Monday, January 28, 2013

Boy Scouts. Too Little, Too Late?

I have had a complicated relationship with the Boy Scouts of America.

I would like to like them more, what they mean for boys and young men.  The trouble is I just can't.

The times I was in the Cub Scouts and briefly the Boy Scouts were great.  I will say I learned a lot of things that I find useful today and want to pass on to my own boys.   But the truth is I can't get past a few things.

First is the whole God thing.  I never liked it then, I don't like it now.
That's fine though. The Boy Scouts NEVER have to change that.  I never expected them too, even when I knew the only thing for me to do was to quit.

The other thing is different.
The exclusion of gay Scouts is not ok. It's not ok for an organization like the Scouts to say they are there for all boys, and then turn around and tell a few that they didn't mean them.

Well the Scouts maybe changing this, but I wonder if it will be enough to save them.
http://www.scouting.org/MembershipPolicy.aspx

I think this is a good move on the part of the Boy Scouts and one I hope brings them into the 21st Century.
Sure there is much less need to know which knot to use where than there is on how to perform a good web search, but baby steps I guess.

I just hope it isn't too little, too late.

1 comment:

  1. Life is tough enough for boys struggling with so much in this modern world. I hope the Boy Scouts remain for those boys. No organization helping boys learning to interact with one another would be sad.

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