The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1922-04-04
SCOUT EDUCATION REAL
CURE FOR "FIDGITARIANISM''
By George S. Wyckof, scout execu-
tive, Terre Haute, Ind.

made the first man he mad. the world
J. gnifcant, but when he made the
first coy he made it interesting.
Teachers know only too we'll the cap
acity boy has for making things in
teresting, and this capacity for MAX
ing things interesting is nothing more
nor less than what we have long call
! ed the "boy problem" And did you
ever stop to think that all Of our ia
III liar prcDlems-the crime problem,
The labor problem, the church prob
lem, the political problem, the war
problem, are but the "boy problem"
grown up?
1t has appeared to another obser';-
er that imam is made Of dust, but
boy S made OF dust-pius- us-electricity.
A teacher would express this by say
ing the boy IS fidgetarian, ard ed
getarian;sln" analyzed is found to be
constituted Of nothing more alarming
than instincts, to run, climb, throw,
gang build, hide, collect, make CAMP
fires and the dramatic and religious
instincts.
All of these instincts, inconvenient
as they are in the school room, are
nevertheless the "tadpole's tall" They
can not be cut off; they must be ab-
soroed and utilized for full develop
ment. And as the highest aim Of ed
ucation is full development, we have
in the scout pls@>for applying these
instincts a great big educational pro-
gram to supplement that of the
schools, that of the church and that
of the home.
And, of course, this point in a dis
course on the educational aspect of
scouting could not be passed without
reference to Dean Russell's celebrat-
ed statement that "the scout program
is the most significant educational
| movement of the age" 1t Is char
| acter education by "directed doing
of the things that a boy naturally
wants to do. 1t is recognition of the
fact that boy is being educated
that is, he is receiving impressions
and forming .habits-four waking
hours out of school to one that he is
being educated in school.
In brief, the plan works like this:
On one side we set upsthe things we
want the boy to do; on the other side
We put the things that he naturally
wants to do; we tie them together and
make it all one game, and because
they are part of the game ne simply
insists on living up to all the virtues
prescribed.
The things we want the boy to do
are represented in the twelve points
of the scout law: A scout must &c
trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly,
courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful,
thrifty, brave, clean, reverent.
The things the boy wants to do
appear in the "units of achievements"
necessary for becoming successfully
a Tenderfoot, a Second class, First
class and Merit Badge scout. These
things comprise the endless features
of camping, woodcraft, signaling, fire.
building, swimming, and first aid to
the injured, and are all practical, con-
structive and definitely useful accom-
plishments.
The motto of the scout is "Be Pre-
pared" AS education is preparation
for life, so the scout is preparing
himself to be the sort of citizen who
shall more than ever be needed in the
times to come. And, furthermore,
he is prepared" for present emer-
gencies. The scout is the fellow al
ways at hand who, through his train
ing, knows what to do, how to do it,
and intelligently and cheerfully does
it.
A scout is expected to do a good
turn" every day. The scouts are the
schools organized and honored help
ing force, the community's organized
helping force, and the hundreds of
thousands of scouts constitute Uncle
Sans great helping force Of picked
boys.
Truly the patriotic significance of
scout movement can not be over
estimated. Uncle Sam recognized
this in 1916 when the congress of the
United States granted the Boy Scouts
of America federal charter and sec
ton 125 of the army reorganization
law specified his uniform along with
the army, the navy, the marine corps,
the national guard and the naval mill
tia.
rTl,o