. Recruited key youth officials form the YMCA to the extent Boy Scouts in its first year was ran by YMCA before breaking off as a separate organization From 1910 until 1972, Scouting's outdoor program officially used a traditional "Daniel Boone" approach, with strong emphasis on heavy-impact pioneering and camping skills. Now they emphasize “Leave No Trace” camping techniques to conserve nature.

The Purpose of the Boy Scouts The purpose of the Boy Scouts of America: Develop qualities of character Teach and promote skills of Scouting Train responsibilities of good citizenship Develop strong personal fitness Promote self reliance and family living Environmental Science Merit

Stages of Scouting Cub Scouting (Grades 1-5) Boy Scouting (Ages 11-17) Venturing (Coed Ages 14-20) Learning for Life (K-12) Exploring (Coed Ages 14-20) Lifesaving Merit

Boy Scouts The Boy Scouts have a ranking system within their program depending on merit badges earned. Ranks: Tender foot Second class First class Star Life Eagle Scout Eagle Palms

Merit Badges There are 121 merit badges that a Boy scout can earn after showing efficiency of subject to their Scout Leader. The merit badges can range from basketry to nuclear science. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJqgbG-xz60 Chemistry Merit Welding Merit Oceanography Merit

The Benefits of Scouting Build strong personal values and character Positive sense of self-worth and usefulness Caring and nurturing relationships by making new friends Learning new things like outdoor skills and skills to earn merit badges Young men use their new skills to continue on decision making and build their characters later into adulthood Camping Merit

Hiking merit Benefits (Cont’d) One study conducted by Harris Interactive in 2005 did learn that “83 percent of men who were Scouts agree that the values they learned in Scouting continue to be very important to them today, with 63 percent who were Scouts five or more years strongly agreeing with this statement.” This study also found that young boys in Scouting are more likely to excel in education and extra curricular activities than young boys who are not in Scouting. More than half of all Boy Scouts agree that Scouting has improved their performance in academic and non- academic areas, particularly in athletic skills (66%), science (56%), reading (52%), and math (50%).

Opportunities in Scouting Leadership camps Training courses Summer jobs Special programs Scholarships Emergency Preparedness Merit Family Life Merit First Aid Merit

Connection to Education Boy scouts makes a deep connection to cognitive development when a young boy learns a new skill that can be applied to education. Boys scouts build on character traits that can benefit when interacting in team conditions and interacting with adults. Reading Merit

Works Cited Websites http://www.scouting.org/FILESTORE/marketing/pdf/02-882.pdf http://www.scoutermom.com/ http://www.scouting.org/ http://www.troop97.net/bsahist1.htm#usa