Cub Scouts
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The Cub Scouts, often known simply as Cubs, is a section of the Scouting movement for children between the ages of around 8-11 (depending on the country).
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Foundation
The Scout Movement, originally designed for teenagers, was founded by Robert Baden-Powell (B-P) in 1907. A lot of boys who had not yet reached the Scout age limit asked to join the movement. At first, some leaders refused their request but eventually they were allowed to become junior member. Due to the widespread acceptance of junior members, B-P decided to extend the movement to younger children and planned a new theme and training scheme suitable for younger children. B-P asked his friend Rudyard Kipling for the use of his The Jungle Book history and universe as a motivational frame in cub scouting. B-P wrote a new book The Wolf Cub's Handbook for junior members. In 1917, junior members became known as Wolf Cubs.
In the 1960s, the Wolf Cub section departed from the jungle theme and the section changed their name to Cub Scout. Although the section detached from jungle theme, the Jungle Stories and Cub ceremony are retained as tradition.
Originally, Cub Scout membership was open only to boys while the Brownies were set up as a parallel section for young girls. This remains the situation in some places. Some areas admitted girls to the Cubs and some have separate packs for boys and girls.
Organization
Cub scouts are organized in Packs, which are usually linked to a scout group, providing a community with all age-sections. Adult leaders of Cub packs take the names of The Jungle Book 's main characters. Cub scouts have a distinctive two-finger salute, in contrast to the three-finger salute of Boy Scouts.
Like Scout Troops, Cub Scouts are assigned to different small team in Pack. B-P named the team Six, which refers to the six members in each team.
Progressive training
Cub Scouts, like the Boy Scouts, use a ranking system, but unlike its counterpart, the ranking is dependent upon age or grade level.
US
The entry-level rank, sometimes considered a separate entity than Cub Scouts, is Tiger. The next ranks, in successive order, are Wolf, Bear, and Webelos. The Webelos rank is unusual because a boy must spend two years as one before receiving the Arrow of Light Award, the highest honor given to a Cub Scout and the only patch from Cub Scouts worn on the Boy Scout uniform.
See Also
External Links
- The Virtual Cub Scout Leader's Handbook (http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/home.html)pl:Zuchy