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s/o Pirates

angela in ohio
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What do you think of "Pirates" as a theme for a youth event?  

  1. 1. What do you think of "Pirates" as a theme for a youth event?

    • I always think "Pirates" is an inappropriate theme for an event involving youth.
      15
    • I usually have no problem with "Pirates," but I think it is inappropriate right now.
      14
    • I think it's fine.
      109

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angela in ohio

angela in ohio

Posted
Posted

Before I open my mouth and make a fool of myself, I thought I would get some opinions here...

 

In light of the issues with pirates lately (murder, kidnapping families, etc.,) do you think it would be appropriate for a youth organization to use "Pirates" as a theme for a community-wide event right now?

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pqr

pqr

Posted
Posted (edited)
Before I open my mouth and make a fool of myself, I thought I would get some opinions here...

 

In light of the issues with pirates lately (murder, kidnapping families, etc.,) do you think it would be appropriate for a youth organization to use "Pirates" as a theme for a community-wide event right now?

 

Absolutely use the name.

Edited by pqr
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Trish

Trish

Posted
Posted

I have sometimes wondered if a century or two from now, there will be cute little festivals with "Cocaine Dealer!" themes.

 

I know what you're saying. But I still think the common perception of pirates is similar to cowboys and knights and so forth. I wouldn't worry about it.

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katilac

katilac

Posted
Posted

I voted "appropriate" but I'm having second thoughts.

 

I'd certainly not do it if you live in an area with any connection to recent victims, just as a courtesy. The Americans were from California, I think, and I'd also consider whether your area has any significant Scandinavian population. And check on that, you may not be aware of it - - I was quite surprised to discover that New Orleans has Scandinavian churches and festivals, and I've lived here most of my life!

 

So, okay, changing my vote to no, not now. If I had my little kid's birthday party planned, I might not change it if I didn't live in such an area, but I wouldn't plan a community event around the theme.

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Murphy101

Murphy101

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Posted

I've never considered it the best of themes, even way back with the veggie tales pirate movie came out.

 

To my knowledge pirates have never been known for their sterling character traits and Christian principles.

 

So no, not seeing that as good fodder for a Christian youth event as I'm not seeing much quality character formation in praising the emulation of thieves and murderers and outlaws.:001_huh:

 

But mostly I don't think people these days bother to think, much less think about what it says to tell our kids being a pirate would be fun.:tongue_smilie:

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Laurie4b

Laurie4b

Posted
Posted
Before I open my mouth and make a fool of myself, I thought I would get some opinions here...

 

In light of the issues with pirates lately (murder, kidnapping families, etc.,) do you think it would be appropriate for a youth organization to use "Pirates" as a theme for a community-wide event right now?

 

I would never have associated pirates as used by kids with the modern pirate attacks. However, I tried really hard to discourage my boys when they were young from glamorizing pirates because pirates were, after all, criminals. Didn't work very well. :glare:

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Murphy101

Murphy101

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Pirates have always bothered me. I don't see why pirates, who in real life are evil, evil people, ever got applied to children's events. It makes zero sense to me.

 

Me either. It's like they played a version of cops and robbers, but at some point the cops disappeared and the robbers became the prime role to play? Like a Robin Hood who gets to keep the loot? Idk.

 

I've had no luck convincing my boys of the error in plot either tho.:tongue_smilie:

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jld

jld

Posted
Posted
I've never considered it the best of themes, even way back with the veggie tales pirate movie came out.

 

To my knowledge pirates have never been known for their sterling character traits and Christian principles.

 

So no, not seeing that as good fodder for a Christian youth event as I'm not seeing much quality character formation in praising the emulation of thieves and murderers and outlaws.:001_huh:

 

But mostly I don't think people these days bother to think, much less think about what it says to tell our kids being a pirate would be fun.:tongue_smilie:

 

Interesting.

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Kirch

Kirch

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Posted
Pirates have always bothered me. I don't see why pirates, who in real life are evil, evil people, ever got applied to children's events. It makes zero sense to me.

 

I'm guessing (complete guess) that Peter Pan and Treasure Island probably had a lot to do with it. It was long enough after real pirates roamed the seas that the stories had probably taken on the qualities of legends, and I can see how kids would have been caught up in imaginary play of being captured by pirates, escaping or defeating pirates, etc. Then with Peter Pan, the whole image of what a pirate was would have changed (if it hadn't already changed before that). Total guess, though!

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msk

msk

Posted
Posted

My daughter specifically plays "pretend pirates, not bad guy ones." As far as I can tell from listening in, these folks are just sailors who make odd fashion choices and sing a lot. That might look funny printed on your event advertisements, though.

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Mom in High Heels

Mom in High Heels

Posted
Posted

I think pirates is fine. Kids don't have the same sort of baggage that adults do when it comes to stuff like this. Pirates to them are usually treasure seekers, not murderers and thieves. Indy had a pirate themed birthday this year and the kids LOVED it.

For activities we divided the kids into two teams. The first game was a "plank walk." We laid down a blue tarp and placed two long boards across it. I made a couple of shark fins that we sat on top of it (the kids thought this was hilarious). Each person on the team was blindfolded and had to walk across the plank without falling off and then run around the outside of the tarp to tag the next person.

After that we had a "swab the deck" race. This was HARD. I had a path marked out with pirate flags (they had to stay in the boundaries) and each kid was given a ping pong ball. When it was their turn, they had to use a broom to sweep their ping pong ball down the path and at the end, bring the broom back to the next person for their turn. They did this over the grass, and it was really difficult. They loved it though.

The final game was the "cannon ball balloon pop." Each kid had two black balloons tied to their ankles and had to pop balloons from the other team without getting their own popped. If both were popped they were out of the game. This was INSANE! By far the favorite game of the day.

 

If you want to see photos, you can click this post. Most of the photos are on the smile box slid at the bottom, so click play on that and it will load up. The individual photos can be clicked on to enlarge them.

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angela in ohio

angela in ohio

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
My daughter specifically plays "pretend pirates, not bad guy ones." As far as I can tell from listening in, these folks are just sailors who make odd fashion choices and sing a lot. That might look funny printed on your event advertisements, though.

 

:D

 

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts. I know I don't generally fit in with the mainstream thoughts on things like this, so I wanted to see what the average response was before I said something (and yes, I am actively volunteering, not just some mom complaining on the sidelines. :D) I fall right in with Martha on this one; we have no pirates at all. But I was more concerned about the group offending any adults in the community.

 

I try to save my hill to die on (for things like gambling fundraisers. :tongue_smilie:)

Edited by angela in ohio
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Sebastian (a lady)

Sebastian (a lady)

Posted
Posted
Pirates have always bothered me. I don't see why pirates, who in real life are evil, evil people, ever got applied to children's events. It makes zero sense to me.

 

This is our second sweep through history. When we did our first cycle, we lived in Europe and we not only studies ancient Rome, but were able to visit Rome & Pompeii. My older kids were about 1st and 2nd grade and could tell you all about gladiators. Which ones used which weapons. Who was matched with whom.

 

Last fall when Artichoke and I were reading through a gladiator book, something clicked in my head. All of a sudden I just couldn't ignore how gruesome the whole thing was. Yet this was one of the primary features of Roman culture that I was teaching my 8 yo.

 

So I asked him about it. He agreed that it was pretty horrible when you thought about it. So we put the book aside and moved on to something completely different.

 

I will probably revisit gladiators again in four years. But that will be with a logic and two rhetoric kids. And I intend a good part of the conversation to be about the bread and circus style of political control and how games were used to subdue areas being conquered.

 

I don't know if I'll ever be able to put them back into fun and fit for little kids in all their gory detail. (Of course, because I am a contradictory person, I haven't purged our Playmobil of the ruthless little characters and probably won't. It's funny how we can hold opposing views in our heads at the same time.)

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FO4UR

FO4UR

Posted
Posted

I don't want my dc romanticizing pirates.

 

We've read Treasure Island, as well as several non-fiction books on pirates. They are fascinating! They pretend pirates just like they pretend cops & robbers...but I don't want to give them the impression that pirates were heroes.

 

Pirates were very very evil people. The current events haven't changed my pov in the topic, but they have certainly strengthened it.

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