What is Ethics in Action?Ethics in Action is an activities program for Cub Scouts designed to reinforce the character-building goals that have always been a part of the program of the Boy Scouts of America. Ethics in Action activities encourage Cub Scouts and their leaders to "think a little deeper" about values and about some of the decisions and consequences of decisions that are a normal part of growing up. The activities also try to enhance boys' respect and concern for others by helping them see things from different points of view. But above all, Ethics in Action activities are fun. They are part of the "game with a purpose" that is Scouting.
Note: | This program, a series of character-development activities, later evolved into Character Connections (in 2003), a program that encourages a discussion of one of 12 core values in every Cub Scouting activity. [See theCharacter Connections page.] Certain chapters of this older program - especially on Reflecting - and the 12 Activities, are quite applicable to today's use. Thus certain chapters - or parts of chapters - of the Ethics in Actionbook are not reproduced here. |
Why an Ethics in Action Program? WHY TRY TO TEACH VALUES?Today's Cub Scouts are growing up in a very complicated world. They are faced with conflicting messages that are often hard to sort out. Some influences-peer pressure, for example-may provide boys with the positive support they need to help them do the right thing. Or peer pressure may work the other way and urge boys to act in ways that sharply contradict the positive values that their parents are trying to encourage.
Since the very beginning, the program of the Boy Scouts of America has been an educational experience concerned with values. The first Scouting activities were designed back in 1907 to fill what the movement's founder, Lord Robert S. S. Baden-Powell called the "chinks" left by the education that boys received in school. One of these "chinks," according to Baden- Powell, was character. The others were physical fitness, practical skills, and service to others. All of these remain key parts of Cub Scouting today.
However, when parents in Minnesota's Viking Council were asked what more they wished Cub Scouting could do, they said they would like more help teaching their sons to make good decisions based on sound values. Nearly 80 years after the beginning of the Boy Scouts of America, parents still see character as a chink in their sons' formal education! As a result, the Viking Council and the Center for Youth Development and Research at the University of Minnesota, under the leadership of Dr. Judith B. Erickson, developed the Ethics in Action program, [ed: Out of this a Boy Scout Program called the "Delta" program (D.E.L.T.A. - Developing Ethical Leaders Through Action) available on the Pine Tree Web site http://www.pinetreeweb.com/delta-hb.htm ]
Ethics in Action for Cub Scouts was created to answer parents' requests for help. Ethics in Action activities enhance character formation; that is, the development and reinforcement of the worthwhile qualities that are part of the Cub Scout Promise and Law of the Pack.
Ethics in Action activities are designed to build boys' ability to sort out values. They stress cooperation and open communication between adult Scouters and boys, and among the Cub Scouts themselves. The "reflecting" process provides opportunities to express real feelings without fear of a put-down or ridicule that is so much a part of the culture of American boys. Ethics in Action activities help Cub Scouts develop skills, as well as confidence in and respect for self and others. The program also helps boys understand that their actions may affect others, as well as themselves.
"Ethics in Action" BSA #33015 ISBN 0-8395-30153 - 1992 Printing
Read articles on Ethics In Action/Character Connections:
Read the following chapters from "Ethics in Action":
What do those little letters mean?
I don't know what your destiny will be, but the one thing I know; the only ones among you who will really be happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.
Albert Schweitzer