For any of you that know me from Sarcastic Gamer, or GamerCast Network communities, you probably know that I’m active in my son’s Cub and now Boy Scouting life. I was a Den Leader through most of Cub Scouts and have taken the role of Scouter or “active parent” when he recently crossed over into Boy Scouts. Lately though, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend as I’ve moved from a leadership position of a small group into a parent position of a fairly large group. Every time there is a discussion about an upcoming camping trip, there is always the requisite “no electronics” bit that goes along with it. I can understand and fully agree with that rule, but it’s the follow-up discussion(s) that I’m not so keen on. The established leadership seems to be taking every swipe they can at video gaming and seem to honestly see it as a serious threat to Scouting.
Just like team sports or other extracurricular activities, Scouting really does reinforce “fellowship” among those involved. I think we can probably agree that social skills and social networking are very important skills in life. What gets me though, is the need to constantly expand on the requests not to take electronics on camping trips and other outings. The boys understand what “no electronics” means, but we’re bombarded with “otherwise the kids ‘vid out’ on the bus and we inevitably have fights over the videogames… plus there’s always the possibility of breaking them or getting them stolen.” Whoa, wait a minute! These same kids are fine upstanding citizens under other circumstances, but by simply adding videogames they’ve turned into zombies or combat-induced thieves? That doesn’t sound right to me… Stereotype anyone? I won’t even go into the fact that quite frequently in my house at least, gaming is a social activity with many people playing… enjoying that same fellowship.
As we prepare for our first Boy Scout trip after crossing over from Cub Scouts, something clued me in to a possible factor here. You see, there are health record forms we have to fill out if we attend any Scouting trip and there’s a different form you have to fill out depending on whether you’re younger, or older than 40 years old. Apparently the majority of folks are in the “40 and older” bracket and that could very well be one of the bigger reasons they’ve so easily dismissed video games as a waste of time better spent doing something like Scouting.
If they’re much over 40, they could’ve been a bit too old to latch on to video games when they were new since they were probably already in high school or later by then and may have written them off as “toys” (you see, widespread home gaming may not have available when they were Scouting age.) I find that most people that are adamantly against video games (or think they’re a waste of time) are really rather ignorant on the current state of video games and the fact that just like everything else in life, they can and should be enjoyed in moderation.
Even while involved in Cub Scouts, it was clear that team sports was in much stronger competition for the boys’ time. That said, as much as my son loves video games, I’m 99.9% sure that given the choice between going to Scouts and playing video games for an hour, he’d pick Scouting the VAST majority of the time. Making Scouting fun and worthwhile is a much better use of resources than wasting my time telling me one of my hobbies is a waste of time. In effect, we’ve basically just traded what you think was a waste for what I think is a waste. Nice work guys. I like what you’ve done there. Not…
I still believe Scouting is one of the best things for today’s youth (don’t get me started on how Cub Scouts and Brownie Scouts differ, because I’m still not convinced my daughter’s getting anything out of that yet.) If nothing else, this has opened my eyes to how easy it is to alienate someone with comments you may consider to be shared by a group that aren’t necessarily so. I’ll admit it, to look at me, I’m not the stereotypical “gamer” at all. I would never peg someone like me as a gamer.
There are dozens of hobbies out there that other people love that I would consider a waste of time and one thing this has led me to do is treat each comment about those hobbies as if I were speaking directly to someone that loved that hobby. What this basically means is that I try (outside the realm of this series of articles of course, because my intent here is to rant) to curb my disparaging comments about the topic at hand and leave it mostly as something “not for me,” as that gets my feelings across in a non-engaging way. Fly fishing is “not for me” and I feel I could easily say that to a fly fisherman without insulting them. If I said what I really felt… that fly fishing looked boring as hell, some may immediately take offense to that like I take offense to the notion my son will become a detriment to society with the simple addition of video games… or worse yet, so will I. How about we leave each others’ hobbies alone and not judge based on stereotypes, okay?
Have you run into resistance to playing video games in unexpected situations? I’d like to hear what you guys have run into.
![[Post to Twitter]](http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/tweet-this-small.png)
Tweet This
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
19 responses so far ↓
1 Chuck Norris // Apr 10, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Yeah, I notteced it too. It’s not so much in boy scouts.
2 Jan Zantinga // Apr 10, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I’m a boy scout, and I have to go through all that “no video games” crap, but it never stops my friends and me from bringing our DSes
3 LJ // Apr 10, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Well the only resistance that I got is when I went to Best Buy and I was trying out a demo to see if I like the game enough, ya know. And this group of people walked by and said ” Don’t you think your a little to old to play Video Games?”
I’m 20 and in my fourth year of my University and these random people tried to insult me. I was like WTF? But as for the end of the story I really didnt do anything agaisnt them. What could I have said to not look like an ass?
4 Keith K // Apr 10, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Perhaps you should bring this up with your peers sir.
5 SarcasticSparki // Apr 10, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Fly fishing is a waste of time. Unless you’re a pro, then it’s a job… and those that pay you are wasting their money.Sorry couldn’t resist, obviously it’s “not for me” either.
Lately, I’ve heard a few people ask me (or a group of gamers I hang out with) “What’s the point in playing “.. which seems far less intelligent than to brandish gaming as a waste of time. The point is to have fun. There is really nothing more that I can add to that, other than to say.. I have fun playing .
I know that when I’m on a strict schedule, playing video games would burn up little time that I must spend doing other things.. if life was locked in a strict schedule (which luckily it is not) I could withstand someone calling my hobby a waste, but at that point all hobbies are then a waste of time… as time must be spent on whatever tasks are required.
But to ask what’s the point… of a form of entertainment… bewilders me. It’s entertainment, it’s point should be obvious.
6 NoneOfYourBusiness // Apr 10, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Just an observation, but I believe Rothbarts usage of Italics is as infamous as Lono’s Ego….
But on topic, I think certain videogames can promote fellowship and teamwork better then certain classic sports depending on the game. Talking to my parents, who do really enjoy gaming until the recent Wii Sports Incident, seem to think video games are still all pac-man and space invaders but just prettier. So little they know…
7 Black-Eye Brick // Apr 10, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I agree completely Rothbart. It’s really frustrating to hear a hobby of mine to be dismissed as a waste of time, and an aversion to video games seems to be prevalent in just about everybody who doesn’t play them.
What’s sad is that video games are comparable to watching television - a hobby that is widely accepted even though it is a more sedentary activity that isn’t nearly as conducive to social networking.
I wonder how much of it is a general aversion to games from the media (because TV is losing viewers to gaming), or if it’s more of a conservative view of a newer (and thus less accepted) medium?
By the way, as a former scout (Eagle), I can say that I picked scouts over gaming every single time.
8 Sean "Rothbart" Workman // Apr 10, 2008 at 3:51 pm
@NoneOfYourBusiness: What exactly do you mean? I would never misuse italics. That would be a horrible thing to do. Do you even understand what I’m saying?
@Black-Eye Brick: Props on Eagle. An Eagle Scout is always a Scout!
Just for clarity’s sake, I have the utmost respect for the folks running my boy’s Troop, it’s just that their dismissal and derogatory remarks toward gaming (from multiple folks who I’m sure meant no offense) stuck out like a sore thumb to me.
9 Master Devwi // Apr 10, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I used to be in Boy Scouts. I was the #1 Popcorn Seller in Northern California… until the Troop fell apart. But the whole time I was in it, they didn’t like video games either.
The funny thing is, my first non-PC “gaming system” was a Game Boy Advance - given to me by the Boy Scouts as a reward for the popcorn sales. I also got part of my Xbox 360 from it too*. ($15,000-$17,000 in sales over the course of seven years get you stuff like that).
* NOTE: This was after purchasing all the Boy Scout-related supplies I could possibly use.
10 balaamsafe // Apr 10, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Just a couple of things that came to mind while i was reading.
1. I go to explorers (scouts for 15-18), and i get the piss ripped out of me for it, but it’s great fun, obviously we don’t just tie knots we hike up mountains, go on trips to amsterdam and generaly just have great fun. After our weekly meetings, 9 times out of ten we go home and then have a game on COD4 that we orgainised at our meeting. It’s great how our social meets and gaming are linked. Also, our unit is run by 25-30 yr olds, so they are just as into gaming as us.
11 Beef Coma // Apr 10, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Gaming has defined who I am just as much as scouting.
12 Beef Coma // Apr 10, 2008 at 4:33 pm
lol my cousin just told me that his scout troop is playing UT2k4 tonight.
13 Sean "Rothbart" Workman // Apr 10, 2008 at 4:49 pm
@balaamsafe & Beef Coma: I’m _sure_ the Scouts game (and they likely game together; the “fellowship” aspect of Scouting makes them a lot of them really close friends)… my son and his friends all like games. As the older leaders naturally flow out of service and newer (younger) leaders more likely to play games come into service, perhaps the dismissal of gaming as a valid form of leisure will go away.
14 De Stijl // Apr 10, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Oi balaam I didn’t know you read SG? Ciarán ere. I thought you got your PS3 taken away?
Anyway, I got kicked out of Scouts for punching someone. Sucked anyway tbh.
15 Black-Eye Brick // Apr 10, 2008 at 5:54 pm
@ Rothbart: Thanks! I don’t really find anybody who is involved in scouting on the internet or in gaming, so reading your article is refreshing. I can’t believe how many scouts have commented
Eventually the attitude will change, but it’s sad that so many kids have to have that negative image of gaming implanted into them.
16 Jon S // Apr 10, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I’m 29 years old and grew up on Video Games. I am also a Scoutmaster for a Boy Scout troop in Southern CA. I am also a form Marine so I like to me a little tough with the boys. That being said I too have run across ‘Older Scouters’ who really talk down on Video Games. That is when I pipe up and talk about how most of my scouts in my troop spend a great deal of time playing video games. Then, I let them know that I too play video games. My wife and I both have Nintendo DS’s. I also tell them that I have a Wii that I pre-ordered and picked up at midnight the night the Wii was released, which really made my Scout jealous.
When my Scouts found out that I had a Wii with 4 remotes, they really wanted to try it out.
I promptly rescheduled the location for a Merit Badge I was teaching them to my home. I invited the leaders and the Scouts to come to my home.
We worked on and competed the Merit Badge. Then, some of the Scouts and leaders helped cook food on the BBQ while I had a ‘How to’ session with other scouts to show them how to use the Wii remotes. They played Wii Tennis for best of 5 rounds then we switched the 4 boys played to 4 new boys. Once all the boys had a shot at it, I made the leaders play too! Some of the leaders, older than I, didn’t want to play, but after some strong arming they played and ‘Got it’ they understand how Video Games really help people relate. Some of them now have Wii’s
I own other games and when I get new 4 player games, we have another BBQ. I’m one of those people that pre-orders games and picks them up at midnight. When I got Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games, another BBQ. When I got Guitar Hero, we had a Leaders meeting inviting our Senior Patrol Leader, his assistant, and the patrol leaders over to play guitar hero.
We are planning another BBQ for Mario Kart Wii release. And I’m sure we’ll have another when Rock Band is released for the Wii.
Several of the Scouts have borrowed my Wii Zelda game.
Video Games have allowed me to gain a bond with the Scouts very quickly, this is type of bond is not easily achieved and with the limited time that I have, it was an added bonus.
On campouts, I do not allow electronics to be ’seen’. Meaning, if I see it, I ‘hang on’ to it until the campout is over. There is ‘ a time and a place’. If they play in their tent, after lights out, I don’t complain.
Anyway, obviously not a rant, just showing how games are not ‘evil’ and can be used in scouting.
-J.S.
17 AtomicFlapjack // Apr 10, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Well, I am currently a life scout, just have my eagle project and a couple of merit badges to tie up before I become an Eagle (Finally). My troop actually plans an “Electronisc Campout” where we stay in a cabin around the end of march and just game. We all bring our game systems, tvs, projectors etc, and it is one of the most fun campouts of the year for us. There is nothing quite like watching your scoutmaster struggle to play guitar hero… And COD/Halo/R6V2… A side note, they are quite good at bowling on the wii (which is owned by the youngest member of our troop, poor boy.)
*Captcha is countless brothers*
18 AtomicFlapjack // Apr 10, 2008 at 6:33 pm
P.S. John S.
That is awesome.
19 Sean "Rothbart" Workman // Apr 11, 2008 at 10:44 am
I’ve been impressed with both the public (and privately sent) comments to this article. I didn’t expect anyone involved in Scouting to comment. It’s nice to be wrong about some things and it’s nice to see other Scouts actively gaming (even as a group!)
Leave a Comment