https://youtu.be/bxYNgzJXmsU
Scout requirements can be more than simply completing the item, it can be a learning experience as we do with Teaching the Pledge of Allegiance – Scout Requirement 1f in the ScoutmasterDave video.
Transcript:
In my troop we used to have this old time scouter named Bob Bob passed away a number of years ago but in honor of Bob we teach the Pledge of Allegiance the same way each time just the way he did. Now Bob was an old time scouter and he would make sure that each of their requirements was fully understood and able to be interpreted by the scouts and he did this particularly with the Pledge of Allegiance as he was a lifelong scouter and a war veteran.
So one of the things that Bob would do is he would breakdown the Pledge of Allegiance into little pieces and he would stop along the way and then start again from the beginning so for example he would start off with “I Pledge of Allegiance.. now normally the scouts would want to race ahead and get to the end because they all know the Pledge of Allegiance and they can do it like 30 seconds flat but that doesn’t really teach them very much.
So Bob would start with “I pledge allegiance” and then say STOP. And he would ask questions. So the first question you would ask is well what is allegiance? Now these scouts would just stare at him and act like he was a bit nuts, hoping he would jut go on, but no he would ask, “What does allegiance mean?” and then they would have a short discussion about what allegiance.
Now a lot of this is actually in the Boy Scout handbook but they usually just like skim over this because they quote un quote – know what it means but here we go piece by piece.
He would say I pledge allegiance and he’s stop and talk about it and start from the beginning again. He would have them think and do it slowly. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and he would stop at the United States of America and they would have a short discussion about what you’re pledging to and talk about our country and what it means to be an American.
Now this was all a great opportunity to go through the entire Pledge of Allegiance to pick apart what it means in total, Bob would stop about ten times.
Ending with the last line “for all” and then he would have a discussion about what those two little words meana, that this country isn’t just for the elite or it’s isn’t just for those in power that is for everybody, and they are part of that “everyone”.
The best part about this is that this is a great primer leading into merit badges like citizenship in the nation.
Because if you look at it all of these requirements they’re all interconnected and if you do it all correctly you get an understanding of our nation, the way government works and your part in it.
Take what you like and leave the rest, and as we say in Woodbadge, feedback is a gift, leave yours below in the comments, with the hope we can all learn together.
I’m Scoutmaster Dave, and this was a bit on Scout requirement 1f, the Pledge of Allegiance.
