Scout Spirit

 Scout Spirit means that a Scout does his best to live by the Scout Oath and Scout Law on a daily basis.  Scouts are expected to be active in Troop and Patrol meetings, events and outings.  To be active means that the Scout actively takes part by attending meetings and activities, wearing the appropriate uniform and having the appropriate attitude.

If you look in your Boy Scout Handbook at the rank requirements, most of them are pretty straightforward – demonstrate first aid for serious burns, tie a bowline, earn 6 merit badges, etc.  However, beginning with the Second Class rank there is an added, more indefinite requirement:  Show Scout Spirit.

            The Scoutmasters have had a lot of questions over the years about what exactly “Show Scout Spirit” means.  NO it doesn’t mean that on Halloween night you dress up as the ghost of Baden-Powell (or any other famous Scout Spirit).

            National BSA must have had a lot questions too, because they changed the requirement recently to read “Demonstrate Scout Spirit by living the Scout Oath and the Scout Law in your everyday life.”  That’s a little better, but still… what does it mean?

            The first thing you need to understand about Scout Spirit is that even though the requirement looks the same for each rank, it’s really different – Scout Spirit for Life Scout is very different (and much harder) than Scout Spirit for Second Class. You’ll discover that the scoutmasters will only sign you off for one “Scout Spirit” requirement at a time, because each one is harder than the next.

            The other thing that you will notice is that unlike almost all the other requirements, you can never convince a Scoutmaster to sign off the Scout Spirit requirement on the spot. Tie a bowline, and he’ll sign that off; show him your merit badge card and he’ll sign off that requirement for Star, but he’ll never just up and sign off that pesky Scout Spirit one. That’s because you must demonstrate Scout Spirit in your everyday life, not in the five minutes you’re talking to the Scoutmaster.  What happens is that at meetings and especially on campouts, the Scoutmasters are like Santa Claus – they’re always watching you, to see when you are naughty or nice.  Scout Spirit should be shown at all times, and generally this requirement is one of the last ones to be signed off for any rank.  Scoutmasters will want to see the appropriate Scout Spirit for some period of time before they sign off the requirement.  For Second Class that may only be for a campout and the last few meetings, but for Eagle it may be for several months.

        

          Go to What Is Scouting?

Return Home