You're right, MOST of the idiots who carry just a phone probably had nothing 20 years ago. But I've seen people have a bout of the dumbs and leave behind a kit becuase they have a cell phone, people who never would have left it behind if they didn't. Not just a survival kit, but also car kits.

I also think things have been taken out of context, and I might not have explained myself as well as I would have liked. I understood (correctly) Jim's post to refeer to the scouts having cell phones during survival training. I can't stress how strongly I am opposed to that- it is like having a graphing calculator at a 6th grade math test. When they have completed thier training, which would be paralleled by land navigation and other training, I would have been unhappy to see the phones but so long as they were off I could deal with it. But not while learning, no way, same as a hand held shortwave transmitter, GPS or a case of highway flares. If you earned the badges, fine, I can see all of these someplace like the more remote parts of Philmont or if hiking in Alaska. But not while learning.

Part of why I might not have made myself as understandable is I hate and despise cellphones. I don't own one. If I have to have one for a job, the company is either paying for it or it is going to be the cheapest plan possible. I'm not fond of phones to begin with and one that follows you is just too much for me. That might be why I came on strong and lost my point.

As for each generations saying that the one after it is worse, it can be proven. College entrance requirements have dropped for fifty years, and primary and secondary education "way points" have degraded as well.A few years ago, I had the opertunity to take a test that my high school, which has always been ag and tech focused, gave to before you could graduate. In 1927 they required math that (at that time) I hadn't seen in 3 years of calculus with side trips into stats, trig, and discrete. Even with a book of math tables, I could not do it. The average high school graduate can't find the US on a world map, nor can they tell you the names of the countries the US borders on- I can forgive missing Russia becuase there is just enough water that there really is a tiny strip of international waters, but come on, Mexico and Canada should be right on the tip of the tounge. But the discussion of why and what is wrong is a little off topic. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />