Scouting for the Google generation

When Baden-Powell ran his experimental camp on Brownsea Island, he did not realise that he was starting a movement.  But that’s what happened.   One boy told another about the fun that could be had by becoming a Scout.   Another told another.   The modest concepts of getting together with a group of your friends, having fun, getting involved in an adventure, doing good turns, were contagious.   And Scouting was born.

Messengers of Peace is a worldwide undertaking, launched this week in Saudi Arabia, that propels that contagion into the 21^st Century.   Scouts from every nation where the movement is represented are being encouraged to register online their commitment to do a good turn.   That good turn might be helping to resolve conflict in a local community; it might be a small act of volunteering that makes the world a better place; it might be creating a dialogue between different cultures, religions or generations; it might be a major international service project.   

Through the power of the web and social networking, the registration of that good turn and the subsequent report on action and impact becomes a little red dot on a Google map...   and that red dot becomes a story that can be clicked on by another Scout who is looking for inspiration and ideas.    Each little red dot connects with millions of other little red dots, creating a digital mosaic that, for the first time in our Movement’s history, will allow a Scout in one country to appreciate the good turn of another on the other side of the world – and truly appreciate the effect of being part of an extraordinary family of over 35 million brothers and sisters, sharing common values and aspirations.   Each little red dot turns a group of Scouts into global Messengers of Peace.

And, thanks to the vision and kindness of HM King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, those little red dots can multiply.    Most good turns don’t need money; they just need the inspiration of a group of Scouts and a steadfast commitment to making things happen.   But if a good turn needs funding to turn it from a brilliant idea into real action, Scouts can apply over the next ten years for a grant from a fund of $35 million that the King has generously donated.    So, those little red dots can become sustainable projects, impacting on communities over the long term, genuinely changing the world one young person at a time.

It’s not so different from what happened over one hundred years ago, really.    Messengers of Peace is just Scouting.   As breathtakingly simple and as jaw-droppingly impactful as it has ever been.    It’s just Scouting, but for the Google generation.

Scouts can register for Messengers of Peace at http://tinyurl.com/5vnuua6