Meaning of Promise and Law

As the next step towards the Promise Challenge, the requirement was to demonstrate to a new Scout that they understood the promise.  Rather than just “do it” - which would be short and potentially boring - we divided the Scouts into four teams and got them to randomly select 2 “Laws” each (yup, there are only 7 laws, so one was split into two).  They then randomly selected two “methods” (I’ll list them at the end); then armed with this each team had to develop a sketch between 30 seconds and 2 minutes.

I think it’s fair to say that the results were varied.  At the end of each presentation, most teams were unable to properly identify the Law - but then many of the answers seem to be in the region of “A scout may not… except on a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon when they wear a purple tie…” rather than just “A Scout is.”

But whilst “in the moment” there was a degree of frustration about the results, thinking back the Scouts did demonstrate their understanding.  There was little mucking about, everyone made use of the time to develop the sketch, all the scouts had a go (even the quiet ones), they were (in part) quiet to listen to the presentations… etc.

The Laws as presented:
1.  A SCOUT IS TO BE TRUSTED
2.  A SCOUT IS LOYAL
3. A SCOUT IS FRIENDLY AND CONSIDERATE
4. A SCOUT BELONGS TO THE WORLD-WIDE FAMILY OF SCOUTS
5. A SCOUT HAS COURAGE IN ALL DIFFICULTIES
6. A SCOUT MAKES GOOD USE OF HIS TIME…
7. … AND IS CAREFUL OF POSSESSIONS AND PROPERTY
8. A SCOUT HAS SELF-RESPECT AND RESPECT FOR OTHERS
The Methods:
1.  AS A SHOPPING TV PRESENTATION
2. IN MIME (NO TALKING)
3. AS A “SCOUTING ACTIVITY”
4. AS A SECRET OPS / SECRET AGENT BRIEFING
5. AS IF ON A LONG CAR JOURNEY
6. AS A FILM TRAILER
7. AS AN ADVERT FOR A BOARD GAME
8. AS IF  ON A SHOPPING TRIP - COMPARING BRANDS OF PRODUCT