1900-1950
In 1907 Scouting was founded by Robert Baden-Powell following the success of his book Aids to Scouting. His inspiration for this organisation was his experience during the Siege of Mafeking in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). Like Smith's Boys' Brigade, the organisation was uniformed, being heavily influenced by the military, though it has changed tremendously as a movement since that time. For the first time youth work in the UK was taken out of the streets of London as Scouting was made into a national (and before long international) organisation.
A year later in 1908 Charles Russell began his work with young men on the streets in deprived areas of Manchester, leading to the foundation of the National association of boys' clubs movement.
In 1910 the Girl Guides (and later Girl Scouts in the USA) were founded by Baden-Powell with the aid of his sister Agnes. This was because young women were approaching Scout leaders asking if they would be able to join the organisation, and Baden-Powell responded to this but he felt having girls and boys in the same scout troops would be an unnecessary distraction for both groups.
Contemporaneous with the development of Scouting was the creation of the TUXIS movement in Canada. Originally developed through the YMCA and later governed by the Boys' Work Board, the TUXIS program for boys aged 15 to 17 focused on Christian values, leadership, the outdoors, and camping. The Boys' Work Board also created the Trail Rangers program for boys aged 12 – 14. A parallel program was established for girls, called the Canadian Girls in Training (CGIT).
Later in the 20th century concerns were raised about the number of young people not in membership of youth organisations. This led to the first (unsuccessful) attempt to register all young people in Britain in 1941.
The next approach to develop was that by arts worker Marie Paneth in 1944. She went out onto the streets of London to address issues such as health, family breakdown and poverty in war-torn parts of the city, using a disused air raid shelter as her base. Her aim was to make good, independent citizens for a good community.
Read more about this topic: History Of Youth Work