Fred Goodwin, CMA
2008-01-11 17:20:41 UTC
Scouts require members to learn how to confront bullies
<http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/
D8U2IUT02.html>
http://tinyurl.com/33wznk
01/09/2008
By PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press
As far as the Boy Scouts of America is concerned, knowing how to
confront a bully is now as important as mastering a slip knot.
For the first time in the 97-year history of the nation's largest
youth organization, newcomers must show they have learned Scout-
approved ways to avoid being pushed around and called names, if they
want to advance through the ranks.
Shaken down for your lunch money? Tell the bully how it hurts. Called
a crater face? The 2008 Boy Scout Handbook recommends this comeback:
"So what if I have a face full of zits. What's it to you?"
"We've always emphasized bullying -- how to recognize it, how to
prevent it," said Jim Terry, assistant chief executive of the Boy
Scouts. "This is just a reinforcement of those principles."
The Scouts say the move isn't in response to increased bullying in
their ranks. But some critics are already picking on the organization
for its new curriculum.
"I don't see it as radically changing anything," said John Dandurand,
executive director of Creating Caring Communities, a Denver-based non-
profit that advises schools on ways to discourage bullying.
"It's just a set of things to memorize," said Dandurand, who as a
youth attained the rank of Eagle Scout. "Those of us who were adept at
memorizing got more merit badges."
The 472-page Boy Scouts Handbook devotes a half-page to bullies, and
Scouts are required to discuss the material with a troop leader to
reach the beginner rank of Tenderfoot.
Terry said the measures help reinforce personal safety lessons the Boy
Scouts have taught all along. Bullying has long been the subject of
informal troop leader talks, and the Boy Scouts have even published a
comic book on the subject.
The handbook also now covers cyberbullying. Aspiring Scouts must
demonstrate they know how to show restraint when taunted online.
Terry pointed to the suicide of a 13-year-old Missouri girl who hanged
herself in October 2006 after falling victim to an online hoax in
which she thought she was corresponding with a boy who didn't really
exist.
"That was not a trigger, but it proves we're on the right track,"
Terry said. "Her death speaks specifically to what we're trying to
prevent."
Dorothy Espelage, a professor of educational psychology at the
University of Illinois, credited the Boy Scouts for mandating the
lessons. But she had hoped the material would also have some advice
for Scouts who might sometimes bully others.
"You know that some of these Boy Scouts are bullies, and that they're
ringleaders," Espelage said. "Why do we always put it on the victim to
change their behavior?"
Scouts Will Baker, 11, and Kolby Wassel, 12, said they learned anti-
bullying tactics such as not fighting back and counting backward to
control their anger when teased.
After making beef jerky at a scout gathering near Dallas, Baker said
he didn't think bullying was enough of a problem to make lessons
mandatory.
Wassel was more approving.
"For most of the younger Scouts, I think that would be a great thing
for them," said Wassel, a third-year Scout. "Sometimes they get really
depressed if (bullies) hurt their feelings."
--
On the Net:
http://www.scouting.org/
<http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/
D8U2IUT02.html>
http://tinyurl.com/33wznk
01/09/2008
By PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press
As far as the Boy Scouts of America is concerned, knowing how to
confront a bully is now as important as mastering a slip knot.
For the first time in the 97-year history of the nation's largest
youth organization, newcomers must show they have learned Scout-
approved ways to avoid being pushed around and called names, if they
want to advance through the ranks.
Shaken down for your lunch money? Tell the bully how it hurts. Called
a crater face? The 2008 Boy Scout Handbook recommends this comeback:
"So what if I have a face full of zits. What's it to you?"
"We've always emphasized bullying -- how to recognize it, how to
prevent it," said Jim Terry, assistant chief executive of the Boy
Scouts. "This is just a reinforcement of those principles."
The Scouts say the move isn't in response to increased bullying in
their ranks. But some critics are already picking on the organization
for its new curriculum.
"I don't see it as radically changing anything," said John Dandurand,
executive director of Creating Caring Communities, a Denver-based non-
profit that advises schools on ways to discourage bullying.
"It's just a set of things to memorize," said Dandurand, who as a
youth attained the rank of Eagle Scout. "Those of us who were adept at
memorizing got more merit badges."
The 472-page Boy Scouts Handbook devotes a half-page to bullies, and
Scouts are required to discuss the material with a troop leader to
reach the beginner rank of Tenderfoot.
Terry said the measures help reinforce personal safety lessons the Boy
Scouts have taught all along. Bullying has long been the subject of
informal troop leader talks, and the Boy Scouts have even published a
comic book on the subject.
The handbook also now covers cyberbullying. Aspiring Scouts must
demonstrate they know how to show restraint when taunted online.
Terry pointed to the suicide of a 13-year-old Missouri girl who hanged
herself in October 2006 after falling victim to an online hoax in
which she thought she was corresponding with a boy who didn't really
exist.
"That was not a trigger, but it proves we're on the right track,"
Terry said. "Her death speaks specifically to what we're trying to
prevent."
Dorothy Espelage, a professor of educational psychology at the
University of Illinois, credited the Boy Scouts for mandating the
lessons. But she had hoped the material would also have some advice
for Scouts who might sometimes bully others.
"You know that some of these Boy Scouts are bullies, and that they're
ringleaders," Espelage said. "Why do we always put it on the victim to
change their behavior?"
Scouts Will Baker, 11, and Kolby Wassel, 12, said they learned anti-
bullying tactics such as not fighting back and counting backward to
control their anger when teased.
After making beef jerky at a scout gathering near Dallas, Baker said
he didn't think bullying was enough of a problem to make lessons
mandatory.
Wassel was more approving.
"For most of the younger Scouts, I think that would be a great thing
for them," said Wassel, a third-year Scout. "Sometimes they get really
depressed if (bullies) hurt their feelings."
--
On the Net:
http://www.scouting.org/