HiLo

Six suitable people to walk in off the street saying they want to be leaders with us. I'm being a bit greedy asking for six, but this is wishing.

I think Lisabob has it pretty right there. Sexual activity on Scout camps is unacceptable. Rape or sexual assault is unacceptable anywhere. Putting women in the military hasn't caused the problem there. Without women in the ranks, armies just had camp followers, a long tradition dating back at least as far as the Romans. Also very common was raping and pillaging the defeated enemy's property (because women were often seen as just another form of property) While obviously the definition of the term morally straight is part of the problem in this discussion, it would never allow for unwante

I remember watching that show on our black and white tele as a kid. And now you're telling me it wasn't real. Oh dear. Another piece of my childhood destroyed.

GaHillBilly - I really don't appreciate the "utter nonsense" accusation. Let's test you. You're on a camp with Scouting adults you haven't met before. You're sharing a tent with a guy who turns out to be gay (despite the fact that he shouldn't be in Scouts). He propositions you. Do you instantly say yes? Of course not. Yet you seem to think that putting a gay boy with a non gay boy somehow means instant sex. I don't understand your position. (It's late in the year and it's the big holidays coming up in these parts. I know I'm a bit tired and in need of a break, so

Thanks for the update Pint. Good to hear it's working. I'm excited to have a young girl Cub with us now whose mum was one of the first Australian girl Cubs, in the same Cub Pack! Mum is a very active and helpful supporter who I hope to get back into uniform herself within 18 months. Wish me luck.

It's simple. Underage sex with any gender combination is unacceptable in Scouting (as well as illegal). Putting a gay boy with a non-gay boy does not make it any more likely. In patrol tents, no two boys (gay or otherwise) are going to play up with all the others watching. Or, if they do, the secret won't last long.

Scouts can be on Google Maps. I'm Group Leader (means "head honcho", or "the person they think will do everything") for a Scout Group in Australia. Can't remember how I did it, but if you go to Google Maps and type in "Mooroolbark Scout", it should show you where our Scout hall is, plus a contact phone number. I think it works in Google Earth too, but I don't have that where I am right now. So if you're nerdily inclined, put your Scouts on Google Maps!

Yes. Let's not cloud the discussion. Just as homosexuality does not equal pedophilia, it also doesn't equal rampant sexual activity on Scout camps. Neither of those last two activities are welcome in Scouting

For Australian uniforms you could check out my own state's website and browse the galleries - www.vicscouts.asn.au A quick link to some folks in uniform is.... https://www.vicscouts.asn.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=211&Itemid=101 (Although they don't show the uniform much, I reckon the four pics on that vicscouts home page above epitomise Scouting.)

The issue is not whether individual Scouts are nerdy, but whether Scouting is seen by non-Scouts as nerdy. In the social bullying that always goes on to some degree among teenagers, I reckon Scouting has been picked on as being nerdy since the 1960s. Doesn't mean it IS nerdy, but that's the peer level criticism. I think that a new, much less formal uniform introduced in Australia 6 years ago has gone a fair way towards reducing the stigma here.

I would like Mr Boyce to list the negative aspects of homosexuality. He thinks he knows them, and that we all know them, but downplay them. I'm sorry, but that's a nasty kind of writing. I have no idea what he's talking about. Now, that's not because I'm homosexual. I am boringly straight. As far as I know, everyone in my extended family is too. There is only one Scouting person out of many hundreds that I know who I think may be gay, but I'm not certain about that. He's never told me. It's not an issue. Based on statistical evidence, chances are there are others. I don't see th

Those arguing that nuclear is safe now are using a bit of tunnel vision. Yes, scientists may have developed safe ways of managing the waste and building the plants, but the plants are built by profit seeking business people and regulated by politicians. Sorry. I don't trust enough of them, especially over the time frames involved.

Just realised I ignored the one question from Oak Tree that's directly relevant to this thread - "Any particular rules for gay Scouts (I'm presuming not)." That's exactly it. Being gay, or not, is not an issue. We don't ask. There is no legal requirement surrounding it. Personally, I see homosexual activity, like heterosexual activity, as something for consenting adults in private. It has nothing to do with paedophilia. (Since I'm talking about Australia now, I'll use our spelling of that word.) All adults in Scouting are required to go through extensive police checks for finan

Oak Tree As I see it there are two key rules in the youth protection area in Australian Scouting. Firstly, no adult leader is ever allowed to be alone with a single youth member. Secondly, if another adult leader becomes aware of that first rule being breached and does not report the breach, that second adult is guilty of an equally serious breach of the rules. As for tenting arrangements, there are actually no formal rules for keeping boys and girls separate, but it is the overwhelmingly common practice to do so. As others have written, exceptions occur where sleeping accommodation

Oak Tree, that's a fair call on those Australian membership numbers. You understandably used the first and last of those available annual reports and did the hard yards to create that table. I congratulate you. My perspective came from less detail (now augmented because of your tips on where to get the numbers), and over the shorter period I've been paying attention. If you only go back three years there has been growth in that period. It wasn't too good before that though, was it? In my own area we have had better growth than nationally. My own District and Group (not sure what that

I care. I am fascinated by trying to understand the complex and amazing character that was Baden Powell. He created a fantastic movement for kids. Even if he had never done that he would have been a major figure in British military history. Other recent publications show that he had what would now be seen as a very strange interest in the beauty of naked young males, that probably had nothing to do with homosexuality or pedophilia, but which was also something far less unusual and acceptable in its time. So, I care, but I cannot condemn. I know so little detail that I cannot fairly judge

Don't blame the scientists. The saddest thing about the climate change discussions is that the economists and politicians have taken over the discussion from the scientists. The economists and politicians should stick to doing what they do well, managing the world's economy. (In other forums where I play I have a terrific tongue-in-cheek emoticon I can use. I miss it here.) Sorry about the cynicism.

A number of posts here have been of the form "We had a co-ed camp once, and the interactions between the boys and girls were quite a problem". However, if co-ed becomes the norm, it's no longer a novelty for the kids and the problems no longer exist. I'm disappointed that so many problems are predicted while ignoring the fact that it seems to work successfully in so many places elsewhere in the world. I'd like to see a few more of those opposing the move discuss that aspect.

Three points.... 1. Homosexuality is not pedophelia. Please don't mix up the two. 2. An adult of any gender having sexual relations with a youth member of any gender is unacceptable. This has to be a basic tenet of Scouting anywhere whether you accept gays or not. 3. In Australia, where girls and gays are welcome members, Scout membership is growing at a very healthy rate.

"Snake" and "I'll catch it!" This was heard on a camp just last weekend. Almost all snakes in these parts are poisonous.(This message has been edited by hilo)

Ozemu - that's not good news. You're in Qld somewhere if I remember rightly, but I can't remember exactly where. Is it a small town. Are the neighbours any help? In my District we've gone through periods where leaders helped out at neighboring groups for a while, but only on a promise that some new parents would put their hands up to take over as soon as they could. After a near death experience with my Group because of some unfriendly people who previously ran the place, things are now looking up. Tripled our membership from 10 a year and a half ago to around 30 now. New leader vol

OldGreyEagle wrote "When I see a person listed as being from "Gulf Coast" offering sympathy to another person who has suffered a natrual disaster, I get a deeper understanding of what is meant by the Brotherhood of Scouting". I'm not sure where you're from Buffalo Skipper, but I had the great pleasure early last year of visiting Houston and Galveston. To see TV coverage a few months later of waves topping the 17 foot seawall at Galveston, and all that wind, helps put in perspective what we're doing when we're teaching kids skills to use in the great outdoors. There's a lot of luck

Another Australian perspective.... Every three years there is an Australian Jamboree somewhere around the country. At every Australian Jamboree there is an American contingent, so some of your boys do get over here and presumably achieve quite a lot! No idea if merit badges are involved. As for Tim Tams moxieman, it's often a bit hot!

That was the temperature on February 7th where I live near Melbourne, Australia. Many of you probably heard about our bushfires. (Wildfires to Americans?) This is a bit of my story and a bit of the impact on Scouting. I hope you don't mind me posting this, but it's probably now around the time when the stories will start being written down properly, rather than in the sensational, brief style so loved by the media. It appears that around 210 people have been killed in the most deadly fires to ever happen in Australia. We don't yet have official details of all the deaths, but inevita

I'll just say again that in Australia there is no separate activity uniform. There is only one uniform. No Class A and Class B.