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Portal:Scouting/Selected article archive/2007

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  • February 28, 2007 - The history of merit badges in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has been tracked by categorizing them into a series of merit badge types. In addition to the Boy Scouts of America, many other Scouting and Scouting-like organizations around the world, such as Pathfinders, Baden-Powell Scouts and Royal Rangers, issue merit badges or their equivalent; though they are sometimes called honors or proficiency badges. Other organizations, such as fire brigades, issue badges or awards that they refer to as merit badges, but that are in some respects different from the badges awarded by the BSA. Merit badges have been an integral part of the Scouting program since the start of the movement in the United Kingdom on August 1, 1907. Scouting came to the United States in 1910; the BSA quickly issued an initial list of just 14 merit badges, but did not produce or award them. In 1911, the BSA manufactured the first official 57 merit badges and began awarding them. There are currently 121 available. Merit badge types are identifiable by the cloth and manufacturing process used to make them. The classification of badges into types came about as a way for collectors to categorize and classify their collections. Merit badge collectors often collect other Scouting memorabilia as well.
  • March 31, 2007 - The Order of the Arrow (OA) is a program of the Boy Scout division of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is the BSA's national honor society for experienced campers, based on American Indian traditions, and dedicated to the ideal of cheerful service. Members of the Order of the Arrow are called Arrowmen. The four stated purposes of the Order of the Arrow are: To recognize those Scout campers who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives, To develop and maintain camping traditions and spirit, To promote Scout camping, To crystallize the Scout habit of helpfulness into a life purpose of leadership in cheerful service to others.
  • October 31, 2007 - Scoutcraft is a term used to cover a variety of knowledge and skills required by people seeking to venture into wild country and sustain themselves independently. The term has been adopted by Scouting organisations to reflect skills and knowledge which are felt to be a core part of the various programmes, alongside community and spirituality. Scoutcraft has its roots in the experiences of frontiersmen in the New World and military men in Africa.
  • December 31, 2007 - The Mafeking Cadet Corps was a group of boy cadets during the Siege of Mafeking in South Africa. They are sometimes seen as forerunners of the Scouts, because they were one of Robert Baden-Powell's inspirations in creating of the Scout movement in 1907. The siege of Mafeking took place over 217 days during the Second Boer War in 1899–1900. Robert Baden-Powell was the British colonel charged with defending the town. Because of the shortage of manpower in the town, boys were used to support the troops, carry messages, and help in the hospital. This freed up men for military duties, and kept the boys occupied.