The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) recently faced a wave of criticism when it announced it would change its name, but the organization has consistently faced backlash over the past decade as it moves to widen its doors. .
The BSA has faced criticism for taking a more inclusive approach, including allowing girls and gay children and leaders to participate. At the same time, participation has steadily dwindled while enduring bankruptcy, a global pandemic and tens of thousands of sexual abuse allegations costing millions of dollars.
Jerry Gerlach, a scout leader from 2015 to 2020, told Fox News Digital that “when you change the name from Boy Scouts to Scouting America, Boy Scouts completely evaporates.” “I think it’s sad that it was gone in that moment.”
He added that the name change pushed the Boy Scouts to a “point of no return.”
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Selby Chipman, the first female Eagle Scout of 2021, praised the Boy Scouts of America’s decision to change its name to Scouting America. (Courtesy: Selby Chipman)
But Selby Chipman, an Eagle Scout in the first female class of 2021, praised the move.
“The most important thing to emphasize is that the name change does not change Scouting’s mission, which is to reach all eligible youth and provide them with leadership opportunities, service opportunities, and a variety of life skills.” “It’s about providing that,” she said.
“The name change is really just for everyone to know that they too have the opportunity to participate, because some young girls, when they first hear that girls will be allowed, , because I was like, ‘Wait, there’s still a boy in the name?'” Chipman added. . “I think emphasizing the name change means we want to reach all eligible young people. That’s part of our mission and that’s why the name change is true. This is the purpose of
Eagle Scout comments mirror BSA comments.
In announcing the change last week, the BSA said the name change reflects “the organization’s continued commitment to welcoming all America’s youth and families to experience the benefits of Scouting.” The group suggests the changes will help improve under-recruitment numbers and give more opportunities to American girls, but some critics argue that the measures will I believe this is the final step in removing one of the last male-only slots for
BSA declined to comment for this story.
Boy Scouts promotes participation amid declining enrollment
The BSA, which has come under heavy criticism for restricting membership and tailoring it to religious demographics, has made a series of changes in hopes of strengthening enrollment while simultaneously alleviating that criticism. I started. Instead, participation steadily declined.
The BSA lost about 137,000 participants, or about 5%, from 2009 to 2012, according to the report. This is far from the peak of around 5 million people in the 1970s, according to the World Health Organization. Associated Press.
In 2013, after facing years of criticism for banning gay members, the organization lifted that ban.And in 2015, the organization announced that gay men take a leadership position within the military. In 2017 he announced that BSA: transgender youth You can join the ranks based on the gender identity you provided on your application.
The Boy Scouts of America recently announced that it would change its name to Scouting America to be more inclusive. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
By 2019, enrollment had fallen to 2.1 million, with more than a quarter of participants fewer than in 2009.
Gerlach said admitting gay members put him in a difficult position.
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“It created a problem because when we go camping, we have to be ready to sleep. We can’t put boys with boys because we don’t know their sexual preferences,” he told FOX News Digital. “Actually, a problem arose that I didn’t know how to deal with.”
“How do we keep these boys apart and still maintain Scout values? Because they love to sleep together and stay up until midnight poking each other and throwing spit at each other. , because no matter what they’re doing, they’ll do whatever mischief they want to cause.”? ” He said. “That’s when I decided to step down as a leader because I didn’t feel like I could create a safe environment.”
The BSA has made other changes in the name of inclusivity.that issued a statement In summer 2020, the company announced in support of the Black Lives Matter movement that becoming an Eagle Scout would require a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Merit Badge, and employees would be required to take DEI training.
Jerry Gerlach, a former scout leader from 2015 to 2020, said the Boy Scouts of America disappeared with the recent name change. (Fox News Digital/Courtesy of Jerry Gerlach)
The group later said: These plans were postponed “to carefully consider and evaluate feedback received from various commenters on the draft requirements.” The BSA ultimately agreed that the Office of Diversity and Youth Development subsequently “Citizenship in society” Achievement badge.
Gerlach believes DEI in scouting has a “negative impact.”
“It’s creating walls that we’ve been trying to tear down for generations,” he says.
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girls join boy scouts
In 2019, the BSA announced that girls could join the Boy Scouts in the face of a significant decline in participation. Chipman, who is now an assistant scoutmaster herself, said her first all-female troop only had five members when it started. Now there are 50 pieces.
Chipman and his troop decided to become Eagle Scouts and found a way to earn the badge during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to qualify within 19 months. She said she feels that she and the thousand other young women who have earned Eagle Scout status are a sisterhood that drives her program forward.
She said the decision to open up the Boy Scouts gave young girls an opportunity for “high adventure” not previously afforded to them.
“The show was really great and I had a great time,” Chipman told FOX News Digital. “Some of my best friends I met through scouting.”
“Without reconnaissance, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t have the skills that I can apply to my everyday life,” she added, noting that the force is still segregated by gender. .
The Boy Scouts of America announced that girls will be able to participate in its program in 2019. (Getty Images)
A deviation from its founding?
Critics have repeatedly accused the Boy Scouts of straying from its founding, especially after admitting girls.
Michal Domogala, who became an Eagle Scout in 1993, said, “While the American Boy Scout tradition has long focused on forming and building the character of young men, organizations like the Girl Scouts focus on the unique development of young women.” It’s meeting a need,” he told Fox. News Digital.
“I believe that boys should have their own place to be boys, test themselves, be leaders and be proud of their accomplishments,” he continued. “Their withdrawal from leadership positions, especially among these boys, is a long-term disservice and does not directly address the problems of this previously thriving organization.”
The Boy Scouts were founded in 1910 to teach “patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred values.” Today, the BSA’s mission is to “prepare young people to make lifelong ethical and moral choices by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.”
The oath requires Scouts to fulfill their duties to God and country, help others, and remain physically strong and “spiritually awake.” Similarly, the Scout Law requires character traits such as obedience, courage, cleanliness, and respect.
But Gerlach explained that the Boy Scouts’ mission is simply to provide an opportunity for “boys to be boys.”
“Boys like to do rough things,” he said. “They want to get dirty. They want to play with fire. They want to bring out their tools. And they want to wrestle each other.”
Selby Chipman, who went from being an Eagle Scout to being an assistant scoutmaster for an all-girls troop in North Carolina, said the Boy Scouts of America is not completely coeducational. (Courtesy: Selby Chipman)
“Take them out of there and let them talk rough and let them do what they want without worrying about who’s watching what they’re doing, who’s seeing them, just freeing them up.” I think that was the mission.” Gerlach added. “I think all we tried to offer was an opportunity to have fun, experience things and grow yourself in an environment where you can be yourself.”
But Chipman disagreed.
“I think it’s really important to remember that the mission has never changed,” she said. “It’s always been the same.”
“The name change gives us this new level of inclusivity, so we’ve been looking forward to that and we’re really excited just to move the program forward,” Chipman added.
After a three-front battle, BSA enrollment plummets
Still, aside from the BSA’s policy change, the agency also faced several significant challenges almost simultaneously: a global pandemic, a sexual abuse scandal, and bankruptcy. By 2020, enrollment had fallen by 43% to 1.1 million people, court records show, to 762,000. Associated Press reported.
First, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which adopted the Boy Scouts as its official youth program in 1913, announced in 2019 that it was severing its relationship with the Boy Scouts. The Mormon Church has 425,000 young people in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, making it the largest group participating in Scouting. salt lake tribune.
Membership in the Boy Scouts of America plummeted from 2019 to 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Getty Images)
In February 2020, the organization filed for bankruptcy after thousands of people filed lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by scout leaders. The organization spent more than $150 million resolving hundreds of abuse cases from 2017 to 2019, after which the BSA established a trust that will pay out $2.4 billion to more than 82,000 victims. . CNN reported.
In February, the Supreme Court refused to block the Boy Scouts of America’s bankruptcy settlement, saying the agreement unlawfully barred people from suing churches and other organizations that run local scouting programs, alleging childhood sexual abuse. An emergency request from victims’ organizations was rejected. citizen groups, CNN reported.
According to the Associated Press, the number of registered users currently stands at just over 1 million, including 176,000 girls. It’s unclear how the name change will affect it.
“Scouting has always been an issue for the Boy Scouts,” Gerlach said. “It’s always very difficult to hire people, and we worked hard for it. Now, what do we have to sell? We don’t have any more products to sell.”
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