Boy Scouts Offer New Merit Pin -- for Video Gaming

my vote is in! you know... my 4 year old brother and 12 yr old sister are inside playing the damn wii and crap all the time... when i was their age, i was out all day long, sometimes past dark building forts with my friend and doing all kinds of crap! kinda irritates me seeing them inside on a perfectly nice day.

 

This is why I'm proud to be an Eagle Scout...

 

wtf. epic fail.

well at least its for cub scouts, still pretty fail tho lolol

 

I was in the boyscouts way back when i still lived in Oklahoma. i remember when the badges meant hardwork....damn damn shame indeed.

 

this kind of shows the direction society has gone. its ridiculous but true.
the continued pussification of America.......

take a kid fishing, hunting, hiking, off roading, etc.

 

If my son gets into scouting, this is one badge he won't get

 

Go on Amazon and buy your parents a copy of Last Child in the Woods. Pretty interesting well acclaimed book about this issue.

 

i was a scout for a while this is truly sad and shows just how low america is going

 

WTF, Ok I officially made my mind up...When I have kids I ain't getting them a game console...Seriously, All kids want to do is play video games. When I was growing up I could have all sorts of fun on my bike. Mudding, Jummping it into our pond, ECT...We came home all dirty and tired, But it was fun.

Im just gonna give my kids a fishing pole, Bike and a full tackle box, Teach them how to fish and have at it...I don't want them sucked into the video game secene.

 

I would rock that badge!

 

Are you F'ing kidding me? WTF.

 

I can't say that as an Eagle Scout I'm HAPPY that they made a merit badge for video gaming.

But the Boy Scouts have a pretty significant uphill battle to stay relevant in today society. When the organization originated the boys involved may get a family vacation or the opportunity to travel every few years in a best case scenario. Nowadays-A vacation or two a year isn't uncommon.

They were also teaching life skills and character traits. With the internet, television/mass media, and more "world exposed" kids- They don't need to Boy Scouts as much.

If the organization can't stay socially relevant- then it will die out. And this is just part of that process.

 

i'm all about video games but i'm also all about camping/hiking etc. when i was a kid we had consoles but i was limited to an hour a day and my parents were strict about it. its all aobut a balance. either way, the boyscouts should not be encouraging it.

 

amen! my kids might have a console, but i can guarantee i will keep a close eye. i had games as a kid but i rarely played them unless it was a crappy day or at night when i had to be inside.... till i was about 13, then i was out till 3-4 in the morning hanging outside. lol

x2.

 

im deff guna give my kids when i have them game consoles but limit deff give fishn poles and paintball guns outdoor stuff ya no

 

everyone bashing the boy scouts for this neeed to be quiet. This "merit" badge is for the CUB SCOUTS which is a different organization altogether. Cub scouts is for the children from 1st to 5th grade. I think this badge is just a way to help keep the children interested. I'm currently in the Boy Scouts and it's way different. Me do manly things in my troop, like kayaking, burning stuff, fighting, and playing pranks on each other, not this stupid cub scout bullcrap.

 

We had a "Troop" but I think that the highest "rank" ever obtained by any of its members was 2nd class. Even at 12 years of age it became quickly apparent to me that the Boy Scouts was primarily geared to sales, as it encouraged you to buy every uniform part, do-dad, and merit badge packet in the book.

Instead of "official" merit badges we learned from everyone's Grandpas, most of them WWII vets and/or outdoorsmen who could teach us far more than the Scouts ever could. I think that the only reason that we were in it at all was to allow us use of the Scout camp in Colorado.

We had a dedicated scoutmaster and parent counselors though --- for about five years I can recall a weekend camp-out every month of the year. Most of the time four or five of the dads went too. I now realize that it was a good excuse for them to get out of the house.

Interestingly, I found myself back in the Scouts while in the Army. I was assigned TDY to a Scout camp one summer as its medical officer. That was a nice paid summers-long vacation from the army indeed!

 

oh shit i totally forgot about paintball! i went through a huge paintball phase and i was much happier running around the woods with my friends and shooting them in real life than i would have been turing on the PS3 and putting on a headset and playing them online. if i'm ever unlucky enough to have kids i'm gonna buy them all kinds of cool toys like paintball guns. damn it i love me some paintball!