110: Boy Scouts

Today marks the 110th anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouting Movement.  The Boy Scouts were formed in 1907 in the UK (the British Girl Guides in 1909.) It then spread around the world (Canada: 1908 for the Boy Scouts and 1910 for the Girl Scouts and in the United States: 1910 for the Boy Scouts and 1912 for the Girl Scouts.)

While Youth Organizations like the Hitler Youth and the Communist Pioneers were/are mandatory para-military brainwashing organizations the Boy/Girl Scouts are non-compulsory and non-political organizations. Both the Hitler Youth and the Communist Pioneers imprisoned and murdered Boy and Girl Scouts.

I was in the BSA in both the US and Germany and continue to use many of the skills today that I learned as a kid.

Today, there are 32 million Boy Scouts and 10 million Girl Scouts/Guides in 216 countries and territories.