Scouting Builds Resilience for Life

The Scouting effect … what parents and leaders see every day

Resilience enables people to thrive and take on all that life has to offer, including the inevitable challenges. It’s about knowing our strengths and calling on them when needed.

Scouts empower young people to make decisions, take the lead and learn by doing, giving them a safe space where they can work with others to plan and embark on their own adventures, indoors and out. By building resilience in young people, Scouts are empowering them to be able to learn from their mistakes and to understand that failing is okay – it’s an integral part of the learning journey.

In 2019, Scouts Australia partnered with Resilient Youth Australia to explore the impact of Scouting on young Australians. Youth members across the country participated in the Resilience Survey, and after months of analysis, the results are in, and they show what Scouts, parents and Leaders see every day as youth members grow towards their potential.

It’s official – Scouting and resilience go hand in hand – the data proves it.

What is the Resilience Survey?

The Resilience Survey, developed in partnership with the UniSA Justice and Society at the University of South Australia benchmarked the responses of young people aged 8-18 who attend Scouts with those around the country who do not, pointing to the positive impact of Scouting.

It asked Scouts 75 multiple choice questions on a range of areas including their strengths, life satisfaction, hopefulness, coping style, mental health and risk and protective behaviours.

Read More about The Scouting Effect

What Were the Findings?

Check out the report: The Scouting Effect

and download the key finding posters :

• Scouts v Non-Scouts
• Percentage Difference

Active and Inactive Young Australians

An Independent Review of Research into Enablers and Barriers to Participation in
Sport, Active Recreation and Physical Activity among Children and Adolescents.

The purpose of this review is to identify what is known about barriers and enablers of participation in physical activity (including sport and active recreation) among children and young people aged 3-18 years, living in Australia. It has been compiled at the request of the NSW Office of Sport and primarily for consideration by the Committee of Australian Sport and Recreation Officials (CASRO).  Read More

Citation
Bellew, B., Rose, C., Reece, L. Active and Inactive Young Australians. An Independent Review of Research into Enablers and Barriers to Participation in Sport, Active Recreation and Physical Activity among Children and Adolescents. Produced for the NSW Office of Sport by the SPRINTER Research Group, Prevention Research Collaboration, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, 2020.

Mindfulness in nature holds promise for wellbeing of at-risk children

An article from Education HQ on the possibility of improving kid’s mental health by combing therapy and adventure.

Dr Danielle Tracey and her colleagues Dr Gray, Dr Truong and Dr Ward of Western Sydney University sought to address this gap through a study using acceptance and commitment therapy alongside adventure therapy. The new interdisciplinary approach aims to promote the wellbeing of children with challenging behavioural and or emotional needs.

The program is based on interactive and outdoor activities. These included themed nature walks and the use of metaphors to help children identify anger, games working with knots to develop problem solving skills, and the minefield game in which students verbally guide their blindfolded teachers though an imaginary minefield to build trust and respect.

As Tracey explained, “The heart of adventure therapy is using the outdoors and experiential learning to deal with psychosocial difficulties.

Source: Education HQ

Stealing their Childhood

‘We’re not just stealing their childhood, but crushing it’

As I carried around a sobbing kindy child this morning as he cried for his mum (first time ever away from her) wrapped around me like a baby koala and totally overwhelmed by this strange new place called ‘school’ I had to wonder …

Who on earth genuinely believes these precious little ones need rotations, formal structure and ‘academic rigour’ at such a young age?

Do children today live in environments that are too safe? What does having some level of risk mean for the development of the child? Have we become so risk-averse that children are now developing problems because of a risk-free environment? If so, what can we do, and what risks are “good risks”

Griffin Longley at TEDxPerth

Why Walking Is So Good for Parents, Toddlers, and the Cities Where They Live

Planning and managing cities has become one of humanity’s defining challenges, yet it is hard to know how to plan for what a city needs now and in the future at the same time. What can we measure to determine if a city is functioning well for its residents today and is likely to live up to its full potential in the long run?

One answer: The daily life of a toddler.

Learning from Trees

Life Lessons for Future Generations
This report explores the skills and attributes children need in order to help them deal with future challenges. It combines Australian and international peer-reviewed academic research with the results of a snapshot survey of 200 teachers. The survey was designed and commissioned by Planet Ark and conducted online by consultants Kimberlin Education in April 2017

National Survey of Australian Outdoor Youth Programs 

The Outdoor Youth Programs Research Alliance (OYPRA) is an Australian group founded in 2009 with the aim of establishing quality evidence of the extent to which outdoor, camping and nature-based programs are associated with reliable improvements in resilience, learning and wellbeing among young people.

Australian children lack the basic movement skills to be active and healthy.
Just as children need to be taught their ABCs to read and write, they also need to be taught fundamental movement skills.

Determinants of Childhood Adiposity
Energy is required for growth, but the increased incidence of childhood obesity over recent decades indicates the difficulty children have in maintaining an ideal energy balance in the contemporary setting.

The impact of residential experience on primary school pupils

Lobbying for greater opportunity for young people to participate in Learning Outside the Classroom needs hard evidence. However, too little convincing evidence is available. On retiring, I had time to gather more evidence and embarked on a three year study of residential adventure education, the area in which I had spent the whole of my career

Randall Williams