Look only at the individual Scout

… Our charge as volunteers in the movement is help to create tomorrow’s productive, responsible, happy citizens.  We can’t do that if we don’t keep our doors and arms open to these young men, understanding that the “ultimate volunteer” isn’t us: It’s the Scout himself.

If he gets sick and tired of our nagging him (instead of positive reinforcement of good habits) or “dinging” him, when it comes to rank advancement (even when he’s proven he can knock off the skill-set required without breaking a sweat), then he’s going to walk…and that’s the very last thing we want to have happen, because then we can no longer instill in him the ideals and values of the movement (yes, we’re a movement; not an “activity”).

So here’s my single guideline: Look only at the individual Scout; see only the individual; understand only the individual; each one by one and one at a time.  Each and every young man who crosses the doorstep of Scouting is unique, and lives in a world and environment unique to him and him alone—there is no other like him in the world and we dare not apply an arbitrary measure in this one particular dimension we call “active.”

Andy at Ask Andy

Couldn’t say this better – bravo Andy!