The Motto Of The Boy Scouts Of America

“On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the scout law; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.” This is the Scout Oath. The scout law states, “A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.” (Cite Boy Scout Handbook) These ideals are part of the backbone of this country since its founding,ideals which have been I AM SO TIRED. GOOD NIGHT. I COMPLETELY GIVE UP. Yet, n
This is the motto of the Boy Scouts of America, an organization with nearly 2.3 million youth participants (Cite quote.): a number that is continually dropping. The Boy Scouts of America seeks to instill good morals and leadership skills into every scout they serve. My life and the lives of numerous others has changed because of this program. Yet, the BSA’s numbers have been steadily dropping by 10% in the last decade. (Dave Banks SouRCe) It is important that we know why this is happening, what the effects are and how they affect us, and how it can be combatted.
A recent outbreak has spread across the country: the Zombie Apocalypse has started.Walking corpses, piles of decaying flesh, all struggling slowly towards you in hopes of laying claims to the fleshy meat of your brain.
Do you have the skills to survive? An even better question: Do you have the attitude, character and willpower to survive? While the Zombie Apocalypse may not happen anytime soon, life is happening right now, and you need to “Be Prepared.” This is the motto of the Boy Scouts of America, an organization with nearly 2.3 million youth participants (Cite quote.): a number that is continually dropping. The Boy Scouts of America seeks to instill good morals and leadership skills into every scout they serve. My life and the lives of numerous others has changed because of this program. Yet, the BSA’s numbers have been steadily dropping by 10% in the last decade. (Dave Banks SouRCe) It is important that we know why this is happening, what the effects are and how they affect us, and how it can be
combatted.

There are many different reasons for the increasing number of youth dropping out of the BSA and its programs, or not even joining in the first place.
One of the causes of the number decline may be that there are many more extracurricular activities now than there were back when the BSA was first founded in 1910. People are finding different interests to fill their time, such as sports or FFA, both of which are heavily emphasized at this school. The BSA has less of an official presence at school, by law. Less people know about it, the programs it offers, or the benefit it can have, so less people join. This is called ignorance. Another reason scouts drop out or potential scouters don’t join, is they are opposed to the BSA’s more conservative viewpoint. An important topic in the last few years has been gay marriage and the general approach to homosexuals as a whole. In the past openly homosexual people were not allowed in any part of scouting because people were afraid of the other boys being negatively affected. Recently, in 2013, it was voted that homosexual youth would no longer be barred from membership, and just last year it was voted that homosexual adults can be scout leaders, volunteers, or employees. Although, the chartering organization (the organization from which the unit is based) still has the final say in who is authorized to be a scout leader. BSA President Robert M. Gates said in a statement about the vote, “For far too long this issue has divided and
distracted us. Now it’s time to unite behind our shared belief in the extraordinary power of Scouting to be a force for good in our community and in the lives of its youth members.” This ideology holds true to the scouting organization as a whole. One of the requirements to join any of the scouting programs is to recite the scout oath, which states: “On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law…” Some people are unsettled with the Boy Scout’s Theistic focus, especially atheists and agnostics. At all Boy Scout rank advancement reviews, scouts are often asked how they have done their duty to God. (Boy Scout Source) In Venturing, the co-ed program I am a part of, to get the highest possible award, appropriately named the Summit Award, you have to at some point complete 3 different structured personal reflections, one of which has to be based on development of faith. The BSA may require all members to affirm a belief in God, but so does the Pledge of Allegiance. Some people don’t join Boy Scouts because they don’t know enough about it. There are dozens of programs that are a part of scouting. Such as Boy scouts, Cub Scouts, Venturing, Sea Scouts, STEM Scouts, Varsity Scouts, and Explorers. This is partially my fault and the fault of my fellow scouts for not communicating.