Why are the Scouts brainwashing our children with woke nonsense like Billy the Non-Binary Butterfly?

Young people should be taught to respect others, but a new ‘pronoun’ game threatens their mental health

How familiar are you with Billy the Non-Binary Butterfly? What about Sam the Cisgender Dog? Sam uses “he/him” pronouns, whereas Leslie the Gender-Solid Ladybird goes with “she/her”. All of which you would know if you were an eight-year-old being indoctrinated – sorry, taught how to think, speak and behave – by your local Scout group.
Games are such helpful tools when attempting to brainwash the young. Which is presumably why, according to a report on Sunday, Scout leaders are now being encouraged to guide children through a “gender identity” card game called Pronoun Pairs. After the game (in which cards featuring these progressive LGBTQI+ animals are turned over and the children asked which pronoun should be used for, say, if Billy the pangender butterfly were to “eat a sandwich”) older Scouts will lead a post-game “reflection”.
The word suggests an openness to discussion that is, let’s be honest, probably not there. Could a Scout, upon reflection, put forward the view that all this is a steaming pile of horse manure? I’m guessing not. That problematic attitude certainly isn’t going to get you your “Inclusive” badge, is it? No. The only thing he/she/they can reflect upon is how gender is a social construct, how right and necessary it is to incorporate gender-neutral language into every part of their daily lives and how even to question this would make them A Bad Person. So let’s call the post-game “reflection” what it is: the cementing of the ideology.
It gets more troubling still. Because up until this point, you could argue that it’s all fairly benign. That children do need to understand that we are all different (although I happen to believe that they are instinctively accepting beings); that stressing we need to be respectful and kind to others is no bad thing and, in fact, entirely in keeping with Robert Baden-Powell’s original aims when he established the first Boy Scouts organisation on Brownsea Island back in 1907. After all, among other things, the British army officer wanted young boys to learn how to be good citizens, always chivalrous and courteous to others. But the Scout Association doesn’t stop here.
On its website, suggestions as to how children might want to alter their daily language are put forward. Nothing major, you understand, just little tweaks here and there, such as swapping “brother or sister” for “sibling” – oh, and doing away with “mum and dad”. I’m sorry – what? Yes, apparently “parent”, “carer” or “grown-up” is more inclusive. And let’s just think about how potentially psychologically damaging it is to tell an eight-year-old that talking (or even thinking) about their parents as “mum and dad” is a bad thing, for a second. Child psychologists across the world have been coming out and explaining what common sense already told so many of us: that if you start forcing children to question basic certainties, you leave them in freefall.
Reactions to the Scouts’ latest “inclusion and diversity” push have been predictable. On X/Twitter, one described it as “a shocking abuse of the trust parents place in the Scouts”. Others were variations on the same “the Scouts are now dead to me” theme. “If this is happening at our local Scouts/cubs our children just stopped participating.” “Thanks for informing me to NEVER let my kids join the Scouts.” And it doesn’t feel gratifying to scroll through the horrified comments. It feels sad in the way only an own goal can.
The organisation has worked so hard to become relevant again, and after a dip in popularity in the 1990s and again during the pandemic, it has succeeded. As of July, there were more than 170,000 children on waiting lists to join the Scouts and Girlguiding, which is an astonishing feat. Particularly when you remember that the Scouts are a charity, relying on donations and volunteers.
Of course, they needed to shake off their old-fashioned image. Over the past five years, they have implemented new vetting and safeguarding procedures, have made welcoming refugees a key part of their programme, and started to teach cybersecurity skills as part of the Digital Citizen Badge. A lot of the changes made have been good, and in a digital world where an increasing number of children are addicted to their screens – and “basic survival skills” means being able to navigate TikTok – organisations such as the Scouts are more crucial than ever.
Baden-Powell might have been writing today when he said: “There are thousands of boys being wasted daily to our country through being left to become characterless, and, therefore, useless wasters, a misery to themselves and an eyesore and a danger to the nation. They could be saved if only the right surroundings or environment were given to them at the receptive time of their lives.” 
To create that environment the Scouts need to stay steady and strong. They need to rise above fads and fashions, while yes, teaching boys to be kind, to accept and respect difference. But let’s leave Billy the Non-Binary Butterfly out of it.