Re: Explorers' initiation?


"chris.5th" <chris.5th@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2cdd8c5d-d070-404a-808c-c189acec4248@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Explorers' will probably say they did it because, 'It was done to
them'. The bullying is probably endemic in the Unit, nothing of the
'caring
family of scouting' has ever reached them, and i can't beleive the
Leaders
are not totally unaware of it, possibly colluding.
In my fairy tale world of scouting all of this 'initiation bullying' died
out years ago, sadly not.
Eddie Langdown 16th Bermondsey London

I'm slightly more comfortable discussing this as a generic debate on
initiation ceremonies.

Let's not write all initiations off as harmful... every year for
nearly a decade... our scouts have danced (with a thousand others...
and UKRS' very own Shaun Joynson) "around the old campfire"... a daft
song with aft actions... and the older ones have got the younger ones
doing it and it has become a bit of an initiation...

As one who did not have too much of a problem with "red arse" (see
earlier thread) and plays the sort of games that i suspect that Eddie
no longer pays with his mob (murderball, bulldog etc) I still see a
huge problem with initiations that could result in any form of
injury... but i see a place for silly initiations in explorers... "L
plate" on your first camp, required to sing a silly song around the
campfire, that sort of thing... initiations that would develop over
time... gentle humiliation rather than pain or injury... and
remember... explorers IS leader led. that's in the rules. It's not
ventures... these are 14 yr olds... if a leader knows that something
untoward is happening... he MUST stop it. And as the leader, he
should know it is happening.

It could be that the "L plates" or silly song take the place of
something much worse... but the leader needs to be in control. If he
is not... he needs to be got rid of. He would be failing miserably to
care for his charges




I think that the important thing to remember even with these type of things
is to know the kid and don't do something that will clearly upset them - I
agree a bit of silly stuff that will only slightly embarrass is GENERALLY of
no harm.

In our Troop all Scouts have something to remember Investiture by as the SL
usually dreams up something that will usually slightly embarrass them but
certainly not cause any harm before the proper part where they make their
promise.

We have had kids stood there and kitted out with gear for many of the
activities we do, like a climbing rope, a helmet, a paddle etc to see how
much they can hold. We have had buckets hung from the ceiling with all sorts
in and one that has supposed to have their necker in - the floor is covered
in an old groundheet and they are kitted out with bright orange waterproofs
and goggles and they use a stick to tip out the contents of the buckets to
find the necker.

The last one was a boy and girl twins and they took part in a mini assualt
course, under netting, low balance beam and as they are small kids were
invested on a ladder platform so were higher than anyone else.

The kids like it, their parents come and take photos and videos and no one
gets hurt as it is all controlled.

DaveB
West Yorks



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