[philmont] Philmont agreement: this will make some people mad!

The only part of that agreement that I agree with is the first sentence of
the first line. Nothing else needs to be written, nothing else needs to be
created.

There is nothing in that agreement that is not covered all ready by the
Scout Oath and Law.

I find the troop agreement to be a detriment to the BSA program. I believe
those "additional" contracts are created by managers not leaders. Writing
down rules does not work in society, why do you believe that it will work
here. If you response is because the youth are Scouts, then youth have
missed the point. If a youth has been trained as a Scout, then a contract is
not needed.

I think that any adult who requires a minor to sign a contract is wrong. Any
contract signed by a minor is unenforceable in all fifty states. The
contract is supposed to take the place of training and leadership in the
Scout Oath and Law. The contract is supposed to take the place of creating
good youth to grow into good adults.

People need to read and understand the Scout Oath and Law, rather than
creating their own interpretation of the Oath and Law.

If I were to create an agreement with a youth it would be to help the youth,
not to penalize the youth. It would be to show the youth success, not
threaten the youth. This contract does not encourage, help, support. This
contract does not help a youth grow. This contract does nothing to help a
youth achieve long term personal growth.

A contract with the parents I can understand and support. A contract with a
youth I cannot.

In the US we have rely on contracts because we do not trust each other. We
rely on contracts because we do not teach trust, honesty, that a persons
word is their bond.

I am sure the basic reasoning behind this agreement was good. However the
overall is bad. I'm sure the intent was to make the adult's life better. But
the result is to make the adult's life better at the expense of the youth.

You may also argue that the youth will have to sign contracts the rest of
their lives, which, I am sad to say is true. But there are somethings that
should be saved till the youth is an adult. The laws agree with that issue,
we should wait till the youth is an adult till we force him to contract. Now
we should help him grow.

Using this contract is the easy way out and not the Scouting way.

Jim Moss

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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
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Received on Tue Oct 24 01:50:11 2006