The abilities listed are not exhaustive, but provide the basis on which national Scout associations can develop concrete educational objectives which take into account the needs of young people at various stages of development within a specific socio-cultural environment. 

As the areas of development reflect dimensions of the whole personality, in a real person the abilities listed depend upon or involve development in more than one area. It is the well-balanced and harmonious development of the whole personality towards greater autonomy, solidarity, responsibility and commitment that would describe what Baden-Powell called a person of “character”.

Developing the ability to:

As Scouting’s principles give direction to the development of the young person, the principles are also reflected in what Scouting seeks to help young people to achieve in each of the areas of development.

When these three simple principles are truly part of a way of life and are adhered to simultaneously, any form of fundamentalism or fanaticism is necessarily excluded.

Each person, therefore, has a responsibility towards others.This involves:

Being able to do so presupposes striving to get to know oneself better in all the richness and complexity that characterizes each person with strengths and weaknesses, hopes, needs, and so on.

Every movement - or organised body, for that matter - has a number of fundamental beliefs which underlie the purpose of its existence, orient what it seeks to achieve and how it goes about achieving its goals. As an educational movement, Scouting clearly has a social responsibility: to the young people it serves, to the families who entrust their cherished youngsters to Scouting’s care and to the world at large. The goals of education are clear: to develop as an autonomous, supportive, responsible and committed individual and member of society.

However, there must be clear guidelines which orient the development of the young person towards these goals.

It is Scouting’s principles (generally referred to as “Duty to self”, “Duty to others” and “Duty to God”) which provide these guidelines. They are the basis of the value system which governs the Movement as a whole. These principles, therefore, give direction to Scouting’s educational policy as a Movement, to the educational approach used with young people and to the way in which the elements of the Scout Method are used so as to give constructive and coherent direction to the development of the young person.

Every movement - or organised body, for that matter - has a number of fundamental beliefs which underlie the purpose of its existence, orient what it seeks to achieve and how it goes  about achieving its goals. As an educational movement, Scouting clearly has a social responsibility: to the young people it serves, to the families who entrust their cherished youngsters to Scouting’s care and to the world at large. The goals of education are clear: to develop as an autonomous, supportive, responsible and committed individual and member of society.

However, there must be clear guidelines which orient the development of the young person towards these goals. It is Scouting’s principles (generally referred to as “Duty to self”, “Duty to others” and “Duty to God”) which provide these guidelines. They are the basis of the value system which governs the Movement as a whole. These principles, therefore, give direction to Scouting’s educational policy as a Movement, to the educational approach used with young people and to the way in which the elements of the Scout Method are used so as to give constructive and coherent direction to the development of the young person. 

Scouting, therefore, simply seeks to make a contribution to this process of self-education during the years when a person can truly benefit from its structured educational support system. The age range for which Scouting can most benefit young people corresponds approximately to the second decade of life.  

By encouraging young people to use and develop all of their capacities in a constructive way today, Scouting seeks to help young people to realise that they have within themselves what it takes to already make a difference - to their own lives and to the world in which they live. As they become ready to expand their horizons and seek new challenges, Scouting helps them to use their experience and to further develop their capacities to live and grow as fulfilled individuals and as active and constructive members of society. Whether or not a person will actually develop that potential depends, amongst other factors, on the presence of a supportive, structured environment during the formative years which stimulates the young person to bring out of him or herself - and develop - what is constructive, to the detriment of what is destructive. Scouting seeks to offer young people such an environment. 

Scouting is an educational movement for young people. However, “education” means different things to different people. In everyday language in some parts of the world, education is primarily associated, at its most basic level, with learning to read, write and master basic arithmetic and, on a higher level, with gaining academic knowledge and vocational skills through school, university, and so on. In Scouting, however, education is considered in its broad sense as being the process through which each of us develops our various capabilities throughout life, both as an individual and as a member of society. The aim of education, in this broad sense, is to contribute to the full development of an autonomous , supportive, responsible and committed person.