\u201cHow Will the Boy Scouts\u2019 Decision Affect the Girl Scouts? \u00a0The organization\u2019s choice to admit girls is a major reversal that could ultimately hurt the Girl Scouts and undermine their mission.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sad to see the decline of the Boy Scouts. \u00a0My involvement in a non-LDS Scout troop in California was a very important part of my growing up. \u00a0We weren\u2019t altogether conventional. \u00a0We concentrated on backpacking and on winning first place honors\u00a0at the annual district Camporee \u2014 we never failed to do so\u00a0a single time during my years of involvement \u2014 and we paid relatively little attention either to merit badges (other than a few like \u201cFirst Aid,\u201d which we took very seriously) and to ranks. \u00a0We seldom wore Scout uniforms. \u00a0We regarded other Scout troops as \u201csoft.\u201d \u00a0When they came to big Scout camps, they brought lots of equipment in via trucks. \u00a0We walked<\/em> in, with everything on our backs. \u00a0If we couldn\u2019t carry it \u2014 in principle, for several miles up and down mountains \u2014 it didn\u2019t come. \u00a0We didn\u2019t bring cots. \u00a0We never slept on cots. \u00a0And we always beat everybody in all of the competitions \u2014 lashing, knot tying, orienteering, field identification of plants, everything. \u00a0We were probably rather arrogant.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time I was thirteen or so, participating in that troop under the devoted leadership of our Scoutmaster, an engineer by the name of George Schmidt to whom I owe a very great debt, I had climbed all of the tallest peaks in southern California, devoted one trip of fifteen days to the John Muir Trail in the High Sierras \u2014 actually, I did that one when I was eleven; along the way, we managed to save a drowning man in a high mountain lake\u00a0\u2014 and climbed Mount Whitney, the highest summit in the contiguous United States. \u00a0Among other things.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I do know, however, that the Scouts aren\u2019t for everybody. \u00a0Perhaps it was my fault, but my own sons weren\u2019t very interested in Scouting. \u00a0And I remember being told by Church leaders in Australia that the Scouting program simply didn\u2019t work for them there, though I can\u2019t quite remember why not.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, Scouting does a lot of good for a lot of kids, and I\u2019ve been sorry to watch\u00a0it attacked and weakened and marginalized over the past few years, and to see its numbers shrink. \u00a0I fear that these new developments won\u2019t reverse the trend. \u00a0They are more likely, I expect, to accelerate it.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Back in May of this year, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that it was backing away from some elements of Scouting: \u00a0 \u201cChurch Replacing Varsity and Venturing Scouting with New Activities Program\u201d \u00a0 Now, it\u2019s been announced\u00a0that the Boy Scouts of America will soon go coeducational: \u00a0 \u201cBoy Scouts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":28928,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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