In this Section:

Promise and Law

About the Group and Association

History of

The Uniform

About the Group and Association

History of Scouting

The Scout Uniform tenderfoot

Promise and Law

Requirements Show that you know and understand the and Promise.

Aim The and Law is centre to every scout. They do not only apply to you as a scout but also to you as a citizen of a society. Abiding by the Scout’s Law and Promise is not something reserved for the troop meeting only but to every aspect of your life.

Introduction

The Scouting Movement had an astonishing growth of the scout membership from such a tiny beginning to a global membership of 28 million today in 216 countries. Every scout is invested following the same promise and law as our founder Lord Baden Powell has written and instructed.

Scouts all over the world have unwritten laws which bind them just as much as if they had them printed in black and white. They come down to us from old times. The Japanese have their Bushido or laws of the old Samurai warriors, just as we have or rules of the knights of the Middle Ages. The Red Indians in America have their laws of Honour, the Zulus, the natives of India, the European nations all have their ancient codes.

The following are the rules which apply to Scouts and which you swear to obey when you take your oath as a Scout, so it is as well that you should know all about them.

2 The Promise and Law

Scouting is a game and like every other game it has rules which must be followed. It isn’t really much fun to play games which have no rules. Even those games which you make up with your friends will have particular set of rules, because without them you will not know what you can or cannot do. The game of scouting has only a few rules, but they are all important. These rules are the promise and the law.

The most important thing you do in Scouting is when you make your Promise for the first time. Before you are invested as a scout, you must be able to recite the Promise and the Law and explain then in your own words. Everyone involved in Scouting has to accept the Scout Law and as you grow older you will come to understand fully the meaning of these important guide lines.

The Scout Promise

ON MY HONOUR, I PROMISE THAT I WILL DO MY BEST, TO DO MY DUTY TO GOD AND MY COUNTRY, TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES, AND TO OBEY THE SCOUT LAW.

This is something you must learn with meaning, and something you must always try to carry out. You make this promise on your Honour and that means, you are trusted to carry it out. No one, not even your mother or father, teacher or is going to be with you all the time, so you must rely on your honesty to yourself when you decide to keep your Promise. You are not asked to do the impossible, but you should try as hard as you possibly can. After all, that is the best anybody can do.

In the first part of the Promise you agree to get to know God and to learn all that you can about your religion. This will include attending religious services, offering prayers of praise and thanks with other Scouts and respecting other persons’ beliefs.

To help others at all times, is a service a Scout undertakes; and this is why you should do a good turn every day. There is always someone who could do with a helping hand and who needs your help. You will find that doing a good turn, makes you feel better too. The thumb knot in your Group Scarf stands to remind you of this good turn that is to be your daily duty.

3 The Scout Law

The Scout Law sets out how you should behave in your every day life. As you come to accept it as your code, you will have many happy worthwhile days ahead.

1 A SCOUT’S HONOUR IS TO BE TRUSTED. 2 A SCOUT IS LOYAL AND OBEDIENT. 3 A SCOUT’S DUTY IS TO BE USEFUL AND TO HELP OTHERS. 4 A SCOUT IS A FRIEND TO ALL AND A BROTHER TO ANY SCOUT. 5 A SCOUT IS COURTEOUS, KIND AND CONSIDERATE. 6 A SCOUT IS CHEERFUL IN ADVERSITY. 7 A SCOUT MAKES GOOD USE OF HIS TIME AND AVOIDS WASTE OF AND DAMAGE TO PROPERTY. 8 A SCOUT IS CLEAN IN THOUGHT, WORD AND DEED.

1 A Scout’s honour is to be trusted

A Scout’s honour is to be trusted. A Scout is the kind of person on whom everybody can depend. If you ask a trusted friend for help, you can rely on getting that help. If you want to be trusted yourself, you have to behave all the time in a way that shows others that they can rely on you. When you agree to go on a hike, you are there on time; if you become ill, you let your Patrol Leader know. If you have a job to do for the patrol, you do it to the best of your ability and by the time promised. If you are told something in confidence, you keep it to yourself. If you are trustworthy, you will never lie, cheat or steal. If you are doing the family shopping, you always bring back the correct change. Above all, there is no need for parents, teachers or scouters to check on you, as they all trust you. 4 2 A Scout is loyal and obedient

Loyalty means that you are faithful to someone or something. You have decided that these things are right and you will speak up for them even when they are not popular. It may mean doing things that others do not like when you are sure that those things must be done. Loyalty starts at home. You behave as your parents would like you to behave. You show appreciation of what your parents do for you and speak to others about your home, so that it is evident that you love it.

A Troop can only be at its best when every member is loyal; you have decided to be in the troop, so you stick to your leader. A Scout is loyal to the government of his country. This means keeping the laws which are made for everyone’s good, and doing what you can for the community in which you live. A scout should obey an order, even if it is inconvenient. Obedience is the basis of all discipline and there are times when disobedience can get you and others in trouble.

If your Patrol leader tells you not to go swimming alone and you do, you may get into trouble and someone may have to risk his own life to save you. Of course, obedience has its limits also. In most situations, a Scout obeys quickly and cheerfully an order from anyone who has the right to give it, but equally, he does not obey an order to do something wrong, no matter who tells him.

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