Scouting. Scouting, the world's largest movement for boys and girls, exists in more than 180 countries, Scouting began in Great Britain, founded in 1908 by the military officer Robert Baden‐Powell, the author of several books on methods of training army scouts. After gaining fame in the Boer War, Baden‐Powell had become a popular speaker to various youth groups such as the YMCA. This experience led him to adapt one of his military manuals into
Scouting for Boys (1908), a handbook for a new youth organization he called the Boy Scouts. The movement stressed military skills, leadership, respect for nature, and adherence to democratic values. Scouting quickly spread. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was founded in 1910 by a diverse group of reformers. Heavily influenced by the Progressive movement, the BSA placed greater emphasis on religious values than on military skills.
Juliette Gordon Low (1860–1927), a wealthy Georgia socialite and close friend of Baden‐Powell, founded the Girl Scouts of America (GSA) in 1912. Girl scouting was initially quite controversial, as it encouraged girls to engage in military‐style training, sports, and other activities some deemed inappropriate. For years, the BSA tried to prevent the GSA from using the name “scout,” arguing that it undermined their movement by “feminizing” scouting.
During
World War I, scouts engaged in a wide variety of volunteer activities to aid the Allied war effort. After the war the movement shifted away from militarism to stress character development and unity among young people of different nations. This focus continues, encouraged by international scouting events and an emphasis on sisterhood and brotherhood across cultures. In the United States, more than 130 million people have been scouts.
See also
Child Rearing;
Life Stages;
Progressive Era;
YMCA and YWCA.
Bibliography
Charles E. Strickland , Juliette Low, the Girl Scouts, and the Role of American Women, in Women's Being, Women's Place, ed. Mary Kelley, 1979, pp. 252–64.
Michael Rosenthal , The Character Factory: Baden‐Powell and the Origins of the Boy Scout Movement, 1984.
M. Langley Biegert
