Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is a prominent youth organization that focuses on teaching life skills through outdoor activities like camping, hiking, and community service. Inspired by the scouting movement founded by General Robert Baden-Powell in the early 20th century, the BSA was established in 1910 by William Boyce, who aimed to replicate the successful model he observed in England. Members of the BSA can earn merit badges across various subjects, which contribute to their advancement through ranks, culminating in the esteemed Eagle Scout rank. The program promotes values of self-reliance, teamwork, and leadership, fostering personal responsibility and social skills among participants.
In recent years, the BSA has evolved to include girls in its programs, reflecting a commitment to inclusivity. The organization has also faced significant challenges, including legal issues related to historic allegations of abuse, leading to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2020. Despite these challenges, the BSA has made efforts to reorganize and implement new safeguards. In 2024, the organization announced plans to rebrand as Scouting America while retaining its foundational programs. This evolution highlights the BSA's ongoing attempts to adapt and serve a diverse community of young people.
Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America is a scouting organization based on the teachings of General Robert Baden-Powell and managed by the Boy Scouts of America National Council. Boy Scouts of America teaches members many life skills through educational wilderness expeditions, camping trips, and regional meetups with other scout troops.
Scouts have opportunities for advancement and recognition by earning merit badges, which symbolize mastery of particular tasks. Earning merit badges allows scouts to reach higher ranks within the organization, culminating in the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout. Upon reaching the age of eighteen, members can no longer advance as scouts, but they may advance within the adult portion of the organization, such as by volunteering as a scoutmaster or serving in district, area, or regional management.
Background
The Boy Scouts of America was not the first scouting organization, but it was heavily inspired by its predecessor. General Robert Baden-Powell began scouting in its modern form in 1907. Baden-Powell was a retired English army officer living in the United Kingdom. Earlier in life, he had written a book about tracking and survival tactics for military scouts. The book was inspired by his experiences scouting in South Africa during the Boer War and contained much advice about surviving outdoors for extended periods. In time, Baden-Powell realized that his book had become popular as a guide for outdoor activities. He then decided to adapt the book to a version meant for peacetime. Titled Scouting for Boys, the survival guide was extremely popular throughout Europe.
Baden-Powell then decided to try out his ideas. He gathered more than twenty young men and engaged them in a wilderness outing during which they learned skills related to hunting, camping, and fishing. They also learned the importance of morality and performing good deeds. Soon afterward, Baden-Powell set up a central office to organize groups for his scouting outings and created a uniform for the young people involved. He designed the uniform to be protective in different elements but affordable enough for the average family of the time. At this point, the Boy Scouts officially had formed.
During a trip to England, American publisher William Boyce became lost in fog. He was quickly found by a young man, who guided the publisher to his intended destination. When Boyce tried to tip the young man, the young man explained that he was a Boy Scout and could not accept money for the deed. Boyce investigated the Boy Scouts during his time in England and quickly learned about the organization Baden-Powell had started.
Boyce was so impressed with the Boy Scouts that he decided to replicate the organization in the United States. A variety of similar institutions, including the Sons of Daniel Boone, already existed in the United States. Boyce contacted them all and convinced them to reorganize into one larger, central organization. Boyce incorporated the group as the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910.
Overview
Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America have the opportunity to learn many skills related to camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, physical fitness, and leadership. Through the study of these skills, scouts learn the value of self-reliance and teamwork. They learn personal responsibility and develop social skills by building relationships with other scouts.
When a Scout demonstrates competency in a new skill, they are awarded a merit badge. Scouts can work toward earning merit badges in more than 135 subjects. These include backpacking, climbing, citizenship, chemistry, fire safety, engineering, forestry, leatherworking, horsemanship, theater, wood carving, and snow sports. Scouts can earn merit badges until they turn eighteen years old.
As Scouts earn more merit badges, they have the potential to advance within the ranks of the Scouts. The first rank earned is that of Scout, which can be earned by showing a thorough understanding of the organization and the values of the Boy Scouts of America and by demonstrating rudimentary survival skills. Scouts can then advance to the ranks of Tenderfoot, Second Class Scout, First Class Scout, Star Scout, Life Scout, and Eagle Scout. The requirements for each rank are distinct. Many ranks require scouts to earn specific merit badges, serve actively within their troop, and perform community service. To advance, the scout must meet with their scoutmaster or counselor and be approved by a local review board.
The most basic level of the Boy Scouts of America organization is a patrol. Patrols are small groups of five to ten scouts. They elect a patrol leader who is responsible leading the patrol. All patrol leaders elect an assistant patrol leader to help with these duties. Each patrol belongs to a troop, which is a collective group of local patrols. In most circumstances, troops include about thirty-five scouts. However, troop sizes may range from as few as twelve scouts to more than one hundred scouts.
Troops elect a senior patrol leader who runs all troop meetings and ensures that the troop's needs are met. The senior patrol leader appoints an assistant senior patrol leader who fills in when the senior patrol leader is absent. These two scouts do as much of the day-to-day running of the troop as possible. They are responsible for arranging troop meetings—during which scouts learn new skills and play games—and organizing the troop's monthly campouts. Of course, a young Scout cannot be expected to handle certain real-world responsibilities. For these situations, troops turn to their scoutmasters. Scoutmasters handle all the adult responsibilities of the troop, including driving and planning each year's program. In larger troops, the scoutmaster is often supported by one or more assistant scoutmasters.
Troops are organized into districts, which create large events. Multiple troops often participate in events organized by the district. Districts are organized into larger councils. These councils are organized into fourteen Council Service Territories, which are governed by the Boy Scouts of America National Council.
While the Boy Scouts of America organization had allowed girls to participate in some programs in a limited capacity, in October 2017 it was announced that girls would be welcomed to take part in the program in general for the first time in the organization's history, beginning with the Cub Scouts. Though members of the Boy Scouts organization's board argued that the strength of the program and its benefits should be available to anyone regardless of sex, and many women supported the move, others, particularly those involved with the Girl Scouts organization, criticized the announcement as just a means of making up for reduced membership. Younger girls gained eligibility for the Cub Scouts program in 2018. In recognition of the inclusion, it was further announced that year that while the parent organization's name would remain the Boy Scouts of America, the program name for older members involved in the Boy Scouts would be changed to Scouts BSA; this change was officially implemented and young women began joining the Scouts BSA in February 2019. Since 2013, the organization had also opened up membership to transgender people as well as gay people.
The organization experienced yet another change when, in May 2018, it was revealed that the affiliation between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Boy Scouts of America was coming to an end, officially concluding by the end of 2019. The church communicated its desire to create its own youth program more fitting for its current members, which include several global individuals, and religious ideals. The church had been the biggest sponsor of the organization and the majority of young Mormon boys had taken part in the program.
In February 2020, it was revealed that the Boy Scouts of America had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to financially address an increased number of lawsuits aimed at the organization regarding accusations of sexual abuse. According to some reports, the Boy Scouts of America faced hundreds of cases by that point and continued to encourage other potential victims to make filings as needed to receive compensation. As part of the bankruptcy procedure, the organization planned to establish a trust to provide funds for victim compensation. Though the organization's $2.4 billion plan for a reorganization to enable operation, with more safeguards against abuse in place, as well as compensation efforts was granted a court approval in September 2022, some insurance companies critical of the plan appealed. A district court judge then ruled to uphold the plan's approval in early 2023, but this decision was also immediately appealed. In February 2024, the Supreme Court rejected a request to halt the settlement plan.
Citing its ongoing efforts toward inclusivity, the Boy Scouts of America organization announced in May 2024 that it would be rebranding the following year to Scouting America, while keeping its core programs and missions in place.
Bibliography
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