Put honour back into scouting

COMMENTARY

Published: 29 Jun 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

On July 1 the National Scout Organisation of Thailand will celebrate its 101st birthday.

Almost all Thai students must have had the experience of being a boy or girl scout. And the organisation will observe this special occasion in a ceremony on Sunday at Supachalasai National Stadium.

But is this occasion really a cause for jubilation ?

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Ian Wensor
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Discussion 12 : 01 Jul 2012 at 10.0112
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By the way Thailand is going and at the risk of being cynical, I don't think it'll be long before scouts and guides will be expected to pay tea money before they can qualify for merit badges which would perpetuate as the norm, the ongoing stigma of graft and corruption that exists here.
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Eggmeng
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Discussion 11 : 30 Jun 2012 at 07.0511
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@discussion 8

Yes Bob, but 30 years ago it was not like that in the US and the UK, when they started introducing sex education into schools with the right intent. It's not the sex education that has made kids promiscuous in these countries, it's the constant use of sex to sell products in advertising, and a lack of parental guidance and good example. Not to mention the death of spiritualism, and I don't necessarily mean the religious kind.

Modern Thailand is arguably trying to having it both ways. Sex is constantly used in the media to sell, but no education or useful discussion about sex is taking place. As for the parents and those who spend our taxes - just let the kids loose to roam the shopping malls and hope for the best, seems to be the only plan.
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ianprince
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Discussion 10 : 29 Jun 2012 at 15.5910
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We can all be SCOUT in my heart.

Forcing parents to buy the uniform don't make the kids love scouting more.
It is a big waste of Thailand's money, especially to the poor.
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mrsdonesh
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Discussion 9 : 29 Jun 2012 at 15.429
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Dis 5 & 6 WRONG!!!! So a nurse wearing a uniform is military? Scouting is not now or ever been military. I suspect you have never been involved in Scouting. End of discussion. In almost every country where scouting operates (around 200 countries) its voluntary both for scouts and leaders. Thailand is unique in that's its the only country where scouting is part of the school curriculum. Have a look at http://www.scout.org/ and you might get an appreciation. If you want to re-think it in Thailand here is a thought. Take it out of the schools and let those that want to be involved in scouting on a voluntary basis be involved.
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englishbob
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Discussion 8 : 29 Jun 2012 at 14.158
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When did scouting become compulsory?
My parents asked me if I wanted to join the Cub Scouts and I did so.
And I continued through Scouts and Venture Scouts gaining valuable experiences, skills and friends.

Disc4 Eggmeng - The US and UK both have sex education and open discussions about sex. They also have the highest numbers of sexually active teens and teen pregnancies.
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rat
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Discussion 7 : 29 Jun 2012 at 09.497
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At my wife school she was assigned to work with boy scouts now how stupid is that.
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rebel4ever
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Discussion 6 : 29 Jun 2012 at 09.006
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What an obsession for uniforms and all those 'earned' medals. I think this is the only country where Ministers and MP's have uniforms and they have not even seen a battlefield. Uniforms = uniformed = opposite to being an individual = opposite in expressing yourself = opposite to freedom.
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hawaiiman
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Discussion 5 : 29 Jun 2012 at 08.355
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Scouting is a pre-cursor to military training. In the modern world, the military model is becoming increasingly outdated in the general population. To blame this on the teachers is grossly unfair and inaccurate. Students are already required to wear school uniforms. Time and money wasted on scout activities could be better spent on improving classroom facilities and resources. The expense of scout uniforms creates a hardship for many poor families and contributes nothing to their child's education.
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Eggmeng
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Discussion 4 : 29 Jun 2012 at 08.144
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How we do love our uniforms here, and the more military looking, the better.

With apologies for a digression, how much are attitudes formed by what kids see on TV, since parents are too busy and stressed out to provide moral guidance? I find it interesting that the writer mentions teenage sex in one sentence and shooting up a bus in the next.

Teenagers' urge to have sex at some point is normal. It's their attitude and that of the parents that matters. Sex is considered a natural urge in places like France where it's discussed openly, and where they have nowhere near the high rates of teenage pregnancy we see here.

As a teen in the US my girlfriend and I had all the privacy we wanted at home, because my parents trusted my judgement based on what I had been taught about birth control, drug use, and driving while under the influence. We did not have to rent hotel rooms or resort to the back seat of a car.

Thai morals are different from those in the West you want to say? If only that were true. Here it is all about what the neighbors think. But that will change with time.
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Victor
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Discussion 3 : 29 Jun 2012 at 06.503
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Agree with the writer 100 per cent. Thailand schools today need reengineering urgently before it is too late.
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