Boy Scouts

Boy Scouts, organization, originally for boys from 11 to 14 or 15 years of age, that aimed to develop in them good citizenship, chivalrous behaviour, and skill in various outdoor activities. The Boy Scout movement was founded in Great Britain in 1908 by a cavalry officer, Lieutenant General Robert S.S. (later Lord) Baden-Powell, who had written a book called Scouting for Boys (1908) but who was better known as the defender of the town of Mafeking in the South African (or Boer) War. Baden-Powell’s book described many games and contests that he had used to train cavalry troops in scouting, and it became popular reading among the boys of Great Britain. Prior to the book’s publication, Baden-Powell held an experimental camp on Brownsea Island off the coast of southern England in which he put into practice his ideas on the training of boys.

Baden-Powell’s idea was that boys should organize themselves into small natural subgroups of six or seven under a boy leader—the patrol and patrol leader. Their training would consist of such things as tracking and reconnaissance, mapping, signaling, knotting, first aid, and all the skills that arise from camping and similar outdoor activities. To become a scout, a boy would promise to be loyal to his country, help other people, and in general obey the scout law, itself a simple code of chivalrous behaviour easily understood by the boy.

That basic pattern of scouting aims and emphases has continued. In every country where scouting exists, it involves a scout oath or promise; a scout law, with such small variations as national traditions and culture demand; an emphasis on the delights of the outdoor life and the pursuit of such outdoor activities as camping, swimming, sailing, climbing, canoeing, and exploring caves; a progressive training rewarded by the granting of certain badges; and the encouragement of a daily good deed. In every country, too, the highest proficiency is marked by the award of a special badge (e.g., the Eagle Scout Badge in the United States and the Queen’s Scout Badge in Canada and Great Britain). The symbols of the scouts include the handshake with the left hand, the fleur-de-lis badge, and the motto “Be prepared.”

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Baden-Powell had intended his ideas to be used by existing youth organizations in Britain, but it was soon obvious that a new movement had come into being, and the Boy Scouts quickly spread to other countries. By 1910 there were Boy Scout troops in Sweden, Mexico, Argentina, and the United States, as well as such Commonwealth countries as Canada, Australia, and South Africa. By the early 21st century there were national Boy Scout organizations in nearly 170 countries. The World Organization of the Scout Movement, established in 1920 and now based in Geneva, promotes scouting worldwide. It maintains regional offices in Belgium, Egypt, the Philippines, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Chile, and Ukraine.

Boy Scout units, or troops, are divided into individual subgroups, or patrols, and hold regular meetings. Scout troops are sponsored on the local level by churches, schools, fraternal organizations, and other community groups. An adult “scoutmaster” heads each troop. The U.S. organization has sought to include boys of diverse backgrounds, while the courts have affirmed its right as a private organization to set standards barring some groups from membership or leadership. Since 1920, international scout meetings, or “world jamborees,” have been held every four years. The jamborees are gatherings of thousands of scouts representing their countries and camping together in friendship. There have also been innumerable national camps attended by parties of scouts from neighbouring countries.

The Boy Scout movement was intended for boys 11 to 14 or 15 years of age, but it soon became apparent that programs for younger and older boys were needed. Accordingly, in 1916 Baden-Powell founded a parallel organization for younger boys, the Wolf Cubs (known in some countries as Cub Scouts). Programs have been developed for even younger boys (Beaver Scouts in the U.K. for age 6 to 8, Tiger Cubs in the U.S. for age 7). In the U.S., Varsity programs are open to boys 14 through 17 years old and Venturing to young men and women 14 through 20 (16 to 20 in the U.K.). In 1967 the word Boy was dropped from the name of the British organization, and in the 1980s girls were allowed to join at the Cub level and upward.

In the late 20th century the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) faced growing criticism over its ban on homosexual troop leaders. In 1999 James Dale, an openly gay assistant scoutmaster, sued the organization after he was expelled. Boy Scouts of America v. Dale eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of the BSA in 2000. The controversy continued, however, and some corporate sponsors stopped funding the BSA. In 2014 Robert M. Gates—the former U.S. secretary of defense who helped oversee the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell—became president of the organization. He subsequently sought to end the ban, and in July 2015 it was lifted, though exceptions were made for church-sponsored troops.

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In 2017 the BSA announced that it would admit younger girls to its Cub Scout organization starting in 2018 and would introduce a program for older girls, enabling them to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, in 2019. In 2018 the BSA announced that in 2019 its Boy Scouts program would be renamed Scouts BSA and would admit girls as well as boys. In 2020, facing numerous lawsuits stemming from allegations of child sexual abuse by some Scout leaders, the BSA declared bankruptcy.

See also Girl Scouts.