Trigger Warning: Article mentions child sexual abuse
The Boy and Girl Scouts are known for their delicious cookies and outdoor education. Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was founded in 1910 in Silver Bay, New York, by Charles Alexander Eastman as a way to teach young men about patriotism, independence, kindred values, and “proper behavior.” BSA is based on the Boy Scouts Association in Britain. Girl Scouts was started in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low, in Savannah, Georgia as a way to break social norms for young women at the time after gaining inspiration from Eastman’s founding of BSA. Now, both scout organizations focus on learning about the outdoors and community services, but the morals they still value from the twentieth century do not line up with the present day and need to be modernized.
The Scout organizations strive to teach young people leadership skills, outdoor education, and giving back to the community. Girl Scouts have six levels: Daisies (Kindergarten-1st grade), Brownies (2nd-3rd grade), Juniors (4th-5th grade), Cadettes (6th-8th grade), Seniors (9th-10th grade), and Ambassadors (11th-12th grade). Based on knowledge, capability, and experience, BSA has seven ranks: Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, and Eagle. Former boy scout, Eric Wakefield, describes his experience as, “A lot of camping trips. It’s also a lot of like community service work and learning new skills to get different like merit badges.” Merit badges are patches to be earned by learning a skill. There are 120 badges scouts can earn.
In 2020, BSA filed for bankruptcy from a lawsuit of years of sexual abuse in boy scouting with 86% plus survivors backing it. There are at least 82,000 allegations of child sexual abuse in Scouting programs’ history. BSA responded, after coming back from bankruptcy on April 19, 2023, with a court-approved Plan of Reorganization of a $2.4 billion Victims Compensation Trust.
Inclusivity and diversity vary from troop to troop, but seemingly scouts lack in this area. The organizations have a religious underside where on the official website of BSA, the oath written is, “On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.” Boy Life Scout, Trygve Pedersen states, “It’s kind of still like you can only be Christian [to be a scout],”. But, on the official Girl Scouts website it states, “Girl Scouts is welcoming and inclusive to members of all faiths.”
In 1917, Girl Scout cookies started out as a service project in Muskogee, Oklahoma in a school cafeteria to raise money to fund troop activities. Selling cookies has taught young women about financing and marketing skills they might not have had the chance to learn because of misogynistic beliefs. When there was a shortage of baking ingredients during World War II, cookie production paused and the organization switched over to selling calendars. As they expanded throughout the years, cookie selling spread nationally and three obligatory flavors were developed: Chocolate Mints (Thin Mints), Peanut Butter Sandwich/Do-si-dos, and Shortbread/Trefoils. Now, cookies are Halal and Kosher certified with vegan and gluten-free options. You can buy cookies online, in stores, and at nearby cookie booths.
Boy and Girl Scouts started as a way to break gender norms and learn to be patriotic while becoming educated on grappling the outdoors. Some values have adapted to the present but many aspects of the organization are still outdated.
