Scouting Netherlands exists for a century in 2011. To celebrate this, a ten-day anniversary camp took place in July of that year. But why should parents send their children to scouting? And isn’t scouting very old-fashioned?
The History of Scouting
Scouting has been around for a long time. The first group was founded in Great Britain in 1907. The slogan then was learning by doing. The first scouting group in the Netherlands was founded in 1910. In 2011, Scouting Nederland has approximately 87,000 youth members between the ages of 5 and 21 and 25,000 volunteers. They belong to more than a thousand scouting groups that are affiliated with Scouting Nederland.
Almost every municipality has a scouting group
85 percent of Dutch municipalities have a scouting group. Their membership is generally constant.
Why do you join scouting?
Parents and children often choose scouting, mainly because many joint activities are organized. Another reason is that the members spend a lot of time outside. Yet scouting is much more than just tying knots and swinging from trees. Traditional camping is still part of the activities, but not only anymore. In 2011, modern methods are also widely used. For example, GPS is used.
What does scouting do for children?
Scouting aims to prepare children for later life. This is done, among other things, by letting young people focus on:
- Development processes
- Leadership
- To organize
- Independence
Scouting: develop that part of yourself that you are good at
In principle, scouting gives the message that young people should develop that part of themselves that they are good at. This is done by supporting them and helping them grow into balanced citizens. A lot of attention is also paid to norms and values and social etiquette. Young people learn to interact well with others and this can be very useful to them later in life. Moreover, they learn to work in a team, which will also serve them well in their future lives.
Mixed groups
The great advantage of scouting is that the groups include young people from all walks of life who work together. As a result, they learn, among other things, that not everyone is the same.
Parents want their child to develop
Parents who have often attended scouting themselves also often send their offspring to scouting. They want their children to develop and spend a lot of time outside. Children themselves often find it very exciting to do all kinds of things outside, build and camp together. Moreover, friends are made very quickly during scouting, often for life. Through the international camps, scouts also come into contact with young people from other countries. In 2011, young people from:
- Australia
- Canada
- Ghana
- Spain
Scouting Netherlands: the largest youth organization in the Netherlands
Scouting Netherlands is the largest youth organization in the Netherlands with 87,000 youth members and 25,000 volunteers. Scouting has 38 million members worldwide. Scouting is so popular that in the Netherlands there is a waiting list for almost all departments.