Super-Scouter

I'm sure anyone reading this post has heard the term "super-scouter." It may have even been applied to you. I think there are some who are starting to apply it to me and I'm not sure I like it.

The term almost always comes across with a slightly negative connotation. Sort of like, "Oh, So-and-so is one of those Super-Scouters who knows everything ever written in any handbook but doesn't know squat about boys."

Okay, so I've never heard it put exactly that way, but that's the impression I get. (That, and most "super-scouters" I know have district-level positions rather than unit-level positions--that might make a difference.)

So, what is a super-scouter anyway? Are there items we can all agree on? How about these, for starters:

• A super-scouter always wears a complete uniform to any Scouting function.
• A super-scouter knows and follows BSA policies and rules (even when it means he has to say no to a fun activity like paint-balling).
• A super-scouter has received all the training he should associated with his responsibility, including Wood Badge.
• A super-scouter does his best to implement the Scouting program in his unit.
• A super-scouter has a vision and testimony of the Scouting program and encourages other Scouters to catch that vision/gain that testimony.

There might be other things that distinguish a super-scouter, but those are the ones I came up with off the top of my head. And guess what? I don't see anything negative about those things! In fact, I'd say if you are a scouter and those don't apply to you, then you aren't doing your job.

I suspect that most of the time, the term super-scouter is used by those who aren't doing everything they should to describe those who are. It's like they want to justify their own lack of commitment by saying "what I do is normal and all that other stuff is extra."

Now, let's look at those same points again from the other side of the coin:

• A super-scouter always wears a complete uniform to any Scouting function. (He is more interested in getting awards for himself than he is in helping the boys--just look at all those square knots; what more proof do you need? OR Stop bugging me to wear my uniform, I don't like it. It makes me look like a nerd.)
• A super-scouter knows and follows BSA policies and rules. (He won't let us have any fun. We're not going to get hurt doing that. He just doesn't get it.)
• A super-scouter had received the training he should associated with his responsibility, including Wood Badge. (Who has time for all those meetings? And I am not going to Wood Badge. Once you go to Wood Badge they've got you for life.)
  
• A super-scouter does his best to implement the Scouting program in his unit. (This may be seen as a sloppily run troop-meeting (run by youth) and less focus on being an advancement machine.)
• A super-scouter has a vision and testimony of the Scouting program and encourages other Scouters to catch that vision/gain that testimony. (I wish he would stop bugging me to go to Wood Badge!)

Maybe I'm being a bit snarky, but the point is this: "Super-Scouters" are trying their best to do their job. They are doing their best to use the Scouting programs to bless the lives of those involved (both youth and adults). They see things from a perspective that others may not understand, and they may not know exactly how to achieve their vision, but they try. Sometimes that comes across as being a know-it-all. Sometimes it comes across as pestering someone to go to Wood Badge.


I'm not saying super-scouters are perfect--everyone has room for improvement--but I am saying that we might want to reconsider our language. Considering what a Scout "is," should we expect any less from our Scouters? Maybe we should change our language from "super-scouters v. normal scouters" to "scouters v. the rest of us slackers."