Boy Scout

Scouts coming from various nations sing at the European Jamboree 2005

A Boy Scout is a boy usually 11 to 17 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. This movement began in 1907, when General Robert Baden-Powell held the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island, South England. To advance his ideas, Baden-Powell wrote Scouting for Boys for boy readership, which describes the Scout method of outdoor activities aiming at developing character, citizenship, and personal fitness qualities among youth.

Boy Scouts are organized into troops averaging twenty to thirty Scouts under guidance of a Scout leader. Troops subdivide into patrols of about six Scouts and engage in outdoor and special interest activities. Troops may affiliate with national and international organizations. Some national Scouting associations have special interest programs such as Air Scouts, Sea Scouts, outdoor high adventure, Scouting bands and rider scouts. Some troops, especially in Europe, have been co-educational since the 1970s, allowing boys and girls to work together as Scouts.

Foundation

Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts as an organization in 1908, a few months after the first scout encampment at Brownsea Island Scout Camp in 1907. Baden-Powell got the idea from his experiences with the British Army in South Africa. To advance his ideas, Baden-Powell wrote Scouting for Boys for boy readership, which describes the Scout method of outdoor activities aiming at developing character, citizenship, and personal fitness qualities among youth. Many boys joined in Scouting activities so that the movement grew rapidly to become the world's largest youth organization.

The Boy Scout program is designed to develop youths who have a high degree of self-reliance, initiative, courage, helpfulness, integrity and resourcefulness. Boy Scouts should be helpful; understand their society, heritage, and culture; have respect for the rights of others; and be positive leader-citizens.

While most Boy Scouts may join a troop after finishing Cub Scouts, this is not required. He may later join another affiliated program for older boys while simultaneously still being a member of a Boy Scout troop, such as Exploring or Venturing.

Activities

Boy Scouts having fun at a campfire ring at summer camp

A Boy Scout learns the cornerstones of the Scout method, Scout Promise, and Scout Law. These are designed to instill character, citizenship, personal fitness, and leadership in boys through a structured program of outdoor activities., p. 2-15, p. 9 Common ways to implement the Scout method include spending time together in small groups with shared experiences, rituals, and activities; as well as emphasizing good citizenship and decision-making that are age-level appropriate. Cultivating a love and appreciation of the outdoors and outdoor activities are key elements. Primary activities include camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking, and sports.

Fellowship

Camping most often occurs on a unit level, such as in the troop, but there are periodic camporees and jamborees. Camporees are events where units from a local area camp together for a weekend. These occur a couple times a year and usually have a theme, such as pioneering. Jamborees are large events on a national or international level held every four years where thousands of Scouts camp together for 1-2 weeks. Activities at these events include games, scoutcraft competitions, patch trading, aquatics, woodcarving, archery, and rifle and shotgun shooting.

For many Scouts and Scouters, the highlight of the year is spending at least a week in the summer as part of an outdoor activity. This can be a long event such as camping, hiking, sailing, canoeing, or kayaking with the unit or a summer camp operated on a council, state, or provincal level. Scouts attending a summer camp, generally one week during the summer, work on merit badges, advancement, and perfecting scoutcraft skills. Some summer camps operate specialty programs for older Scouts, such as sailing, backpacking, canoeing and whitewater, caving, and fishing.

Working for ranks and merit badges

All Scouting organizations have an advancement program whereby the Scout learns scoutcraft, community service, leadership and explores areas of interest to him at an increasingly difficult level. The lower ranks focus mostly on basic Scouting skills. Requirements for demonstrating leadership, community service and learning about other topics, such as possible career areas, generally come in the middle and upper ranks. Scouts are recognized by being awarded ranks and badges of recognition, such as merit badges, which are called proficiency badges in some countries. Merit badges are awarded for a variety of fields, such as mastering advanced scoutcraft, sports, aquatics, ecology, citizenship, and academics., p. 2-15

All Scouting associations have a highest rank that require mastering scoutcraft, leadership, and performing community service. Only a small percentage of Scouts attain them. In the Scouting associations of many English-speaking countries, the highest rank is the Queen's Scout or King's Scout Award. In the United States it is the Eagle Scout Award. Since the Boy Scouts of the Philippines is an outgrowth of Scouting in the United States, Eagle Scout is also the highest award. Other worldwide Scouting groups have the Baden-Powell Award (Baden-Powell Scouts), Crown Scout (Scouting Nederland and Guidisme et Scoutisme en Belgique), Pramuka Garuda (Indonesian Scouting), King Scout (The National Scout Organization of Thailand), and Chief Scout's Award (Scouts Canada).

As Scouts get older, they often seek more challenging and diverse activities. To meet this demand, programs such as Air Scouts, Sea Scouts, Exploring in America, Explorer Scouts in the United Kingdom, Rovering and Venturing.

Organization

Troop

The troop is the fundamental unit of the Boy Scouts. It may include as few as a half-dozen boys, or as many as seventy or more. Troops usually meet weekly. A troop is often sponsored by a community organization such as a business, service organization, school, labor group veterran's group, or religious institution. The chartering organization is responsible for providing a meeting place and promoting a good program. A key component of the Scout method is that troops are run by the Scouts under the advice and guidance of adult leaders.

Patrol

Each troop is divided into patrols of six to ten Scouts and use the patrol method, where the Scouts divide into smaller groups within the troop. A patrol's independence from the troop varies among troops and between activities. For instance, a troop typically holds ordinary meetings as a unit. Patrols' autonomy becomes more visible at campouts, where each patrol may set up its own cooking area. However, on a high-adventure trip which only a small part of the troop attends, divisions between patrols may disappear entirely. Patrols may hold meetings and even excursions separately from the rest of the troop, but this is more common in some troops than in others., p. 2-15

Some troops mix older and younger Scouts in the same patrols, so that the older boys can teach the younger ones more effectively. Other troops group boys by age, and may assign an older boy as a "troop guide" to mentor each of the younger patrols.

Leadership in the troop

Every troop has two separate leadership structures: one consisting of Scouts and another consisting of adults. The adult leadership manages the logistics of troop activities, administers rank advancement and awards, maintains troop records and finance, and recruits new Scouts and adult leaders. The youth leadership keeps order and coordinates labor at activities. Scouts and adults cooperate to plan agendas for troop meetings, as well as the troop's schedule of outings.

An adult responsible for a Scout (usually a parent) may join the troop committee. The committee, in turn, selects a chair and appoints its members to specific positions, most importantly those of the Scoutmaster and his assistants. While all adult leaders work for the committee chair, the Scoutmaster is the adult directly responsible for the troop's program. These leaders must complete special training mandated by their Scouting association. The top level leader training course around the world is Wood Badge.

The youth leadership is headed by a senior patrol leader (SPL), who works closely with the Scoutmaster to run troop activities. He is expected to attend most meetings and outings. While the SPL is directly responsible for running the troop, he shares that responsibility with one or more assistants (Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders or ASPLs). Following the Scout method, a troop is "boy-run". Other troop-wide positions of responsibility exist and their duties vary from country to country.

The SPL is elected by the entire troop, from a list of candidates approved by the Scoutmaster. He then cooperates with the Scoutmaster to appoint the other troop-wide leaders. Likewise, each patrol elects a Patrol Leader (PL), who appoints his Assistant Patrol Leader(s) (APL). Many youth leadership positions require training. All youth leaders serve six-month terms. Many Scouting associations have training programs for Scouts holding leadership positions within their troop.

Organization above the troop level

WOSM membership badge

Each national Scouting organization that belongs to the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) decides whether its program will be for boys only or will be coeducational. The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is the parallel Scouting organization for girls and women in Scouting. However, WOSM and WAGGGS are not the only international Scouting associations. In a backlash against what many feel has been a drift away from what Baden-Powell intended the Scouting movement to be, and overly political Scouting associations, additional Scouting associations and movements have been formed. Examples include the Traditional Scouting movement, the Order of World Scouts, and the World Federation of Independent Scouts.

One or more troops and one or more other sections can form a group or district. These are troops that are located near each other geographically and provide mutual support, advice and group/district level encampments a couple of times per year. In some countries, this is the first level at which the troop has contact with professional Scouters from its association. In some associations, groups and districts are organized into regions or councils. It is this level of an association that generally operates very large outings and week long summer encampments.

Uniforms

The Scout uniform is a specific characteristic of Scouting. In the words of Lord Robert Baden-Powell at the 1937 World Jamboree, it "hides all differences of social standing in a country and makes for equality; but, more important still, it covers differences of country and race and creed, and makes all feel that they are members with one another of the one great brotherhood". The original uniform, which has created a familiar image in the public eye and had a very military appearance, consisted of a khaki button-up shirt, shorts and a broad-brimmed campaign hat. Baden-Powell himself wore shorts as he felt that being dressed like the youth contributed to reducing distances between the adult and the young person.

Uniforms have become much more functional and colorful since the beginning and are now frequently blue, orange, red or green, and shorts are replaced by long trousers in areas where the culture calls for modesty, and in winter weather. In 1980, Oscar de la Renta donated his time for two years as the primary designer of a complete new set of uniforms for the Boy Scouts of America. Those designs are still in use as of 2006.

Distinctive insignia for all Scout uniforms, recognized and worn the world over, include the Wood Badge and the World Membership Badge (World Crest). Neckerchiefs are still quite common, but some Scouting associations do not use them. Patches for leadership positions, ranks, special achievements, troop- or group- numbers or names, and country or regional affiliation are standard.

Scout shops sell uniforms, Scouting literature, badges, and other items such as camping equipment for local Scouts, and Scout souvenir items for visiting foreign Scouts. The shops are usually located at the local branch office of the Scout organization and may be run professionally or by volunteers.

Boy Scout: Encyclopedia BETA

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