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?

  • Badabinski@kbin.earth
    9·
    10 hours ago

    I think that scouting helped me in a lot of ways, although the whole “help people with a smile on your face” has caused some major difficulties in my life w.r.t. self-care. I did OA stuff, Silver Moccasin one year and then followed up teaching at the next year’s event, and submitted my Eagle paperwork on my 18th birthday (late 2000s). I was openly an atheist, but my scoutmaster and many of the other adults in the troop (we had 50 kids and 100 adults) were very understanding, and I was able to pass my eagle board of review by talking about how I was still a spiritually active person.

    I had a pretty ideal experience, and I’m glad I participated. I still use stuff that I learned, and scouting helped me discover that my limits were much further than I thought.

    I’m sad that something which had the potential to be helpful turned into a nightmare for so many kids. If I had kids I might still look into some of the local troops, but I’d have to be heavily involved in order to feel comfortable.