5 ms·

You've just described the Boy Scouts, in many respects.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
TriinT 17y ago
I was thinking of the boy scouts on steroids, so to say. The boy scouts are too well-behaved. A little bit of boot-camp atmosphere would be interesting.
- ninguem2 17y ago
  Well, there's the armed forces, but the consequences are not so pretty.
  - LogicHoleFlaw 17y ago
    Enlisting is a hell of a lot better option than gang-banging.
    - TriinT 17y ago
      I wholeheartedly agree.
  - TriinT 17y ago
    The armed forces are for kids older than 18. I think 13-18 y.o. teenage boys with too much testosterone could use a sort of "boot-camp lite" thing. Instead of shooting weapons, they could focus on less deadly stuff which is equally macho. Say, survival training, martial arts, extreme sports, etc. This would probably never work in Europe because it would bring back memories of Hitler's youth. I am totally pro-freedom and anti-fascism, but I think that leaving teenage boys bored in the cities and suburbs with nothing to do is dangerous. The amount of money spent on teaching them how to fight, rock-climb, whatever, would perhaps be saved in less prisons and criminality. Giving a teenage boy something challenging to do can be a huge self-confidence booster. Moreover, it can allow him to use his aggressiveness in a productive manner.
    - dfranke 17y ago
      Why not weapons? With a competent instructor, the accident risk is lower than for any of your suggested alternatives.
      - TriinT 17y ago
        I have nothing against weapons. I actually like them. However, a camp for teenage boys where there's weapons training would be a PR disaster. The feminists would complain that it was a men's conspiracy to impose the old status quo. The far left-wing whackos would compare it to Hitler's youth. I believe that teenage boys can be taught how to shoot, and that they can be trained to use weapons in a responsible manner. An old drill instructor would be required to keep the kids in check, though. Much of this PR nightmare could be avoided if there were no weapons. Martial arts would be OK. By keeping weapons out, you could sell it as an extreme sports camp, rather than a boot camp for teenagers ;-) Image is everything.
        anamax 17y ago
        > Much of this PR nightmare could be avoided if there were no weapons. At what cost in effectiveness? If you don't tell the loons to get stuffed, your life is run by loons.
        TriinT 17y ago
        I think the cost would be infinitesimal. Weapons are cool, but not essential. In a way, doing without weapons would be fun. Teach the kids martial arts. Their bare hands would be their weapons. What I like about martial arts is that it's a bit like mathematics. In math you can't fool yourself thinking you know more than you do... your own limitations are right in front of you, in the blank sheet of paper reminding you that you're no Grothendieck. In martial arts you also know your limitations. If you don't, you get your ass kicked really quick. In this age of grade-inflation where all kids are believed to be geniuses until proven otherwise, knowing where you stand relative to your peers is good. Harsh, but it builds character ;-)

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

I was thinking of the boy scouts on steroids, so to say. The boy scouts are too well-behaved. A little bit of boot-camp atmosphere would be interesting.

ninguem2 17y ago
Well, there's the armed forces, but the consequences are not so pretty.
- LogicHoleFlaw 17y ago
  Enlisting is a hell of a lot better option than gang-banging.
  - TriinT 17y ago
    I wholeheartedly agree.
- TriinT 17y ago
  The armed forces are for kids older than 18. I think 13-18 y.o. teenage boys with too much testosterone could use a sort of "boot-camp lite" thing. Instead of shooting weapons, they could focus on less deadly stuff which is equally macho. Say, survival training, martial arts, extreme sports, etc. This would probably never work in Europe because it would bring back memories of Hitler's youth. I am totally pro-freedom and anti-fascism, but I think that leaving teenage boys bored in the cities and suburbs with nothing to do is dangerous. The amount of money spent on teaching them how to fight, rock-climb, whatever, would perhaps be saved in less prisons and criminality. Giving a teenage boy something challenging to do can be a huge self-confidence booster. Moreover, it can allow him to use his aggressiveness in a productive manner.
  - dfranke 17y ago
    Why not weapons? With a competent instructor, the accident risk is lower than for any of your suggested alternatives.
    - TriinT 17y ago
      I have nothing against weapons. I actually like them. However, a camp for teenage boys where there's weapons training would be a PR disaster. The feminists would complain that it was a men's conspiracy to impose the old status quo. The far left-wing whackos would compare it to Hitler's youth. I believe that teenage boys can be taught how to shoot, and that they can be trained to use weapons in a responsible manner. An old drill instructor would be required to keep the kids in check, though. Much of this PR nightmare could be avoided if there were no weapons. Martial arts would be OK. By keeping weapons out, you could sell it as an extreme sports camp, rather than a boot camp for teenagers ;-) Image is everything.
      - anamax 17y ago
        > Much of this PR nightmare could be avoided if there were no weapons. At what cost in effectiveness? If you don't tell the loons to get stuffed, your life is run by loons.
        TriinT 17y ago
        I think the cost would be infinitesimal. Weapons are cool, but not essential. In a way, doing without weapons would be fun. Teach the kids martial arts. Their bare hands would be their weapons. What I like about martial arts is that it's a bit like mathematics. In math you can't fool yourself thinking you know more than you do... your own limitations are right in front of you, in the blank sheet of paper reminding you that you're no Grothendieck. In martial arts you also know your limitations. If you don't, you get your ass kicked really quick. In this age of grade-inflation where all kids are believed to be geniuses until proven otherwise, knowing where you stand relative to your peers is good. Harsh, but it builds character ;-)