How character building works

Scouting is in crisis, according to reports everywhere. The organisation is losing members because it is at odds with the spirit of the times: young people today prefer non-binding leisure activities, adults shy away from voluntary work and migrant children are alien to the scouting concept anyway. That is a pity, but no reason not to send your children to Scouts. On the contrary. Even in my time at the end of the 1980s, scouting was not in keeping with the spirit of the times.

Scouting means freedom and adventure.

«You're visiting a paramilitary youth movement?» my friends shuddered, «in uniform?» But they had no idea. My father, a former Pfader himself, put it more succinctly: «Always ready to eat and fight. That builds character.» Now, children should always distrust parents who want to build their character. Except when they delegate this endeavour to the scouts. And leave it to them, so to speak. Because scouting means freedom and adventure: the initiation rite of baptism, getting your own scout name, forming groups, competing against each other, then singing songs together again - that was above all fun.

«A little more character, adventure and freedom would do us all good.»

And then there was the practical knowledge: how to survive for a few days in the forest with a sack of flour, cook on an open fire, communicate using Morse code and use a map and compass. There was no shortage of character-building, especially during the two-week summer camps: two-day hikes and fighting your way through, bivouacking in a meadow, bravely swallowing cocoa diluted with water and spreading strawberry jam from jumbo pots on soft smoked bread.
And if going to the fly-infested latrine doesn't build character, nothing else will. But above all, the camps are some of my favourite memories of my youth - apart from the latrine. And last but not least, my parents must have been delighted to have the freedom to get rid of the gang of kids for a fortnight in the summer. Seen in this light, scouting is by no means at odds with the spirit of the times, but is more necessary than ever: a little more character, adventure and freedom would do us all good.

About the author:

Michèle Binswanger is a graduate philosopher, journalist and author. She writes on social issues, is the mother of two children and lives in Basel.
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