Cub Scouts To Offer Merit Pin For Video Gaming

Hugh Pickens writes "Fox News reports that the Boy Scouts of America — a group founded on the principles of building character and improving physical fitness — have introduced merit pins for academic achievement in video gaming, a move that has child health experts atwitter. 'It could be quite visionary and exciting or it could be a complete sellout,' says Dr. Vic Strasburger. 'I don't see anything wrong with that as long as they're not playing first-person shooter games, violent games, games with a lot of sexual or drug content. The question is, who's going to supervise the scouts?' Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, and Webelos Scouts can earn their pins by spending an hour a day playing games, teaching others how to play better, and researching the best price for games they'd like to buy."

Comments

Re:Oh yeah

[blennidae]

As a civilian, I had the opportunity several years ago to use some weapons that were modified to use compressed air (simulate recoil, etc.) to shoot at targets on a movie screen. Re-enacting things like hostage situations in an office, traffic stops gone wrong, etc. Let me just say that using an M-16, SAW or Mossberg for any length of time (over 5 minutes) is *definitely* different than pointing and clicking with a mouse and that video games in NO WAY prepare anyone for the reality of using actual weapons. I don't remember the actual name of this one rifle a Marine pulled out of the storage closet and was handling it like a toothpick. He handed it off to me and I just about fell face first just from the weight of it. Nothing like having combat veterans laugh at a "dumb-ass civilian" to start your day out.