PRINCIPLES OF THE GIRL SCOUTS
The Motto:
=Be Prepared=
A Girl Scout learns to swim, not only as an athletic accomplishment, but
so that she can save life. She passes her simple tests in child care and
home nursing and household efficiency in order to be ready for the big
duties when they come. She learns the important facts about her body, so
as to keep it the fine machine it was meant to be. And she makes a
special point of woodcraft and camp lore, not only for the fun and
satisfaction they bring, in themselves, but because they are the best
emergency course we have today. A Girl Scout who has passed her First
Class test is as ready to help herself, her home and her Country as any
girl of her age should be expected to prove.
The Slogan:
="Do a Good Turn Daily"=
This simple recipe for making a very little girl perform every day some
slight act of kindness for somebody else is the _seed_ from which grows
the larger _plant_ of helping the world along--the steady attitude of
the older Scout. And this grows later into the great tree of organized,
practical community service for the grown Scout--the ideal of every
American woman today.
The Pledge:
="I pledge allegiance to my flag, and to the
Republic for which it stands; one nation
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."=
This pledge, though not original with the Girl Scouts, expresses in
every phrase their principles and practice. Practical patriotism, in
war and peace, is the cornerstone of the organization. A Girl Scout not
only knows how to make her flag, and how to fly it; she knows how to
respect it and is taught how to spread its great lesson of democracy.
Many races, many religions, many classes of society have tested the Girl
Scout plan and found that it has something fascinating and helpful in it
for every type of young girl.
This broad democracy is American in every sense of the word; and the
Patrol System, which is the keynote of the organization, by which eight
girls of about the same age and interests elect their Patrol Leader and
practice local self-government in every meeting, carries out American
ideals in practical detail.
The Promise:
=On My Honor I will try:=
To do my duty to God and my country.
To help other people at all times.
To obey the Scout Laws.
This binds the Scouts together as nothing else could do. It is a promise
each girl _voluntarily_ makes; it is not a rule of her home nor a
command from her school nor a custom of her church. She is not forced to
make it--she deliberately chooses to do so. And like all such promises,
it means a great deal to her. Experience has shown that she hesitates to
break it.
THE LAWS OF THE GIRL SCOUTS
=I. A Girl Scout's Honor Is To Be Trusted=
This means that a Girl Scout's standards of honor are so high and sure
that no one would dream of doubting her simple statement of a fact when
she says: "This is so, on my honor as a Girl Scout."
She is not satisfied, either, with keeping the letter of the law, when
she really breaks it in spirit. When she answers you, _she_ means what
_you_ mean.
Nor does she take pains to do all this only when she is watched, or when
somebody stands ready to report on her conduct. This may do for some
people, but not for the Scouts. You can go away and leave her by herself
at any time; she does not require any guard but her own sense of honor,
which is always to be trusted.
=II. A Girl Scout Is Loyal=
This means that she is true to her Country, to the city or village where
she is a citizen, to her family, her church, her school, and to those
for whom she may work, or who may work for her. She is bound to believe
the best of them and to defend them if they are slandered or threatened.
Her belief in them may be the very thing they need most, and they must
feel that whoever may fail them, a Girl Scout never will.
This does not mean that she thinks her friends and family and school are
perfect; far from it. But there is a way of standing up for what is dear
to you, even though you admit that it has its faults. And if you insist
on what is best in people, behind their backs, they will be more likely
to take your criticism kindly, when you make it to their faces.
=III. A Girl Scout's Duty Is To Be Useful and to Help Others=
This means that if it is a question of being a help to the rest of the
world, or a burden on it, a Girl Scout is always to be found among the
helpers. The simplest way of saying this, for very young Scouts, is to
tell them to do a GOOD TURN to someone every day they live; that is, to
be a _giver_ and not a _taker_. Some beginners in Scouting, and many
strangers, seem to think that any simple act of courtesy, such as we all
owe to one another, counts as a good turn, or that one's mere duty to
one's parents is worthy of Scout notice. But a good Scout laughs at this
idea, for she knows that these things are expected of all decent people.
She wants to give the world every day, for good measure, something over
and above what it asks of her. And the more she does, the more she sees
to do.
This is the spirit that makes the older Scout into a fine, useful,
dependable woman, who does so much good in her community that she
becomes naturally one of its leading citizens, on whom everyone relies,
and of whom everyone is proud. It may end in the saving of a life, or in
some great heroic deed for one's country. _But these things are only
bigger expressions of the same feeling that makes the smallest
Tenderfoot try to do at least one good turn a day._
=IV. A Girl Scout Is a Friend to All, and a Sister to Every Other Girl
Scout=
This means that she has a feeling of good will to all the world, and is
never offish and suspicious nor inclined to distrust other people's
motives. A Girl Scout should never bear a grudge, nor keep up a quarrel
from pride, but look for the best in everybody, in which case she will
undoubtedly find it. Women are said to be inclined to cliques and
snobbishness, and the world looks to great organizations like the Girl
Scouts to break down their petty barriers of race and class and make
our sex a great power for democracy in the days to come.
The Girl Scout finds a special comrade in every other Girl Scout, it
goes without saying, and knows how to make her feel that she need never
be without a friend, or a meal, or a helping hand, as long as there is
another Girl Scout in the world.
She feels, too, a special responsibility toward the very old, who
represent what she may be, some day; toward the little children, who
remind her of what she used to be; toward the very poor and the
unfortunate, either of which she may be any day. The sick and helpless
she has been, as a Scout, especially trained to help, and she is proud
of her handiness and knowledge in this way.
=V. A Girl Scout Is Courteous=
This means that it is not enough for women to be helpful in this world;
they must do it pleasantly. The greatest service is received more
gratefully if it is rendered graciously. The reason for this is that
true courtesy is not an affected mannerism, but a sign of real
consideration of the rights of others, a very simple proof that you are
anxious to "do as you would be done by." It is society's way of playing
fair and giving everybody a chance. In the same way, a gentle voice and
manner are very fair proofs of a gentle nature; the quiet,
self-controlled person is not only mistress of herself, but in the end,
of all the others who cannot control themselves.
And just as our great statesman, Benjamin Franklin proved that "honesty
is the best policy," so many a successful woman has proved that a
pleasant, tactful manner is one of the most valuable assets a girl can
possess, and should be practised steadily. At home, at school, in the
office and in the world in general, the girl with the courteous manner
and pleasant voice rises quickly in popularity and power above other
girls of equal talent but less politeness. Girl Scouts lay great stress
on this, because, though no girl can make herself beautiful, and no girl
can learn to be clever, _any girl can learn to be polite_.
=VI. A Girl Scout Is a Friend to Animals=
All Girl Scouts take particular care of our dumb friends, the animals,
and are always eager to protect them from stupid neglect or hard usage.
This often leads to a special interest in their ways and habits, so that
a Girl Scout is likely to know more about these little brothers of the
human race than an ordinary girl.
=VII. A Girl Scout Obeys Orders=
This means that you should obey those to whom obedience is due, through
thick and thin. If this were not an unbreakable rule, no army could
endure for a day. It makes no difference whether you are cleverer, or
older, or larger, or richer than the person who may be elected or
appointed for the moment to give you orders; once they are given, it is
your duty to obey them. And the curious thing about it is that the
quicker and better you obey these orders, the more quickly and certainly
you will show yourself fitted to give them when your time comes. The
girl or woman who cannot obey can never govern. The reason you obey the
orders of your Patrol Leader, for instance, in Scout Drill, is not that
she is better than you, but because she happens to be your Patrol
Leader, and gives her orders as she would obey yours were you in her
place.
A small well trained army can always conquer and rule a big,
undisciplined mob, and the reason for this is simply because the army
has been taught to obey and to act in units, while the mob is only a
crowd of separate persons, each doing as he thinks best. The soldier
obeys by instinct, in a great crisis, only because he has had long
practice in obeying when it was a question of unimportant matters. So
the army makes a great point of having everything ordered in military
drill, carried out with snap and accuracy; and the habit of this, once
fixed, may save thousands of lives when the great crisis comes, and turn
defeat into victory.
A good Scout must obey instantly, just as a good soldier must obey his
officer, or a good citizen must obey the law, with no question and no
grumbling. If she considers any order unjust or unreasonable, let her
make complaint through the proper channels, and she may be sure that if
she goes about it properly she will receive attention. _But she must
remember to obey first and complain afterward._
=VIII. A Girl Scout Is Cheerful=
This means that no matter how courteous or obedient or helpful you try
to be, if you are sad or depressed about it nobody will thank you very
much for your effort. A laughing face is usually a loved face, and
nobody likes to work with a gloomy person. Cheerful music, cheerful
plays and cheerful books have always been the world's favorites; and a
jolly, good-natured girl will find more friends and more openings in the
world than a sulky beauty or a gloomy genius.
It has been scientifically proved that if you deliberately _make_ your
voice and face cheerful and bright you immediately begin to feel that
way; and as cheerfulness is one of the most certain signs of good
health, a Scout who appears cheerful is far more likely to keep well
than one who lets herself get "down in the mouth." There is so much
real, unavoidable suffering and sorrow in the world that nobody has any
right to add to them unnecessarily, and "as cheerful as a Girl Scout"
ought to become a proverb.
=IX. A Girl Scout Is Thrifty=
This means that a Girl Scout is a girl who is wise enough to know the
value of things and to put them to the best use. The most valuable thing
we have in this life is time, and girls are apt to be stupid about
getting the most out of it. A Girl Scout may be known by the fact that
she is either working, playing or resting. All are necessary and one is
just as important as the other.
Health is probably a woman's greatest capital, and a Girl Scout looks
after it and saves it, and doesn't waste it by poor diet and lack of
exercise and fresh air, so that she goes bankrupt before she is thirty.
Money is a very useful thing to have, and the Girl Scout decides how
much she can afford to save and does it, so as to have it in an
emergency. A girl who saves more than she spends may be niggardly; a
girl who spends more than she saves may go in debt. A Girl Scout saves,
as she spends, on some system.
Did you ever stop to think that no matter how much money a man may earn,
the women of the family generally have the spending of most of it? And
if they have not learned to manage their own money sensibly, how can
they expect to manage other people's? If every Girl Scout in America
realized that she might make all the difference, some day, between a
bankrupt family and a family with a comfortable margin laid aside for a
rainy day, she would give a great deal of attention to this Scout law.
In every great war all nations have been accustomed to pay the costs of
the war from loans; that is, money raised by the savings of the people.
Vast sums were raised in our own country during the great war by such
small units as Thrift Stamps. If the Girl Scouts could save such
wonderful sums as we know they did in war, why can they not keep this up
in peace? For one is as much to their Country's credit as the other.
[Illustration: SALUTING THE FLAG IN A GIRL SCOUT CAMP]
=X. A Girl Scout Is Clean in Thought, Word and Deed=
This means that just as she stands for a clean, healthy community and a
clean, healthy home, so every Girl Scout knows the deep and vital need
for clean and healthy bodies in the mothers of the next generation. This
not only means keeping her skin fresh and sweet and her system free from
every impurity, but it goes far deeper than this, and requires every
Girl Scout to respect her body and mind so much that she forces everyone
else to respect them and keep them free from the slightest familiarity
or doubtful stain.
A good housekeeper cannot endure dust and dirt; a well cared for body
cannot endure grime or soil; a pure mind cannot endure doubtful thoughts
that cannot be freely aired and ventilated. It is a pretty safe rule for
a Girl Scout not to read things nor discuss things nor do things that
could not be read nor discussed nor done by a Patrol all together. If
you will think about this, you will see that it does not cut out
anything that is really necessary, interesting or amusing. Nor does it
mean that Scouts _should_ never do anything except in Patrols; that
would be ridiculous. But if they find they _could_ not do so, they had
better ask themselves why. When there is any doubt about this higher
kind of cleanliness Captains and Councillors may always be asked for
advice and explanation.