Cub Scout - Foundation

Foundation

The Cub Scouting movement was founded by Robert Baden-Powell in 1916, nine years after the foundation of the Scouts, in order to cater to the many younger boys who had not yet reached the age limit for the Boy Scouts but who wanted to take part in Scouting. During these first ten years many troops had either allowed younger boys to join or had set up unofficial Junior or Cadet Scout Troops. These Cadet Troops taught a much simpler form of Scouting, including just the basic knotting techniques, basic first aid and tracking. In 1914, there were articles in the Headquarters' Gazette (a then regular newsletter to leaders) outlining an official scheme, however this was not what Baden-Powell wanted. Rather he sought something quite different — a movement in its own right, with its own identity and program.

In 1914 Baden Powell announced a Junior Section for Scouting. In 1916, he published his own outlines for such a scheme, it was to be called Wolf Cubbing. It has been speculated that Baden-Powell may have had a number of reasons to call this section Wolf Cubs. Wolf was one of the ranks some Native American tribes gave to their best scouts; Wolf was the name of the cannon made in the railway workshops at Mafeking. So a young boy not old enough to be a wolf or true Scout could be a baby wolf or Wolf Cub.

Baden-Powell asked his friend Rudyard Kipling for the use of his Jungle Book history and universe as a motivational frame in cub scouting. Baden-Powell wrote a new book, The Wolf Cub's Handbook, for junior members. In 1917, junior members became known as Wolf Cubs.

In the 1960s and later, the Wolf Cub section departed in many organizations from the jungle theme. Some changed their name to Cub Scout or something similar but retained the Jungle Stories and Cub ceremony as tradition—such as the use of Jungle Books names (as described below); and the Grand Howl which signals the start and end of the Cub Scout Meetings. Other organizations kept the name but changed the theme totally.

Originally, Cub Scout membership was open only to boys while the Brownies were set up as a parallel section for young girls. This remains the situation in some places. Most member organizations of World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) admitted girls to the Cub Scouts while others have separate co-ed sections with a different theme. Most member organizations of the Union Internationale des Guides et Scouts d'Europe (UIGSE) have two single sex sections both named Wolf Cubs and both in the jungle theme.

Cub Scouting has ideals of spiritual and character growth, citizenship training, and personal fitness. Cub Scouting provides a positive, encouraging peer group, carefully selected leaders who provide good role models and a group setting where values are taught to reinforce positive qualities of character.