Context: I was a Boy Scout for a number of years, making Eagle in 2020 right as COVID was really kicking off.
It was right afterwards, however, that the CSA scandal started popping up everywhere (which thankfully I was never exposed to or involved in during my time), and lately it seems like the organization & movement as a whole has fallen by the sociocultural wayside.
I would say that my time as a Scout did me objective good; I learned a decent amount about first-aid & survival-craft, participated in a number of volunteer & civic projects, and it generally made me a more well-rounded person. However, there’s no denying the impact that something “bigger than the Catholic Church scandal”, as I’ve heard it described, has on an institution such as this.
I’d like to get the community’s opinion, however; were any of you Scouts? How was your experience? What is your opinion of the institution today?
I’m a fellow Eagle scout and I have an intrinsic bias toward other scouts that have completed their Eagle. It shows me that they hold values consistent or similar to my own. Namely the scout law and oath. Scouting taught me a deep emotional connection to nature and the way I interact with it. As with any organization, there’s going to be failures and tribulations, but I treat BSA guidelines as I do Catholic morality. It is what I make of it and if I take the core values that are meant to be gleaned from what it’s supposed to teach, then it’s difficult to argue that it’s had a negative impact on me or the people around me.
I would love to see a scouting Renaissance in the next few decades with the inclusion of women and queer members. There’s few other organizations or programs that are as well equipped to teach youth about nature and what it has to offer.
I managed to get my Eagle scout badge right before I aged out so I can appreciate what I think you are saying. As a parent, I initially planned on getting my son into scouting but the mess with BSA was enough to keep us away. That said, I still try to embody many of the values that I learned as a scout like always being prepared and respectful and ethical behavior.
What I think we could use more of is something like the Baden-Power Scouting Association or Navigators USA since they appear to be much more inclusive but I wasn’t able to find a chapter in my area.