Cant_Be_Faded
05-17-2009, 11:28 AM
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/05/14/scouts-learn-about-law-enforcement-train-for-front-lines/
Scouts Learn Law Enforcement, Train for Front Lines
Posted:
05/14/09
What happened to the days when boy scouts would go out into nature, tell ghost stories around a campfire and sleep peacefully under the stars?
According to a story in today's New York Times, that is no longer the only pastime for boy scouts and their affiliate groups. Instead, they are now participating in a law enforcement exploring program that is training thousands of young people in skills used to confront terrorism, illegal immigration and escalating border violence.
Through the program, youths between the ages of 14 and 21 learn about the basic operation of law enforcement officials and take part in training exercises under the auspices of the Border Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security and other local agencies.
According to The Times, the training can involve chasing down illegal border crossers as well as more dangerous situations that include raiding marijuana fields, facing down terrorists and taking out "active shooters" on school campuses. Though leaders of the organization say the training is not intended to be applied outside the simulated Explorer setting, some of the pointers offered have a particularly narrow application.
"Put him on his face and put a knee in his back," a Border Patrol agent said about subduing a suspect during a training operation observed by The Times. "I guarantee that he'll shut up."
According to the Law Enforcement Explorers Web site, many departments use program participants "to assist in such areas as crime prevention, traffic/crowd control, recordkeeping, and telecommunications. These forms of assistance are always conducted under the supervision of law enforcement officers and serve to demonstrate that Explorers can be beneficial to the agency and the community."
There are at least 2,000 posts across the country with 35,000 members-a number that has seen significant increases since September 11.
Though the mission of teaching children about law enforcement seems mostly innocuous, the idea of a program that institutionalizes our national fear of illegal aliens and terrorists by handing teens mock weapons and telling them to deal with these threats is disconcerting.
One student told The Times, "I like shooting [the guns]. I like the sound they make. It gets me excited."
There's nothing wrong with teaching children to respect law enforcement; there's no problem with making students want to become federal agents when the grow up. The issues start to arise, though, when the programs play reinforce the fear of immigrants and foreigners that is already so deeply embedded in our society.
Especially in border towns where the situation is already tense, training emotional teenagers to have an acute fear of the other may not be the best way to teach the values that inspire the scouting movement.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/05/14/us/14explorers2-600a.jpg
The Obama Youth.
Scouts Learn Law Enforcement, Train for Front Lines
Posted:
05/14/09
What happened to the days when boy scouts would go out into nature, tell ghost stories around a campfire and sleep peacefully under the stars?
According to a story in today's New York Times, that is no longer the only pastime for boy scouts and their affiliate groups. Instead, they are now participating in a law enforcement exploring program that is training thousands of young people in skills used to confront terrorism, illegal immigration and escalating border violence.
Through the program, youths between the ages of 14 and 21 learn about the basic operation of law enforcement officials and take part in training exercises under the auspices of the Border Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security and other local agencies.
According to The Times, the training can involve chasing down illegal border crossers as well as more dangerous situations that include raiding marijuana fields, facing down terrorists and taking out "active shooters" on school campuses. Though leaders of the organization say the training is not intended to be applied outside the simulated Explorer setting, some of the pointers offered have a particularly narrow application.
"Put him on his face and put a knee in his back," a Border Patrol agent said about subduing a suspect during a training operation observed by The Times. "I guarantee that he'll shut up."
According to the Law Enforcement Explorers Web site, many departments use program participants "to assist in such areas as crime prevention, traffic/crowd control, recordkeeping, and telecommunications. These forms of assistance are always conducted under the supervision of law enforcement officers and serve to demonstrate that Explorers can be beneficial to the agency and the community."
There are at least 2,000 posts across the country with 35,000 members-a number that has seen significant increases since September 11.
Though the mission of teaching children about law enforcement seems mostly innocuous, the idea of a program that institutionalizes our national fear of illegal aliens and terrorists by handing teens mock weapons and telling them to deal with these threats is disconcerting.
One student told The Times, "I like shooting [the guns]. I like the sound they make. It gets me excited."
There's nothing wrong with teaching children to respect law enforcement; there's no problem with making students want to become federal agents when the grow up. The issues start to arise, though, when the programs play reinforce the fear of immigrants and foreigners that is already so deeply embedded in our society.
Especially in border towns where the situation is already tense, training emotional teenagers to have an acute fear of the other may not be the best way to teach the values that inspire the scouting movement.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/05/14/us/14explorers2-600a.jpg
The Obama Youth.