Advancement Opportunities

Parent Participation

Patrol Leader's Council

The Big Event

Learning the Public's Business

Other Special Activities

A primary aim of the Boy Scouts of America is to guide youth toward good citizenship. That goal is clearly expressed in the Scout Oath pledges of "duty to God and my country" and "to help other people at all times." The 12 points of the Scout Law are virtually a checklist for good citizenship.

The citizenship program feature is designed to heighten a Scout’s appreciation of his rights and duties as a citizen, to make him aware of his heritage as an American, and to acquaint him with the approved ways of displaying and showing respect for the chief symbol of our country—the flag. The suggested troop meeting plans also include elements that apply to related merit badges including Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, American Cultures, and American Heritage.

As one highlight of the month, the troop could plan to attend a meeting of a public body such as the city council or school board, or a gathering of a private group that is concerned with the public welfare, such as a tenants’ or homeowners’ association or neighborhood block-watch group. (Obviously the troop schedule will have to be adapted to the schedule of the council, board, or group.) While planning the event, the patrol leaders’ council can arrange for an official or officer of the group to answer questions after the meeting.

The troop’s big event will be a heritage hike. The destination might be a historic site or trail in your troop’s area. Or it could be a place that is significant to the heritage of your region—a wildlife refuge, an unusual geological formation, a zoo, or the location of an ethnic festival. The heritage hike can be a day outing or an overnight campout.

This month’s patrol and troop activities should give your Scouts

• A greater understanding of their duty to country and their obligation to help other people
• Awareness of their rights and responsibilities as citizens
• Some knowledge of their heritage as citizens of their community and nation
• Growth in self-confidence
• Increasing ability to work cooperatively with others in an outdoor setting

Tenderfoot

• Outdoor—hiking, camping
• Citizenship—flag ceremonies, Good Thin
• Patrol/troop participation—patrol identification
• Personal development—Scout Oath and Law

Second Class

• Outdoor—cooking, camping, hiking
• Citizenship—flag ceremonies
• Patrol/troop participation—leadership
• Personal development—Scout Oath and Law

First Class

• Outdoor—cooking, camping, nature, hiking
• Citizenship—flag ceremonies, Good Turn
• Patrol/troop participation—leadership
• Personal development—Scout Oath and Law

Merit Badges. Older Scouts should be able to complete some of the requirements for one or more of the Citizenship merit badges. Depending on activities during the month, they might also complete some of the requirements for American Cultures, American Heritage, Camping, Cooking, Hiking, and other outdoor-related merit badges.

The patrol leaders’ council can involve parents and guardians in the program feature this month by

• Asking qualified parents and guardians to help with troop meeting instruction (Give special consideration to those involved in public positions—lawyers, history teachers, law enforcement officials, journalists, etc.)
• Inviting parents and guardians on the heritage hike
• Asking them to provide transportation for the visit to a community meeting or to and from the starting point of the hike

The patrol leaders’ council should have met in the middle of the previous month to plan troop activities for this program feature. If they didn’t complete all of the items on the following agenda, they can continue planning at brief patrol leaders’ council meetings after each troop meeting.

Decide which public body or private organization the troop will visit during the month. Assign a member to check on the date, time, and place of the meeting, and arrange to have an official meet with the troop either beforehand or afterward. (The patrol leaders council may ask an adult on the troop committee to make these arrangements if that is more appropriate.)

Make arrangements to invite a community leader to the second troop meeting of the month to discuss his or her work and to lead a discussion on the rights and duties of a citizen. The person could be a mayor, city council member, school board member, city attorney, judge, or the leader of a civic or service group.

Make patrol assignments for the following troop meeting activities:

• Perform the opening and closing flag ceremonies.
• Give a presentation on the history of the U.S. flag.
• Report on the history or significance of the destination of the heritage hike.
• Lead a discussion on the rights of Scout-age youth—including the right to be protected from assault and theft, to inform authorities if someone is being treated unjustly, to use public facilities on the same basis as all other citizens, and to have adequate food and shelter. Also discuss the duties of young people, including the duty to attend school, to complete schoolwork to the best of their ability, to pay for public services on the same basis as other citizens, to avoid littering or damaging public and private property, and to follow traffic rules while bicycling. (See the Boy Scout Handbook for more ideas.)

Make a list of possible patrol Good Thins for the community. (For ideas and guidelines, see chapter 19, "Community Service," and "Conservation Projects" in chapter 9, "The Outdoor Program," in the Scoutmaster Handbook. The BSAs Conservation Handbook contains plenty of information about meaningful ways Scouts can complete projects on public and private lands.)

As with most other Scouting activities, this big event should be fun. It should have an educational purpose, too, although not in a classroom sense.

The aim is to introduce Scouts to some aspect of their American heritage. It might be a historic site of local, regional, or national interest. It could be a place where Scouts can bask in .America's beauty or be awed by the nation’s natural wonders—perhaps a pristine lake, a wildlife refuge, a canyon or mesa, or an ancient forest. If this program feature occurs during a national holiday, your "hike" might take the form of participation in a parade, an ethnic festival, or other fitting event.

The big event can be a day outing or an overnight campout. Based on the patrols’ interests, the patrol leaders’ council should determine the distance to be covered and the location of the destination or campsite. An overnight stay increases the Possibilities for Scouts to complete outdoor-oriented rank and merit badge requirements.

The senior patrol leader could assign a patrol the task of researching some facts about the heritage hike destination and reporting to the troop on its history and significance. For example, if the troop is going to a historic site, what can the Scouts expect to see? What happened at the site? This kind of advance information will enhance the experience for the Scouts, especially if there will not be a local guide at the site.

The troop meeting plan for week three suggests that the troop visit a meeting of a public body, a private organization that works for the public welfare, or some other agency or group that affects the lives of citizens. The goal is to show Scouts American democracy in action. Here are several possibilities:

• City council
• School board
• Municipal court
• County court for a naturalization ceremony
• Tenants’ or homeowners’ association or neighborhood block-watch group

At meetings of this type, it is essential that the presiding officer or other knowledgeable person meet with the troop either before or after the regular meeting to explain the proceedings. If not, the meeting’s business might not make much sense to Scouts.

Check ahead of time with those in charge of the meeting to determine the expected length of the session. The meetings of some city councils and school boards can last for hours, much longer than the attention span of most boys. Arrange to have troop members attend a particular portion of the meeting that is most likely to hold their interest, and then have them quietly file out. The "public comment" section of a meeting is often lively and entertaining.

At the troop meeting following the visit, encourage Scouts to discuss what they saw and heard. Reinforce the idea that the meeting was a demonstration of representative democracy—the way Americans govern themselves.