Scouting is Outing

Scouting is outing but Scouting is not just an outing club or another activity.

Scouting is aimed at “preparing young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law”. We do this by applying the methods of Scouting.

Frankly all this would be a whole lot easier if we were just an outing club. Adults can plan an outing and make the reservations in a half an hour – peice of cake. We can lead, instruct and do pretty darn good at it.

Adults can certainly do it more thoroughly and efficiently than that most barometric and unpredictable of creatures – the Scout-aged boy.

But if we do we aren’t  Scouting anymore – we’re just running another activity.

Scouting places all of this responsibility squarely in the hands of inexperienced, sometimes unreliable Scouts and gets us to stand back and watch what happens.