What if we just completely did away with uniforms?

[Eamonn]

Someone was showing me some photos from last year at our Council Summer Camp.

Many of them were from the Troops at Flag and at the weekly OA Call Out.

Times when I'd expect everyone to be in full uniform.

While just about everyone has a Scout Shirt on, hardly anyone was in full uniform. - A lot of blue jeans, soccer-shorts and the like.

I'm wondering what would happen if we just said that we were no longer going to have a uniform?

Not even a dress code!

I'm not saying that we should! Just wondering what might happen?

Eamonn.

[ghermanno]

Eamonn,

 

Total Caos (sp?). How would you identify Scouts? How would you know if a person was a Scout leader or just some person/parent wandering the Scout Camp?

 

The uniform WAS supposed to be the "great equalizer" as it did not discriminate between wealthy and poor Scouts/Scouters. Unfortunately, in persuit of higher pay, profit, higher costs,... the uniform cost has become an indicator of status for some. Middle class and upper class can normally afford the full uniform (wether they do or not) but some in the lower middle class and below can not (option to eat or buy a uniform).

 

I am all for the shirt, necker, and hat with blue jeans (long or shorts) being the uniform. Adding a pair of pants that the boy grows out of all too soon and can not normally be worn with anyhting else is an added expense on most families. Ussually not a good one. Most families (all that I know) own blue jeans and wear them with just about everything.

 

Just my $0.02

 

YiS,

 

Rick

[scoutldr]

 

 

First thing, you would hear a collective CHEER from scouts and parents alike. Secondly, we'd probably have to dispense with Advancement, since there would be no use for rank badges.

 

Watching the TODAY show Saturday (or was it Sunday?) morning, they quickly panned on a troop in the courtyard outside the studio. Not a pair of Scout pants or shorts in the whole group. And the First Class Scout in the very front had a pair of plaid shorts on. Looked pretty tacky on national TV (especially considering they probably KNEW in ADVANCE they would be on national TV!). Didn't catch where they were from and couldn't see the CSP, so they shall remain nameless.

[scoutldr]

Sorry...my mouse finger had a spasm.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

[Knot Head]

My scouts (and parents) would cheer wildly if they went to plain white socks. Going to khaki cargo shorts or blue jeans would also get a bit of a cheer.

 

We are 100% uniform as a troop and make use of a clothing exchange system, but they do grumble alot about the socks being uncomfortable and the pants.

 

They seem okay with the shirts.

[nolesrule]

I like the new socks. Much more comfortable than the old green and red ones.

 

As for shorts, cargo shorts yes, khaki, no. Khaki on khaki is taki. There used to be khaki activity shorts to wear with activity shirts, but they looked terrible with the uniform shirt (not that you were supposed to wear them together).(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

[BrentAllen]

Eamonn,

We would become only a camping club - and nothing more. Troops would have to come up with thier own dress codes, so boys wouldn't wear inappropriate t-shirts. Boys would still need clothes to camp in, without messing up nicer clothes needed for school. We would lose much of our identity. Imagine Troops marching in parades (as many in our community are doing this 4th of July) or participating in flag ceremonies without uniforms. I don't think it would be a pretty sight.

 

What is the deal with blue jeans? Only greenhorn rookies wear blue jeans camping. That is one of the first things I tell our new Scouts - and I don't want to see a pair on a camping trip. They weigh a ton when wet and take forever to dry. In cold wet weather, they are a hypothermia accident waiting to happen. This isn't just my opinion, read your Boy Scout Handbook (pg. 205). A pair of Levi's is going to cost you $25 - $30. Is a pair of Supplex Nylon Switchbacks, which are made for the outdoors, really that much more? Our Scouts are getting two-years worth of wear out of them, with weekly wear, so they look like a very good value to me. Plus you get two pieces of clothing in one - shorts and long-pants. How can that not be a bargain? Besides, can't we encourage our Scouts to earn the money to buy their own uniforms? Or make them birthday or holiday gifts?

My son's NYLT Course. Good uniforming.

http://www.aacnylt.org/Troop%20Pics%202009/blue%20week%20one%2009.JPG

Eamonn, imagine the boys in that picture without uniforms. What a mess.

[nolesrule]

Forget the uniforms. I'd like to take a boat out on that water.

 

Our camp doesn't have a waterfront anymore. It's a mud-pit thanks to our ever dwindling water table.

[OldGreyEagle]

I could see a switch to the uniform only being a hat of some kind, either the campaign hat, or the brimmed hat. Instead of rank patches, we would have pins and the scouts could wear their entire collection on the hat, from Scout to Eagle. Adults would have "knot pins" to place on their hat. The hat becomes the symbol of scouting, along with a necker of course. The back of the necker has the CSP and unit number.

 

 

[nolesrule]

I've done the hat pin thing in the past. It gets too cluttered.

 

Plus all those pin backs'll poke a bunch of holes in your head.

[GernBlansten]

I could foresee a rush of boys wanting to engage in our program but have avoided it because of the nerdy uniform and uptight adults (the ones in nerdy uniforms, yelling about the uniforms). Heaven forbid we allow those miscreants into our little camping club.

[BrentAllen]

So Gern, exactly why would those miscreants want to join us if we got rid of the uniforms? Because they secretly subscribe to our Oath and Law but just can't stand the uniforms?? Because they honestly believe in our Patrol Method and boy-led philosophy, but just can't force themselves to be seen in public in a Boy Scout uniform?? Because they believe in service to others but wouldn't be caught dead in a Class A?? Sorry, but I find that hard to believe. A more believable explanation to me is those who don't join us because of a uniform are missing something very important to the BSA - character. Those boys can go join in on an REI family adventure to get their camping kick.

[GernBlansten]

Yup Brent. I do think the uniform keeps many boys from joining, and definitely many from staying. How many scouts voluntarily wear their uniform to school or other non-scouting functions? Should they be proud if it? How many of those same kids wear their letter jacket to more than high school?

[Pack212Scouter]

Hmm...I don't remember any sports where uniforms are optional...they give a group mentality AND make them easier to identify.

[Trevorum]

In my experience, Cub Scouts absolutely LOVE to get uniformed up. They love the patches, the regalia, the hat - all of it. Then they cross over. First year Scouts bring some of that enthusiasm, but by the time the fellows are in middle school, their attitude towards uniforms has cooled. Sometimes to the point where the Scout uniform IS a disincentive to staying with the program. I think adult leadship can valiantly row against the natural tide (and there ARE some units that disprove the rule) but the overwheming majority of teen-aged American boys just don't like all the frou-frou they see as associated with the BSA uniform.