anarchist Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 talk about beating a dead horse... I am a non- smoker-cancer surviver-with one lung...but I don't agree with Acco40 on this. I take the meaning of the quote used to be that since I am to support the notion that 'young adults are better off...may not allow....to be that, no young adults (scouts) may smoke... not refering to my crusty old friends who are trying to race me to the grave... One of our old scoutmasters smoked, he just took it away from the group...in away, I think that is the more powerful message...SMOKING SUCKS...What young person would want to have to 'hide' his habit....? keep smilin' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troop251scout Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 In our troop, we ask that the leaders go completely out of site of the scouts. they have to keep an eye open to because sometimes our scouts wonder and if the leader sees them, they must put it out imediately. As the SPL, if i see a leader smoking i ask him to stop and go somewhere else. If the problem continues, then i get the SM and CC involved and we have a meeting with the leader. I mean i dont mind them smoking but they dont need to be doing it around the kids! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinnaker Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 My dear husband is a scoutmaster - he smokes on those troop campouts that I'm not attending. The big deal is that he's not a smoker - (neither am I). He sits near the campfire after all the boys are in their tents and lights up a cigar. His excuse is that it keeps the mosquitoes away. But I think he really enjoys this forbidden pleasure. spinnaker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevorum Posted January 17, 2005 Author Share Posted January 17, 2005 troop251scout, good for you! I can tell you are a strong SPL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA_Scouter Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Years back, when I worked for a military contractor, we learned very quickly how to write a proper specification ( or 'rule' ) for manufacturing an item. The wording was always 'shall be', not 'will be', 'should be', 'might be', 'may be'... etc. There is no ambiguity in 'shall be'.... So why did the BSA not do the same? Perhaps an oversight, or perhaps an attempt not to alienate good scouters who had this one bad habit. Who knows... I know that our current scoutmaster, who I'm taking over for at the end of this month, finally got the message to quit smoking when he had his second heart attack last summer ( he's only 49 ). When he was still partaking of the habit, he always walked off away from the boys, but still got razzed when he came back... But we have no more tobacco issues now, so thank goodness! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packsaddle Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Any of you folks ever read the book, "The Sot-Weed Factor" by John Barth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troop251scout Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Thanks Trevorum the comment was greatly appreciated! I think it helps that i was raised around adults and feel comfortable talking to them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evmori Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 If the BSA wanted to ban smoking, the G2SS would read "Smoking is prohibited at any and all Scout functions." But it doesn't. Instead the G2SS uses "should" and "may". You shouldn't but nothing says you can't. Ed Mori Troop 1 1 Peter 4:10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdutch Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Well then, I guess everyone here would agree that my JLT SM smoking around the campfire last year is not allowed. To bad the DE who was serving as ASM their didn't say anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packsaddle Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 I take that as a 'no'. The book is a historical satire. Very entertaining, search on the word "sot-weed" to get a hint of its relevance. You will never view an eggplant quite the same again, ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunt Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 "Adult leaders should support the attitude that young adults are better off without tobacco and may not allow the use of tobacco products at any BSA activity involving youth participants." I have to agree that this is one of the worst-written "prohibitions" ever. It leaves us discussing the meaning of "should," "may," and even "at." It seems to me that "no smoking in front of the scouts" is a minimum interpretation that we all can agree on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FScouter Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 So ... if we all agree that adults should not smoke around kids, there should be no problem. Just don't do it. It doesn't seem like there should be any question about whether smoking is appropriate or not. I suppose BSA could hire a team of attorneys to write an iron-clad bullet proof document using arcane legalspeak and 100 word sentances. But what's the point? Anyone that decides to light up is going to do so regardless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevorum Posted January 18, 2005 Author Share Posted January 18, 2005 Hunt, again I agree with you. But, I think it was written this way on purpose. Clever wordsmiths can say something that seems to be crystal clear - and simultaneously to two opposing sides so that they can seem to agree with everyone and not be pinned down. (This is what politicians do) BSA's black box of policy makers are expert at this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajuncody Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Thank the powers that be that my 7 yr old is not reading these posts. "Mother, may I play my PS2 all night on a school night?" "No, you may not". What message am I sending to him???!!! Kristi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packsaddle Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 OK, I give up. CajunCody, I agree. The ones who are trying to rationalize access to their addiction are engaging in a deception that is transparent to those of us who know 7-year-olds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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