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 experiences are with the Norwegian scouts organization, and it may differ in many areas from the American Boy Scouts.
I’ve been a scout since I was about 12 (joined late), and currently a leader for the kids. I, and they, learn so much in all aspects of life. Everything from leadership, respect, guidance, to survival, creativity, and ingenuity. The leaders provide resources, tasks and challenges, and the kids are given mostly free reign within reason of safety.
My scout group has always (also before I joined) had an inclusive setup, where traditionally there were more boys than girls, and the last time the group was purely boys was more than 60 years ago, I believe. Lately, completely organically, we have ended up with more girls than boys, somehow, and it works just as fine. The only noticeable difference is perhaps a bit more tidy camp grounds. We are a bit unique even among groups in Norway with having mixed gender patrols (kids aged 10 - 16, in groups of 5 - 8), but despite a lot of scepticism from other groups, it works totally fine. I can’t even recall last time we had a gender-related issue. Issues are more related to the typical teenager bickering, especially the “they are only one year older, why can’t I go swim without supervision?”.
In regards to religion, the Christianity part of it was never more than simple tradition ever since I joined. We have some songs that are kinda reflecting christian values, but that’s about it, as far as influence goes in the events and activities. We’ve had some scandals here and there in regards to inappropriate adults, sure, but that has never been blown out of proportion in a way that it hurt the entire organization, as far as I know. They are dealt with accordingly, and banned, that’s it.
And a little promotion for those of you reading who don’t have experience with scouting: We have trips all the time, and every summer we have a weeklong trip to some forest somewhere in Scandinavia. And every four years there’s the national scouting camp (Landsleir) where around 10.000 scouts from the entire country + whoever else wants to join gather for a week in Norway. Another thing that happens every four years is the World Scout Jamboree, the next one being next year, and I’ll once again join as an International Service Team member, making a great international event for about 40.000 participants. Last time was in South Korea, which was quite the adventure, first struggling with a heat wave, then having to evacuate due to a typhoon.
All this helps build great people, who respect differences across cultures and traditions, and I indeed think it objectively do kids good.