Retired Scouter
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Scoutmaster's Minute

A Scout is Brave, But Not Foolhardy

"What's the 10th point of the Scout Law That's right, a Scout is brave. It means that a Scout is courageous enough to do what needs to be done when someone is in danger or when other guys laugh at him because he won't do something he knows is wrong.

"Everybody admires a brave person, even the guy who might laugh at him for not going along with a rip-off. But you know, there's sometimes a fine line between being brave and being foolhardy or stupid by taking chances that aren't necessary.

"Right now I'm thinking of the danger when we're in the water. Danger you say, what danger? I'm a champion swimmer. Maybe so, but the water is dangerous all the same. All it would take is a bad cramp or a blow on the head when you're roughhousing in the water, and you could be an Olympic gold-winner for all the good it would do you.

The cemeteries are full of strong swimmers who swam alone into deep water. That's why we have the Safe Swim Defense plan and particularly the buddy system when we are in the water. And we will insist on using the buddy system every time - whether you can't swim a stroke or are the best swimmer in town. "Yes, it's great to be brave - and I hope you all are - but around water, we'll be cautious, too."


This site is a personal site, and is no way whatsoever connected to any 'official' Scouting Organization. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the Retired Scouter. If you don't like the current opinion you can contact me for others, I have plenty. More importantly, I have the time to tell them to you. Information that is downloaded from this site may be used in your program or re-published without asking my permission, I probably glommed it off of somebody else anyways. If you're going re-publish somebody else's information that isn't from this site, you should ask for their permission first. Some links/files may not reflect the current scouting programming in your local area. Camp coffee is an art and very few of us know how to prepare it properly, and no, I won't share.