Sunday, August 01, 2010

Boy Scouts In The 21st Century

How do they stay relevant? An article from The New York Times.

The Times, of course, seems to come down on making the Boy scouts less "exclusionary," which means admitting girls, gays, and atheists. From what I've read in Scout-oriented blogs, the most difficult thing about the tradition in the 21st century is finding adults willing to take the responsibility of becoming Scout leaders. It's a responsibility few want to take on.

As for girls entering Boy Scouts, I'd think that the preferable course is to reform Girl Scouts to make it more comparable to Boy Scouts, rather than force change on Boy Scouts.

1 comment:

Bob S. said...

Girls can join the Venture Scouts; a co-ed group from 14 to 20.

Most of the Venture Crews are centered on some activity, sport or hobby.

There are cycling based crews, soccer based crews, even computer game based crews.

One of the bigger challenges in getting adult Scouters is the divorce rate. It's rare to have both parents involved or at least willing to have the kids involved.

Rarer still is to get either parent involved. Many old timers are having fits that many troops have female leaders but in cases that is the only way to keep going