Scouting, Volume 52, Number 8, October 1964 Page: 20
32 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Wife of a 1 5-year Scoutmaster,
mother of three Scouts, a for-
mer Den Mother, Mrs. Wolf dis-
covers there's more to the pro-
gram than learning skills and
earning awards.
Mike came from a long line of
shy and reticent people. He
was a big boy, awkward and
quiet, and his answers to all attempts
at conversation were "yes or "no"
or no answer at all. Mike came into
Cub Scouts as a lone wolf, literally,
with no close friends his age, but he
found a gang in the Cub Scouls.
The first time he played tag with
the den and he was "it." Mike was
afraid even to look for the other kids.
But that was five years ago, and
slowly but surely Mike is becoming
"it" in our troop. As his personality
begins to bloom, the other boys are
beginning to accept him as one of the
fellows.
When he went before the board of
review for his First Class and Star
ranks, the troop leaders asked the
board to recommend that he do more
public speaking, more appearances
as a speaker and leader. The school
cooperated, and assignments were
given shy Mike. He began to speak
011 subjects he knew, give demon-
strations of first aid for community
groups.
He became the youngest boy in
our troop to go up for his Life rank.
Last week the boy who so lacked self-
confidence and had no friends was
nominated by the boys in his troop
to become their candidate for the
Order of the Arrow.
As we sat at the campfire and
watched the "Indians" capture Mike
for the O.A., nothing my own sons
have accomplished has ever pleased
"FRINGE"
me so much. Mike is on his way, and
Scouting helped him there.
We think of the obvious benefits
to a boy in Scouting. He gets ac-
quainted with the out-of-doors, he
learns Scoutcraft skills and how to
take care of himself physically
under adverse conditions. But what
about these "fringe'' benefits of
Scouting? Would Mike have found
something else that would have
helped bring him out of his shell and
become an important person in his
own eyes? Maybe, but Scouting did
it.
Take the case of Tim. It was
brought to our attention that he was
pilfering things from a store and
bragging to the other kids. One day
he was at our home and the discus-
sion was raised about lawbreakers.
I deliberately brought up the subject
of taking things from an old man
who wasn't alert enough to catch
anyone. Tim was very quiet, and
finally I said. "Do you know who I
am talking about?*' He looked up at
me and said, "Yes."
One of my own sons spoke up and
said, "I don't think you should tell
Tim what he can or can't do. He
doesn't belong to us."
Tim turned on him and said
fiercely, "She does, too, have the
right—your dad is my Scoutmaster."
I put my arm on his shoulder and
said, "You know, Tim, the only
reason 1 interfered was because we
care about you and what happens to
you, a great deal. And this boy who
had taken the first step off the right
path raised his hand in the Scout
sign and said, "I promise, Scout's
honor, I II never steal anything
again."
"Fringe" benefits? I'll be willing
to bet that this boy keeps his prom-
ise, because it was not lightly given.
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 52, Number 8, October 1964, periodical, October 1964; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth331754/m1/22/: accessed July 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.