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Boy Scout

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Community organisations

   Scouts coming from various nations sing at the European Jamboree 2005
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   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 the
   book, Scouting for Boys, which targeted boy readership, and described
   the Scout method of using outdoor activities to develop 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.

   Originally, the Boy Scout program was aimed at 11-16 year old boys.
   However, the younger brothers of Boy 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.

   Over time, the Boy Scout program has been reviewed and updated in many
   of the countries where it is run, but the same core values and
   principles as Baden-Powell originally envisaged still apply.

   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 or
   a Scout Group, such as Exploring or Venturing.

Activities

   Boy Scouts having fun at a campfire ring at summer camp
   Enlarge
   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. 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
   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 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.

   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
   member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 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 ( The Guides and Scouts
   Movement of Belgium), 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, Venturing and Exploring in America, Explorer Scouts in the
   United Kingdom, Rovering and Venturing.

Unit affiliation

Troop

   The troop is the fundamental unit of the Boy Scouts. This is the group
   a Boy 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 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.

   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 (or Section Leader) 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 may
   serve six-month terms. Many Scouting associations have training
   programs for Scouts holding leadership positions within their troop.

Group

   In many countries a local organisation, a "Scout Group", combines
   different sections together into a single body. In other countries, the
   different sections are independent of each other, although they might
   be sponsored or chartered by the same organisation, such as a Church.
   Scout Groups can consist of any number of Scout Troops, Cub Scout
   Packs, and Beaver Scout Colonies. In some countries Rover Scout crews
   and Venture Scout crews can be part of a Scout Group.

Organization above the troop or group level

   One or more troops and one or more other sections or groups can form a
   district. These are troops or groups that are located near each other
   geographically and provide mutual support, advice and 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 districts are organized into
   regions or councils. It is this level of an association that generally
   operates very large outings. Above these levels there is a national
   association. Most national association are member of the World
   Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and/or the World Association
   of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), some are member of the Order
   of World Scouts, the World Federation of Independent Scouts, the
   International Union of the Guides and Scouts of Europe (UIGSE) or
   Confederation of European Scouts (CES) and others are non-aligned.

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. T-Shirts and other more casual wear
   have also replaced the more formal button-up uniforms in many Scouting
   regions.

   To show the unity of all Scouts, the World Membership Badge ( World
   Crest) is a part of all uniforms. Neckerchiefs and Woggles (slides) 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.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scout"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
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