AwakeEnergyScouter

I'm her generation and I disagree. It's not even what I see in my scout's friends that are around that age, so it must vary. Most elementary-age students I know do not have their own phone. Most I know do have their own tablet, which is locked down and they have screen time limits. (Not all, because there's one kid in particular who FaceTimes my child at so many hours that we're pretty sure they have no screen time limits.) They mostly use them for watching shows and playing Minecraft on private servers, at home of course. The tablets are like a cross between a gaming console and a small TV for them, so both activities fall within old parental nagging categories. From talking to their parents at birthday parties, we're all also concerned about the dark corners of the internet that we want to keep our children out of until they're old enough to realize they shouldn't be in them if/when they find them. Hence, private servers. (No FPS game lobbies, either!) I appreciate the Cyber Chip, actually. Like Protect Yourself, it helps with figuring out what's age-appropriate. Anyway, that was all to say I think you understand perfectly. I'm on this soap box because the existence of hand-held devices creates new parenting struggles and I don't think the scattering of mind harm - which is quite general - has gotten enough attention, even though it controls general quality of life. Its lack of immediate harm means it really needs pointing out. Luckily, we've only had a scout show up with a personal device once, and it ruffled other scouts' feathers. Perhaps I should prepare something more succinct to say if it happens again, which it sounds like it well might.

This is amazing!!! I'm going to find the right time to tell my Bears about this good example of being the person to restore what other humans have, in their ignorance, destroyed. Restoring balance to the Earth is so needed! ♥️🧘🏼‍♀️🏞️🌄

as per the what???? *clutches pearls* Call me old school, but scouting should be all about being present in the moment with the sunrise and birdsong and mud inside your boots and your still-wet pants or whatever is going on. No wifi, no LTE, no 5/4/3/2G, no electronic devices whatsoever to distract yourself with. Scouting is one of the few civic groups in which being present in the moment is actively cultivated, and this gift of experiencing the present moment is invaluable. Phones are an invitation to not have this precious experience during your formative years. Initially, you won't recognize the importance, and you won't see the harm in scattering the mind further with your phone. IMO part of Duty to Dharma/God is to leave the devices at home or at least in adult leaders' pockets for emergencies... If there even happens to be any coverage, which ideally there shouldn't be.

I accidentally handed out a pack hiking club marker to a sibling, but then I realized that was actually join-us propaganda.

Second hiking club hike went fabulously! The first hike was a bit special in that we had a nature guide for the nature conservation center (for Fur, Feathers and Ferns) and they de facto led the hike. This time, our pathfinder (scout with topo map and compass) and flagbearer (what it sounds like, scout with flags indicating the "front" of the pack) really got to lead the hike after a refresher on orienteering. They were very excited to lead! (Both Bears.) We went the wrong way three times, scouts wanted to quit (hike leaders jumped in to encourage), it was hot (leaders suggested drinking water), and the flag was heavy (leaders pawned it off to an adult from time to time but took it back after a rest), but during learning by doing they got us back to the parking lot after hiking exactly the target number of miles, so I'm quite pleased! We definitely didn't hike the plan but I don't care. The long-term plan is getting good at this, and we practiced! The pathfinder and the flag bearer traded off sometimes, and they both learned some important leadership lessons. Can't wait to see how this group grows next month! ♥️

That's another good point. I appreciated scouts as a place where I was not at all sexualized. My ability to carry a pack, raise a tent quickly, and dig a latrine were more prized than my looks or body... Doing was more valuable than being, and not just among all-girl groups. That was nice. Really nice. Men also being around made it more valuable, because life doesn't play out in an all-female space.

Well, at least the scout isn't also lightly draped in a curtain then 🤦🏼‍♀️ if the subject can't be naked for you to get it, that style doesn't work for that particular statue. I think this is a great example of why symbols are needed in certain kinds of art. I don't associate helmets with masculinity and I would never have guessed that the flame in the woman's hand was some kind of Christian symbol. Like the wings in the original statue under discussion, you need an explanation to get it, so you can't see the art and immediately be moved. This immediately lessens the impact of the art. Since our shirts with badges and neckerchiefs are our symbols as far as something you can put on a person, a number of art styles are then immediately ruled out for statues of scouts IMNSHO.

I used outdoor survival skills to help myself and my family survive the last round of freezing temperatures that hit south Texas that the state is clearly under prepared for despite it happening about every 10 years. (I notice native plants survived it, but plants from even further south didn't come back, so it's definitely a regular occurrence.) We were among those who had power out the longest, but we had gear (my scout was the only kid in the whole neighborhood who was out playing in the snow having a great time) and knowledge. Our house leaks heat like a sieve despite our best efforts at improving energy efficiency, and the temperature inside the house was dropping about 1°C/hour. When the endpoint is -13, that's a problem. So, I set about making sure we were eating hot food (cooked outside not inside) and drinking hot drinks. Had to get water for both drinking and flushing also since our pipes froze. We all made it comfortably with full bellies, although it was scary for us adults. Turns out, after talking to native Texan neighbors (not scouts), that most people here had no idea how relatively quickly you die from hypothermia, nor what the stages are. And a fair few of the ones who died took grills inside. When you're a scout from just below the Arctic Circle you absolutely know cold survival!

Someone couldn't quite commit to a style, it seems. Or perhaps really wanted to make a statue in Greek style, but needed clothes on the scout to show scoutness and then got complaints about nipples and genitals from someone. I don't really get this statue either. No doubt the artist didn't mean to reference the scandal, probably because it hadn't broken yet, but you're right, @Eagle1993 - less brilliant overtones as things stand 😳 I'm guessing the man and the woman here are also supposed to be some kind of symbols that the scout is leading, and after seeing a second one I think I'm concluding that I prefer down-to-earth statues of scouts. The magic of scouting is ordinary. 🔮 Honoring scouts by depicting them with a map and compass is right on point. Maybe making a fire without a match. Greek antiquity or Asatrú don't quite connect. We specialize in the rubber meeting the road, in joining heaven and earth.

Came to type what @yknot said after thinking about what @Eagle94-A1 and @SiouxRanger said. Female scouts and scouters aren't mythical beings. We're real, and not new. Specific names surfaced very quickly, to boot.

Lester undoubtedly meant well, but I'm not sure that imagining us as those selecting who among the dead on the battlefield goes to Valhall and who goes to Folkvang makes a lot of sense. (Why is there a battlefield with dead to sort in this homage?) Or, as those who serve the warriors who died "with their boots on" in battle once they get to Valhall. If the idea was to pick someone traditional, honorable and powerful who's also female, then picking from among the female Aesir or Vanir seems like a better idea. Freja, Siv, Frigg, or Idun all seem like better choices. Frigg's spinning wheel might be hard to add but Freja's amulet, Siv's hair, or Idun's apples would have worked.

@BetterWithCheddar Check out this scout, who led an online democracy jamboree campfire in 2020. Like your star Eagle scout employee, they don't confirm to traditional ideas about proper appearance, but the shirt (despite the scout also not putting the badges where convention would put them) and neckerchief make them instantly recognizable as a scout regardless. Our shirts and neckers are absolutely core to our public image, much more so than adhering to bourgeoisie convention. We have room for rebels, too, exactly because the symbolism of shirt, badges and neckers is so very strong. The screenshot is from this video in case it isn't quite clear enough. The campfire actually starts at about 20:30.

I think yes, for the same reason. COVID pool closures struck out an important learn-to-swim season for my scout also, and I imagine lots of other kids. They'll catch up, but with a delay.

As an old scout from a country which very much eschews authoritarianism, so much so that there are only suggestions (no rules) for where to put what badge on the scout shirt, perhaps I can help. We always wore our scout shirts (only thing we had as part of a "uniform") during scouting events, because our leaders required it and they always wore them. I don't really know what a field uniform is, and this stuff about class X and Y uniforms here confused me a lot initially. And scout socks - really?? Still, I bought it all because while it seems a little over the top and sloppy at the same time (socks are part of the uniform, but t-shirts are ok?), it is de facto how we show that we are scouts representing the movement because it always has been. Yes, one could do it a different way. Absolutely. One could also show that one is reigning monarch in some other way than a kingdom apple, a spire, a kingdom key, and a crown. Symbols are all empty of inherent meaning. But because this is because that is, and that is not because this is not, symbols get their meaning from sequences of societal events that one cannot, as a practical matter, ignore and expect success. Only dedicated anti-monarchists would support getting rid of the contents of the Royal Treasure Chamber. The crowns and scepters and whatnot is part of our history as a people and a nation. Getting rid of them feels dangerously close to trying to erase history. Take the swastika, for example. It had one meaning for centuries, and then due to unfortunate sequences of events the meaning changed completely in at least Europe and the Anglophone countries. Even though it is historically correct to say that the current associations isn't its "true" meaning, European and Anglophone people will associate it with the Nazis regardless of what you mean by it, and it's such a common and strong association that it isn't in anyone's individual power to change it. Time for the association to fade is required. That we scouts are defined by wearing our shirts and neckerchiefs is an incredibly strong association, because it is one of our forms that we have all, worldwide, carried on since the start. The form isn't absolute - we have different shirt colors, different design specifics (ours have no epaulets, probably because that does feel a bit military and we are absolutely not that), and a plethora of different badges meaning different things. Same for neckerchiefs. But we all have some kind of Western collared shirt with front pockets with badges and neckerchiefs. Because that's what a scout looks like in people's minds, and always has been. No sports team has ever had the convention for over 100 years that coaches wear anything in particular. A better analogy is that one sports team decided jerseys with numbers were no good and decided to have everyone just play in whatever they wanted instead. They could do that, but there would be consequences because they would be bucking strong expectations. Without a strong reason (human rights or justice) to take the consequences, why do it? When I was a scout myself, I didn't really understand why our leaders were on us so much about wearing our shirts. But now that I'm older, I understand. At the time, it seemed like we singled ourselves out as weird. But that's part of the point. Are you willing to publicly take a stand for the scout oath and law, even if it doesn't make you cool or popular? Wearing the shirt is practice in being willing to stand and work for scouting publicly, because everyone who sees you instantly knows you're a scout.

Yes, thank you! I am not familiar with West because I wasn't a scout in the US. I'll Google him. My assumption was that something about him personally and/or this particular quote that set him apart from general scouting values was your point, since your post focused on him as a person, but that society would work so much better as well as prevent problems like the KKK is everyone practiced scouting values makes perfect sense!

I'll be honest, I don't really understand what you're saying here due to not being sure what being referenced where. I certainly agree that the KKK shouldn't be lionized (or even considered morally neutral), but basic tenets of... The KKK??? Or the BSA? Or the scouting movement as a whole? Of course religion is personal and the BSA like Western societies in general have no problems with private expressions of religion, but why use the KKK's relatively minor ethics flaw of disapproving of one Christian sect as an example of religious discrimination? Is religious discrimination of Christians even a problem in BSA? It's hard to imagine, so if it is more current and direct examples would be more helpful in that case. I don't know much about this West guy, so I can't guess what you think he'd disapprove of, other than perhaps things like scouts watching movies over LTE on campouts. So, I find myself thoroughly confused! What about the original quote did you think that the public would wish to note?

Well, the super obvious call to moral clarity with respect to the KKK has nothing to do with religion. Surely I don't need to point out that the main ethical problem with the KKK is murder and terrorism. Their religious preferences are small potatoes in comparison. They certainly had no problems killing non-Catholic Christians, as I understand it, so how sincere it even was seems in question.

It's in the topic, so it rests upon the correctness of the implicit claim that the quote is about the KKK. As is that the quote is primarily about Catholicism. Neither is clearly stated in the quote itself.

Wait, his problem with the Klan was that they were anti-Catholic?? Is that really a correct interpretation? 😱 Is there more that he said that changes the implications here? Because this sounds awful otherwise 🫣

Bet that guy used up a whole bottle of sunscreen. Or, had wicked sunburn on the areas that are almost always covered in sunlight 😂 We need to find effective ways to remind people that scouts is the original outdoorsy life organization. Outdoor adventure with friends is totally our wheelhouse! (And that you don't need to start your own scout-like group for people to be friendly towards you, because everyone is welcome in ours. Someone suggested Spiral Scouts to me the other day, thinking that we might be a better fit there.) I was at REI the other day, and they've got family camping classes. How to go camping as a family! We're that, but with a side of camping friends, too! 🏕️🤗⚜️ Wonder if they'd post a pack recruitment flier on the community events board?

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/gets-real-puyallup-man-waits-60-years-be-recognized-eagle-scout/4B2V3PQ6YFE6NPVKHGKGUI52DY/ What an exemplary scout. Many might have been bitter, and not unjustifiably so. But he knew in his heart he was worthy, and now everyone else is equally clear on that ♥️

I was thinking several years later, but if the row is really tough then maybe next lifetime 😂 But, Angulimala went from serial killer to enlightened in one lifetime so you never know 😄 I'm curious about the older scout situation, too - did being confined to camp result in the other scouts looking down on the undisciplined scouts? Childrearing practices vary by culture, so I don't know if it makes sense to expect this, but if that had happened in my troop the offending scout would probably have been socially demoted to errand boy/girl.

You're welcome, although it was entirely due to chance since I either never heard of this back in the 90s or forgot about it. I wasn't living in the US then, and my top news memories from the 1990s were Śrebrenica and Estonia (the ferry) 😄

Sorry, what is their current stance if not allyship? I tried googling but all the results suggest that WF has a solid history of supporting the LGBTQIA movement. Not to say I think large corporations have great moral compasses or anything, just not sure what exactly is duplicitous in this particular case. I'm not on FB.

People who grew up in an environment that taught them that rules are imposed by force by others and breaking them is fine as long as you don't get caught are not in a good position to notice the causal connections between different kinds of thoughts, speech, and actions and what happens in the "outside" world. They are ignorant of how cause and effect create a chain of links that entraps them in circles of unnecessary pain and personal suffering in the end. Not sure if this was your scouts or not, @qwazse, but one way or the other they do not perceive clearly... Yet, one hopes. Hopefully, being sent home helps that scout think through cause and effect better in the future. The older scouts... Yikes. Last day of camp, so now we can do anything? No true discipline. Hopefully, they can look back at that (wrong) view later and connect the dots. Seeing clearly what is needed and doing it whether you feel like it or not requires some experience of both not seeing clearly and seeing but not doing, hopefully this is mud for a beautiful lotus to grow in.