Sounds kinda stupid for a merit badge for videogames. The whole point of Scouting was to get us up and out doing shit... and out of our parents hair. Our Eagle Master was awesome, he brought in a 9mm and had his son assembled it blind folded while it was in a bag. Then we all spent the day doing the same. Then we skinned animals that we caught and ate with traps we made. Properly cooked acorns so they could be edible... all kinds of stuff.
But if they make kids actually WORK for it and LEARN something, I don't mind it then.
One thing that pissed me off: We sold fucking POPCORN... Girl Scouts sold fucking delicious cookies around the same time. It's 100 degree's outside and the last thing people want to do is make hot ass popcorn.
Back in my day, Scouts was all about hanging out with your mates whatever colour, culture or creed they happened to belong to. That and lighting things on fire. So many fires.
But if they make kids actually WORK for it and LEARN something, I don't mind it then.
From what I've read, it's a bread crumb badge aimed at meeting kids where they are, in hopes of getting them involved and excited about "collecting" badges. When the kids you're trying to motivate are sitting on the couch, guess where you have to start...
It's like the first level of a game or the first achievement you get. You get a lot of praise for just for looking around the room and doing nothing, compared to what you'll be doing when you finish.
A kid of 10 years who already knows that hes gay and an atheist..
would anyone want that kid?
What about the bigger people who lead these things and mentor the kids? They probably have to sign onto some kind of code of conduct if not formally its probably deeply ingrained in tradition. At 10 they may not have fully worked out their theological views but they're on their way and probably hungry for info, I think that should come from the parents not leaders in clubs looking to "win over souls" rather than teaching the things they should be.
In the US there is freedom from religion just as much as there is freedom for religion. I think some groups forget this balance and I wish they wouldn't try to worm their religion into every conversation and issue, especially places it has no business being a part of. These same groups would out right revolt if any other religion tried to do the same things. BUT it also depends deeply on who is organizing things and who is participating as to how much of a slat there is.
In places where people are largely religious its only natural to expect that a large part of the scouts/leaders will have a religious slant and it will be worked in a lot more than other areas.
Kids can be incredibly cruel to anything that is different, especially in an organization built on fitting in and doing things a certain way. Its not hard to see why people wouldn't rush to sign their kids up unless they already subscribe to a certain way of thinking.
With all that said, I think the scouts are great we need more groups like them, preferably without a religous slant if they're taking federal money. Kids barely step out of the house as it is, much less get past suburbia. So anything that gets them out doing productive things and teaching them some skills is great in my book, even if they push a little religion now and then which kids tune out anyway. I wasn't in the scouts but I had friends who where, they really liked it and it had a positive impact on their lives and they are the farthest thing from "converted" or "brainwashed".
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But if they make kids actually WORK for it and LEARN something, I don't mind it then.
One thing that pissed me off: We sold fucking POPCORN... Girl Scouts sold fucking delicious cookies around the same time. It's 100 degree's outside and the last thing people want to do is make hot ass popcorn.
Ohhh yes, the fires.
To this day I've yet to see anyone match the bonfire myself and a few other scouts set at a camp... we were the 'leadership' at the camp...
Let's just say large pieces of 'uneccesary furniture' and other burnable objects were no longer an issue for the camp when we were done. :poly142:
It's like the first level of a game or the first achievement you get. You get a lot of praise for just for looking around the room and doing nothing, compared to what you'll be doing when you finish.
In the US there is freedom from religion just as much as there is freedom for religion. I think some groups forget this balance and I wish they wouldn't try to worm their religion into every conversation and issue, especially places it has no business being a part of. These same groups would out right revolt if any other religion tried to do the same things. BUT it also depends deeply on who is organizing things and who is participating as to how much of a slat there is.
In places where people are largely religious its only natural to expect that a large part of the scouts/leaders will have a religious slant and it will be worked in a lot more than other areas.
Kids can be incredibly cruel to anything that is different, especially in an organization built on fitting in and doing things a certain way. Its not hard to see why people wouldn't rush to sign their kids up unless they already subscribe to a certain way of thinking.
With all that said, I think the scouts are great we need more groups like them, preferably without a religous slant if they're taking federal money. Kids barely step out of the house as it is, much less get past suburbia. So anything that gets them out doing productive things and teaching them some skills is great in my book, even if they push a little religion now and then which kids tune out anyway. I wasn't in the scouts but I had friends who where, they really liked it and it had a positive impact on their lives and they are the farthest thing from "converted" or "brainwashed".