Blog: Princeton's Boy Scout Troops - Vital Community Organizations

"Never send a man to do a boy's job." For years on my dresser I had a Boy Scout patch with that saying on it so that each morning I was reminded of this important credo. 

Full disclosure, my son was a Boy Scout, I was a Boy Scout and for a time I was Scoutmaster for Princeton's Boy Scout Troop 43, a local organization that has existed since 1918.

One of the stark differences between how my generation of baby boomers has parented versus our parents is the concept of allowing for failure.  Now, at least in my parent’s case, this was unintentional, but today children are sometimes deprived of important life skills when we organize every minute of their lives and we don't give them the opportunity to fail, an inevitable fact of life.

To the families of scouts I used to say that we permit the boys to work with sharp objects and fire as a ruse; our real objective is to teach them how to be leaders.  This usually got a laugh, but had the additional benefit of being the truth.  Lashing together tree limbs to build shelter, surviving in snow covered camp areas, hiking for tens of miles through mountainous regions throughout the country, picking up trash along Princeton’s roadways, learning to run small businesses – these are just some of the activities that scouts participate in throughout an average year.

Every time I read about a scout completing his Eagle project, I ask if they have gone the extra step of installing a plaque so that users of their bridge or steps, bird houses or flower beds knows that this structure was freely contributed to society by a private citizen with private funding...a gift from the Boy Scouts for use by the general public.

At times well-meaning people in Princeton would ask me about whether scouting is an exclusionary or homophobic club, to which I might point to their bumper sticker "Think Globally, Act Locally".  Do you really think that the earnest and hard working boys of Troops 43 and 88 in Princeton – boys of Christian, Jewish, Hindu and Muslim faiths, who come from multiple races and ethnicities – do you really think that these local young Princetonians are hateful or give a hoot about being exclusive?  Actually, we could all learn from these young men’s natural inclusive tendencies!

I only wish that there were more organizations in our society that taught our youngsters to be "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent".

So next time you are walking in one of Princeton’s parks or sports fields or facilities for the elderly look to see if there isn't some well-built totally environmentally friendly structure positioned to enhance your experience there and then notice the sign that says that this was built by one of Princeton’s Boy Scout Troops.  If you're like me, you’ll smile and whisper "thank you" for this good deed.