Feb 22
2020
International Scouts Day (Feb 22, 2020)
Written by Tabinda | posted in Events | 0 Comments
International Scouts Day is celebrated on February 22 all around the world. The main purpose of celebrating this day is to focus on fostering peaceful environment and promote harmony among nations.
PAKISTAN SCOUTS
Likewise scouts in the other parts of the world, Pakistan also have a large army of scouts. According to Pakistan Boy Scouts Association, the total strength of scouts in the country is over seven hundred thousand and it targets to attain the one million mark before 2025. Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah who was a staunch advocate of scouts, he once said, “Scouting can play a very vital role in forming the character of our youth, promoting their physical, mental and spiritual development and making them well disciplined, useful and good citizens”. Scouting helps youth develop academic skills, self-confidence, ethics, leadership skills, and citizenship skills that influence their adult lives.
HISTORY OF SCOUTS
On 22nd February which the international scouts day, the date coincides with the birth anniversary of Lord Baden Powell who was born on February 22, 1857 and was the founder of scouts. He started the Scout movement by gathering 21 boys from different backgrounds and held a week-long camp on Brown sea Island, England in 1907. Since then, the movement has grown to be an international youth organization that has over 40 million members from over 170 countries.
Scouts may come from different races, religious beliefs, and cultures, but as Scouts, they all have one thing in common; which is “to serve”.
PURPOSE OF SCOUTING
There are certain essential needs of the young people growing up in our society, and by joining scouts they can learn the following values, which later on becomes the purpose of their life;
- Mentoring
- Lifelong Learning
- Faith Traditions
- Serving Others
- Healthy Living
- Building Character
DUTIES OF SCOUTS
- The duties of the scouts are to help others, maintain harmonious relations and to be good citizens of their country and the world.
- Young people need to know to be good and to do good. Youngsters in scouts are infused with character-building activities that allow them to apply abstract principles to daily living situations.
- Scouting helps young people to look beyond their own needs.
- Scouting empowers the individual to actively contribute to the community and engage friends and families to make a positive difference.
IMPORTANCE OF SCOUTING
- Scouting activities play a vital role in character building of youth by promoting their physical, mental and spiritual development.
- Scouting’s outdoor experiences teach young people to be responsible not only for themselves, but for those around them.
- Scouting promotes activities that lead to personal responsibility and high self-esteem. As a result, when hard decisions have to be made, peer pressure can be resisted and the right choices can be made.
- Scouting fosters personality development of the students and helps them imbibe a sense of social responsibility. They become disciplined and courageous, and are in forefront during critical times.
Scouting has helped molding the future leaders of the country by combining educational activities and lifelong values with fun. It is a fact that helping youth puts us on a path toward a more conscientious, responsible, and productive society. On behalf of team NAYS-Pakistan, we think it’s our duty to encourage the youth to take active part in Scouting. We should understand the various needs of people so that we can gather resources and help bridge the gaps to build an inclusive and caring society.
For further reading;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouts%27_Day
Article: Sundeela Fayyaz
