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?
I am an eagle scout and I highly recommend people to join Scouting. It’s boys and girls now and the nature of scouting is a little decentralized with how each troop does things. Troops vary in leadership culture, activities, etc so you might need to shop around for a troop you vibe with around you but I am all for getting outside and learning life skills.
That is very true. We have three scout groups in my area and even though they respect each other and often work together, they are mortal enemies and think what the others are doing is stupid.
I’ve been at two troops that are worlds apart. Vietnamese community also has some culture or scouting so they tend to have a lot of troops, even subcultures like there are vietnamese catholic troops but a lot aren’t religious