Troop 714 Long Term Goals

As of 1/3/2001

Bent Tree Bible Fellowship (BTBF) is the chartering organization for Boy Scout Troop 714. Scouting is one facet of BTBF’s youth ministry, its outreach program and its desire to make a positive community impact. Our Troop prepares an Annual Program Plan (APP) each summer. Our APP is based on using the aims and methods of the Scouting program to meet the needs of boys. These needs are identified in an article entitled "How Society Fails Boys (And What We Can Do About It)" that appeared in Scouting Magazine's May-June 1999 issue. The article reviews family therapist, educator and author, Michael Gurian's studies of male development.

A. According to Michael Gurian, Scouting fulfills seven important needs of growing boys in the following ways:

    1. Goal-setting. The program of merit badges teaches boys how to set goals and work methodically toward accomplishing them and provides an opportunity for achievement and recognition.
    2. A healthy hierarchy. Boys like a hierarchical system, one in which their position is clear to them. Scouting provides that type of emotionally healthy hierarchy.
    3. Mentoring. Boys hunger for male heroes to emulate. Scouting provides both adult mentoring and healthy peer mentoring.
    4. An experience of nature. For boys, nature is a living organism, and boys need to bond with that natural life. Boy Scout camping takes them out of the cities and into that natural environment.
    5. Spiritual development. Boys must have a spiritual language within which to understand concepts such as character and moral development. A Scout leader who is a devout person offers, but doesn’t push, that spiritual language.
    6. Character development. There aren’t a lot of places these days that just come right out and say that they’re about character development. Through Scouting, boys hear the message that character counts.
    7. Discipline. The discipline provided by the structure of Scouting helps boys build their own system of self-discipline.

B. Gurian says, boys of all ages need three families (and Scouting helps with number two):

    1. The "nuclear" family.
    2. The extended family, including blood relatives, close friends, male mentors, teachers, peers, and day-care providers.
    3. Culture and community, including religious groups, influential community figures, and a child-friendly media.

C. Use the Scouting program to help meet the need of boys for mentoring and ritual. Gurian says, "I just don't think you can beat Boys Scouts for that."

    1. Father-Son time.
    2. Mentor-Boy time.
    3. Rituals of passage and achievement shared with family, friends and mentors.