Slashdot Mirror
Is It Time For Hacker Scouts?
ptorrone writes "MAKE Magazine asks: is it 'Time For Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts 2.0?' What might the future of education be like if it were based on online & earned skill badges, and what could the future of traditional organizations for kids, like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, be like in a very modern, tech-savvy world? Social networks and the maker movement are the perfect intersection of where the kids of today are, but we don't see 'leaderboards' for skills yet; we only see them for video games. Is it time for Hacker Scouts?"
I'm a 48 year old Scout. I joined Boy Scouts at age 11 and have been a Scout or leader ever since. I'm an Asst. Scoutmaster (ASM) and have been for over 25 years now. I know about Scouting and its principles.
I'm posting anonymously because I could be "fired" as a Scout leader for the things I'm about to say.
The parent is incorrect in that Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are different organizations. Girl Scouts do not bar membership for homosexuals or atheists. Boy Scouts ban both. I HATE the fact that Boy Scouts does this and makes it their official policy.
Why they do this is fairly straightforward. In addition to posthumously baptizing Jews who died in the holocaust, the Mormon church has Boy Scouts as its OFFICIAL youth organization for boys. They do not have Girl Scouts as the organization for their girls, for exactly the difference in stance noted above.
As such, I HATE the Mormon church. They are ruining an organization that I love very dearly.
My personal feeling is that Scouting should be about lots of things - having a moral code that asks you to treat others with kindness and respect, and helping them when you can. It should have NOTHING to do with sex, let alone sexual orientation, nor should it require a belief in God. Simply a "higher power" would suffice for me, and would be consistent with other groups such as AA.
I have struggled with this for many years. I have friends who have had to leave my troop because they are gay. One was a very close friend. His departure was a huge loss for our troop (but happily a gain for a more enlightened organization). I have almost sent my Eagle Scout award to Scouting for All, an organization working to change BSAs position on these two things. (I wish I could send it... I worked too hard for it to mail it away... I still struggle with this) Regardless it would do little good. BSA cannot afford to lose the Mormons. The organization would probably fold if it did, so the Mormons have BSA by the short hairs, and there isn't much that can be done.
On a brighter note, while there is no Hacking Merit Badge, there are merit badges for Computers, Electronics, Engineering, Geocaching, Inventing, and Robotics.
And there are troops out there that only pay lip service to the 2 principles discussed above. For example, in my troop, there is no requirement to profess a belief in God, so long as one does not publicly proclaim atheism. No Scout or leader has ever been dismissed for being a homosexual, so long as that information remains private. It is essentially a "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy. As such, it is flawed and asks people to live a lie, and is still wrong. But its the best we can do under the circumstance, for if we left an openly homosexual leader in place, the National Council would revoke our Charter, and the entire troop would cease to exist.
Like I said, I struggle with this. I don't ask for pity or praise. I feel like a coward. Because I am a coward. I tell myself about the greater good, and put it out of my mind. But what hurts the most is that my position and actions basically controvert the exact principles on which Scouting was founded.
On my honor.... (do I have any?)
I will do my best... (am I?)
To do my duty to God and my Country... (what will God think of me not standing up for my friend?)
To obey the Scout Law... (how many of those words have I broken now?)
To help other people at all times... (unless they are an atheist or gay?)
To keep myself physically strong
Mentally awake... (I guess I still have this one)
And morally straight... ('nuff said)