Friendship in Scouting

I want to share my reason why I love training as a scout leader, keep studying the scripts in a way...

I now do a refresher for the wood badge in the Scout Section and doing Module 13, I read this:

"...adults and young people join scouting primarily for the
adventure, fun and friendship, and they leave if they don’t get it."

I love the simplicity of this statement!

In my personal experience, I think most leaders are doing a great job in the adventure part and also in the fun part; I can certainly see that those two areas are significant in our planing and preparation for activities and for the program but what about the friendship?

This is in my mind the most difficult one, queue the Scout Law:

- A scout is friendly and considerate.

According to the law, we scouts, at any given time, must be convinced that our fellow scout is a friend who is concerned about us. In the past there was also the phrase that the scout is a brother to all other scouts; this older wording is still there in essence, if we choose to phrase it so is there for us to use it.

What a challenge! How do we tackle that when we generally see friendships between our young and adult members develop naturally but we also see issues, sometimes even a constant friction between some members.

Here are some thoughts
because I do believe that when we know what to look for it is easier to find it.

We are bound by a promise to keep the scout law, that means that we must make a constant effort to think of a fellow scout as a friend and to be considerate. This is the starting point, we cultivate friendships to a patrol and troop; we don't have relationships to friendships.

A scout believes in the good intentions of others and listens to what his friends, fellow scouts, like or don't like and acts accordingly.

When they resolve any issues between them, then their friendship is hardened, tried and tested.

This can be issues of behaviour or even practical issues; planning an activity, working as a team e.t.c.

So that's exactly what we must encourage to happen; allow them to cultivate friendships between them.

How can we practically do that?

In scout leader minute at the end ceremony, we can remind all that we are friends.

In Scouts own we can use this subject to instil the approach that we start from friendship and build up.

During resolution of issues, encourage the word friend, friendship and concern.

Look and identify a good friendship or gesture and praise it.

Distinguish between bad behaviour and bullying. Bullying is not tolerated and has no space in a friendship and therefore in the troop or pack.

Run a program about friendship, what other friends they have and do they know that all scouts are friends and have consider each-other.

Include this sense of friendship, what friends do and don't do in the code of conduct.