Ear Rings

[Snake Eater]

Hunt said: "I would draw the line at fangs, at least until the Scout has earned his Tot'n Chip."

 

ROTFL! I spewed milk and cookies on my monitor and I'm still chuckling 10 minutes later.

 

johndaigler said: "Why would you have a different rule for BOR than for every other aspect of your Program??"

 

Why would you wear a coat and tie to a job interview when that is not the daily uniform if you get the job? Answer: Because you want to make a good impression. This is valuable lesson for life - you will have to make concessions to people who have the ability to grant you something. This young man won't have the luxury of walking out on an employer if he doesn't like the dress code when he has a wife and kids.

 

I wouldn't have done what the bor member did but I wouldn't have begged the kid to come back either. They were both wrong.

 

FWIW, the rule for the girls in my house is no makeup or piercings until they are 16. The rule for our boy is don't put anything in your body that you don't want me to yank out suddenly on first sight.

 

 

[schleining]

Ear rings-

Well I too am still chuckling over the totin chip comment..too funny.

 

Here's is my take..

Don't care as long as it is clean and not disruptive in appearance.

I spent 20 years in the Army and could really care a less what people stick in their bodies as long as it does not create a health problem or effect performance.

 

Tatoos, nose piercing, and Fangs... I have yet to see a Scout in that condition. I do have a Scout in my troop with an ear ring and it really does not get in the way. One day when we go climbing or other high adventure... he will have to take it out for safety sake, but until then... it is not an issue with me.

 

Beg the Scout to come back...that would not happen either. He will come back on his own accord.

Was the Scoutmaster wrong... yep!

My question is why was the SM on the BOR. That is a committee function.

 

My 2.5 cents

 

Jerry

[johndaigler]

Snakeeater,

 

good point about the job interview, but that's really the difference between a "formal" occasion and a "casual/less formal" occasion. We wouldn't expect the boy to show up for his BOR in a troop t-shirt or even a BSA Activity shirt, either. But what I was getting at was that there didn't seem to be an established "no earring" standard for other "formal" uniformed events in this troop.

 

As a Cub Scouter, I will confess to the limit of my BSA knowledge. I understand the BOR is significant, but the Scout's best uniformed look is worn throughout the year for other reasons. What's the troop's standard expectation? Again, why would you have a different standard for the BOR?

 

Even your interview analogy is a bit off because the BOR should not be deciding whether the boy "gets the job or not". His previous efforts should pre-determine that. The BOR is "not a time to retest the Scout".

 

jd

[John-in-KC]

The worst part of all this is the CC had a ready-made opening for a great dialogue with the young man:

 

"Son, I see you wear an ear ring. Can you tell us why you made that choice?"

 

Nice open-ended question. It may lead you down a path of peer pressure amongst his school and play mates. It may lead you down a path of honoring someone special to him in his family.

 

It also give the BOR a chance to work with a Scout is Clean in a very practical way: How do you care for that? How do you manage an infection? (There's an opening to discuss what he learned from first aid (no, not retest!)).

 

Like another poster, I have neither piercings nor tatoos, and I don't intend to get any.

 

As for the Scout and his Dad, I do hope they found another Troop. I suspect, though, BSA lost them for good.

 

 

[tortdog]

Our CO prohibits the boys from wearing earrings, nose jewelry, etc. Were this our unit, I think the situation should have been handled differently, but this would apply regardless of whether the boy were in uniform or not.

[johndaigler]

I wonder how many COs take the time to think through such "rules"?

 

Tortdog, if such a Unit policy exists; all the boys know it; and it's consistently applied; then that's fine.

 

My issue with this scenario has always been the wayward BOR member creating his own rule and thinking he has the authority to enforce it. I know we've discussed the Scout's sense of "obedient", but all along I've felt this whole thread should have focused more on the adult's actions - not to mention the other Unit Leaders and adults in the vicinity.

 

jd

[tortdog]

[nods head in complete agreement]

 

Something about the Scout law comes to mind...kind.

 

At a church conference this month, one of our church leaders spoke about how being Christian means being kind. He spoke of an instance in which he was a bishop of a church unit, and he reached out to an "in-active" member who had not been to church in a long time. He found out that the member had stopped going to church 40 years ago when a church youth leader pulled the youth out of a church meeting due to his bad behavior and told him to leave and never come back. Well, that youth did leave...and never came back. The bishop offered an apology on behalf of the church and asked him to return (along with his family), which he did.

 

The moral? How was that a kind thing to do...to tell someone to get out. And what if the church leader had been "kind"...this man would never have left.

 

I see that as the same situation. When someone breaks a rule, there's a kind way to correct it. In the instant case, the rule wasn't even formalized (but was one's personal viewpoint)...so it is even worse in my book.

 

A scout (and a scout leader) is kind.

[KoreaScouter]

I'm sure it's been said before, but if the CO doesn't care, and the lad's parents condone it, we must do so too. Ultimately, it's a family decision, not a unit decision, and every family's different. I've tried to teach my son that tattoos are painful and regretted later, and that body piercings are something that girls do. But, I've told him that if he ever gets interested in either, he may have exactly as many tattoos and body piercings as I have.

 

I have Scouts with earrings; I think they're silly on a male, but I don't discriminate because of it. None of my lads have tattoos, but some of our adult leaders do (tattoos very common in Hawaii).

 

KS

[Pint]

Ear rings,lip peircings, or anything else ( ie rings, watches etc)

shouldnt be a problem, as long as they are not a safety issue.

 

"A Scout has self-respect and respect for others."

taken from the (UK) Scout law.

 

[wadahoot]

My son, who is 18 and just became and Eagle Scout (hurrah! hurray!) started dying his hair in 7th grade and wanted to get his ear pierced. I was OK with the hair, and told him if he still wanted to have it pierced, he could when he turned 16. He did ... if he still wanted it years later, go for it!

 

I pick my battles ... hair grows out, or can be shaved off. Ear piercings can grow closed.

 

I figure that, if my son thinks that dying his hair and getting an ear pierced is living on the edge ... then go for it! The 'edge' could look a LOT worse from up here!

 

p.s. He wears a very small hoop most of the time, and when he needs to dress up, either in or out of Scouts, he wears a small, neat stud.

 

Anita

[Trevorum]

Since the time when this thread was last active (18 months ago), my 15 y.o. son has gotten two ear piercings. It's not my personal style, but then I realize that that's what it is - a style, a fashion - and these things constantly change with the generations.

 

When I was a teenager, I remember the battles some of my buddies had with their dads about wearing long hair. My own dad (then sporting a crew cut) gave me his advice but respected my ability to make my own decisions. I grew my hair long. Some years later, he grew his own hair long, with a beard. Who knows, as I mellow maybe I'll end up getting an earring and/or a tattoo.

 

As far as our troop goes, I can think of three ASM's who wear earrings, plus the previous SM. I can't see how it would be an issue for a BoR or a CO. In fact I am certain that upon appeal, National would overturn the decision of any BoR not to advance a Scout on the sole basis of earrings, hair length, hair color, tattoos, or any other personal style.

[scottteng]

When I was a Webelos den leader a couple of years ago there were several den members sporting earings one sporting three . His dad was the owner of a tattoo parlor and was decorated to the max. Not my thing but to each his own. We also have an adult in the disrict who wears his kilt with some regularity with class a shirt etc. the boys think it is a hoot. The earing haters need to get past it because the kids are getting them younger and younger the parents encourage them.

[Fuzzy Bear]

I will now update my previous post of several months ago, since we are reviewing.

 

If a Scout wants to stick a spear through his head from ear to ear and have it hang out on both sides and dangle a pair of earrings down to the floor, nobody should have a word to say to him. (*I am not speaking for the Scouts parents.) As long as he is in full uniform with all badges correctly in place and wasn't going out to play some kind of sport where the spear and earrings would make it unsafe, then he is within the Scout regulations. Also, my personal opinion on such things is not relevant, so I dont get a vote on matters like earrings but I do on safety. (*I would also like to specify that the spear should be appropriately short with a dull point projecting out the left side, if he is an eligible driver.)

 

Personal expression is a basic exercise, one that leads to participating citizenship and change within Scouting and within the U.S.A. In other countries, change doesn't come so easily but then sometimes we forget that.

 

I am considering an earring myself. My wife keeps telling me to do it but my conservative attitudes keep me in check. I have worn a full beard for years and occasionally I let my hair get bushy. I suppose that counts for something. (*Change comes more slowly for me.)

FB