We were Boy Scouts of America

Old Logo and Name

     On Friday, February 1, 2019, the Boy Scouts of America officially started to include girls in their ranks. They also dropped the word “boy” from their name and will be called Scouts BSA moving forward.
     This change has been in the works since October of 2017 when they announced their intent. In the interim, they have brought girls into the junior ranks: the cub scouts. As of yesterday, Scouts BSA is an organization for young people ages 11 – 17.
     I grew up in scouting. I was a cub scout in Pack 223 in Detroit. I truly enjoyed it. We had great Den Mothers who had great weekly crafts and organized some amazing field trips. When I turned eleven, and having achieved my Webelos badge, I became a Boy Scout in Troop 223. I was excited. The older boys in the troop were in high school. How cool was that? I kept at it, attending weekly meetings. I stuck with my troop based at Burns School even though they started a troop at our church where all my cousins were members. I did not want to switch and leave my friends that all started cub scouts together.
     We had four camp-outs a year and worked on advancing in rank. On meeting days, we wore our uniforms to school. Our troop was led by World War II and Korean War veterans. So, there was a definite military feel to our troop. We marched and had inspections. Overall it was a great experience and wonderful memory e.g. Winter Survival.
     Not everyone stuck with it, however. As we got older and went to junior high school, the priorities for many boys changed. They lost interest in scouting and dropped out. I stuck it through and proudly attained the Eagle rank when I was 15. It was a good thing too. I believe I would have lost interest in high school.
     Proudly, my son became a Cub Scout and Boy Scout when we lived in Connecticut. I was very proud when he, too, became an Eagle. I wonder if his sons, my grandsons, will become scouts. I would like to say, without a doubt

My Den in Pack 223 of the
Cub Scouts

they will. But times change. The pressures for young folks to specialize in sports, music, and other extracurriculars at younger and younger ages are quite high. Parents want to steer their children in extracurriculars that, if they excel at them, will differentiate them in a positive way when they apply to colleges.
     I am not sure Boy Scouts and the venerable rank of Eagle has that cache anymore if, indeed, it ever was. When I was getting my Eagle, I was told I was becoming part of a special group and that the becoming an Eagle would open doors for both college and career. I really bought into that notion but over the years I have come to believe that that is not the case. I am certain that being an Eagle helps boys know they can achieve longer term plans. It builds self-confidence, leadership, and the merit badge system allowed me to explore fields and interests I would have otherwise never pursued. I still recall what I learned from merit badges such as First Aid, Marksmanship, Public Speaking, Nuclear Energy, and even Art. I am forever thankful that I did and can say I am an Eagle Scout. For a time, in Connecticut I served as a merit badge counselor and enjoyed it.
     Back in the day, we had Boy Scouts. The girls in school joined the Brownies/Girl Scouts or the Campfire Girls. Basically, it was Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. I noticed that the Girl Scout ranks thinned faster than the Boy Scout ranks did as the boys and girls entered high school. I attributed that to the Girl Scouts not having a well-known crowning level of rank such as Eagle and the fact that the girls changed a lot more than the boys at that age.
     When I heard the Boy Scouts were going co-ed, my first thought was that the numbers must be dwindling and they saw this, seemingly unthinkable move back in my day, as a way to keep the numbers up and survive in today’s world. Surprisingly, I was not upset or offended in anyway but wondered why they didn’t just merge or team-up with the Girl Scouts to shore-up both groups and take advantage of administrative and leadership synergies. I was not alone in that thought.
     My viewpoint was bolstered the next day when I read an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal by Davia Temin, a management consultant board member of the Girl Scouts for nine years. She didn’t hold back in her piece, “Don’t Let you Girls Become Boy Scouts:”

Earlier this month—to the shock of the Girl Scouts of the USA—the Boy Scouts of America announced it would soon allow girls to join the Cub Scouts. And the organization plans to debut an Eagle Scout program for girls by 2019. This move is a struggling organization’s attempt to stem its membership losses and improve its financial position by going after the 2.6 million girls and adults currently in Girl Scouts. 

The BSA has no dedication to girls or girls’ leadership. It has no deep commitment to creating “girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place”—the Girl Scouts of the USA’s mission. What the BSA has is financial problems after losing hundreds of thousands of members in recent years. The BSA’s plans are effectively a hostile takeover bid, calculated to pounce on what its leadership perceives as easy pickings—a weaker organization, led by women.

     On the official name change/girls can become Boy Scouts day, NPR had a thoughtful segment on it. I was listening to it on the way to the university on Morning Edition. At one point in the segment I just started laughing out loud:

Laurel Highlands [Pennsylvania] Council Scouting Executive and CEO Sharon Moulds said the most common question is whether these older scouts troops will be co-ed. 

"There are girl troops and there are boy troops," Moulds said. "Generally what people are concerned about is they think they're going to merge together ... that's never going to happen."

     Oh Sharon… If you asked anyone in back in my scouting days if they were ever going to let girls become boy scouts, the answer would have been, “It is the Boy Scouts… that’s never going to happen.” Now, I would ask her to be mindful of the Scout Motto and “Be Prepared.”

New Name and Logo