Brussels Sprouts

[Eamonn]

I really don't like Brussels Sprouts.

I don't care how they are prepared I just don't like them.

If I was the person in charge of putting a kid friendly menu together, I'm almost certain that Brussels Sprouts wouldn't be on it.

Ice Cream would be on it. I do like ice cream.

I'm not really that mad about pizza, I can take it or leave it, but it would be on the menu.

I really dislike peanut-butter, but again a lot of kids like it, so that would be on the menu.

I have only ever eaten tripe one time, I didn't care much for it.

Tripe is high in protein and calcium and containing little fat and no carbohydrate.

is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol.

Brussels Sprouts are good source of Thiamin, Riboflavin, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese.

But I don't care, I still don't like them.

More and more kids today are not reading books.

We older folks might not like it or understand it. But todays kids don't have the love of books that many of us had and are far happier reading stuff on line.

We older people can argue that print is just so much more handier. They will reply that it's easier to download things to their Blackberry or laptop.

If our goal is to reach kids?

I kinda think we will do a better job with pizza and ice cream than we might do with tripe and Brussels Sprouts.

Eamonn.

[OldGreyEagle]

I don't mean to ruin your analogy Eamonn, but if J.K. Rowling announced tomorrow that in a year one last Harry Potter book would be for sale, kids would start queing up in six months to get it.

 

Kids do read when what they read interests them. Kids will eat what interests them, its learning what interests them and presenting it in a way that interests them that gets results.

[Gold Winger]

Kids may read J.K. Rowling and a few other popular things but people in general don't read like they used to.

 

People will say, "Oh he read all of the Harry Potter series" Sure but what else has he read? That's what? Seven books?

 

What about Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, Mickey Spillane, the Hardy Boys, Kipling, A.C. Doyle, Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Robert E. Howard?

 

For some reason my son has read all of the Harry Potter books many times but he won't read anything else.

 

I get four or five books a week from the library. A co-worker noticed that I had a different book to read during lunch about every other day. He asked if I actually read them front to back or if I just read the middle.

[Lisabob]

Dunno there GW & Eamonn, my teen son and most of his friends read like crazy, and no, not just junk either. There are plenty of kids who don't read much, but I'm not convinced that this is truly different than any other generation. I love books, can't imagine life without books, but I know not many of my classmates felt that way back when I was a teen. I tend to think this is one of those "kids these days" bits.

 

About brussels sprouts, they're not half bad if you dress them up with a decent vinaigrette! For kids you just have to find the way to hook them, you know, like a "game with a purpose."

 

 

[Pack212Scouter]

My kids love to read. They both spend the last 1/2 hour before betime reading. I tend to fall into the "kids today" generalizations too, but realistically, they will do what they are allowed to do. Most of us were not allowed to play outside or play boardgames right before our bedtime (or other time) so we read. If we allow kids to be on a computer up until lights out, then we are doing them a disservice. They don't learn other behaviors such as reading because we don't make them "taste it."

[Stosh]

When I first saw this thread I thought it might be a new younger scout program from the Netherlands...

 

This very same issue came up when scouting first began 100 years ago. The Scout program actually had a Chief Librarian that selected books and recommended them to the boys. Many of the early leaders of the scouting progam actually wrote books themselves for the boys. London, Grey, Verne are all some of the writers that were selected for the Every Boy's Library a series of classical literature with the BSA logo on the cover. Approximately 75 titles were chosen for the boys. Percy Fitzhugh and others wrote whole series of books on scouting personalities and the Tom Slade series for BSA was just as popular as the Tom Swift books back in the 1920's. That was the medium of convenience back then.

 

Do the boys read? Sure! Word for word they may actually read more than we did as youth. However, just because the medium changes doesn't mean they don't have an interest in reading. Yes they may not read book or newspapers, but then I don't read the newspapers as often as I used to, I get my news from TV and the Internet. Why would I then want to spend the money for a newspaper? The more things change, the more they stay the same. Do I read? Sure I own thousands of books, literally! Some are reference books, but for the most part I've read probably 85-90% of them. The Fitzhugh books are excellent for learning about scouting in the early years of scouting and have become so popular they are now being reprinted once again. As a matter of fact, I have a boy in my troop that is reading the Fitzhugh series and thinking it's pretty cool.

 

Stosh

[OldGreyEagle]

On the other hand, when was the last time you had a bunch of scouting aged youth listen all night to Bach, Mozart or Chopin?

[Eamonn]

Kinda looks like I'm going to have to eat Humble Pie with a big serving of Brussels Sprouts -Yuck !!

Eamonn.

[John-in-KC]

OGE:

 

Last semester at Honor Band. Amongst the young men, no fewer than half a dozen Eagle Scouts. Among the young women, 2-3 GSUSA Golds.

 

You'd be amazed at the Scouts I know who are into band and orchesta.

[Lisabob]

Same here. Teenage son listens to classical music to relax him when he's feeling stressed out. Of course he also listens to really bad thrasher metal...

[frank10]

When I was a scout we knew all classical music...

And which cartoon it was from.

[Lisabob]

Me too! Barber of Seville & Marriage of Figaro still bring Bugs Bunny to mind. Fantasia is a lot of fun too.

[scoutldr]

The last time my sister in law's cell phone rang, I burst into "Kill da wabbit, kill da wabbit..." Strange looks all the way around...

[CalicoPenn]

Kids do tend to model what adults do, especially what their parents do (even if they won't admit it).

 

Most people I know that fish, hunt, camp, go boating, garden, had a parent (or parents) that did it when they were growing up. Most people I know who read recreationally had parents (or at least one) that read recreationally when they were growing up.

 

Conversely, most people I know that don't like Brussels Sprouts (or any other kind of food) had at least one parent that not only didn't like Brussels Sprouts, but was vocal about it.

 

What parents do when they don't think they are actively teaching their children has as much influence on their children's behavior as what they intend to teach their children.

 

And it isn't limited to parents either - Hillary Clinton wrote a book titled "It Takes a Village", based, if I remember correctly, on lessons from villages in Africa. It it, she said that children were raised as much by their village as by their parents - of course she was excoriated by the anti-Clinton right wing - but the truth of the matter is she was right.

 

As Scout Leaders, we are important role models for the youth in our units. How many tales do we hear of Scouts and former Scouts who look back on their Scouting years and recognize a Scoutmaster, or other Scout Leader that was particularly influential.

 

If you're in a position to do so, start bringing books of your own on camping trips - every single one - and settling down for a 1/2 hour or so just to read - if I'm right, within just a few camping trips, your Scouts will start doing the same thing. Back in my Summer Camp days, we always had a camp wide enforced (meaning no activities were available) siesta right after lunch. Ever try napping in a hot canvas tent at 1 in the afternoon? The most popular activity in our Troop's campsite was reading - why? Because the adults took advantage of the quiet time to read, so we did too.

 

To this day, I love listening to Jazz - why? Because that's what my parents played on their stereo when I was growing up. I also can't choke down rutabaga if my life depended on it - why? Because both my parents were vocal about their extreme distaste of rutabaga. Yet a serving of nicely caremelized sauteed brussel's sprouts is delicious to me - even though my mother never made it when I was a kid - but she also never told me how horrible it is either.

 

Calico

 

Calico

[FScouter]

Wise commentary indeed Calico. I never set out to teach my son to read. He picked it up on his own, because Mom and Dad sat down every day to quietly read, every day. He followed. Raising young'uns isn't so hard. Do what it is you want to teach.