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?"

Comments

Badges

[fph il quozientatore]

You got the First Post badge!

Re:Badges

[sconeu]

Badges? We don't got no badges! We don't need no steenkin' badges!

Re:Badges

[citizenr]

"No Gramma don't click the red button... No don't click Confirm, that warning is lying to you."
"No mom it's in the menu bar. The menu. At the top. Of the screen... Just let me remote in..."
"Left-click. With the mouse. What? How big is the button? No, use the button on the top of the mouse, not the side."

I used to do that, now that I am over 30 I just tell people they are too stupid to use computers.

A Hacker is

[Anonymous Coward]

untrustworthy, disloyal, surly,
angry, rude, mean,
obstinant, cranky, greedy,
anonymous, smelly, irreverent

Is it time?

[YrWrstNtmr]

Yes, probably. Let's roll some tech into it.
But do NOT lose the outdoor aspect. Camping, etc. Far, far too many kids have no clue what the "big green room with the blue and white ceiling" looks and smells like.

Re:Is it time?

[Hatta]

The funny thing is, I remember computer camps being common in the 80s. Somehow as computers got more popular, computer camps got less so.

Re:Is it time?

[lightknight]

Yes, I've seen that kind of 'appliance' thinking in action.

That's why we have a weird schism. One generation which bankrupted us and couldn't fix a toaster to save their lives, another which could write a fair number of new OSs but is hamstrung on the financial issue, and another generation immediately thereafter which has acquired both generation's mistakes and understands neither finances nor technology. W00F!

Fine as is

[twnth]

I do not think it is necessary to reform all organizations to match some illusionary techno elite mold.

Scouts/Guides teach different skills, like what the sun looks like and how to get along with others, that are not well represented by the can't-lift-face-from-LCD crowd.

Badges are about basic skills and sense of accomplishment (little milestones met). Leaderboards are about competition. Each has their merit.

P.S. Get off my lawn

No

[Hentes]

Isn't the point of scouts is to get kids out of the basement to move and do something?

Not really

[bjdevil66]

Yes, the core Scouting organizations could use online resources for organizational purposes or for some merit badges that could be done online.

However, most of the valuable experiences from scouting can only be gained in person - experiencing things in real life. Camping. Swimming. Hiking. Shooting. Meeting people in various fields and getting a real education about a topic (even if it is cursory), Etc.

However, online scouting would lose a lot of the value you get by interacting with live people who can share their experiences.

Discrimination Issues

[RCC42]

I just wanted to mention that the Boys and Girls scouts of America do not allow homosexuals into leadership positions, youth or adult.

Moreover they completely bar atheists and agnostics from membership of any kind.

Support them if you so desire but do so with full awareness of what you are supporting.

Re:Discrimination Issues

[flaming error]

The Girl Scouts have nothing to do with each other and entirely different philosophies.

The Boy Scouts are basically structured to be the youth program for the mormon church.

The Girl Scouts are far more warm, friendly, and liberal.

Re:Discrimination Issues

[Anonymous Coward]

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)

I was a "hacker" scout in 1994

[sdguero]

It's called an "explorer post." My troop was hosted by a kids Dad who was an engineer at a company that made Mars rover prototypes for NASA. We made websites for ourselves to start out, which they hosted on the companies web server (*nix running apache), and after we learned http we made websites for for car dealerships and other small businesses to raise money for the post. Among the many cool activities we did, they also let us program very expensive Mars rover prototypes to walk around and explore the office and we had challenges to see who could program the best runs etc...

That experience, and having a computer in my room at very young age, are probably the two biggest reasons why I ended up choosing a career in Engineering. I have often thought that if I ever get off my lazy butt to do something good for the community it would be a technology explorer post like the one I was lucky enough to get into.

Re:We already have an obesity problem

[DarwinSurvivor]

I don't know about you, but knowing how to tie knots, set up a tent, use a compass, etc are VERY useful to me, especially since I like camping. And by the way, once you get to the higher levels, your group can actually specialize. For instance, I helped set up an isolated telephone network that spanned multiple kilometers with only a single power source at our last 2 Jamborees. We also set up Internet connections for kids to contact home and for the on-site hospital (no joke) to diagnose problems as well as radio towers and a dispatch room. Pulling cat5 cable through underbrush is a unique experience that few people get.

Re:As an Eagle Scout myself...

[Osgeld]

As an Eagle Scout myself, I know I learned many fundamentals of electronics, radio communication, metal working and even helped build a hero robot as a troop project. Really there is everything from wilderness survival (which is what pops into most peoples mind) and basket weaving, but in all if there is a topic, there is a badge where you can learn the basics as a child.

do I support the activities mentioned in the article? yes, but its amusing because its already there ...other than buy a 500 3d printer from us cause your kid needs to know something that will become a toaster in 20 years, but drafting and cad, which are useful skills are already a badge

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/MeritBadges/mb-DRAF.aspx

guess where I learned how to do it first?