Scouting's Real Crisis Is Not Marketing. It Is Decades of Neglect.(www.untendedfire.org)
21 pointsby AuthorizedCust6 hours ago7 comments
  • bluGilla minute ago
    As scoutmaster the article feels wrong. There are things that I'm sure are wrong but I don't know what they are. the article doesn't seem right either though.
  • decimalenough4 hours ago
    The article gives short shrift to the real real crisis: you need to read 12 paragraphs down to find a casual mention of the "sexual-abuse bankruptcy", which also explains the precipitous 2020 collapse in membership in the chart that is prominently shown up top. Turns out parents aren't too keen on sending their kids into camps that have reported 92,000 cases of sexual abuse (and how many cases were not?).
    • naijaboiler14 minutes ago
      i disagree with you. The author is pointing at deeper cultural issue of lack of candor that unaddressed allows things like sexual abuse to flourish. It is an organization that is not willing to tackle serious or face hard things head on. Yeah and their product sucks, so improved marketing won't save it.
    • duskwuff4 hours ago
      Are you sure that's the only cause? I can think of some other events in 2020 that might have led to a lot of youth dropping out of in-person programs.
    • 6stringmerc4 hours ago
      Actually the 2020 drop in membership is more closely tied to the disproportionate “voices” of the LDS membership who did everything possible to change the culture of the organization to suit their ends. Yes the abuse issue is real, but don’t discount the Mormon influence. As a group, they have serious psychiatric issues (the most medicated state in the US by a huge margin) and frequently use dishonesty whenever it suits them (see: Mitt Romney and the caffeine prohibition change).
      • vintermann3 hours ago
        I'm out of the loop on this, what changes did the LDS want?
        • quantummagic3 hours ago
          The LDS wanted it to continue to be more of a faith-based organization, and also objected to combining boys and girls together into the same program. Ultimately they left the organization at the end of 2019, taking about 20% of the membership with them.
          • JuniperMesosan hour ago
            You don't have to be Mormon or even religious to think that there's value in having a youth program that is specifically male-only, such that you'd be highly motivated to abandon a youth program if it stopped being male-only.
          • nephihaha3 hours ago
            A lot of Scout groups are church based and not only with the LDS.

            I have heard that the LDS church got wind of abuse claims within scouting before they hit the mainstream. They have their own abuse scandals just now so probably didn't want to fight that war on two fronts. Either that or cost cutting, which is a major feature of modern Mormonism, except where temple construction is concerned.

            Scouting hasn't taken off in Mormon churches much outside the USA by the way. Not really in the UK.

      • nephihaha3 hours ago
        That is a very sectarian comment. Whatever you might think of Mormonism the religion, never confuse it with the membership who come in all shapes and sizes. (A large proportion of people in Utah aren't even LDS, at least 40% or more in some areas, and depression is a major issue throughout the other Rocky Mountain areas.)

        There is some good evidence by the way that the LDS leadership got wind of the abuse compensation claims before they became prominent, which is why they disaffiliated. It may also be cost cutting, because the Mormon church is providing less and less money for activities of all sorts.

        • stavros2 hours ago
          Can't this argument be applied to every group that has more than one member?
  • cbdevidal34 minutes ago
    Looks like membership peaked in 1971. Add that chart to the list:

    https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/

    • RobotToaster2 minutes ago
      I assume that site is implying it's Nixon's fault? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_shock
    • bsenftner16 minutes ago
      I remember, my older brother wanted to be an Eagle Scout, and I was of the age to initially join. Some respected counter culture person, I don't think I was him, but someone like George Carlin, started talking about the boy scouts being where men scouted boys. That was it, the boy scouts were instantly "uncool".
  • ndr4238 minutes ago
    BSA rebranded itself “Scouting America.” The new name initializes to “SA,” common shorthand for sexual assault.

    Well, as a german and history conscious person I think the acronym could also be taken in a completely different way.

  • bawolff3 hours ago
    > The cost falls on both ends of Scouts BSA. That program is optimal for middle schoolers, but middle schoolers are not trusted to own it. They are managed by older youth instead. High schoolers fare no better. Instead of receiving programming built around autonomy, peer challenge, advanced outdoor adventure, and responsibility suited to their age, the vast majority are trapped in a middle-school program where their main role is supervising the younger Scouts. BSA romanticizes this as mentoring. Teenagers see it as babysitting. They know the difference, and they leave.

    A kind of interesting statement. I dont know if i agree. I think it is a positive thing to have children from different age groups learn from each other. Obviously it shouldn't devolve into just babysitting, but the idea of mixed ages learning together doesn't seem inherently bad.

    • meetingthrower2 hours ago
      Former Eagle Scout here -- I agree a bit with this analysis. The absolute best parts of it for me were the high adventure camps, backpacking, etc. The absolute worst where the Monday meetings. Depending on the vibe of the troop your activities bias one way or the other.
      • bluGill4 minutes ago
        I'm currently scoutmaster and that is my thought. Camping is fun, but we do that once a month - what should we do the other times that is fun
      • valleyjoan hour ago
        Once you earn it you are an Eagle Scout for life. So you are an Eagle Scout not a “former” Eagle Scout. At least that’s what I was thought!
  • KnuthIsGod4 hours ago
    The elephant in the room is

    the pedophile in the Scoutmaster.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/boy-scouts-america-have...

    Why would any responsible parent put their child in such danger.

    • bluGill3 minutes ago
      The danger is the same as anywhere. It just got in the news and now you think it is worse.
    • nephihaha3 hours ago
      Yes, it is unfortunately. It is a great shame, because I believe scouting can be a positive experience when there are proper safeguards. They have paid out a lot of compensation recently.

      In the USA, the Mormon church disaffiliated their programme from them a few years ago and that was a big blow to them too since a lot of LDS kids were members.

  • aaron6954 hours ago
    [dead]