Derby Talk

This is a well put-together video and shows a pack spending some time together. Great.

But skip to 1:30 in the video....as a whole (not just this pack or this one section of boys), but as a whole we are missing something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7shvusCRJro" target="_blank

Maybe I'm just dense, but I've watched the video and don't understand your point. What do you think we are missing?

Your not dense, Darin. I didn't want to be the one to ask the question.

It sure looks like the adults had a lot of fun at that derby. I'm glad the scouts could work on their video games beltloop during the derby. I hadn't thought of doing something like that.

Darin McGrew wrote:What do you think we are missing?

You were indeed the brave one. I might have guessed that adults, not boys, were "missing out" handling their own cars, but I wasn't sure.

I think his point was what Ballboy pointed out. The fact that many of the scouts were playing video games and not engaged. I think it is very judgemental of many of you to assume that the race is for the adults and not the boys. Yes, the adults are handling the cars, but as discussed in other threads this is quite common for a variety of very good reasons. Maybe the boys were having fun during a break between the race and awards, or before the race started. I hate to break it to you, but that is how boys enjoy spending their time. I guess some of you believe scouts spending time together should only be them sitting in rocking chairs widdling a tiny piano from a raw piece of wood? I bet many of you would be appalled to learn that it is quite common at pwd races for my son to meet many other boys from other packs and districts because of video games.

Ah, I missed the electronic games, even after watching it multiple times. The odd thing is that here in Silicon Valley, I don't see many kids playing with them at church. Our Battalion doesn't have a rule against them (except on camping trips, where no electronic entertainment is allowed), but the kids just don't use them much around me.

The thing that stood out to me in the video was how close they were letting the kids get to the track. We have our "do not cross" line further back, so everyone can see the races.

I am only a middle-aged old man, but admittedly an old man nonetheless. And yes, games are a valuable tool in many ways, and lots of games today are indeed very good for creativity and strategy.

But yes, the video point that caught my eye was the row full of scouts engaged in a video game versus the PWD in front of them.

The video does seem to highlight adults, but I don't judge that too harshly, it is a matter of context. There does need to be healthy level of adult involvement at the cub level. Even beyond actually, just a little more subtle.


I am one that believes more each day, that young people touching and building stuff at early ages is a vitally important part of their education. Just being able to sit and watch something for a few minutes without leaning on pixel stimulus. Being able to ride in a car and notice landmarks, learn directions, and in general take in the scenes around their own neighborhoods. All this is vanishing into a stark dependency on the virtual world.

I know, things change, things evolve. I had toys and outlets different from my parents, and theirs before them. But the gap is widening at a very scary pace, to this old timer. I can't imagine what it will be like after I am 50.

I am gonna side with resullivan here. I think it is a little premature to make assumptions in regards to what's going on. It could be a break, or it could be boys that have already been eliminated (note: here's where it's a good thing to have rules that keep everybody in the race until the end!). There's also the fact that a lot of boys (mine included) find it hard to focus on /anything/ else if video entertainment is available. Whenever we go anywhere, if somebody pulls out an iPhone or Nintendo DS, my son will be there eagerly peering over shoulders.

Ideally, I think a Derby should be a no-electronic-toys zone, and organizers should do everything that they can to keep the boys engaged as much as possible, but I hate to rush to judgment without knowing the whole story here.

resullivan wrote:I think his point was what Ballboy pointed out. The fact that many of the scouts were playing video games and not engaged. I think it is very judgemental of many of you to assume that the race is for the adults and not the boys. Yes, the adults are handling the cars, but as discussed in other threads this is quite common for a variety of very good reasons. Maybe the boys were having fun during a break between the race and awards, or before the race started. I hate to break it to you, but that is how boys enjoy spending their time. I guess some of you believe scouts spending time together should only be them sitting in rocking chairs widdling a tiny piano from a raw piece of wood? I bet many of you would be appalled to learn that it is quite common at pwd races for my son to meet many other boys from other packs and districts because of video games.

u r rt sul - bys sd du wht tey n joy

I don't care who you are, that was funny. OK. Let's all Lighten Up.

Darin McGrew wrote:Ah, I missed the electronic games, even after watching it multiple times.

Me too! I will also confess that I was fixated on assessing frames closer to 1:30; the video games showed up a few seconds after that.

Good discussion. Our older kids only very recently entered the "tablet / iPhone era" (literally a few months ago), and I was surprised how much time they want to spend (waste?) playing the games. No Cub Scout age child of ours has or independently uses such a device yet, but I could see the advantage of allow a kid to carry one around the Derby so they could record their own races with it, friends reactions, etc. Half the fun of a tablet for youngsters is taking pictures, videos, and sharing/ chatting with friends wirelessly. This is "George-Jetson stuff" I would not have dreamt of when I was that age.

FatSebastian wrote:

Darin McGrew wrote:Ah, I missed the electronic games, even after watching it multiple times.

Me too! I will also confess that I was fixated on assessing frames closer to 1:30; the video games showed up a few seconds after that.

Good discussion. Our older kids only very recently entered the "tablet / iPhone era" (literally a few months ago), and I was surprised how much time our own kids spend (waste?) playing the games. No Cub Scout age child of ours has or independently uses such a device yet, but I could see the advantage of allow a kid to carry one around the Derby so they could record their own races with it, friends reactions, etc. Half the fun of a tablet for youngsters is taking pictures, videos, and sharing/ chatting with friends wirelessly. This is "George-Jetson stuff" I would not have dreamt of when I was that age.

Good catch FS, when I viewed the video I stoped it on the time of 0:53 -0:54
to see some one recording the cars as they past by them.
There was also someone recording a heat race just befor this time also seen in the video.
So I say the boys were watching there races being played back on video .

This is kind of a side note to PWD, but with the webelos you might even have a few meetings where you describe how video games are made. Have a dad talk about programming, ect. Show them that they can make a living with electronics. I think this is a much better route than shunning electronics. The den leader for my son has had them build simple circuits and things like that.