The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1920. THE CULTIVATION OF THE BOY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 18, 16 October 1920, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1920. THE CULTIVATION OF THE BOY

The very successful Boy Scout demonstration b given in the Town Hall on Thursday and last.evening havo no doubt stimulated public interest in an organisation which is in every way entitled to sympathetic encouragement and- support. The Scout movement represents a distinctly practical effort to satisfy educational and social needs which are- sufficiently apparent but ■ are too commonly neglected. It, is a movement which touches the roots of individual and national life and derives its greatest strength from the extent to which it blends sympathy and common senso with (These' broad characteristics in themselves afford evidence 'df insight and wisdom in those 'who laid down the lines on which the Scout organisation has' developed to its present stage of usefulness and' promise The normal healthy boy is an idealist—though very often an unconscious idealist i—but he is at the same time a person to whom abstractions' are abhorrent. _ His outlook is eager and direct; his interest is in the things that he can test and handle and do. Tho Scout movement has become a mighty power for good because it meets boyhood on its- own ground; and gives • free and unhampered play to the wholesome instincts of boyhood. In Scout training the inculcation of principles -is so commingled with activities in which every normal boy is bound to, take an interest and delight that these principles are imbibed almost unconsciously and applied as a matter.of course.:' Little place is given- in the Scout organisation to formal discipline of the military type, but a finer discipline .results from each individual boy becoming a self-respecting /.and responsible member of the body to which he belongs. It is undoubtedly true that Scout training colours tho whole life and outlook of the' boys, who come under its sway. No one who encounters Boy Scouts can fail to perceive' that they are earnestly striving to maintain high standards of conduct. They are unspoiled and natural -boys, but they havo_ learned to apply themselves seriously to the matter in hand, whatever it may be, .and, while avoiding servility, to snow respect and consideration for their elders. The characteristic results of the Scout system were admirably demonstrated hero and elsewhere on _ the _ occasion of_ the influenza epidemic. Merc children as they were, the Boy. Scouts at that time did, a. great deal of useful work as messengers and in other capacities, and did it without payiVnt, as a matter of duty and social service. _ Their spontaneous and ungrudging -efforts entitled them to _ the gratitude of the whole community, _ and at tho same .time splendidly justified their organisation arid the training it provides. A movement which inspires such service well deserves honourable recognition in the life of the community .and evidently, is destined to produce far-reaching and valuable results. To the fact that the immediate results .of the Scout movement are admirable, Nit must be added that tho impress it has made and is making on tlie lives of tens of thousands of boys is bound to be lasting. The cultivation of the boy as a boy is a great and worthy enterprise, but the ultimate of course, are to bo looked 'for in better and higher standards of manhood and citizenshin. As Scouts, boys develop ingrained habits of honesty, truth, and self-reliance. They are rescued from the dulling and cramping influences wheh too often beset the youths of the country; and are encouraged and assisted to develop faculties of 'observation, thought, and initiative—no one can doubt it who has seen' Scout patrols ranging abroad or throwing themselves heart ajid soul into sports and other activities in .their meeting halls.. The spirit of _ consideration for others and of pride in'worthy service for its own sa'kc which so markedly characterises Boy Scouts is the very essence of good citizenship. In successfully cultivating theso qualities arid this outlook, tho Scout organisation is providing a remedy for much that is at fault in contemporary social organisation, and to some extent for shortcomings in home life 7 and in formal education that are only too widely prevalent. As ft brightening influence- on individual lives and in cultivating the spirit of comradeship and a social outlook, the s movement is helping to counteract tho worst _ troubles under which democracy is now labouring. The results achieved are not, of course, everywhere of the samo high standard. They vary, of necessity, with the capacity and enthusiasm of those to whom the details of organisation' and training arc entrusted. But the average standard of achievement, measured by 'results, is high. • It might easily be raised, still higher if the claim's of.the organisation to sympathetic support were as widely and freely recognised as they ought to be. The need,-is less for money than for service. The chief obstacle to the rapid extension of the Scout organisation is the shortage of young men able and qualified to take charge of patrols and other units. There mast be many youths and youmr men of tho right stamp who could easily devote a little of their leisure to this fine enterprise on belialf of the boyhood of the country and would be more than repaid in interest and pleasure for any trouble that tho work entailed.