A Rather Long Night

Well I did it, I told the cubs I would be leaving. They were pretty surprised and there were quite a few gasps. It shocked them a lot more than I expected.

And then there was one of those moments that makes it all worthwhile, when you realise why you do what you do and that all that hard work on those evenings and weekends is worth it. I explained that I wouldn't be going far as I would be simply taking over the scouts and the smile on the face of one of the kids that will be moving to scouts around the same time I do simply lit up the room! When you make a kid happy like that words can't explain just how special it is.

And so we had a slightly mad night with a camp fire in the rain, I sang till me throat gave in, we all got soaking wet but frankly, kids these days could use more time getting wet and muddy! Long live mud I say!

Memories Part 2

Earlier today I had reason to be going through a cupboard full of old photos. Many of those photos were from trips away with the cubs, both my current lot and my former band of horrors in Durham. And it's a strange feeling going through them, seeing all those old faces that come and go. The oldest cubs photo was taken, I think, in 1998. That means the oldest cubs then will (hopefully!) now be in their final year at university or have jobs, or maybe be married or have children. When I last saw them they were at primary school, and it seems like just yesterday.

I was pleased with how many names I could remember given the hundreds of kids that have passed through my hands in the 14 years I've been at this. It was also strange to look at the faces that I couldn't put a name to. Would they remember me if they saw me in the street tomorrow? Would they care? I hope they would, but the choice is someone elses. Even when I couldn't put a name to the face I could still remember what each kid was like. Who was loud and who was quiet. Who was the joker, who was the brave one, who was the natural leader, who was trouble, who had the wicked grin. They all stay with you.

It's a strange carry on this working with children lark. They come into your life for that short space of time and then fly off in what ever direction life takes them. You can never know what happens to all of them. I just hope that they all make the best of it that they can.

Sorry, suppose that was a bit personal compared to my normal rants, just feeling a bit funny today.

Roll with the punches part 2


Today I'm actually laughing at the Mail, laughing at just how out of touch they are.


The article that is causing my mirth is this Peice of comedy


It sets out how the scout association is to publish new guidance to its adult leaders on how to deal with matters of sexual health among it's young members. I think that this is the guidance in question. I say think because the story says that it is to be published tomorrow, and as I write it is still today, if you see what I mean. However, have a read and see what you make of it.

I cannot see anything in this guidance that makes me uncomfortable, can you? When you read it you can see that leaders are told to discourage underage sex but to make sure that information is available about STDs, contraception etc. I simply don't get what the problem is.

The attitude of mail to this is nothing short of hilarious. The photo they show of a scout leader and his "pack" (for fuck's sake, can't they even get the terminology right if they want to be taken seriously?) from the 60s complete with shorts and big hat just makes me want to point and laugh. They seem to think that an attitude of don't speak, don't tell is going to stop teenagers having sex. Well I have news for them, it wont. And adults that deal with kids need to be ready to deal with what may be awkward situations. Anyone that says it is a simple thing to deal with is lying. Then again the Mail wouldn't know anything about that, they all think that young people are knife wielding hood rats who get A levels from bog roll dispensers.

Dealing with cubs it is unlikely this will be much of an issue for me, however I have had a series of teenaged young leaders helping me and if any of them had, or if any of them do approach me for advice then this guidance is what I consider a sensible approach.

I'm not entirely sure what the Mail would suggest but what I do note is that they haven't put their head on the block and actually said what they think we should do.

This paper is a fucking joke, it really is.

Hysteria

It is the tradition at my particular place of work to head to one of the local real ale boozers of a Friday lunch time and this Friday was no different.

This time a couple of people were there who I don't know that well, I think you'd call them acquaintances more than anything else, certainly they were not aware that I was involved in scouting in anyway. And conversation came round to the fact that one of them has a son who is about to start cubs. So far so good, I naturally showed an interest. Anyway eventually this individual said that he had volunteered to help out with cubs, not because he really wanted to, but because he didn't trust the leaders. This was not a particular anti scout leader thing, the fact is he does not trust any adult with his child. And what a sad state of affairs that is.

Now I completely understand wanting to meet the leaders involved, that makes sense, I get maybe enquiring as to what checks have been done on them, what training they have done and what first aid qualifications they have. It's very protective, but I get it. Yet to wrap your kid in cotton wool to the point where you wont trust them with anyone else is shocking, on two levels.

Firstly, where is the sense of adventure? The biggest thing kids get out of scouting, or any other organisation like guides, or boys/girls brigade, cadets, St Johns ambulance and so on, is that sense of adventure. It's about doing something away from your parents and gaining that sense of independence, of standing on your own two feet. And I think that kids that don't do that are missing out on something.

Secondly, that sense of mistrust. What a sad state of mind to be in. How tragic it must be to treat everyone you meet with suspicion, that they may realistically pose a threat to your child. Imagine that state of mind. How do you get to that place? I blame the media to a certain extent but there is an overall obsession in society with paedophiles etc that is just not healthy. And we need to start changing our mind set because unless we do, more kids are going to miss out.

More Hysteria

Before I begin I should probably start by saying that I originally came across this via the Daily Mail which of course puts me in a suspiscious frame of mind as to its authenticity from the very begining so do bare that in mind as you read.

Anyway, having read it I did a spot of googling and came across the original stories in the Shropshire Star here and here.

Now it certainly seems that the screaming headlines aren't quite the truth, but what it does boil down to is that council staff working in parks have been specifically briefed to look out for peadophiles in local parks in Telford, albeit individuals that they think are suspiscious and not just those without children as the headlines state.

Regardless of the detail this is quite shocking, it is totally unecessary and serves only to further whip up the hysteria in this country about peadophiles. And in turn this also makes me people even less inclined to do anything that involves working with children because of the sense of suspiscion that they feel under.

Your child is more likely to be struck by lightening than to be abducted by a stranger, 90% of sexual abuse takes place within the family or extended family. The threat of "stranger danger" is negligable compared, for example, to being run over. If you are a parent making sure your child can cross the road and cycle safely (as opposed to stopping them do it) should be a far bigger priority that looking out for peadophiles.

Everyone that comes into contact with children shares a responsibility for their protection, however that should come with a liberal dose of common sense. Of course a park keeper that sees a child injure themselves or in distress should of course intervene, as should any other adult on hand. Yet in the climate created by council staff being briefed to look out for peadophiles how comfortable would any adult in Telford be about assisting a distressed child?

This policy is just the latest stage in this country's unhealthy obession with peadohiles, fuled to a massive extent by the tabloids. And obsession that needs to be got rid of, and fast.

Planning in Advance

This week we started seriously planning for our big camp in 2009. This may seem a little premature given that we still have 5 to go in 2008 but this is a week long afare, Cubjam, a Cubs only jamboree at Gilwell Park in May 2009 (see link at the side, it's going to be great!). Anyway, the logistics and effort taken means that we have to start outting out info now and of course that means considering which cubs will no longer be with us then and who will have arrived from Beavers.

And it's very strange because there is this whole generation of kids who despite the fact I will see them once or twice a week for some time to come, and I had to sit there and take them out of the mailing list. It was a very strange feeling, not sure quite what it says about the relationship between leaders and their little bands of horrors but it certainly says something. It was quite unpleasent scrubbing them off like that but also the feeling that they will have moved on to bigger and better things. Plus ofcourse the anticipation of the new generation still to come!

Something to ponder.