What Scout Leaders Do

(Adapted from Taylor Mali’s “What Teachers Make”)


The dinner guests were sitting around a table discussing life. One man, a CEO of a large corporation, while complaining about the quality of recent college graduates he'd hired, decided to explain the problem with young people today.

He argued, "Kids these days don't have respect for others, it's all about themselves. What are they learning today? Look at America's youth activities, like Scouting. I mean, really, what's a kid going to learn from someone who lives his childhood vicariously through our youth, while parading around in knee socks and shorts and spending what small money he makes on patches and t-shirts?"

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, get left in the dust." Then he said, "I can and do."

To emphasize his point he said to another guest, “You're a Scout leader, Brad. Be honest. What good do you really do for our kids?”

Brad, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, “You want to know what I do?”

He paused for a second, then began...

“Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a crooked bird house feel like the Biltmore Estate.

I make kids hike 5 miles when their parents can't make them walk to the mailbox.

You want to know what I do?” He paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.

''I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect for others and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to help strangers.

I teach them to remember a promise and a law that they will be able to recite when they are 40.

I help them to be Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.

I make them tie knots, and more knots, and more knots.

I make them plan meals and activities for camping out in the woods, and not in front of the TV.

I make scouts from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity and sharing it with their Troop.

I make my camp a place where all my Scouts feel safe.

I make my Scouts stand, saluting, to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the United States of America.

I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

I make earning Tenderfoot feel like a home run, and Eagle like the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Brad paused one last time and then continued.

"Then, when people try to judge me by what I do or wear, with me knowing money and looks isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant...

You want to know what I do?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

What do you do?”



The CEO had no response.