Although it's changed a bit, Scouting teaches same life skills

SEBRING --

"On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout law."

Carl Cool recited that very motto when he was in the Boy Scouts back in the 1960s. Today, he still wears the uniform while overseeing another group of eager young men ready to earn their merit badges, serve their community and just have fun.

"A lot of it's the same," Cool said on the difference between scouting when he was a child and today in the 21st century. "The oath, the Scout oath, is the same (and) the Scout motto. That stuff hasn't changed in 45 years."

On Feb. 8, the Boy Scouts will mark a milestone - a century in existence. It was incorporated in 1910 by William D. Boyce and one year later, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) had published 300,000 copies of the first edition of the "Handbook for Boys."

By 1925, membership in the BSA topped one million.

Obviously, with 100 years behind them, some things about the scouting world have changed from generation to generation.

"They don't have a compass anymore. They use a GPS," said Harold Thompson, assistant den leader for the Sebring Boy Scout Troop 846, which also includes Cub Scout Pack 846.

Although he was not in the Scouts growing up, Thompson did become involved because of his 9-year-old son Austin.

"It's more spending time with him," Thompson said.

Young Austin is coming into his second year in the Scouts, which finds him still a Cub. He plans to continue on through the program and go all the way up to Eagle Scout, before concentrating on being a paleontologist.

"I like to go camping and I like to whittle," Austin said about his favorite aspects of the Scouts.

Father and son bonding

Many of the young Scouts here in Sebring have fathers, or perhaps mothers, who take on leadership roles within the troop.

As generations before have experienced, this gives father and son a chance to bond while also helping the youngsters learn how to work with tools and go camping.

Mark Wolf, Cubmaster for Pack 846, has a son involved in the organization. The two had a membership drive early in the school year and talked with students about the Scouts and what it could offer them.

One thing that has changed since the inception of the Boy Scouts is the family structure. In 2010, there are many more single-parent families than there were in earlier generations.

Scouting can give those boys living with single parents the opportunity to take part in activities they might not otherwise get to, according to Wolf.

"Most of them don't get to go camping," he said. "There's not too many parents that are taking their kids camping on a regular basis ... especially the kids that are living with a single mom. Mom doesn't have a whole tool bench and a bunch of tools and the time to teach them how to use tools and that kind of stuff."

Lance Allison can relate to children growing up in single-parent homes. In 1969, when he was a 9-year-old Webelos Scout, he said lots of his friends went camping with their parents.

Allison's father was not around, so he didn't have that older male role model to take him to activities like that. He found a "camaraderie" in the Scouts and is now a den leader in the troop, where he gets to spend time with his son.

He said their troop has many boys who come from single-parent households.

"It's a good thing for them, because they get the male leadership and everything, I think," Allison said.

When Wolf talks to students, he said most of them initially don't know much at all about the Scouts. By the time they hear stories about camping, building Pinewood Derby cars and learning about tools, their excitement level rises.

"It's different from school," Wolf said. "They're learning without knowing they're really learning."

Fly like an eagle

Scott Webster's 7-year-old son has an advantage that he didn't have when he was a Cub Scout - his child gets to go camping with the rest of his pack.

Today, those younger Scouts get to take two camping trips a year, something the 36-year-old Webster was not given when he started with the organization.

"At this stage, at this age, it's a lot more involved," Webster said. "There's a lot more for the kids to do than there was 30 years ago."

Webster stuck with the program and became an Eagle Scout in 1991. Over the course of his journey through the Scouts, he said he learned valuable leadership skills and enjoyed camping and the outdoors the most.

He still goes camping with his family several times a year.

Wolf said there are challenges in keeping boys interested with Scouts that long, since the general age of an Eagle Scout is between 17 and 19.

"The challenge that we talk about that we're always getting is the ... when you're hitting 16,17,18, keeping them focused on finishing up to get their Eagle Scout versus cars and girls and stuff going on in school (and) the social life, that's where the challenge comes in," he said.

Logan Carlson, 11, wants to attain Eagle Scout status. He has been in the program since he was a Tiger and has earned seven merit badges over his first year as a Boy Scout.

Now he is working on getting his bicycling badge and coming even closer to his goal.

It won't be easy.

"We've got to ride a couple of 25-mile rides," Carlson said.

ALUMNI AT A GLANCE

179 U.S. astronauts were involved in Scouting (57.4% of astronauts).

39 are Eagle Scouts.

35.5 percent of the United States Military Academy (West Point) cadets were involved in Scouting as youth.

15.6 percent of cadets are Eagle Scouts.

30.5 percent of United States Air Force Academy cadets were involved in Scouting as youth.

13.5 percent of cadets are Eagle Scouts.

25 percent of United States Naval Academy (Annapolis) midshipmen were involved in Scouting as youth.

14 percent of midshipmen are Eagle Scouts.