Cambridgeskip Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Not sure if this goes in this forum or issues and politics.... In May we have a General Election here in the UK. So following a PLs council and a leaders meeting this evening we've decided to try and run a "Question Time"* style night with the troop. We've emailed the candidates of the main political parties (Conservative, Green, Labour, Lib Dems, UKIP) for the parliamentary seat to come to scouts in March. Each to spend 3 mins explaining their policies to the troop and field questions. Just wondering, has anyone else ever tried anything similar? I know both politics and scouting are very different in the USA to over here. How did it go? Any advice? *Its a weekly TV show here, a rep from each of the main parties plus typically a journalist and someone like a comedian field questions from a studio audience on the issues of the day. Bit of a British instituion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeptic Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Since we are supposed to be apolitical within the unit, probably would not do that here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwazse Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I love Question Time ... the parliamentary one, not the TV show. I like the TV show (think I saw it once) ... there's just no way to improve on the back-and-fourth of British MPs! This is usually a classroom project in most of our schools, and usually involves a lot of chaos unless the kids have been brought up with rules of order (which they mostly haven't). Our venturers should be hosting ethical controversies. But few are very interested in doing so. The real trick is to choose a room where the acoustics favor the speaker. Also you need ways of casting votes by the end of the debate (colored marbles that voters place into bins representing rank-order of preference might work well in your case). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJCubScouter Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I have never heard of a Scout unit doing anything like that, but it seems to me that if ALL of the candidates for an office are present (not just invited, but actually present), it is probably permitted. Sounds like a good demonstration of citizenship to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packsaddle Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 What NJ said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cambridgeskip Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 Thanks for the thoughts chaps. Just to clarify, we to are expected to be apolitical in that we should not, while wearing our scout hat, openly support or oppose any political party. However at a national level there is a big theme at the moment of getting young people to engage with politics. There is an annual parliamentary reception for scouts which some of ours have been to in the past (we invested one of them on the spot where Nelson Mandella addressed both Houses, she certainly remembered that one!), where they get to meet MPs including the Speaker of the House. There are other events across the country as well. We have invited all the declared candidates for our parliamentary seat so far who are from the big 5 political parties. There may be fringe candidates who declare nearer the time. We will probably invite them as well with the only exception being the nut jobs (eg British National Party, our very own white supremecist morons). In terms of the acoustics we actually added some sound absorbing panels not that long ago, Works a treat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyke Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 That sounds really cool thing to do, and the best thing about kids asking questions is that they will ask them anything and are not fobbed of easily , just like when Maggie thatcher (milk snatcher) was interviewed on a sat morning tv show, and was not let off the hook by a young girl asking really good questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Or.... reverse the process. Everyone writes down the qualities they think would go into making a good PL, SPL, etc. and then see if anyone in the troop meets any of those expectations. Those lists could be posted as kind of job descriptions. Then boys who think they have skills to meet those expectations are encouraged to run for those positions knowing the boys will hold them accountable to them. Once the troop has NO LEADERS stepping forward, it would be a good time to start teaching/learning what it takes to be a leader. This process is a good way to cut out the political promising and define realistic expectations of real leadership. Stosh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSScout Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Idea provoking. I think I may mention it in our Roundtable.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagledad Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Or.... reverse the process. Everyone writes down the qualities they think would go into making a good PL, SPL, etc. .......... Once the troop has NO LEADERS stepping forward, it would be a good time to start teaching/learning what it takes to be a leader. Based on whose definition of leadership qualities? Not every scout is going to agree on leadership qualities and they certainly aren't going to agree with the SM. Who is going to teach what? Barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cambridgeskip Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 Or.... reverse the process. Everyone writes down the qualities they think would go into making a good PL, SPL, etc. and then see if anyone in the troop meets any of those expectations. Those lists could be posted as kind of job descriptions. Then boys who think they have skills to meet those expectations are encouraged to run for those positions knowing the boys will hold them accountable to them. Once the troop has NO LEADERS stepping forward, it would be a good time to start teaching/learning what it takes to be a leader. This process is a good way to cut out the political promising and define realistic expectations of real leadership. Stosh Stosh, Possibly something for another time. On this occassion though we are specifically encouraging the scouts to engage in politics. We have a serious problem in the UK with the number of young adults that bother to vote. This link shows the turnout by age and constituency for the 2010 election http://www.ukpolitical.info/Turnout10.htm When it comes to local council elections I'd describe the even lower turnouts as close to catastrophic. Just 44% of 18-24 year olds,t ook the short amount of time it takes to take part in the democratic process. It's frankly scandalous. And I think that is part of the duty of movements like the Scouts and our friends in Girl Guides (who have similar program to us in terms of politics) to try and change that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 The suggestion would apply to either the UK or the US. Are the candidates being selected on their promises and charisma or their skills and accomplishments? We run into problems when we vote party-line, buy into some promises rhetoric and never look at the person, their voting record, their tendencies to act in certain ways, etc. I think one of the problems with our system at least, is that the people who vote tend to never really research in order to make an educated decision at the ballots. If the boys want the prestige and not the work, they would in fact make a great politician, but not a good leader for the troop. I never vote for what a candidate says, but I do look carefully at what they have done as an indicator of what the future holds. I'm thinking that if more people were to do this, the quality of the candidates will need to improve to be considered. If one were to hold elections and no one stepped forward because they were going to be held accountable to doing something rather than just wear a patch for advancement, I'm thinking that anyone could be elected and accomplish nothing just as well as the next guy. Stosh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJCubScouter Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Conservative' date=' Green, Labour, Lib Dems, UKIP[/quote'] I find British politics very interesting, and one reason is that the "Liberal Democrats" are actually the centrist party, right in the middle. Right Skip? The word "liberal" as used in the United States means something very different than what it means in most other countries. And then the UKIP, they are the ones who want the UK to withdraw from the European Union? So they would be more conservative than the Conservatives? (And to make things even more confusing, in Canada the "conservative party" is called the Progressive Conservatives.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeattlePioneer Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Excellent idea! Sounds like a terrific program. I think I'd get a big air horn to use if anyone dares use more than their alotted time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyke Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 NJ - most of the Parties in the UK are trying to appeal to the centre, labour is slightly left and the conservatives are slightly right, and no one knows are the lib dems. UKip are a fringe party that appeals to right wing conservatives and will probably have some success in the current climate where people fear imergration , but will eventually fade away like others before (and there main support is by older people). But by US standards all our parties are very left as they all approve of workers rights (20 days holiday by law, 1 year maternity leave), nationalised health services and welfare for the poor /disable , laws against discrimination on any grounds (the current BSA ban on gays would be illegal in uk law, even though they are a private group). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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