Re: Gopher Song
David Ward (dward@NWIS.BC.CA)
Wed, 31 Jul 1996 11:04:03 -0700
On Wed, 31 Jul 1996, Leslie D. Fife wrote:
> CHUCK BRAMLET wrote:
> > The point that I tried to make, is that the kids (boys and girls both)
> > will go for the gross stuff if for no other reason than the shock value
> > of "Nice little Jimmy said _what_?". I would rather teach them one of
> > these songs at a meeting or camp, than have them learn the words to
> > something like "Canal Street" or worse, on the street.
>
> I really don't think these are our only two choices. Gross songs or
> completely unacceptable ones. There are other fun songs to learn and
> sing. The other problem is with the boy who doesn't like this type of
> song, and probably doesn't fit in well anyway. He is now unnecessarily
> uncomfortable.
You are right in that therer are more than two choices for songs to
sing, but we must remember that the "gross" songs have a way of grabbing
many of the youth and since we must have a variety of songs at our
disposal, some will be of the type that are completely acceptable to
everyone, and those which are "gross" or in some other way not
appropriate for all audiences.
I agree that we must put a limit on how far the songs go, but as long as
they stick to "gross" instead of crude/vulger/racist/sexist/... then I
do not have a problem with them singing the songs at camp. One thing I
do let our Scouts know is that there are some songs that may be fine for
them to sing at camp when by themselves, but those same songs are not
very appropriate to sing if we are camping with Beavers and may not be
appropriate when camping with Cubs.
Besides everyone has a different definition of "gross". The sight of a
man's leg opened up because he fell from a tree and caught a branch with
his leg might seem "gross" as well, but we still expect the Scouts to be
able to accomplish the task of performing First Aid on the wound
(instead of getting stick to their stomach as will happen with some
Scouts).
David
Troop Scouter, 4th Cedar Hill Scouts, Victoria, BC, Canada
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
