Tue Feb 14 2012
In these days of steroid-using athletes and baby-daddy presidential aspirants, let's take a moment to salute the Boy Scouts. What the Scouts stand for, this country badly needs.
This week marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts of America, an organization designed to provide an educational program for boys and young men to build character, to train in the responsibilities of participating citizenship and to develop personal fitness. To mark the milestone, the organization has launched a year-long celebration.
That celebration should shine a well-deserved light on what the Boy Scouts do for this country and what scouting does for the boys who become Scouts. Consider these statistics: In 2008, more than 2.8 million youth members and nearly 1.2 million volunteers gave 35,194,360 hours to service projects. The money value of that time? More than $712 million.
Many attribute their success in part to the scouting experience. Baseball great Hank Aaron has said scouting was the greatest positive influence in his life. More than half the U.S. astronauts were Scouts. More than a third of West Point cadets were Scouts.
The attributes that describe a Scout -- "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent" -- sound like a Hallmark card. But they are attributes still worthy of aspiring to. Happy Birthday, Boy Scouts of America.
(Reprinted from Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, N.C.)
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