THE BHARAT SCOUTS AND GUIDES
NOVEMBER, 2021
Creating - Better India
TRAINER’S CORNER ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SCOUTING: AGE RANGES IN SCOUTING In Scouting, we believe that all the children of the same age group do not learn in the same way and at the same phase or time, as it happens in traditional schooling. The Founder had made a study of the children of different age groups and even consulted the psychologists on the issue. As a result, it was construed that the children below 10 years, children below 15 years and adolescents possess different characteristics and have different needs. For example, children in the age group of 3 to 5 years are more attached to their mothers. They start developing social skills like friends with their group, like to sing and dance and play, lack personal cleanliness, feel shy to interact with visitors, timid, more inclined to electronic media like T.V. and mobiles, keen observers, like nature and like to play in the open etc. This age group needs activities to interact with peers, building material to develop creativity, opportunities to play together, need appreciations, need to learn social virtues and social manners, need to learn personal cleanliness, health and hygiene etc. Children in the age group of 5to 10 years discover ways to initiate actions on their own. They imitate others, particularly parents and other people whom they like. They are mischievous, boisterous and possess bullying nature. They are active and have excess energy. Their span of attention is very short and so they like transitions for every 5 or 10 minutes. They are not particular about hygiene. This group needs stories of animals, adventure, games, handicrafts, skill activities like drawing and painting, play acting, moral stories and bed time stories and nurturing by parents. Children above 10 years up to 15 years (adolescents) will have rapid pubertal growth and some changes occur in physical appearance and voice. They develop a separate identity from parents. Their tendency is moody, restless like recognition, explore and experiment with various roles, fluctuations between superiority and inferiority, self-conscious and highly sensitive to criticism of their personal shortcomings which they know, Strong need to belong to a group—with peer approval becoming more important and adult approval decreasing in importance and conflicts with siblings. This group needs to be told their clear limitations, help building up self-assurance and facilitating independence, need positive role models who treat them with respect while expecting good behaviour, need to learn respect for the opposite sex and have non-sexual friendship, need
22
