How to successfully emasculate youth.

[Beorn]

Scouts to no longer bring penknives on camping trips

New advice published in Scouting, the official in-house magazine, says neither Scouts nor their parents should bring penknives to camp except in "specific" situations.

Scouts have traditionally been taught how to use knives correctly, using them on camping trips to cut firewood or carve tools.

At one point Scouts were allowed to carry a sheath knife on their belt as part of their uniform although this is no longer the case. In recent years the Scout Association guidance has been that parents should carry knives to camps or meetings.

Dave Budd, a knife-maker who runs courses training Scouts about the safe use of blades, wrote that the growing problem of knife crime meant action had to be taken.

"Sadly, there is now confusion about when a Scout is allowed to carry a knife," he wrote. "The series of high-profile fatal stabbings [has] highlighted a growing knife culture in the UK.

"I think it is safest to assume that knives of any sort should not be carried by anybody to a Scout meeting or camp, unless there is likely to be a specific need for one. In that case, they should be kept by the Scout leaders and handed out as required."

--(What should be added is that the people who commit knife crime do not attend Scouts, nor did they most likely ever attend Scouts.)--

Troops leaders however have said the decision is "very sad". Sheila Burgin, from 4th Sevenoaks Scout Group in Kent, said: "Scouts by law are allowed to have Swiss army knives. I think this is going too far – you just don’t know when a Scout will need a knife.

"It is also suggested that the leader keeps control of the knives when they go camping, but I think that is completely wrong. The first Scout Law is 'The Scout is to be trusted'. Scouts love having knives and using them properly. There is nothing wrong with it."

Miss Burgin, who offers lessons in carving using penknives, added: "If you teach children to use a knife properly they won’t abuse it. If someone wants to cause harm they will do it anyway. It is a real shame it has come to this."

A Scouts spokesman said: "We believe that young people need more places to go after school and at weekends, where they can experience adventure without the threat of violence or bullying and the need to carry weapons.

"Scouting helps to prepare young people with valuable life skills, while keeping them safe by not carrying knives."

Meanwhile a school has banned giving out goldfish as prizes at its fetes after it was criticised by animal welfare societies.

John Porteous, the headteacher of Turton School, in Bromley Cross, near Bolton, Greater Manchester, has pledged that they will not hand out goldfish as prizes after coming under fire from the Captive Animals' Protection Society (CAPS) and RSPCA.

Source

[Atlas]

As if our western countries weren't PC enough nowadays.

[Skandi]

Oh yes, in this country you can't buy a knife until you are 18, but you can be married and have children at 16. But you can't feed them as you cant cut up their dinner! It is not used knives that are dangerous, but show off knives in town.

[Liffrea]

Knives, like guns, have never killed a man yet, they are inanimate objects….

[Psychonaut]

I still have my Cub Scout knife from when I was seven years old. Knives are only dangerous in the hand of a child who either has not been taught how to handle one or has never been taught how to behave by their parents.

[Tony]

Sad to say but it's not white boys who need to get de-masculated but the immigrants , who mostly come from machista cultures , be they pakistanis or moroccans , or black africans , I very hope this "advice" won't turn into an official policy , after all the Scouts aren't a dictatorship but are ruled by a board of many officers (right?) I suppose so there must be at least a bit of discussion before takeing any decision , I'd like to see updates of this story.