Talk:Scouting controversy and conflict

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Militarism in early Scouting movement

This section has been tagged for a decade for neutrality. When I look at it, I don't see any huge tilt on way or the other. Instead the last 90% of the section it reads like a O/R fest /essay created by Wikipedia editors. Basically unsourced essay-like arguments for both sides on the topic in question. It has "sources" but they are all primary sources from which the wikipedia editor is creating arguments from. I plan to knock out the last 90% of the section and remove the tag.North8000 (talk) 18:39, 30 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I changed my mind about deleting it. Despite it's problems, there is a lot of info in there which I probably shouldn't delete. Perhaps somebody can wikify it. North8000 (talk) 19:01, 30 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

It's a tricky area, but it could certainly do with some work. As a Scout in Cold War days of the 1950s, there is no doubt in my mind that a lot (not all) of the leaders of that time, mostly having served in WWII, inevitably saw Scouting as a training ground for future contributors to the military. (I got pretty bored with all the marching practice and regimentation.) There were a lot of parallels to the military visible in those days. This of course was simply a reflection of society at the time, but it cannot be denied. We could certainly improve the section. For example, the sentence "The uniform was and still is the strongest suggestion of a military Scouting" is inaccurate in most countries these days. Uniforms are now far less military like than those used by many other organisations, such as emergency services and border control personnel. HiLo48 (talk) 00:08, 31 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

My experience in UK was completely different. I was a Scout from 1950 (Cub before that) and became a Rover Scout in 1957. I did not meet any leaders who were reliving WWII. In fact I did not know any that even told me they had fought. --Bduke (talk) 01:43, 31 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I started in 1960 (USA) and also saw nothing militaristic. The only thing I remember was the opposite, BSA had a specific ban on military style drills. North8000 (talk) 12:58, 31 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]