Context: I was a Boy Scout for a number of years, making Eagle in 2020 right as COVID was really kicking off.
It was right afterwards, however, that the CSA scandal started popping up everywhere (which thankfully I was never exposed to or involved in during my time), and lately it seems like the organization & movement as a whole has fallen by the sociocultural wayside.
I would say that my time as a Scout did me objective good; I learned a decent amount about first-aid & survival-craft, participated in a number of volunteer & civic projects, and it generally made me a more well-rounded person. However, there’s no denying the impact that something “bigger than the Catholic Church scandal”, as I’ve heard it described, has on an institution such as this.
I’d like to get the community’s opinion, however; were any of you Scouts? How was your experience? What is your opinion of the institution today?
My best friend was a scout and my older brother was, too. I never joined, I’ve never been a joiner. I never heard a thing about any abuse.
I did learn a lot from my friend and brother, and I read parts of the BS handbook (or whatever it was called). Learned about navigating with a compass, building a lean-to, building fires, first-aid, etc. from that book. It was all interesting because we used to go camping for summer vacation.
I bought a plywood kayak kit from the scouts, and built it, as did my friend. We had fun paddling around a reservoir with them.