orphious wrote:
RandMart wrote:
When I was in the Boy Scouts, a long time ago, it was a quasi-military prep organization, complete with hazing, knife- and gun-play, homophobia and racism, on top of the requisite survival skills
Kinda like a Red, White & Blue Hitler Youth
All I wanted to do was go camping & canoeing and get drunk & high in the woods
"quasi military" - wear uniforms, a 'troop' organized into 'patrols', salute the flag, do an opening colors ceremony, report all present and accounted for, police the camp (i.e. cleanup), have duty rosters. This was my experience in scouts. As far as what it was prep for I don't know, but a number of guys from my troop enlisted in the military (most of people I knew of from my town that joined military were from my scout troop).
hazing? - I won't get into details, but there were certainly "ordeals" that some might call hazing; it did not involve sex, alcohol or physical abuse, but the definition of hazing by some is anything that is difficult or could make you uncomfortable. Is making 13 year boys sleep out dispersed in the woods for one night, without a fire or flashlight hazing? Is making someone sleep overnight in a survival shelter hazing? Is making someone do extra chores or 10 push ups as a punishment, hazing? Is telling 12-14 year old kids stories about the camp bogeyman (in our case "Charlie the Bogman") at night out in the wood, hazing? I think once a a couple of older scouts pushed me around a little bit because I kept doing pranks on them.
This was my experience in scouts. Textbook, I guess I was 'hazed', I would call it learning to be responsible and/or not be a pussy.
knife play - yes we had pocketknives and probably were fooling around with them when the leaders were not watching our every move. Yes we were instructed on safe use and handling of knives/axes (Totin chip certification) and yes, the leaders would take these things away from you if you did not follow the rules.
gun play - yes, we had cap guns and sometimes would run around in the woods and have fake battles on campouts. This was the 1980s, remember 'Red Dawn'? This wasn't as weird as it sounds. We did not have real guns, except at the rifle range at summer camp where we used bolt action .22s under heavy supervision. Same deal for archery.
homophobia - at least in the 1980s, if you had any group of adolescent teenage boys there was rampant homophobia. When I was a kid (1980s), calling people a faggot was a common insult (we also used to call people retard). I did not know of a single openly gay person until I went to college. Again, very different world today. My point is this was not confined to the Scouts, more of a generational thing.
There was no drinking or drugs tolerated.
So depending on how you won't to slant it, I don't think RandyMar was too far off.