Re: Tommie Tenderfoot as the Marlborough Man
James A. Sheckels (sheckej@EARTHLINK.NET)
Sat, 27 Dec 1997 13:35:00 -0500
-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Henderson <biged@SCOUTER.COM>
-snipped-
>I have a scout in my troop who's parents do not have a lot of money. They
>manage a small rural convenience store and one of the ways they get by is
>to save all of the Marlborough Proof of Purchase labels. Without it I
>doubt they would be able to provide their son with all of the gear he
needs.
My response (later) applies no matter the financial situation...
>Unfortunately this scout (who I am sure does not smoke) now comes on
>campouts decked out with a gear ensemble that would give supply division a
>run for its money. Unfortunately the "Official Product of the BSA" Red
>lettering has been replaced with the Marlborough logos on everything!
>
>Should I put Tommie Tenderfoot on Joe Camel heading off in the sunset until
>he stops off at Wal-Mart or BSA Supply Division and risk alienating both he
>and his parents,
Absolutely no way - he and ALL youth deserve Scouting...
should I ignore it,
I would (more later)....
>or should I try and get him to camouflage the equipment by covering over
whatever logos are not consistent
>with our policy as a troop?
I wouldn't cover it up. Probably would highlight it even more! What is the
Troop policy? You may have made yourselves too restrictive. Read somewhere
that only Councils make policy..Districts and units inplement policy ;-).
>It is a real pity that Sunny Delight or one of the cereal companies can't
>have a program like this. There is a part of me that would love to
>highlight what they have done as an example of ingeniously coming up with a
>no cost way to get good equipment (the stuff is of good quality).
I agree 100%!
>Well guys, how would you tackle this one?????
I had a similar situation. Involved an ASM and a Star Scout. Both had
financial difficulties and family situations which were, let's say - less
than perfect. The ASM had a yellow Joe Camel jacket. He wore it on a
campout, and I told him the message he was sending, though unintentional,
did not fall in line with what I thought BSA policy was trying to get too -
an example by adults. We talked it over, and he agreed with me. He is a
heavy smoker, and talked about his addiction rather eloquently with Scouts
on several occasions, as have other leaders in our Troop. Their candor and
honesty I think went a long way. The jacket took away from this, I think.
At any rate, we never saw that jacket again at a Scout activity!
So, the very next campout, here comes Star Scout with a Marlborough tote
bag. I asked him about it. His story was pretty much along the lines of
what Ed says, but the parents did not own/run a store. They used the
products. He related that he understood the message it might be sending,
but there was little he could do if he wanted to be able to use what his
parents got him. And he did not want to embarrass nor alienate them by not
using what he was truly grateful to have (the item, not the logo). The
Scout did not make a big deal out of the equipment, he simply used it as he
needed to. He did a pretty good job of keeping it out of sight when he
could.
I chose to ignore the Scout's use of the equipment. It has never posed a
problem in anyway for our Troop. This happened in 1994 - the Scout was in
the Troop until 1997. He used the equipment with the logos the entire time.
As far as I know, the world is still turning, and none of our Scouts were
influenced to start smoking.
I guess it all gets to how well we run our programs to educate our Scouts
about ethical decisions, and working with a situation to make the best
decisions. It is not a perfect world, and Scouting is not a perfectly exact
science neither.
The difference between the adult solution and the youth solution - hopefully
we all see it. The difference between setting the example and following the
example. I think both of these people dealt with a situation, and both
provided a wonderful solution and example for others to follow.
HAND!
YIS, Jim Sheckels - I used to be a Bobwhite SE 308-7; 1SG,US Army(Retired)
sheckej@earthlink.net http://home.earthlink.net/~sheckej/
3501 Farm Circle Road Fayetteville, NC 28306-8303 (910)
426-2766/(fax)2753
Assistant Council Commissioner, Occoneechee Council #421/Lodge
#104/WWW-Brotherhood
CC T-742, Hope Mills (United Methodist Church), NC Nat'l Assn of United
Methodist Scouters
Scouting IS NOT an exact science, so use your brain - no one else is! <]:{>
Systems Technician - Netcom Communications, Fayetteville, North Carolina
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