Re: Hazing

Whoa, hold the phone here. Now, I've been following this very long thread
with a lot of interest and I am in agreement that forced pushups and making
a boy sing to recover lost items should be considered hazing. No matter how
you rationalize it, these are punishments and I've been standing in front of
leaders for too long stressing "constant, positive reinforcement" as a
method of Scouting to buy into the need for these.

A recent posting, however, went just a tad too far. I'm pretty sure that
Mr. Bishopp said:
>I would say if one person feels that an incident is/or could be considered
hazing or abusive, then it is.<

Really? One person? This reminds me of an discussion that I recently had
with a Cub Leader at Philmont. She shared with us that in her council the
practice of pinning the Bobcat badge on upside down until a good deed has
been performed had been determined to be hazing and was now forbidden.
"Surely not", we all cried. She must have been confusing the ban on
actually turning the boy upside down during the ceremony that was handed
down several years ago. No, she assured us, this edict stemmed from a
single incident in which a parent took the task a bit too far and for months
the boy showed up for meetings in tears, badge still upside down, because
his parents maintained he had yet to do a good turn to their satisfaction.

So now we have an individual or pair of individuals who misunderstood the
program and, as a result, a boy is hazed -- but by his own parents! A
parent in the pack complains, the council over-reacts and another tradition
bites the dust.

One incident, one person. I daresay that we could all find individuals in
our districts who would label ANY and EVERY one of the goals and
expectations that we have for the boys as hazing. Let's face it, there are
some "unusual" people in the world. I'm sorry, Rich, but I must disagree
with you. The decision to label any activity as hazing can not be based
upon the opinions of a single person.

Karl Ward
District Cub Training Chairman
Cubmaster, Pack 307
Montgomery, AL

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