'Baden Powell' A Teacher of Discipline

                         'Baden Powell' A Teacher of Discipline 

Scouting or Guiding is a kind of informal training scheme to make children citizens. The purpose of this training is to make children physically strong, mentally conscious and also morally strong. The main objective of this training is the holistic development of boys and girls (children). 

                                     

        

The originator of the Scout and Guide movement was Lord Robert Stephenson Smith Powell, a British army officer. He was born on 22 February 1857 in Stanpol Terrace, London. Robert's father died in infancy. From an early age, Robert was interested in outdoor life, touring camps, and adventure. In his spare time, he helped his mother with household chores. In 1876 he passed the V.P military examination. he was made an army officer and sent to the 13th Hussars Regiment in Lucknow, India. In 1884, he was confronted by the Zulu people in Africa. Because of Powell's shooting and scout skills, the Zulus began to believe in him. In 1883, the British government sent them to war in the troubled region of Africa. He won because of his expertise in espionage. The Africans named them 'Impassi' meaning 'Wolf that never sleeps'. Baden Powell was promoted to colonel and sent back to India. Where they adopted new methods of military training which were later incorporated into Scouting. On these exercise and successes he wrote the book ' Aids to Scouting' for the training of soldiers. Meanwhile, Baden Powell was planning to travel to Africa during the Beer war. He was an army officer in the town of Mefking during the war. Baden Powell, under his able leadership, defended the town for 217 days when it was besieged by a large enemy force. Here Baden Powell brought the young boys together for messaging, guard duty, first aid etc. In this way more troops continued to defend the town. Baden Powell soon become known around the world for his skill and timeliness. He was assigned the task of organizing the African military. Here he saw that the boys were practicing Scouting with the help of hos book ' Aids to Scouting'. Encouraged by this, Baden Powell devised a plan for the training of children, and as an experiment he set up a camp of 20 selected children from all walks of life on the island of Bros planned training. 'Scouting for Boys' was later published as a letter of appreciation. 

The children liked the system very much and soon the number of children practicing Scouting increased a lot. Then came the need for sound and planned work. Lord Baden Powell retired from the army and began to organize the movement. This is how Scouting was born. In his last days, Lord Baden Powell lived in Kenya, Africa. He died there on 7 January 1914.