2023-08-02 07:09:00
If there is one Belgian tradition that our neighbors do not share, or to a lesser extent, it is that of scouting. With around 175,000 members for a population of 11 million, Belgium has one of the highest concentrations of scouts in the world and Belgians’ enthusiasm for youth movements has not weakened over the years, quite the contrary. So much so that it does not seem to be an exaggeration to say that scouting is an institution. But how to explain this craze for scarves, whistles and campfires? For Frédéric Tits, member of the Association of Guides of Belgium, it is a question of history and tradition. But not only…
“Scouting is inscribed in the history of Belgium. It is often something that is passed on from generation to generation. Parents who have been scouts want their children to benefit from their experience by registering them in turn. . It’s so widespread that if you haven’t done the scouts, it’s borderline if you don’t get looked at wrongly,” he observes. According to him, scouting benefits in Belgium from an aura that is not at all the same as in our neighbours. “In France, scouting is not necessarily very well seen. Totemization, which is likened to hazing, is particularly badly perceived, whereas in Belgium, there is no problem. I think that we are much more open and confident towards young people in Belgium than in France. In France, as soon as you want to do an activity with young people, you have to have lots of authorizations and certificates. Here the mentalities are different, “he continues.
According to the head of the youth movement, scouts and guides also benefit from significant support from the authorities.
In Belgium, being or having been a Scout is a source of pride. Recently, the former Minister of Youth and Higher Education Valérie Glatigny confided with nostalgia on her experience in the youth movements in the pages of La Libre Belgique. Participation in a youth movement would also be an asset in the context of a job search. “Former scout leaders are highly sought after because employers associate scouting with a series of skills such as being responsible, organized and knowing how to take initiatives”, says Gilles Beckers, director of public relations at Les Scouts asbl.
But if the scouts have value of tradition, the members of this youth movement defend themselves from any conservatism. “A lot of scouts find themselves there because their parents did it before them. But we also have a lot of members. The scouts are in perpetual evolution, the movement is no longer the same as it was sixty years ago. values are also changing. Scouting, for example, is much less hierarchical than in the past, when the importance of having an impeccable uniform was also stressed. As the young people are in charge, it is an institution that is in tune with society. and cares about current issues such as the environment, for example”, he underlines.
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