Lone Scouts are members of the Scout movement who are in isolated areas or otherwise cannot participate in a regular Scouting unit. In order for a boy to become a Lone Scout, he must meet the membership requirements of the area's Scouting organization and have an adult counselor who may be a parent, guardian, minister, teacher, or another adult. The counselor instructs the boy and reviews all steps of scouting advancement. Lone Scouts can be in the Scout Section or sections for older young people, and in some countries in the Cub section or sections for younger boys. They follow the same program as other Scouts and may advance in the same way as all other Scouts. Lone Scouts exist in many countries in the world, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.
US Criteria
Boys/girls (in the USA) who are eligible to become Lone Scouts include:
- Children of American citizens who live abroad
- Exchange students away from the United States for a year or more
- Boys/girls with disabilities that might prevent them from attending regular meetings of packs or troops
- Boys/girls in rural communities who live far from a Scouting unit
- Sons/daughters of migrant farmworkers
- Boys/girls who attend night schools or boarding schools
- Boys/girls who have jobs that conflict with troop meetings
- Boys/girls whose families travel frequently, such as circus families, families who live on boats, etc.
- Boys/girls who alternate living arrangements with parents who live in different communities
- Boys/girls who are unable to attend unit meetings because of life-threatening communicable diseases
- Boys/girls whose parents believe their child might be endangered by getting to Scout unit meetings
- Boys/girls being home schooled whose parents do not want them in a youth group
- Ref. www.scouting.org below
See also
| Scouting Portal |
References
- Boy Scouts of America Fact Sheet: What Is the Lone Scout Plan?. Boy Scouts of America. Retrieved on February 04, 2006.
- Peterson, Robert (October 2001). Scouting Alone. Scouting Magazine.
- Lone Scouts of South Australia
