Recently, Scouting America issued new guidance on what is appropriate for campfire skits. This new guidance prohibits skits that depict people getting shot, robbed at gunpoint, and dying. It also prohibits skits that waste food and anywhere someone is getting humiliated or bullied. My initial thoughts were, ‘wow, this sure eliminates many of the skits I have seen in the past.’ As I continued to think about it, the more I understood the rationale. In what world should we be finding entertainment in someone dying? What is funny about a robbery and seeing people in distress about being held at gunpoint? Why should we laugh at someone being bullied or belittled? It makes sense. A Scout is Kind and these things are inconsistent with our values.
We live in a world of filth. Litter on the sides of the street, graffiti on bridges, and pollution in the water and air. Impurities extend to speech, images, internet content, jokes, and entertainment. Yet, we have a choice of whether we want to wallow in the mud or rise above the filth. Our Scout Oath and Law provide a basis for behavior and an azimuth for how we should live our lives. In our conversations, in our interactions, around our campfires and in our patrol areas, let’s keep it clean and appropriate. It is hard to soar with the eagles if one is emulating turkeys.
A Scout is Clean