Another blow to the Boy Scouts of America

[BehindBlueI's]

Well, speaking frankly.... I'm not so sure I'd let my son be a Boy Scout, even if it was still only boys allowed. Scout Leaders creep me out. Seeing a grown man in a Scouting outfit has never really sat well with me.

That's just part of being a cop. Seriously, the books on psychology of cops talk about this exact thing as an example of the cynicism that grows in you in this profession. You start to see every adult who voluntary spends time with other people's children as a potential pedophile. Photos of scoutmasters are actually used in the demonstration. Show the photo to cops and you'll get "potential child molester" and "weirdo" type feedback, whereas "normal" non-cops associate much more positive things with the photo, loyalty, service, that sort of thing.

The kicker? I *know* this is true logically, and accept the premise. I *know* the vast majority of Scoutmasters are decent people who are doing very good things for children and being involved with their development as leaders. Show me a picture, though...and my gut emotional reaction is negative despite what "logical" me knows. I completely get where Kut is coming from.

 

[Trigger Time]

Yep. I'm not a cop but I feel the same thing when I see it and I've known good dads who were scout leaders. I'm skeptical of pretty much everything though so theres that

 

[d.kaufman]

 

[d.kaufman]

 

[thunderchicken]

That's just part of being a cop. Seriously, the books on psychology of cops talk about this exact thing as an example of the cynicism that grows in you in this profession. You start to see every adult who voluntary spends time with other people's children as a potential pedophile. Photos of scoutmasters are actually used in the demonstration. Show the photo to cops and you'll get "potential child molester" and "weirdo" type feedback, whereas "normal" non-cops associate much more positive things with the photo, loyalty, service, that sort of thing.

The kicker? I *know* this is true logically, and accept the premise. I *know* the vast majority of Scoutmasters are decent people who are doing very good things for children and being involved with their development as leaders. Show me a picture, though...and my gut emotional reaction is negative despite what "logical" me knows. I completely get where Kut is coming from.

Excellent point. Heck even as a boy I thought the uniform was a bit cheesy.
But, when you compare it to high school baseball teams where coaches put on a baseball uniform, I see that as cheesy too. My daughters HS softball coach and Athletic director mentioned last week there is a new rule being kicked around by IHSAA to require all baseball/softball coaches to wear the same uniform as the kids next year. Again, its kinda cheesy and a bit creepie, but reality is most of the good guys hate wearing the uniform anyway. But to me it really isn't any different. And the whole point is to show they are part of the organization.
I sometimes wonder if insurance has any reason behind requiring leaders/coaches to wear the uniform as a means of visual identification.

 

[Thor]

I was a scout leader for over a decade, my son became an Eagle Scout. Once they let the openly gay into their ranks the org. died to me. This was just the next step in progressive destruction of healthy American culture. Apparently, there can be no values anymore. To identify something as wrong now just makes you wrong.

Oh, and BTW, my uniform was olive drab wool or denim pants, the khaki shirt and smokey hat. And I always wore a really large knife in a sheath. Hiking boots, no tennis shoes. For a good part of the time I'd just come home and take one uniform off to put the other on.

 

[jamil]

Yesterday the Mormon Church announced that as of Dec 31 2019, they will be canceling all affiliation with the Boy Scouts of America. In 2016 it was reported the LDS church made up almost 40% of the nations scouting units, and had over 435,000 youth members.

This will be interesting to see how the management team at national will handle the news.

There is a sort of catch 22 going on. I think BSA may have some progressive leaders and they’re trying to, let’s say, update the social standards. A huge chunk of their membership are conservative leaning Christians. So, as the BSA updates their policies, membership declines. To stay afloat they have to be even more inclusive. And that’s only going to cause more people to stop supporting them. It’s a positive feedback loop towards nonexistence.

 

[Denny347]

Boy Scouts? Didn't know they were still a "thing". We tried it with my son about 10 years ago, didn't understand the draw to it. I always compared their attendance to other "old school" organizations like the Moose Lodge, Masonic Lodge, etc. What once was, no longer is.

 

[Denny347]

There is a sort of catch 22 going on. I think BSA may have some progressive leaders and they’re trying to, let’s say, update the social standards. A huge chunk of their membership are conservative leaning Christians. So, as the BSA updates their policies, membership declines. To stay afloat they have to be even more inclusive. And that’s only going to cause more people to stop supporting them. It’s a positive feedback loop towards nonexistence.

Their numbers are on the decline as well. BSA has been declining for a LONG time. Stay the same or make changes, the end is coming for them one way or another.

 

[PistolBob]

In 1990, the BSA had 5.4 million members. In 1999 that number peaked at 6.2 million members. By 2006 the membership was 2.6 million members. Today the BSA claims about 2.3 million members and it is going down. The BSA has opened the program to girls in Cub Scouts, Kindergarten kids in Cub Scouts, homosexual kids and leadership, and transgendered adults and children. The numbers are still declining.

Here's my redneck opinion.

The chartering organizations have failed to strictly enforce the old membership requirements. No atheists. No homosexuals. No criminals. The BSA membership has been infiltrated, no, make that watered down in an effort to increase membership numbers that they decided to turn a blind eye to the membership requirements. So now there are enough goof balls in the membership body that these radical changes are being made and frankly, good folks are just getting out of the program and doing something else. We think the BSA has no chance of coming back.

On the bright side....scout camp property is great hunting land....and soon you'll see hundreds of scout camps up for sale.

 

[2A_Tom]

There is a sort of catch 22 going on. I think BSA may have some progressive leaders and they’re trying to, let’s say, update the social standards. A huge chunk of their membership are conservative leaning Christians. So, as the BSA updates their policies, membership declines. To stay afloat they have to be even more inclusive. And that’s only going to cause more people to stop supporting them. It’s a positive feedback loop towards nonexistence.

I believe there may be progs at the top, but more likely fear of lawsuits.

 

[Mark-DuCo]

I think it is a shame boy scouts is going the way they are and I see it as basically the end of that organization. I was never in scouts, and my son never will be either. Mainly because we already do all the things the scouts do and more, but it is a nice option for kids that don't have the opportunities to do these kinds of things.

 

[Kutnupe14]

I think it is a shame boy scouts is going the way they are and I see it as basically the end of that organization. I was never in scouts, and my son never will be either. Mainly because we already do all the things the scouts do and more, but it is a nice option for kids that don't have the opportunities to do these kinds of things.

But do you give him flair, er badges, for each accomplishment?

 

[Mark-DuCo]

But do you give him flair, er badges, for each accomplishment?

Nope, the sense of accomplishment is all we need.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Nope, the sense of accomplishment is all we need.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I think it is a shame boy scouts is going the way they are and I see it as basically the end of that organization. I was never in scouts, and my son never will be either. Mainly because we already do all the things the scouts do and more, but it is a nice option for kids that don't have the opportunities to do these kinds of things.

When I was a kid, living not too far from a Boy Scout camp where they had a big annual Pow Wow, a group of us boys (elementary age) would take our stuff out in the woods that bordered the camp and we'd make our own camp, and then we'd wander in to the scout camp and mix in with the "real" scouts, make some friends, and have a good time. We thought we were real renegades, no leader, no rules. It was a really good time.

I didn't think about it at the time, but we were exactly the kind of kids that benefited from the Scouts (not much fatherly involvement), with the only difference being that we lived out in the county, where most of the scouts lived in the city or suburbs.

 

[thunderchicken]

In 1990, the BSA had 5.4 million members. In 1999 that number peaked at 6.2 million members. By 2006 the membership was 2.6 million members. Today the BSA claims about 2.3 million members and it is going down. The BSA has opened the program to girls in Cub Scouts, Kindergarten kids in Cub Scouts, homosexual kids and leadership, and transgendered adults and children. The numbers are still declining.

Here's my redneck opinion.

The chartering organizations have failed to strictly enforce the old membership requirements. No atheists. No homosexuals. No criminals. The BSA membership has been infiltrated, no, make that watered down in an effort to increase membership numbers that they decided to turn a blind eye to the membership requirements. So now there are enough goof balls in the membership body that these radical changes are being made and frankly, good folks are just getting out of the program and doing something else. We think the BSA has no chance of coming back.

On the bright side....scout camp property is great hunting land....and soon you'll see hundreds of scout camps up for sale.

Its true that charter organizations have plenty of say in who is allowed to join a certain troop. I too feel that too many have failed to adhere to the old membership requirements. I wish things could go back to the way they were before I was ever even a scout (started as the first year they had Tiger cubs so '85or'86 and earned Eagle in 1996). I grew up with leaders who had been my dads leaders and learned many of the old school ways. I thoroughly enjoyed it, sad it has changed so much. But, society has changed and more & more boys have been made weaker. That has required the kids to be worked with differently. In large part gone are the days of constructive criticism now you have to be so much...nicer and dang near every mom wants to burn your tail if you upset their precious snowflake. Times have changed.

I disagree that the bright side is lots of scout camps potentially being sold. It's still an organization that introduces a number of kids to many outdoor adventures they wouldn't otherwise experience. It gets kids camping, fishing, hiking, teaches a number of survival/outdoor skills, learning about how we impact the eco system and seeing nature firsthand. Through merit badges it helps a number of kids learn life skills such as cooking & personal management as well as a number of other opportunities including introducing them to occupational options they may never hear much about by some guidance councilor pushing a 4yr degree. It teaches kids about community service and the importance of volunteers. It also, is often the first place many have the opportunity to be taught basic safe gun handling skills, and give them the opportunity to learn how to shoot rifles and shotguns. This is something we need in our society.

 

[Cygnus]

These dumbasses have likely ended their own organization.
The fact they didn't have the spine to stand up for it makes them a joke IMO. I find it ironic that the Girl Scouts organization has more testicular fortitude on this issue than the Multigender Scouts of America do. GSA is correct in saying this will harm their organization.
At least that my take on it.
Silly PC ruining it for everyone. I mean what's next, everyone gets to be a cheerleader????

 

[jamil]

Their numbers are on the decline as well. BSA has been declining for a LONG time. Stay the same or make changes, the end is coming for them one way or another.

It's a shame for those who find value in scouting. It's one of the recommended programs, among many, for kids without dads. Because it's important to have male influences growing up.

Both boys and girls without dads in the home have more problems learning delayed gratification than kids with dad's in the home. For boys it's about twice as bad as girls. Not learning delayed gratification leads to more kids diagnosed with focus issues, and difficulty completing tasks. Those are things that tend to make people less successful long term.

Of course it's better to have both parents, but if there's no dad around, scouting can help fulfill that void, as it teaches responsibility, and not sacrificing tomorrows successes for today's moments.

Well. Unless responsibility is old fashioned too, I guess. Because new trends are always better than old standards.

 

[Leadeye]

I enjoyed both the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, but things sound different today than they were during the 60s and early 70s. I remember early in the 70s there was a movement at the top to remake everything, the uniforms, merit badges, and change the focus but I got old and never did keep up with what happened.