22 Oct 2011
On My Honor: Boy Scouts and the Making of American Youth
Author: admin | Filed under: For Boy ScoutsOn My Honor: Boy Scouts and the Making of American Youth
In a timely contribution to current debates over the psychology of boys and the construction of their social lives, On My Honor explores the folk customs of adolescent males in the Boy Scouts of America during a summer encampment in California's Sierra Nevada. Drawing on more than twenty years of research and extensive visits and interviews with members of the troop, Mechling uncovers the key rituals and play events through which the Boy Scouts shapes boys into men. He describes the campfire songs, initiation rites, games, and activities that are used to mold the Scouts into responsible adults.
The themes of honor and character alternate in this new study as we witness troop leaders offering examples in structure, discipline, and guidance, and teaching scouts the difficult balance between freedom and self-control. What results is a probing look into the inner lives of boys in our culture and their rocky transition into manhood. On My Honor provides a provocative, sometimes shocking glimpse into the sexual awakening and moral development of young men coming to grips with their nascent desires, their innate aggressions, their inclination toward peer pressure and violence, and their social acculturation.
On My Honor ultimately shows how the Boy Scouts of America continues to edify and mentor young men against the backdrop of controversies over freedom of religious expression, homosexuality, and the proposed inclusion of female members. While the organization's bureaucracy has taken an unyielding stance against gay men and atheists, real live Scouts are often more open to plurality than we might assume. In their embrace of tolerance, acceptance, and understanding, troop leaders at the local level have the power to shape boys into emotionally mature men.
The themes of honor and character alternate in this new study as we witness troop leaders offering examples in structure, discipline, and guidance, and teaching scouts the difficult balance between freedom and self-control. What results is a probing look into the inner lives of boys in our culture and their rocky transition into manhood. On My Honor provides a provocative, sometimes shocking glimpse into the sexual awakening and moral development of young men coming to grips with their nascent desires, their innate aggressions, their inclination toward peer pressure and violence, and their social acculturation.
On My Honor ultimately shows how the Boy Scouts of America continues to edify and mentor young men against the backdrop of controversies over freedom of religious expression, homosexuality, and the proposed inclusion of female members. While the organization's bureaucracy has taken an unyielding stance against gay men and atheists, real live Scouts are often more open to plurality than we might assume. In their embrace of tolerance, acceptance, and understanding, troop leaders at the local level have the power to shape boys into emotionally mature men.
Boy Scouts Locomotive
Image by SP8254 – Catching Up
UP 2010, the Boy Scouts of America locomotive, made a visit to the PNW. It tagged along as a DPU on an eastbound Z train bound for Chicago.
The train is passing the Grain Silos at Biggs, OR. The waving American flag in the background added a nice touch to this scene.
More Chicago Boy Scouts Products
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3 Responses to “On My Honor: Boy Scouts and the Making of American Youth”
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October 22nd, 2011 at 10:41 am
A close look at Scouting: Sympathetic but provocative,
This is a very thoughtful, very provocative look at Scouting — not only the Boy Scouts of America as an organization, but the experience of being a Scout for one troop of boys and their adult Scout leaders. The book keeps details of this experience in the foreground — you really get to see what the Scouts do at their summer encampment, hear what they have to say, the kinds of jokes and stories they tell, and so on – but it also examines these details for what they reveal about young boys becoming older boys and older boys becoming men. All this works because the book is a good read, not only as a story (of one troop’s summer camping adventure) but also as a meditation on adults and kids, American life in these modern times, and so on.
Some readers and reviewers may try to pigeon-hole the book as a critique of Scouting, or focus only on the policy issues (i.e., how the BSA has handled issues of God, Gays, and Girls), but that’s way off base. The author certainly gives some attention to these issues and he is critical of some official BSA positions. But he’s also clearly sympathetic towards the Scouting experience, and he’s smart about what’s going on for kids of Scouting age. A fan of scouting who’s taking a close look and asking important questions that go well beyond Scouting in their implications. Highly recommended.
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|October 22nd, 2011 at 11:28 am
Academic, but very readable,
Excellent study of the Boy Scouts at the turn of the century seen through the experiences of one troop at summer camp. Mechling’s compression of twenty years into one narrative can be slightly confusing in places, but works well overall. Though he makes no effort to hide his personal views (supported by sociological reasearch and his own experiences as a Scout), he carefully illustrates the complexity of the issues confronting the organization as it heads into its second century. I could have done without the Freudian analysis of teenage boys’ relationship to their bodies, but otherwise it’s a very thoughtful and thought-provoking book.
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|October 22nd, 2011 at 12:28 pm
On My honor,
This was the best book I ever read.It was very exiting for me to read.I loved that book,and I would prefor to read. It would be a good book report.
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