A whole new meaning to "Be Prepared"

[eisely]

Scouts to get free condoms at international jamboree

 

BANGKOK, Thailand - In keeping with their motto "Be Prepared," scouts from around the world attending a jamboree will be provided with free condoms on request, media reports said Tuesday.

 

 

A public health official said condoms would be supplied at the 20th World Scout Jamboree because reports of participants engaging in sex had emerged from past scout gatherings, The Nation said.

 

About 20,000 boy and girl scouts from 80 nations are expected to attend the Dec. 28-Jan. 7 event at a large seaside campground about 130 kilometers (81 miles) southeast of Bangkok. Most of the scouts are aged from 14 to 18.

 

"We talked about this issue from the very beginning, but we didn't want to publicize it as we feared the publicity may encourage more people to do it," the inspector general of the Public Health Ministry, Dr. Pipat Yingseri, was quoted as saying Monday.

 

Despite control measures, it was still possible for young couples to engage in sexual activity at the event, he said.

 

"So please ask for condoms if you need them," the official said. "Or please buy them from nearby convenience stores."

 

 

 

 

 

[twin_wasp]

Golly.

[evmori]

Gives a whole new meaning to "clean" doesn't it.

 

A blessed Christmas to all!

 

Ed Mori

Scoutmaster

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[NJCubScouter]

Well, it's good to see that banning gays has caused all Scouts and Scouters to follow the straight and narrow path of strict morality.

[littlebillie]

maybe it's like the priest thing - abuse being less bad if it's not one of your parishioners? it's not immoral if you you earn the carnal badge with a scout from another country..?

[KoreaScouter]

I live in Asia, and my troop is sending five Scouts to the 20th World Jamboree -- I'm driving them to the airport in less than 48 hours. A SM from a brother troop in our District is going as a leader/staffer.

 

I've been watching Thailand for months, mainly for security reasons, but every background document I've studied at least mentions that STDs are a public health epidemic in Thailand. Common knowledge among us over here.

 

So, does it surprise me that the Thai government has a condom-issue policy? Not at all, in fact, considering their sex industry, how they promote it, and the consequences, their policy is probably prudent. Let's not be too quick to infer a cause/effect here, where there may not be one.

 

That doesn't mean I endorse pre-marital teenage sex. I took Anthrax shots, too, but I don't endorse chemical warfare, either.

 

Remember, there are Scouts from all over the world going to this thing, from countries that have very different public health policies, and social mores. For example, when I lived in the Netherlands, hands-on condom education begins in the sixth grade, for boys and girls...btw, the Netherlands has one of the lowest teenage pregnancy rates in the world. Abstinence is simply not pushed as an option in many parts of the world, and it would be unreasonable to expect that Scouts from country "X" would have collective values any different than their society as a whole...where they come from, not where we come from.

 

NJ: cheap shot, big time. Does every issue have to be related to the BSA gay ban for you? Lighten up a little bit, Atlas, set the world down off your shoulders for a few minutes, and enjoy life. You don't know me, my Scouts, or my brother SM who's going, or the values we model. I do know my Scouts, and they're not going on a sex tour. Neither is my brother SM, who's a loyal husband, dedicated father, excellent middle school teacher, a swimming coach, and a heckuva guitar player too. Please don't paint us with your broad brush.

 

So, I'm not giving them directions to Pattaya, but I'm not sticking my head in the sand, either. I think they should abstain until marriage, but if they don't, I sure hope they take some precautions.

 

On the plus side, I've used condoms to blouse my pants over my boots in tick country, and they also have a place in an emergency kit as a water carrier.

 

KS

 

 

 

[NJCubScouter]

I said:

 

Well, it's good to see that banning gays has caused all Scouts and Scouters to follow the straight and narrow path of strict morality.

 

And Korea said:

 

NJ: cheap shot, big time. Does every issue have to be related to the BSA gay ban for you? Lighten up a little bit, Atlas, set the world down off your shoulders for a few minutes, and enjoy life. You don't know me, my Scouts, or my brother SM who's going, or the values we model. I do know my Scouts, and they're not going on a sex tour. Neither is my brother SM, who's a loyal husband, dedicated father, excellent middle school teacher, a swimming coach, and a heckuva guitar player too. Please don't paint us with your broad brush.

 

Korea, I'll let the assembled readership decide, after reading these 2 passages, which one of us needs to "lighten up and enjoy life."

[evmori]

My vote is NJ is the one who needs to lightenr up.

 

A joyous New Year to all.

 

Ed Mori

Scoutmaster

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[NJCubScouter]

Gee Ed, really? I'm so shocked.

[KoreaScouter]

So, we pulled out at 5:30 this morning, got to the airport outside Seoul two hours later, and as we pulled up to the Thai Airlines departure area, our five Scouts were bursting with pride and accomplishment. All wearing their distinctive BSA/Western Region jackets, just for WJ, and the moment they worked and planned for for a year was finally here. Next big eye-opener: walking into the cavernous terminal at Incheon International, and seeing hundreds of other Scouts, mostly Korean but a few other nationalities mixed in, going to the same place they were, for the same thing.

 

The Korean Scouts, as they always do when we're camping, tried out their English on us while we were waiting in line for them to check their bags, and we checked out each others regalia. A Korean Scoutmaster struck up a conversation with us, and told us how long they'd saved and planned to make the trip, and how excited they were, and how they were looking forward to it. Any differences we may have had melted away in an instant in that check-in line, and the Scouts got a small sample of what was in store for them in Thailand.

 

Before I left, I told them how proud I was of them, how they set a goal and reached it. I also told them to have fun, meet as many Scouts from other countries as they could, take lots of pictures, and get ready to tell the rest of the troop what it was like, after they get back. I didn't mention anything about condoms, because I wasn't thinking about them. I have a hunch they won't be either...

 

KS

[littlebillie]

KS - did you pick up any of the Jamboree - um - itms? I bet an Official Scouting Condom could fetch a lot on ebay!!!

[evmori]

NJ,

Thought you would be!

 

 

[SR540Beaver]

Sorry NJ, I have to vote for KS on this one. You do tend to insert the gay thing into any post you can.

[littlebillie]

ah, heck - I'll vote for NJ. No surprises there, eh? But I gotta also point out that - since this involves a WORLD J - gay scouts are already in the mix, since the US position is by no means universal, and many national orgs do not have the restrictions that the BSA has in place.

 

 

[SR540Beaver]

You are right littlebillie, but what does that have to do with condoms being passed out at the WJ?

 

As KS pointed out, Thialand has a big STD problem in their society and because of it, it is no surprise to him that condoms are being offered as a precaution. Whether one is heterosexual or homosexual has nothing to do with the topic at hand.