Starting young

When I was a boy I was in the Scouts, first in Scotland where I had a tartan neckerchief and a 5 inch fixed blade tartan handled sheath knife as part of my uniform. We were taught many interesting things including map reading, self defence, starting fires, etc. and, critically, responsibility.

When I cam down to England I found that I was one of the few scouts here that wore a knife on the uniform at my age. The others were older and as it was a smaller group there were fewer outdoor activities and survival situations that were available. It didn’t help that I had completed a large selection of the outdoor tasks and had all the interesting badges. Missing out on advanced dishwashing. I drifted away as there was nothing new to learn and practising was restricted.

Unfortunately nowadays I understand the Scouts, and Guides, have been infected by the PC disease sweeping Western society. Modern day scouts can’t carry knives and many of the traditional tasks have been replaced with more sedate and safer alternatives. I have been told few Scouts or Guide groups do things in the more traditional way. Lord Robert Baden-Powell would be turning in his grave.

I found that starting young brought out the best in kids. A bit of responsibility and supervision educating them in the wonders of nature and the skills to get on was a good start in life. Responsibility taught them that they had to be careful with their decisions and supervision ensured that they were taught at the right pace and filtered and controlled the idiots. If you want to do the same now you need to do it yourself. I took my kids out and got them involved with camping and nature. Although with my daughter does like her comforts and the closest she gets to nature is a caravan with a bed. You can however teach them what you know although that is limited by your knowledge and time.

It is still worth considering the Scouts and Guides, or equivalent organizations, for your children as they will still get taught many good skills and you can add on the non PC ones yourself. I had a shooting session, air rifle, with a bunch of kids a few years ago and they loved it. Having an official group has advantages;

• Get them out of the house
• Away from computers
• Teaches them a chain of command
• Teamwork
• Certain skills

It is better than nothing and if you have the time you could always volunteer to be a Scout leader yourself. Perhaps you can have an influence on the tasks they can perform although the badges may be gone.

I think this is one of the areas where our government has done the most damage. Removing the teaching of our children in moral issues, removing responsibility, removing male role models and introducing a Me Me culture. It is at a very young age that responsibility and maturity are instilled, It doesn’t happen nowadays unless you do it yourself. You can see the results on every street. Make sure you do your bit for your kids at the very least and others if you can.