The Vanishing
Resources of Scout Skills
by James A.
Thielen
"I
collected a variety of Scouting information over the years
and couldn't find things when I wanted too. While attending
Lord Baden Powell University in my previous Council, I
decided to organize what I created into a living electronic
document. I submitted this project for my Doctoral Thesis
in 2001 and was approved. I received my Doctorate for this
body of work in spring of 2002. As mentioned, this is a
living document which is updated frequently as I come
across interesting articles or information that may assist
a Scouter in delivering the program to the youth. The
original project consisted of a CD and now has out grown a
4 GB DVD.
Per my abstract of this project, over the recent years the
level of Scout skills has been quickly declining. There are
several reasons for this decline of experience:
◦ Senior
Scout leaders (Scouters) are stepping down or taking a less
active role with youth.
◦ New
Scouters were not involved in the Scouting movement as
young adults.
◦ Eagle
Scouts are not returning as adult leaders to teach and pass
on the skills they learned.People are migrating from the
rural areas into the urban cities hence no longer needing
the skills that are taught in Boy Scouts in their daily
lives.
◦ People
are less dependant on the basic skills that are taught in
Scouting as a part of Scout crafts in their daily lives.
◦ Scout
leaders are unable to attend the many B.S.A. training
sessions.
◦ A lack
of a single source of materials for the leader to reference
for skill instruction.
Why are
Scout craft skills so vital to the youth and Scouting?
Scout crafts are a vital tool that is used to help the
young Scouts mature and grow into young adults in our
society. These skills help the young Scouts gain confidence
and a sense of achievement as they learn to tie the simple
knots needed for Tenderfoot. This self-confidence grows as
they become more skilled in their Scout crafts and they
start seeing how to apply their new gained knowledge in
their daily lives. This newfound confidence and self-esteem
then create the basis for the youth to grow in leadership,
social responsibilities, and independence.
As you can see, the Scout crafts are the basic building
block to the whole Scouting program for the youth. Without
these skills, the youth will not develop their confidence,
leadership skills, and independence. Most important, the
youth will most likely drop from the program. The main goal
of any Scouting program is to retain the youth.While basic
Scout craft skills are taught at training sessions like
Essential Leaders Training, Wood Badge and Scouting
Universities, not everyone is able to attend. Also, many of
the courses do not always make the materials taught
available for the students. Thus leaving the leaders ill
prepared to instruct their Scouts in Scouting crafts and
skills.This will be a living program that can be expanded
by the author, Lord Baden-Powell University, or anyone
else, as they feel is necessary. It is an attempt to
achieve the following:
▪
Provide information concerning skill instruction to those
who cannot attend the formal classes provided by their
local council.
▪ Be a
source of materials for the troop leadership to help
deliver a quality skill instruction to their youth.
▪
Catalog and preserve materials that can be used in teaching
skills to youth and adults before the materials are lost
forever.
I hope
all can find useful information. If anyone has items they
would like to be added, please forward them onto me. If it
is not in electronic format, I would be willing to scan the
materials and return the originals."
Click
HERE to view entire thesis