Boy Scouts in the UK No Longer Allowed to Carry Knives
Administrators for the Boy Scouts in the United Kingdom have decided that Scouts should no longer carry penknives to camp.
See this article in the Telegraph.
Aren’t Boy Scouts supposed to learn how to function in the woods in the absence of full modern infrastructure? Not so much anymore, I suppose, at least in the UK. Boy Scouts used to be able to carry a sheath knife on their belt as part of their uniform. But that was nixed back in 1968. They could still carry a pocket knife, though. (You know the kind – it’s not inconceivable you have a pocket knife with a Scout emblem on it lying around somewhere.) Scout leaders have now put the kabosh on that as well. People in Great Britain are worried about knife violence. So, doesn’t it follow that Boy Scouts should no longer carve wood or split firewood with knives? I guess they’ll have to make do by using their teeth. Unless one or two people in Great Britain start biting other people. Then they’ll probably make the Boy Scouts leave their teeth at home as well.
A Scout spokesperson stated:
“Scouting helps to prepare young people with valuable life skills, while keeping them safe by not carrying knives. 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.”
A knife is only a weapon? So it makes sense that Boy Scouts need to be protected from criminals who carry knives by not being allowed to carry knives themselves. Very, very logical there, British Boy Scout officials. And, of course, there’s always the concern about when a Scout will explode into a rampage of knife-wielding mayhem – carving an ashtray or whittling a heart with an arrow through it in a tree or something.
The next obvious step in the UK will probably be to tell Scouts to just stay at home. Then they can experience “adventure” completely safely (unless the house is hit by a meteorite). One never knows what may happen if you step outdoors. Sitting at home on the couch, the risk of harm will be greatly reduced.
Never mind that humans have been using knives for 2.5 million years (including Boy Scouts until a few days ago). That was obviously a risky business. It’s a wonder humanity has made it this far. It’s a wonder that anybody is left alive. Of course, this attempt to reduce danger is in keeping with the spirit of our times. If it isn’t “safe” — and obviously if criminals are associated with it in any way it is patently unsafe — it must be prohibited, discouraged, abolished. Who needs doughtiness and resoucefulness, when all you really need to do is go to the supermarket and watch TV? Who needs to learn real survival skills?
Of course, if you tend to disagree with this stance, you could express your opinion by, say, sending a couple of pocket knives to your favorite British Boy Scout. Before he becomes extinct due to the lack of respect, sensibleness, and positive practicality on the part of his “leaders.” Better yet, pay his tuition to knife-throwing school. Then at least he’ll have something to do while he sits at home alone in his room.
Here’s a link that you might call “ironic”:
Feel like buying a knife? Feel like cutting something? Click one of the banners below…
*Note: If you click on the Brad Pitt image at top, it will take you to a site where you can see and buy an actual, serious Outrider Bowie Knife — but it’s not the knife from the movie (that’s a prop).
And if you click on the photo below, you can get tickets to some dangerous movie…
Not Boy Scouts
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