What Way for Youth ? II
WRITING three years ago in the 'International Journal, published by the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, Major-General D. C. Spry, the Chief Executive Commissioner of the Boy Scouts of Canada, said: " There will -not and cannot be one world in the mind of man unless there are sufficient people who believe that this conception is possible and desirable. The Boy Scout movement believes that this condition is ultimately attainable, and it is striving to deVelop amongst the men of tomorrow the belief that.a world citizenry is possible where there is a tangible community of interest and genuine desire. . . .
It is natural that the Press and the people of the United Kingdom and of other countries should contrast the Communist Youth Rally in Berlin and the Seventh World Scout Jamboree in Austria. The coincidence in their timing may have been deliberately planned by the organisers of the former ; the date and location of the latter were known over two years ago. They were totally dissimilar, however, in every other aspect. " Youth " is a vague, general term which embraces totally different age groups. The youth in Berlin were in their late teens and early twenties on the average. Ninety per cent. of those at the Jamboree were in the 14-17 age-group, the remain- ing 10 per cent. being active Scout leaders ranging from 18 up to almost any age. The Jamboree was organised purposely for the boys, for their enjoyment, their benefit and their happiness. Such Jamborees- are held normally every four years as part of Scouting's-plan to enable its members in different countries to meet, know and appreciate each other. Still smaller gatherings —World Rover Moots—are also organised every four years for the age-group presumably covered in Berlin. The next will be held in Switzerland in 1953.
Scouting believes in individual, not mass, training. Its inter- national gatherings are, therefore, confined to comparatively small numbers-13,000 at the Jamboree as against the million and more reported to have been at Bcrlin. Similarly, Scouting believes in a long-term as against a short-term policy. " It is not by periodical gatherings alone that the Scout Movement makes its contribution to international understanding ; in addi- tion there is a constant exchange of letters, books, clothing, films and photos. There are continual visits of groups of scouts from one country to another. These shared activities are a constant reminder to the boys that world brotherhood is not merely an idealistic conception, but is something that is practical, real and acceptable. One needs only to ask any boy who has been to an international Jamboree what he thinks on this matter to be fully reassured and strengthened, in one's convictions " (Inter- national Journal). These exchanges have been g9ing on for the last thirty years, interrupted in part, but only in part, by the war. They have been intensified through the linking up of a Scout group in one country with a Scout group in another country,' by regional gatherings, by Jamborettes, by Inter- national Patrol Camps, such as that now being held by the London Scouts at Gilwell Park to celebrate the Festival of Britain.
Scouting has the interests of the boy at heart. It aims at training his character, physical, intellectual, spiritual. This training, the one thing that matters in Scouting, is designed to help a boy to make his own choice of life as an individual. Yet Scouting's job is not to train an elite, but to give as many boys as it can the benefit of Scout training within the capacity of the available leaders. Leadership is an ever-increasing difficulty, as in every voluntary movement, since the voluntary system is being displaced more and more, ,for economic as well as political reasons.
I know how inflammable youth can be in another walk of life in another part of the world. Its enthusiasms can be fired, its actions can be dictated, its life can be sacrificed through mass-hysteria. Youth becomes the tool of its organisers, who use it for their own ulterior purpose. Once the tool is bent and blunted it can be thrown away, since other youth is continuously available. That is the tragedy of youth, and it is more than time that well-intentioned people should combine together to safeguard the younger generation from continued exploitation. Scouting, though one of the largest international movements for boys, touches only 5,000,000, a relatively insignificant number. All other similar movements for boys and girls raise the total, on a liberal calculation, to no more than ten times that number. I do not ignore the influence of the Churches of different faiths _and denominations, but neither the Churches nor youth move- ments seem to have sufficient strength as lifeguards contending with the force of evil seas.
We must have more of unity and co-operation, and we must have it from the people in general and the Press in particular. The Communist Youth Rally in Berlin had a disproportionate Press: it was news. Mention, and in my opinion adequate mention, was made of the Jamboree. I saw little reference to the meeting of European Youth at Lorelei in Western Germany, which in the first week of August passed a resolution expressing a common will to found at Lorelei a permanent community of European youth.
I can only speak for Scouting when I say that we find that its appeal to the younger boy still holds good. Given the necessary boy- and men-leaders, we can go on increasing the number of Boy Scouts. It is not the same when we come to those of an older age. With them the play method loses its appeal ; they are more concerned with material facts. Scouting is by its nature conservative--I use the word in no political sense—yet it can be adapted without losing its basic nature to assimilate modern conditions. As a writer in The Times pointed out recently, " In France the suppression of Scouting by the Nazis meant an enormous addition to its membership and a' loyalty of service in the Resistance. The French have learnt from this experience ; today the Rovers are working on dams, reafforestation and the rebuilding of devastated areas. Such work shows that they can give voluntarily, and for a democratic cause, service no less impressive than that mustered in Totalitarian States." This is equally true of other countries. May not this, then, be the answer? Youth needs to have some- thing to get its teeth into ; it needs an immediate and common action. The Berlin Youth. Rally, at the bidding of its masters, resolved to fight for peace. Their masters' "peace " is world domination. That is not our concept of peace ; but if youth is to be attracted to our concept of peace, that concept has to be presented in missionary, even aggressive, terms. The wolf and the lamb do not naturally feed together ; they must be so trained ; they must have some inducement.
Yet I by no means discount the lasting influence of the association of boys in the Scout individual way. I know that friendships made at Jamborees and Moots continue. They must have some effect, so Scouting pursues its methods of bring- ing about goodwill. It is restricted in its scope, since all totalitarian States suppress it ; that may be taken as a tribute to its efficacy. It is apt to restrict its own stope by so inter- preting its basic principles that only those converted to its aims can become members, thus setting up a kind of closed shop to those who have not previously had the benefits of any kind of idealistic or religious training. All movements have experienced the dangers of this over-strict interpretation of their basic prin- ciples. As their founder, B.-P., taught them, Scouting's leaders must look wide, and not confine the potentialities of Scouting to their own narrow field of vision.
On the other hand,,the fact that Scouting's world membershie has increased by 850,000 to over dve millions in the last two" years is significant and encouraging, although it must be admitted that the increase is mostly in the younger age-groups. What is of more importance is that those men (and women) who have passed through Scout training in their youth are increas-
ingly anxious to remain associated with its aims and principles. In the United Kingdom and in many other countries the Old Scout or Former Scout idea is growing in importance and influence. There is a strongly expressed desire for an Inter- national Fellowship of Former Scouts, a desire which those responsible for the Boy Scout international movement have not as yet accepted at its true worth. Such a body would assuredly exert an influence on youth in the future.
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