Thursday, April 29, 2010

Boy Scouts Runescape Badge

I am not kidding, it is for real, though it does not have to be exclusively Runescape. Sounds kind of shocking, yet if you think about it, why not? Like it or not, video games is a huge part of kids life nowadays. But still, boy scouts badge for video games? Wasn't it supposed to be about outdoors activities?

3 comments:

Aximili E I said...

Having gone though both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts I'm a bit leery about this but after looking at the requirements for at least the Pin is appropriate and does have some use... e.g.:Compare the price for this game at three different stores. Decide which store has the best deal. In your decision, be sure to consider things like the store return policy and manufacturer’s warranty. this is applicable in other areas other then video games and does teach an important lesson on how to shop frugally...

The only requirement I would not approve of is this one:Play an appropriate video game with a friend for one hour.

G said...

It kind of makes sense if you break it down. We learned to fire guns in cub scouts (I was a boy scout for maybe a week before I quit), basic survival training etc.

Basically, boy scouts and cub scouts train kids how to grow up and be soldiers. That's pretty much how video games started out, as simulators.

Its, in a bizarre sense, training. You'd be surprised how good of a shot a kid who's never fired a gun before can be, if they've been at the arcade playing shooting games forever.

Vaskor said...

Aximili E I, yes, the requirements do look reasonable - it's just an issue of perception.

G, hmm, I never thought about boy scouts organization as a way to train soldiers... But it might be just my lack of familiarity with this organization. I went through "pioneers" in the USSR, which was somewhat similar, but very different at the same time. It was not about outdoors or preparing for army, but about studying hard, being generally helpful, and ideologically straight.

 
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