Ok, firstly I'm glad that Tony the mod stepped in with his 2 pennyworth because I think his statement was definitive and should end the discussion, Is there anyway of making this thread read only, because it might be better to leave it up and refer people to it if anyone starts the argument again.
Secondly, the scout thing, (partly/mostly my fault) has, (amongst other things ranging from Roman slang to Python) taken the thread in other directions, this is of course because most people who have read this thread realise the insignificance of the original quiery and the orbital nature of the ensuing arguements.
I would however, like to offer a contribution regarding Scouting in the form of a suggestion.
Evolve. Try something new, ditch the term 'Scouting' altogether, the recent interest in bushcraft/survival/fieldcraft is the direction that the whole outdoor skill scene is moving in so move with it. The image and paraphinalia of scouting is becomming more and more of an irrelivant anachronism. The image of scouting is, I feel, almost irredeemably tarnished by rumour and report, and by your own indication about the impending TV series, its only going to get worse, and if you want to see what is in store for it in the not so distant future, just look at the american scout movement which in in serious trouble at the moment as evidence of it's concealment of abuse is almost comparable to the Catholic Church. I'm sorry, but there's no smoke without fire (I realy am sorry about the appropriateness of the phrase) but sensible people within the scouting movement should seriously be thinking about a complete break with the old. Also, whatever form any new movement takes, for baden's sake make it tuly unisexual.
I don't know what uniforms scouts wear thesedays but personally, I think that the idea of uniforms, and a true appreciation and synthetic cohesion with the natural world are at odds. Drop uniforms, they suck.
I'm not sure about the term 'Leader' either, do the children get the oppotunity to vote who leads them or are they just led? Zodiac, you yourself said that you disagreed with church parade but would march your scout group if the religious ceremony was Bhuddist, why should children be marched in the name of any religion? I'm afraid that, in my opinon, this attitude is irreconcilable with the universal principal of freedom which we begin to aapreciate when we start to commune with natures rhythmns, when doing 'bushcrafty' things.
Society has a strange way of rejecting aspects of itself which it considers irrellivant or no longer useful, no matter how useful they have been in the past. It is the process of evolution on a sociopolitical scale, which is always an almalgamation of individual choices, not through random chance. Humour always plays a primary role in this process, as it has a tempering effect and provides acceptable tethers with which to refernce the entrire issue before its rejection.
Personally, my experiance of scouting was a very depressing one, I witnessed first hand, severe corporal punnishment being dished out to a 'cub' whilst the scout group in the same building were forced to watch it, you can imagine my sense of anger at the hypocrysy of being marched on 'church parade' the following Sunday. It was only in scouts, nowhere else did I ever witness anything like it, I kept quiet about it then, like the other scouts through fear, but I am certainly not going to keep quiet about it now, and I will voice my opinion, no matter who is offended.
One has to seriously question the motives of anyone who wants to work with young boys period, this point is not negotiable as far as I'm concerned. Any parent who has any reasonabe degree of social awareness will be reluctant at sending their child into the classic scouting environment for obvious reasons, and any potential scout leader with a similar awareness will be reluctant to join for obvious reasons.
The world/society has changed and although scoutings future in it is in doubt, children will always need guidence and help to cultivate and nurture their intrinsic sense of adventure, so this work should continue. I think I might take a look at the 'bushcrafting for kids' thread as this might be relevant.
I am not intending to offend, I know that there must be a lot of 'decent' people with healthy motive involved with the scouts movement. This is my opinion, right, wrong or otherwise.
typo mate...well spotted LOL.
and Russ Abbot 
