The Boy Scouts of America revealed a big change to their organization on Tuesday.
The youth organization is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history in order to more accurately represent its mission of helping all American youngsters “experience the benefits of Scouting.”
Even though we’re changing our name, our goal of training young people to be prepared won’t alter. In a statement, Boy Scouts of America President and CEO Roger A. Krone said, “Forever and Always.” “We want to make sure that everyone feels welcome in Scouting, so this will be a small but crucial evolution.”
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Years after the organization was rocked by scandal—which included the dismissal of a gay assistant scoutmaster, allegations of sexual abuse, and bankruptcies—the transformation has finally taken place.
The BSA was came under fire in 2016 after an eight-year-old kid was expelled from the Cub Scouts due to parental concerns about his gender identity.
At the time, Joe Maldonado said to The Record, “I’m way more angry than sad.” “I’m a male in my identity. Everybody in the world could enter if I were them. It is appropriate to act in this way.
The BSA declared the next year that transgender kids who identified as guys would be welcome in their activities.
Somewhat overshadowing the news of allowing transgender children into the youth organization, was the news that girls would now be allowed to participate in the scouting program.
According to the organization, more than 1 million youth are currently involved with the program, including more than 176,000 girls and young women. So far, 6,000 young women have achieved the highly coveted rank of Eagle Scout.
However, it seems not everyone is happy with the name change. When the organization made a post on X (formerly Twitter), they were met with a lot of backlash.
One person wrote, “You destroyed an outlet for boys to be boys and learn to be men.”
Another person wrote a very scathing post, saying, “You no longer deserve to be an organization. Fold immediately.” Another person wrote, “Let boys be boys. Try that for a change.”
A person who agreed with the decision wrote, “As an Eagle Scout, I have no problem with this. If you do, I question how much you know about the scouting program or why you think little girls couldn’t or shouldn’t benefit from the skills and values scouting instills.”
Do you like the name change? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
