When I was a young lad my parents enrolled me in Cubs and later, Boy Scouts. Though I was shepherded through these institutions by volunteers who were men of probity and good will, I can't say I ever enjoyed myself.

It was at Boy Scout camp that I learned to hate the vastness of nature and bless the inventors of indoor plumbing. At our troop's Tuesday night meetings in the church basement I acquired an uneasy guilt about knots that has never left me. My reef knots always turned out to be the contemptible granny knots; I still don't know how to tie a Bowline, a Sheep-Shank or the Round Turn and Two Half-Hitches, but I still feel I should.

Nonetheless, I recognized that the Scouting movement was trying to make a better person out of me and others of my generation. Every week I recited the maxim that "the Cub gives in to the Old Wolf; the Cub does not give in to himself." Every week I promised to do my best to do my duty to God and the Queen, to help other people at all times and obey the Scout Law.

Just as I and my spotty contemporaries gathered regularly and pledged ourselves to deeds of juvenile righteousness, so did the men of my father's generation gather in assemblies known as "service clubs." All across the land Rotarians, Cosmopolitans, Kiwanis, Kinsmen, Lions, Elk and Moose met to lunch and plan how to be useful to their communities.

Kinsmen seemed to specialize in building recreational facilities, the Lions supported marching bands; Rotarians raised money for scholarships and international youth exchanges; other groups contributed to track clubs, music festivals or medical research. Canada is undoubtedly a better place because of their efforts.

Receding movement

Despite the social value of both the Scouting movement and service clubs, both phenomena seem to be in recession. After a brief flirtation with Brownies none of my daughters felt moved to continue in that organization.

Few of my students have spent long in either Scouts or Guides. None of my friends have ever been asked to join the Lions or the Kinsmen, and whenever I speak at a service club luncheon I am always among the youngest men present.

Certainly, changes in lifestyle are behind part of this decline: families with two parents in paid employment have less time for volunteering; brand-name obsessed youth in possession of Sony Playstations are less likely to leap at the chance to wear paramilitary uniforms and earn their bee-keeping badge. (And yes, I DO know that Scouts and Venturers, et. al. wear new uniforms and have many appealing activities unavailable to me in my youth.)

Upwardly mobile parents are more likely to stick a Suzuki violin in their infant's wee hands than a hatchet, though the destructive power of the former is far greater than the latter.

Well, no organization, no matter how noble, prospers forever-where are you now Women's Christian Temperance Union, Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire, Winnipeg Jets?

My concern is really this: what institutions are making the values for today's youth and adults? And what are the values being taught?

Our educational system is wonderful at inculcating self-esteem and an awareness of human rights but who is teaching young people the meaning of the word "honour?" Such a powerful word, rich in meaning and associations. Anybody hear it on the lips of a teenager recently? How about "duty?" or "service?"

Groups such as Greenpeace, Amnesty International or the International Campaign to Ban Landmines-all outfits with a strong following among teens-are splendid in their own way but they all begin with an assumption of moral superiority on the part of their membership.

It is their task to get others to agree with them and their elevated position but who is performing a more valuable service? Who is shaping character and producing citizens of general virtue as opposed to those holding a particular politically correct opinion?

Certainly churches and para-church organizations are doing their best. This summer thousands of Christians in VBS, wilderness camps, skateboard parks and inner-city programs are hoping to make a difference in young lives.

These, however, reach only a fraction of the population and are shunned by many families because of their implied religious connection. Canadian society will be the loser until the good old ideas are presented in an attractive new format.

Gerry Bowler is a Winnipeg author and historian.