Real Diversity

[ajmako 10]

>>Diversity is first an attitude of openness toward others outside a group and secondly it is a legal mandate that provides for that openness. When both parts are not in place, then diversity is little more than a limited action that prevents it from ever happening.

[Pint 23]

Diversity is a big scary word that has many people running a mile, its a big topic that covers a huge area.

Ive just completed the Valuing Diversity training module for Scout leaders in the UK, and we loked at how Scouting is a a diverse organisation, on the local scal, national scale and international scale.

 

Most of it was focused round the Equal oprtunities policy of the Scout association which is as follows:

 

"No Member of the Movement is expected to

receive less favourable treatment based on age;

class; gender; marital status; sexual orientation;

mental or physical ability; political or religious

belief."

 

some of the things we covered were:

socio economics, Scouting should be for all, but can everyone aford to pay for certain activities? even iff your oppperating in an apparently affluent area, money could be tight for some people.

 

Relegious beleifs, Some people may have different relegious beliefs,could some activities make them feel left out? in the UK may groups have an anual St Georges day parade, this typicly finishes with a church service, what if you had someone on the grou who was of another relegiion?

 

Cultural beleifs, People come from different backgrounds and all have slightly differetn cultural beleifs and attitudes how can you incorporate them.

 

in all its a huge area that covers much, much more than Race/Relegion.

[epalmer84 10]

>It bothered him that the WB songbook only contained songs from an Anglo-Saxon perspective. He knew a lot of African folk songs and wanted to try to get those integrated into the WB songbook.

 

Rather ironic considering that the very emblem of Wood Badge has an African origin. Although one could take the view that the necklace in question was part of the spoils of war by a white overlord.

 

Ed

[Eamonn 61]

Pint,

Overall I think Scouting in the UK seems to do a far better job of reaching out to all the youth than we do here in the USA.

Of course I'm only going on my past experiences!

Living in a big cosmopolitan city like London, there was ample opportunity for the program to be very diverse.

The Troop I served as Scout Leader had 90 Scouts.

It was 60% Non-white.

The area of London had seen a lot of changes. When my parents moved there just after the war it was predominately an Irish working class neighborhood. I don't remember any non-white kids attending Holy Cross School or church.

First came the High Rise Council Flats, what we might call the projects. Then for some reason the area became really trendy!! In fact to make way for Chelsea Wharf (Where apartments rent for $201,400 a year!!) they demolished a subsidized housing estate.

By the time I got to high School there was a mix of kids from all over the world.

One reason for the size of our Troop was because we really reached out to recruit in the "Not so nice" areas.

Sadly at that time many of the leaders still were very much old school who held some sort of prejudice. Some even went as far as using terminology that just was not acceptable then as it is unacceptable now.

Of course where I live now the opportunity to mix just isn't as available. But it does seem at times the BSA has become a mecca for white, right wing, middle class people.

A few weeks back you posted about the bad language that some of the Scouts in the Troop you serve use.

While of course bad language is never acceptable. I do think that many BSA Scouter's would be far more shocked than many English Scouter's would be. Because the kids we serve don't come from families where kids would ever hear this sort of language.

Ea.

[SR540Beaver 116]

epalmer,

 

One of the tickets he wrote was to develop a presentation that traced the travels, activities and campaigns of BP in Africa and tie that to the cultures he came in contact with. Literally, to tie the foundations of scouting to African culture and it's influence on scouting.