Scouts discuss child safety
The 36th World Scout Conference gets underway in Thessaloniki today, briging together 1,225 leaders of national organizations in what is expected to be largest such meeting. Strategies for encouraging the individual development and team spirit of children while protecting them from abuse are to be discussed. The meeting is hosted by the Greek scouts organization – which was founded in 1910 and is Greece’s oldest youth organization and its largest with 25,000 members. National Scout Organization leaders are to consider two policy proposals – «Keeping Scouts Safe from Harm» and “Youth and Decision-making” – and determine how to make progress in both areas. The meeting ends on Friday. The protection of children is a fundamental duty of all youth organizations but widespread cases of child abuse (sometimes within such groups) make it a crucial concern, the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) said. The aim is to provide children with a «safe passage» by boosting their self-confidence and recruiting «appropriate adults» to guide them, WOSM added.
