Robert Baden-Powell

“ Many a girl has been ruined by ignorance on the subject, and by the wrong or debased views picked up haphazard. Parents to a great extent evade their duties in this direction, and yet they are apt to resent other people trying to remedy their neglect. So it is often desirable for a Captain to consult the mother before talking to a girl, but the girl should not be left to slide in ignorance. Then it is not a thing to deal with before a number of girls, but with the individual according to her psychology. ”

“ It is the dreams which we teach them: it is the Utopias which we conceive for them: it is the thoughts which we think for them, which will rebuild the world. Give us the young before the evil has held them and we will create a new Heaven and a new Earth. ”

“ That is the aim of our training.
Happy, smiling face, ready resourcefulness and quick intelligence in carrying out any job that may be given is the evidence of keen esprit de corps in the Patrol, are by far the best indications to the inspecting officer as to whether or not true Scout training is practised by the Captain in her Troop.
Give Us the Young!
As Benjamin Kidd has written, let our cry be:———
"Oh! you wise men who would reconstruct the world! Give us the young. Give us the young. Do what you will with the world, only give us the young. ”

“ Till it does so it will remain Instruction instead of education. Our object in the Scouts is to supply healthy play and recreation: but play when organised need not be waste of time. In these days we cannot afford, nor is it fair on them, to let children waste time and then to launch them "half-baked" into the sea of life-troubles. The Scout training offers them ideals and activities which supplement, without tiring them, the teaching of the school.
Results and experience of five years shows that the scheme is successful in attracting girls of every class in every part of the world. ”

“ Character is largely a matter of environment and training, and, later on, of experience. Undoubtedly the mother's influence gives as a rule the first impetus to character. A mother cannot give that which she does not possess herself. Therefore it is all-important that the mothers of our country should possess character of a high quality in order to inculcate it in their children. Hitherto the girls, some of the future mothers of our race, have had little character training as a direct part of their education. ”

“ A troop may be of any size, although it is not advisable for a Captain to have a troop of more than thirty girls unless she is assisted by a capable Lieutenant.
The Captain
Must not be less than twenty-one years old, and must have a personal character and standing, a good moral influence over girls, and sufficient steadfastness of purpose to carry out the work with energy and perseverance. She should have a general knowledge of the Handbook, and should appreciate the underlying aim and principles of Girl Scout training. She must apply to National Headquarters for her commission. ”

“ Between the ages of eight and nine, therefore, seem to be the right time to get hold of the girl when the seeds of character may begin to sprout into pliant tendrils ready to trail off in the wrong direction, but easily taken in hand at that time and trained aright. ”

“ Wise old Plato long ago gave us the right lead in education, and one which only now is beginning to be followed, when he said that there was innate good in every child, and the aim of education should be to develop these natural "instincts of virtue" through suitable practices.
Active versus passive education.—No mention of reading, writing, and 'rithmetic as essentials, but of enlarging the natural instincts, i.e., character by practices not merely by precepts. ”

“ To interest the child is our method of training in the Scout movement, whatever may be the subject taken up. It can equally be used in the development of the elements of religion without in any way trenching on the teaching of any particular denomination—indeed it is helpful to all. ”

“ The aim of the Girl Scout Movement is to assist parents and school teachers by supplying the desirable environment and healthy activities outside the school. The first thing is to attract the girls by happy comradeship, neat uniform, games and competitions which will appeal to them. Then through these to develop in them the four points which I have mentioned as "essential." But please don't think that we want to make a school of it. My harping on the "training" may lead you to think so. ”

“ For example, if a girl faints on parade it should be a point of honour almost to take no notice of her beyond allowing her Corporal and one other Scout to look after her. The business of the moment should go on as if nothing untoward were happening. ”

“ The Captain has the power to enroll Scouts, and to release a Scout from her promise, to suspend her for a certain period, or withdrew her badges and discharge her. A Scout who considers herself unjustly treated may appeal to the Local Council or even to National Council. The Captain directs the Scout training of the girls in her troop, and may examine them for the Tenderfoot and Second Class tests. Where no court of honor exists she may secure examiners for them for the special subjects of proficiency badges or this may be done by the Local Council. ”

“ The remedy largely needed is formation of character. Character is formed more by the environment outside the school walls than by the instruction within them; that environment may be for good and at the same time it may very easily be for bad.
Practical efficiency in homecraft or in mothercraft is essential, but efficiency is desirable in many other spheres for professions, and in the many fields in which woman has proved that she can shine. ”

“ Each Chartered Local Council may send one delegate to the National Council and one additional delegate for every 200 registered Scouts under its jurisdiction. The National Executive Board is the court of last resort and every member of the Girl Scout Organization has the right of appeal to that court. The Local Council's officers recommend Captains and Lieutenants for commissions, and have the power to request their resignation when desirable, or they may appeal to National Headquarters to dismiss an undesirable captain. ”

“ Also peace has shown how far from happy life can be for some unless they are trained. From want of proper training preventable misery exists among a very large class. This is to be seen in the squalor in our great cities, in the poverty and unhappiness, the infant mortality, the preventable diseases and social diseases due to ignorance, carelessness, and generally to want of character.
Is Not Education Good Enough? ”

“ Though the war has brought a splendid exhibition of self-sacrifice and devotion on the part of women and a desire to be helpful and patriotic, the sense of service is one which requires further education in the rising generation. The results of such training can only mean a stronger patriotism and a sound practical Christianity instead of a mere profession. ”

“ The age at which crime begins among the poorer class of children points to the age at which character begins to form itself, and it appears much earlier in life than is usually supposed; that is to say, the crime returns show a good deal of juvenile depravity at the early age of ten and eleven, and at twelve it has mounted to its highest point in the young generation up to twenty. ”

“ The need of health for herself and knowledge of health for her children and for the service for others is essential on a far more general scale than has been heretofore possible through school training alone. ”

“ We have not ourselves pretended to claim any such standing for the teaching, but we do find from experience that where rightly handled it can put the right spirit and the right grounding into children for developing religion through their inner consciousness instead of having theology imposed upon them through surface instruction of morality taught them through fear of punishment. ”

“ The up-to-date inspecting officer is not likely to be taken in by eye-wash. Her aim is to ascertain to what extent results have been attained by the Captain among the girls in each Patrol in her Troop in the four main branches of our training.
Character and Intelligence. Skill and Handicraft. Service for Others. Physical Health and Health Knowledge. She will generally take each Patrol separately, or if there is not time for this, one Patrol selected at random from each Troop. ”

“ In any case sense of honour, truth, self-control, fairness, discipline, responsibility and good humour have been too little inculcated among girls in the past, and this important omission we endeavour to make good in the practices and activities of the Scout work adapted to the psychology changes as they come. ”

“ National Headquarters is divided into departments for the more efficient handling of the work. The head of the office staff is the National Director.
The Director is appointed by the Executive Board, and serves as the Secretary of the National Council, the Executive Board and the various committees thereof. Under the authority of the Executive Board she acts as the administrating officer of the Girl Scouts and has general direction of the administrative work. ”

“ The other fault is that generally the displays are chosen too much with a view to training the girls and too little with a view to interesting the onlookers. This is a bad fault if you are trying to spread the Movement and to get people keenly interested in it. The two points can perfectly well be combined. Let the programme err on the short side, and let it be full of variety, novelty, incident, and interest. Long signalling tests and bandaging exhibitions are intensely boring to the onlookers who don't understand them. ”

“ Under eleven the following are common attributes in the average child: make-believe, appreciation of fairy tales, eagerness for new experiences, collection of stamps and other curios, mental restlessness, physical restlessness, thoughtlessness, untruthfulness, etc. ”

“ To do this effectively she soon discovers, if it is not otherwise pointed out to her, that she has to be a Leader not only in name but in fact and in act.
She has to be an all-round efficient, and she has to use her brain and thought, her initiative and power of command to hold and lead those under her. ”

“ Though it is very good and vastly improved of late years and probably better than that of any other nation, yet it cannot under existing conditions entirely prepare the girl for what is possible for her in the present day, much less for what will be required of her in the near future. ”

“ This fact is being proved daily by the successful results already gained by our Captain. By the term "elder sister" I mean one who while commanding their respect can place herself on terms of comradeship with her girls, entering into their games and laughter, herself thereby winning their confidence and putting herself into that position which is essential for teaching, namely, where by her own example she leads them in the right direction instead of merely pointing the way. ”

“ From the teacher's point of view it provides a healthy environment outside the school, and activities which tend to develop in practice many of these attributes inculcated theoretically in the girls' lessons. ”