The Boy-Scout movement was started by General
Baden-Powell in 1909; and it has now become a great and important institution
in England, and is being introduced into many schools in Pakistan, with the
most encouraging results. Baden-Powell fought in the South African War, and was
the hero of the siege of Making; and was his experience in South Africa. and
his realization that what the British solider especially needed was the power
of observation and individual initiative, that led him to the idea of training
boys in these and other useful qualities, by a suitable organization. Though he
is a soldier and a brave one, he has no love for war; and his object was not to
make boys soldiers, but so to guide their love of adventure and their manly
instincts as to turn them into good citizens. So, although the organization and
discipline of the Boy- Scouts is semi-military, its whole aim is peaceful.
The Boy-Scout organization is based on what is
called “the herd-instinct”; that is the tendency of men, like certain animals
that live his herds or flocks to act together as one body. A Scout Troop in any
school or locality is therefore divided up into sections, each consisting of
eight boys -- one leader, one second in command, and six scouts. Each section
is named after some animal (e.g. the bear, lion, fox, beaver wolf, etc.) and
has as a signal -- call a cry which is an imitation of the cry of the animal
after which it is named. About six of these sections form a troop under a
Scout-Master’, in the same way as so many platoons from a company in the army.
But while all the sections work together as one troop, the stimulus of
competition is introduced by placing the sections in friendly rivalry with each
other.
Moreover, the Scouts are divided into grades. The
young recruit, after a certain amount of training. has to pass a practical
examination (which consists of knowledge of the Scout-law, some drill, and the
tying of certain knots) before he becomes a “Tenderfoot”. The “Tender-feet”
then have to pass a second examination first-aid, semaphore signaling, and the
lighting of a fire with one match) to second grade scouts; and these must pass
a fairly stiff examination before they can be First Scouts.
The Scout-law, which every scout takes a solemn vow
to keep, includes loyalty to King and country, purity of thought, truthfulness,
honesty, and the doing of one kind deed a day. The whole object of the training
is to make boys loyal and useful citizens.
More over the, boys who take’ part in scouting. They
stay busy. An idle brain is a devil’s workshop. On its contrary, happiness lies
on busy feet. The boys who are scouts can kill their time in a satisfactory way
they have no time to worry. They are busy in doing good things. They are good
citizen in the country.