Mike Rowe, on the future of the Boy Scouts.
In 1974, I was a painfully shy twelve-year-old kid with an annoying stammer and a deep fear of trying anything new. I was also very awkward around girls. I dreamed of being near them, but in real life, their proximity made me sweaty and nauseous. So one evening, my father dragged me to the basement of Kenwood Presbyterian Church, where the boys of Troop 16 were in the midst of an organized brawl called British Bulldog. The rules were simple.
Good read. Mike has some good lines: “Failure was simply viewed as the most common symptom of trying.” And, ” You can’t build character in a “safe space.” You can only build dependence and entitlement,”
Do enough of today’s youth agree?
As I mentioned on another thread earlier this week, my parents told me about what their safe spaces were while they were growing up. It was a bomb shelter that had walls and a roof which they hoped were strong enough to withstand an air raid. Before they were teenagers, they frequently saw how the shelter’s structural integrity was tested.
By comparison, the snowflakes of today have nothing to complain about.
Do none of their parents and/or teachers understand that?
https://goo.gl/SdrE9Z
Both Political Correctness and Social Justice ideologies have a lot in common with Islam. Mainly, they are all ultimately destructive to a once healthy and functioning western culture. And, because of that fact, wouldn’t you know that all three just happen to be among leftards most cherished things.
Geez, does Mike Rowe have a team of writers always following him around, or is he simply that uniquely talented a storyteller and communicator? Safe spaces are the most harmful spaces of all to our youth.
A “team of writers” could never express a point of view with such conviction and clarity.
As best as I can tell, Mike Rowe is that talented as a storyteller and communicator. That skill might well have started with a merit badge, such as Public Speaking.
Mike Rowe is a great communicator and an overall easy going guy. A few years ago he had a limited series on T.V, called ‘Dirty Jobs’ . It was very interesting, he followed, interviewed and participated with people who had difficult jobs. He did most jobs rather well, including
the dangerous ones. If I recall, he didn’t care for the smelly jobs, like cleaning out septic tanks. He was a great sport though, and when things got tough for him, he’d give the cameraman and viewers, that funny, squeamish look. Overall he was / is a good sport, as portrayed, and as well, a charming person and a good ‘scout.’
A good, but sad read. An obituary.
The more ‘protected’ children are, the more vulnerable they become. Rocket Surgery it ain’t.
A lot of my friends went to Scouts then Rovers. Great experience as we were gradually allowed more and more responsibility and in Rovers we ran the entire meetings and planned our trips. We found the Americans had far more leadership control than us Canadians and which we all liked, more military involvement. I still remember a jamboree where US Scouts from northern New York, this was August, brought heavy jackets and warm clothes and we just laughed and said you are only just across the lake from us.
Thought Scouts was great but as we see everywhere the left will destroy any semblance of personal responsibility in their ceaseless drive for absolute control. Love that line, “the left are only one murder away from utopia”.
Cultural Marxism main aim is the destruction of the old order. All of it.
“I was immediately thrust into this pandemonium and hoisted into the air, despite my best efforts to remain grounded. Somewhere along the way I got a bloody nose. Others sustained busted lips, black eyes, and sprained fingers. ”
This makes me grateful to grow up in a time where this is properly viewed as idiotic and stupid. “Fight Club” is a move not something to be adapted for children. This is arguably child abuse. Just play California kickball.
“This makes me grateful to grow up in a time where this is properly viewed as idiotic and stupid.”…… said the man-child whose comments nearly always embody the problems highlighted by Mike Rowe.
I read the whole article and LOL’d. Mike, I tell you why there’s a 60% drop in Scouts membership: because video games are funner, especially funner than physical abuse in the form of ‘British Bull Dog’.
I wasn’t a Boy Scout – I lived back in the boonies. From the time I was 12 I often packed a 22 or a shotgun and wondered miles through the bush. I trapped and skinned weasels and squirrels and shot the odd coyote having a bad day. I waded around rivers in spring flood. I fell off more hip roofed barns than I could count. My guts hurt like hell for 10 minutes but I got over it. I pretty much tried to kill myself every day. If there were 3 kids, that was enough for a ball game. Did we care whether it was a softball or a baseball? No. Getting hit with a baseball hurt like hell but you got over it. The big advantage in life is I didn’t grow up to be a sissy and that is an accomplishment, especially compared to the sloths and slugs proud parents are producing today.
Scar: That is it precisely the Snowflakes and Millennials are SISSY’S. They sure don’t know how to have fun…doing all the things you have done in your life. We use to meet at the local school for a good game of football, baseball many great games it was fun…plus many thing our parents didn’t find out about. I feel sorry for them…I blame the parents for not letting their kids ever eat dirt JUST BECAUSE!!! These kids or young adults have certainly have NOT experienced LIFE!!
I played British Bulldog many times, including the front lawn on my boot camp barracks, scouting for NCOs.
We loved it.
If Rowe is referring to bumps and bruises along the way, it still sounds like fun.
It seems his troop did play rough though. Whatever; ever seen a pee wee lacrosse game?
If you replace it with British Poodle, the fun will go away; for sure. Who needs it anyway.
In fact who needs anything but libertarian socialism, aka do your own thing, including being a lying, lazy ahole, as long as your thought and (in)action falls within the parameters of state direction.
No British Bulldog for you. Isn’t it a trigger for colonialism damage to entitled children unable to finish sentences?
Listen, the less freedom and choice we have, the happier we will be. Decisions are stressful. Don’t worry about the appointed apparatchiks loading your stuff into the back of the government truck. It will all be itemized and added to the people’s warehouse for use by good party members, I mean, citizens.
Or is it comrades? Holy frig!
Unthing is the poster boy-girl-it for today’s weaklings.
We played in grade school at recess. It could hurt big time. Unfortunately it led me to football instead of Rugby, but good times all in all.
I also played. Thankfully I did not waste my time with football or rugby. Briefly played touch football purely with friends though.
Certainly less a waste of time than PE. Just get rid of PE already.
My older son dropped out of scouts when the leaders took video games on a camping trip. He joined air cadets instead and my younger son started as a cub but the day he turned 12 he rushed off to cadets as well. The leadership was less intrusive, pushing the cadets to make decisions and they could see rank progression and increased responsibility if they worked hard. Alas, the cadets are now having recruiting problems. The scouts have been in decline for a long time.
Rugby.
Cures your fear.
Boy Scouts have been doomed for years, informed educated adults are a threat to modern society.
Any institution that helps create such citizens must be destroyed.
Usual method of destruction is to allow do-gooders to take over, “For the good of the children” of course.
Being from a farming community, I thought the Boy Scouts were for city children, most of my then peers having skills by necessity, not needing or having time off from chores to enjoy such organized luxuries.
As a city dwelling adult I am saddened to see the kids cut off from another source of learning.
Of course it is harder to sell miss-information about the great outdoors to children who have actually been there.
Extreme weather being one of those.
Part of the problem is smaller families and fewer kids.
You have one kid, and you worry all the time about his safety.
He is your ONLY link to immortality.
You have four or five kids, and you learn you cannot worry about them all, all the time.
Your neighbors all have four or five kids too.
You learn to rely on the neighbors to watch over everyone’s kids, just like you do.
All the kids learn they have to rely on each other too.
My only reaction after reading this was that I wish this could have been a public speech….maybe at convocation somewhere….just so he could do a full-on, bona fide mic drop and walk off. Epic.