Bring back Baden-Powell

Amp34 · 27 Jul 2007 at 17:01

misterPK said:
Bullying

Just like in schools, this is a problem, especially for a larger troop like the one I help with. Whilst we are actively trying to stop it, its always going to happen when you get a mix of kids from a cross-section of society, we just have to try and stop it before it goes too far.

Tent pegs

That made me smile. I have a friend who is a senior scout thing and he was telling me that one day him and a couple of other older scouts pinned a persistant bully to the floor with some rope and a load of tent pegs.

Never did bully again supposedly.

THT · 27 Jul 2007 at 17:02

barracade = all items from scout hut thrown in the middle of the room (upturned chairs are best) then person sits blindolded at one end of room.
Evryone else has to cross the obstacle without being heard, the person on the chair points when then hear people crossing and then the crosser is out.
First person all the way across without being heard wins.

Poison = Evryone throws coats in a pile on the ground. All hold hands in circle around coats, aim of the game is to pull people onto the coats, if they touch the coats theyre out. Lots of Jumping over and general merriment

THT · 27 Jul 2007 at 17:03

Amp34 said:
That made me smile. I have a friend who is a senior scout thing and he was telling me that one day him and a couple of other older scouts pinned a persistant bully to the floor with some rope and a load of tent pegs.

Never did bully again supposedly.

I couldnt possibly condone that - or admit weve done it befor

Edinho · 27 Jul 2007 at 18:06

The best thing I ever did as a kid. I learned far more about my self 10 years scouting than I ever did 10 years at school.

Every kid should do it imo.

Not so sure about the self abuse bit though

Ross1234 · 27 Jul 2007 at 18:11

THT said:
Poison = Evryone throws coats in a pile on the ground. All hold hands in circle around coats, aim of the game is to pull people onto the coats, if they touch the coats theyre out. Lots of Jumping over and general merriment

We do that but with a chair in the middle. It can hurt but its fun

Rich · 27 Jul 2007 at 18:12

Do they still call the infant scouts "Beavers"? Bet they are ruing the day they made that decision. I was a Beaver for the record

Then a Cub. Missed out on the Scouts.
I think the religious aspect can be quite off-putting to be fair, probably more so for parents that the Kids. If the same group could exist without the religious backing it would be better all-round imho. You could still teach people good values without having to resort to praying/church attendance.

There needs to be a middle-ground between Scouts/Ventures and Army Cadets/TA.
People generally don't want to be beasted up and down by some jumped-up TA officer, nor do they want religion forced upon them.
If there was a more "mature" version of the Ventures (maybe 21+) without the religious side, I would strongly consider joining to be honest. The uniform and Woggle would have to be optional

Skree · 27 Jul 2007 at 18:17

i was a beaver too lol @ that

my favourite game was british bulldog. being the heaviest non-blob kid in the troop

DavidMarq · 27 Jul 2007 at 18:23

scorza said:
Scouts at our church attend a service once a month (or once every couple of months, might just seem like once a month).

Of course you still get the odd obnoxious parent who demands that little johnny be not exposed to our evil. Our response is always "fine, he doesn't have to come if you don't want him to".

Never a truer word spoken in jest.

scorza · 27 Jul 2007 at 18:34

Rich said:
Do they still call the infant scouts "Beavers"? Bet they are ruing the day they made that decision. I was a Beaver for the record Then a Cub. Missed out on the Scouts.
I think the religious aspect can be quite off-putting to be fair, probably more so for parents that the Kids. If the same group could exist without the religious backing it would be better all-round imho. You could still teach people good values without having to resort to praying/church attendance.

There needs to be a middle-ground between Scouts/Ventures and Army Cadets/TA.
People generally don't want to be beasted up and down by some jumped-up TA officer, nor do they want religion forced upon them.
If there was a more "mature" version of the Ventures (maybe 21+) without the religious side, I would strongly consider joining to be honest. The uniform and Woggle would have to be optional

So basically what you're saying is these atheist parents would rather risk their kids becaming obese couch potatoes, roaming the streets at night happy-slapping pensioners, than send them to engage in healthy outdoor activities under the authority of appropriate adults because the organisation has links with the Church of England? Nice parents :rolleyes:

Ross1234 · 27 Jul 2007 at 18:40

There is hardly anything religious about our scout troop

Skree · 27 Jul 2007 at 19:26

more mature version.. hmm a new underground or resistance?

VIVE LA RESISTANCE lol

Vonhelmet · 27 Jul 2007 at 20:27

Usher said:
If Baden-Powell was alive today he would turn in his grave LOL

Words fail me...

georges · 27 Jul 2007 at 20:34

Ross1234 said:
We do that but with a chair in the middle. It can hurt but its fun

Should be a bin surely! (large round black bin.)

Used to be in scouts, beavers and cubs. Am now in explorers but it's run by my friends dad, and it's basically our friend group who are in it, and we're do Duke of Edinburgh things, infact, we don't do anything really scout related, except the extra fieldcraft, St. Georges/Remembrance day etc. Still good fun.

I think everyone should really have at least been in scouts for a year, then there wouldn't be the prejudice there is towards it, and people may venture out into the countryside more often.

Azagoth · 27 Jul 2007 at 20:39

I've recieved a letter through my door for a 22nd Staffordshire Scouts reunion the other day.

You reckon they'd allow this to be published these days?

Amoeba · 27 Jul 2007 at 21:48

THT said:
barracade = all items from scout hut thrown in the middle of the room (upturned chairs are best) then person sits blindolded at one end of room.
Evryone else has to cross the obstacle without being heard, the person on the chair points when then hear people crossing and then the crosser is out.
First person all the way across without being heard wins.

Poison = Evryone throws coats in a pile on the ground. All hold hands in circle around coats, aim of the game is to pull people onto the coats, if they touch the coats theyre out. Lots of Jumping over and general merriment

Oooo that brings back some memories

I had forgotten about those games. I had a great time in the Scouts, learnt a lot of good stuff (camping skills, orienteering, leadership etc).. Also learnt a lot about self respect (our leader was a **** for shiny shoes / ironed shirt / clean hands etc etc).

As far as the religous involvement went, we went to church every month, and said a prayer each week.

Amoeba · 27 Jul 2007 at 21:49

Azagoth said:
You reckon they'd allow this to be published these days?
[Book image]

Possibly not. On the other hand, do you reckon that back in those days the same 'thoughts' about that cover would have been raised?

THT · 30 Jul 2007 at 09:58

Rich said:
If there was a more "mature" version of the Ventures (maybe 21+) without the religious side, I would strongly consider joining to be honest.

There is.. Network now runs to 25...

Dolph · 30 Jul 2007 at 10:08

scorza said:
Its a shame that the British scouting movement has always been wussy compared to the American version where they learn knife and guncraft. Maybe if our teenagers knew what knives were for they wouldn't go around sticking them in other teenagers

Scounts in the UK still learn knife and guncraft, or at least certainly can do if the facilities are available.

It's a great movement that does so much good IMO.

For those querying the religious side, it depends very much on the district/county how strongly that is brought forward. A lot of districts are now non-denominational in terms of worship expectations and so on. I certainly never found it a problem when I was involved back home despite my strange religious views

Rich · 30 Jul 2007 at 10:32

scorza said:
So basically what you're saying is these atheist parents would rather risk their kids becaming obese couch potatoes, roaming the streets at night happy-slapping pensioners, than send them to engage in healthy outdoor activities under the authority of appropriate adults because the organisation has links with the Church of England? Nice parents

No, thats not what im saying, but feel free to continue your rant :confused:

Im saying Parents would rather send their kids to activities that are not tied to religion.

Ross1234 · 30 Jul 2007 at 10:33

The thing is its only very slightly tied to religion
Here it seems everyone currently in the scouts is positive towards it now and everyone not in it anymore is negative towards it.