Re: 'unapproved book'

At 11:09 AM 6/30/98 -0400, Stephen Hoar wrote:

>This reminds me of a situation we had in our district a few years ago. SOme
>of the senior leaders expressed displeasure that our scouts were (all)
>wearing a patch in an unapproved location. I took about one minute to
>point out to him that our troop had the best program in the district,
>did more camping than anyone else, always earned more Merit Badges than
>anyone else, had a steady progression through the ranks resulting in
>many Eagles every year, and had just about the largest troop around.
>etc...the troop was working good and I wasnt going to remove a
>patch they had so proudly earned and wore.
>
>So, if you don't like the patch...too bad. We never discussed it
>again.

So, Stephen, let me see if I have this straight. What I hear you saying
(and, by example, teaching the boys to think), is something along the lines of:

"I/we know (blank no. 1) is against the rules; but I am/we are superior, so
the rules don't apply to me/us. I/we (blank no. 2), so that releases me/us
from any obligation to obey policies I/we don't like. If I/we don't agree
with the rules, it's okay for me/us to just ignore them; and if someone
doesn't like it, that's just too bad."

Is that about the size of it?

There are any number of things one could conceivably fill in the blanks
with. Some possibilities:

Blank no. 1 - blank no. 2
wearing this patch where we do - are a superior group with a superior program
cheating on an exam - had better things to do than study
pirating a copy of a buddy's computer game - am only doing what everybody
else does
driving 50 mph in a 40 mph zone - am a much better driver than most bozos
out there
smoking marijuana - only use it recreationally, and I can handle it
falsifying income tax returns - don't agree with where the money is being spent

Maybe I'm dense, but I fail to see where teaching this kind of thinking is
beneficial to the boy, nor how this attitude can be reconciled with the
seventh point of the Scout Law.

Yours in Scouting,

Russ Jones <csrtj@ttuhsc.edu>
Scoutmaster, Troop 575
Advancement Chairman, Chaparral District
South Plains Council, Lubbock, Texas
Eagle Scout, class of 1965
"I used to be a fox..." SC-295
"I used to be a staffer..." SC-430, SR-110, SR-206

• Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]
• Next message
• Previous message
• Maybe in reply to