[August 15, 2022] The year before the Boy Scouts of America began accepting girls into the organization, I wrote the following article.1 It still applies, perhaps more than ever. The decision by senior Boy Scout leaders to include girls was not without controversy, and the full impact of that decision is yet to be played out. Here is that article:
As I sit here at Boy Scout summer camp, the temperature is hot and the humidity oppressive, but I’m thoroughly enjoying myself … and getting an education. The experience does remind me why I’ve always had great respect for those adult leaders who happily volunteer their time to teach Boy Scouts the importance of character and leadership.
Teaching leadership skills is one of the main efforts of scouting leaders, and significant resources are dedicated to it. It means showing scouts good examples of successful adults, what they do, as well as how and why leadership is important. This leadership blog, for example, is full of lessons in leadership, yet I see with my own eyes the application of those skills being applied here at camp daily.
I am reminded during this scouting camp that the main effort of good scout leaders is the development of a boy’s character; that is what they consciously strive to improve upon most. Without a moral and ethical foundation for a boy (or girl), teaching leadership skills falls away. In other words, scouting teaches about being a good person more than anything else.
It is no surprise to those of us in the study of leadership that the mission of the Boy Scouts is to “… prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes …” While there is a serious and enthusiastic emphasis on leadership skills, it is the development of character that trumps any skill that a boy may learn.
They have recognized the most fundamental fact about being a good citizen is that a boy will have to make many lifetime decisions. To be both successful and good, those decisions must be based on ethical and moral principles. In the troop I have spent the past few days in southern New Jersey, the Scout Master and Assistant Scout Master have shown me this through direct application.
Stories are told around the campfire, scout competitions are conducted, ceremonies are taught a certain way, and merit badges are earned. All of these have character development at their heart.
Skills are learned (which is a good thing), but the final test of whether they have succeeded or not is a measure of how a boy has become a moral and ethical person. Why do adult leaders do this? The answer is simple … they care.
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Please read my new book, “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” on Amazon (link here).
Excellent article. Too bad the “Boy” Scouts has lost its reputation.
BSA spokesperson Effie Delimarkos publically said that both boys and girls will be held to the same standards, earning pins and merit badges the same way and going on the same troop and pack campouts. That was a lie. Girls now earn the Eagle Scout rank in direct violation of the standards published in the Boy Scout Handbook. Even after changing the written standards, girls are given a break on the time requirements for rank. Boys are held to the original standard.
Ouch, once again, political pandering pays off for some and not for others.
Yep! ✔
I’m not surprised at all. If you are surprised, then I have the Brooklyn Bridge to sell to you, at a discount of course.
The Trouble With Girls in Boy Scouts
https://www.backpacker.com/stories/the-trouble-with-girls-in-boy-scouts/
Good article, made me think.
Thank you, Gen. Satterfield. Well written. I see that you have a number of folks who are commenting on this re-write of your previous article and I think for good reason. People have an opinion, mostly, that girls should be allowed into the boy scouts but also don’t know one hoot about either organization. Opinions are find even when based on nothing.
Feminism has hit a dead end, and the movement long ago gave up on women. Now they promote men being women. What??? And they hold them up above women as what a woman should be. Batsh$$ crazy.
old warrior, you are just too much!
Loved today’s article. Too bad the Girls Scouts couldn’t get their act together. Their stupidity of pushing radical feminists views pushed a lot of the girls out and into the hands of the boy socuts.
Occasionally you come across a truly wonderful website that lays out what it takes to live successfully. This leadership website by Gen. Satterfield is one of those. I’ve been a fan for a long time now and highly recommend it. Gen. S. has also written a book “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” and I understand he is writing another one. Go out and get a copy now. You will appreciate it.
You got that right Lady Hawk. I’m with you. Great leadership blog. 👍
I goes without saying much about it, but the senior leadership of the Boy Scouts has done a great disservice to them by pandering to the il-liberal views of the culture and running away from its own core values.
And, the result is that boys will not be getting the benefit of good men who would have taught them how to be good men themselves. What is striking is that we all could see this coming.
The BSA has lost what made it so great. Time to start another organization under the original principles established.
So true! The Boy Scouts are now called Scouts, a generic term and one that helps dumb down what they stand for.
That is what happens when sissy men are in charge. See Gen. Satterfield’s article on “Are Camels are on the Horizon?”
https://www.theleadermaker.com/are-camels-on-the-horizon/
One of my favorite articles. Oh, please buy Gen. Satterfield’s book, “Our Longest Year in Iraq.”