UK Scouts, Knives, Reportage, Objectivity, Reactivity, and Equanimity

If one reads this story in Britain's Daily Mail they will get the idea that  UK Scouts have adopted a hyper-reactive policy to what the Mail calls 'blade culture' that bans pocket knives. The story is followed with outraged comments predicting the end of the world.

Now turn to this page for the official policy statement of the Scout Association (thanks to Group Scout Leader Nick). Is the author of the Daily Mail article willfully ignorant or simply fishing for controversy or perhaps both? He's drawn a fair number of comments and fomented discussion. Was his goal to inform or inflame? (This puts me in mind of the largely baseless allegations made in the newspapers earlier this year about BSA Councils despoiling their real estate for profit.)

Scoutmasters and reporters should both strive towards objectivity and away from reactivity. Objectivity approaches issues, events and people without prejudice in an effort to discover the truth of the matter. Reactivity approaches issues, events and people seeking to reinforce preconceptions.

The Buddhist concept of equanimity encourages us to be free of bias, attachment and anger. Equanimity is a state of mind that strives to be free from the vicissitudes of everyday ups and downs.

Looking into life we notice how it continually moves between contrasts: rise and fall, success and failure, loss and gain, honor and blame. We feel how our heart responds to all this happiness and sorrow, delight and despair, disappointment and satisfaction, hope and fear. These waves of emotion carry us up and fling us down; and no sooner do we find rest, than we are in the power of a new wave again. How can we expect to get a footing on the crest of the waves? How shall we erect the building of our lives in the midst of this ever restless ocean of existence, if not on the Island of Equanimity.

Venerable Nyanaponika Thera

Equanimity is not indifference to right and wrong rather it is calm objectivity that moderates our tendencies towards reacting rather than thinking. If your experience as a Scout leader has been anything like mine you will find cultivating equanimity very helpful. As the web continues to change the way we receive information  equanimity will help still the waters a bit.

It would seem that when a person, place, idea or thing is reported to be outrageous or illogical the more likely it is the reporter has a limited view of the situation. How many emails have we all received with the header 'Forward this to everyone you know, IMPORTANT!' whose claims, upon a little investigation, prove to be baseless?

Scouting serves youth at the most chaotic, reactive time of their lives. They will benefit greatly from associating themselves with someone who can help them view the world with a measure of perspective and peace of mind.

Comments

[CA Scouter]

Nice reflections. Two comments:

I have never seen a news report, for which I knew the true story, in which the reporter got the story right. I keep this in mind every time I read the news. One must always ask about the bias of the reportage.

I think there is an interesting dialectic between your homage for equanimity and your previous entry on emerging communications technologies. My main problem with texting and tweeting is that it puts youth in the position of being continually stimulated. Their life is never quiet. There is always another text or amusement to distract them. How can equanimity ever be achieved in such an overstimulated environment? I think this makes wilderness activities even more important, since they may be the only time youth are not being continuously bugged.

[Clarke Green]

What older folks like us may consider overstimulating may be what younger folks consider normal. What one considers distracting is equally subjective. Try as we may we can't see the world through their eyes or they through ours.

I spend a fair amount of time around young people and I really don't see what I often hear represented; the continuous texting and all that. I am sure that they are doing a great deal more of it than I!

I think people will continue to value the quiet and solitude of nature. I don't know that it is any more important now than it was a century ago but it is important.

Equanimity is not dependent on circumstances. Equanimity transcends circumstances.

[Dan]

I don't know... the policy does seem pretty clear, but this quote from an unnamed Scouting spokesman raises some big questions:

‘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.’

[Clarke Green]

So you have a clear unambiguous policy statement and a quote from a demonstrably unreliable source.
It's pretty easy to know which to believe.