Scout (Scouting)
A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide
.Foundation
After the
Over time, the Scout programme has been reviewed and updated in many of the countries where it is run, and special interest programmes developed such as
Age groups and sections
Originally, the Scout program was aimed at 11- to 16-year-old boys. However, the younger brothers of Scouts started to attend Troop meetings, and so the Wolf Cub section was started. It was also evident that young girls wanted to participate in similar activities, but the Edwardian values at the time would not allow young boys and girls to "rough and tumble" together, causing the Guide Movement to be created.[citation needed]
While most Scouts may join a troop after finishing Cub Scouts, this is not required. As Scouts get older, they often seek more challenging and diverse activities. He may later join another affiliated program for older children, such as Exploring, Venturing, or
Activities
A Scout learns the cornerstones of the Scout method,
Fellowship
Camping most often occurs on a unit level, such as in the troop, but there are periodic
For many Scouts, 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 provincial 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, such as sailing, backpacking, canoeing and whitewater, caving, and fishing.[citation needed]
Personal progression
A large part, compared to younger and older sections, of the activities are related to personal progression. All Scouting organizations have an advancement program, whereby the Scout learns Scoutcraft, community service, leadership, and explores areas of interest to him. This Badge system or Personal Progressive Scheme is based on two complementary elements:
- Proficiency (Merit) badges, which are intended to encourage the Scout to learn a subject which could be his work or hobby, so cover many different types of activities, not always related to Scouting.
- Class badges or Progress system, which symbolize increasingly difficult levels or successive stages.
Most Scouting associations have a
Unit affiliation
Troop
The troop is the fundamental unit of the Scouts. This is the group a Scout joins and via which he participates in Scouting activities, such as camping, backpacking, and canoeing. The troop leadership, youth and adult, organizes and provides support for these activities. It may include as few as a half-dozen Scouts, or as many as seventy or more. Troops usually meet weekly.[citation needed]
Patrol
Each troop is divided into patrols of around five to ten Scouts. 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 area for cooking and camping. 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.[6] Each patrol has a Patrol Leader (PL) and Patrol Second (PS), or Assistant Patrol Leader (APL). Some troops mix older and younger Scouts in the same patrols, so that the older Scouts can teach the younger ones more effectively, other troops group Scouts by age, so that the members of one patrol have more in common.[citation needed]
Group
In most countries a local organisation, a "Scout Group", combines different sections together into a single body. Scout Groups can consist of any number of sections of the different
Uniforms
The Scout uniform is a specific characteristic of Scouting, and is worn at most events. The original uniform, which has created a familiar image in the public eye and had a very military appearance, consisted of a khaki
]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 colder weather. T-shirts and other more casual wear have also replaced the more formal
To show the unity of all Scouts, the World Membership Badge (
See also
References
- ^ "First Scouting Handbook". Order of the Arrow, Boy Scouts of America. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ^ Boehmer, Elleke (2004). Notes to 2004 edition of Scouting for Boys. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ Peterson, Robert (October 2003). "Another youth organization, the Boys' Brigade, was flourishing when the first official troops of the Boy Scouts of America appeared in 1910". Scouting Magazine. Boy Scouts of America. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
- ^ "Constitution and By-Laws of the World Organization of the Scout Movement". World Organization of the Scout Movement. January 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012., p. 3-7
- ^ "Scouting: An Educational System". World Organization of the Scout Movement. 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2006., p. 9
- ^ "Troop Organization". US Scouts.org. April 2000. Retrieved 26 July 2006., p. 2-15
External links
- Media related to Scouting at Wikimedia Commons