I was never a member of Scouts - even though there was always a strong branch (if that's the word) in my local village of Berriew. So I never benefited from advice given to boys by Robert Baden-Powell, Lieutenant General in the British Army who started the whole movement off in 1907. It began with his famous work, Scouting for Boys, which was aimed at young adolescent boys between the ages of 11-17. Its a brilliant organisation, and 40,000 youngsters attended its centenary jamboree last year. In his book, Baden-Powell gave advice to boys who 'experienced sexual urges'.
According to today's Sunday Telegraph, Lord Baden-Powell advised any of these adolescent boys who felt sexual urges to "wash your parts in cold water and cool them down". This information has emerged because the Scout Association has decided to introduce sex education. The report also refers to further advice which Lord Baden-Powell gave in a later book 'Rovering to Success'. in this book he advised that young men should not indulge their "primitive sexual urges", but that they should put their energies into "hiking and enjoying outdoor manly activities". He would have approved of my youth, much of which was spent hunting, shooting, fishing and playing rugby.
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