On Feb. 8, 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was established aiming to teach the younger generations to be responsible citizens and future leaders. However, with its troubled past comes a rebranding of the organization. On May 7, 2024, Boy Scouts of America decided to announce that it will change its name to Scouting America. This name change is intended to reflect the evolving mission of inclusivity the organization strives for.
Over the previous years, Boy Scouts of America has been a part of quite a few controversies. It wasn’t until 2013 that the organization would begin allowing gay youth to join, with 2015 being the year they abolished the blanket ban on queer troop facilitators. Additionally, the organization began allowing transgender children to join in 2017. Girls were not allowed into the program until 2018. Now, 6,000 girls have earned the “Eagle Scout” rank — the highest award one can obtain. Though this is a great step for inclusivity, it did take a very long time for these moves to be made in the first place.
As of 2024, one million youths, kids aging from 10-18, are participating in the program, with the peak being five million youths back in 1972. In an interview with the Associated Press, the current president and CEO of the organization, Roger Krone, said that he wants the youth to, “feel very welcome to come into our programs.” Ever since the COVID pandemic, membership in the program has drastically decreased. However, with the name change and new CEO with a mission to be more inclusive, the number of youths participating in the program can easily climb back up. Despite the progressive direction this organization is headed, this name change has had some mixed reactions.
For some traditionalists, they see this change as a dilution of the original purpose of the Boy Scouts. But ultimately the core values are still the same, the name change is just a more inclusive way to appeal to varying demographics.
In the same interview with the Associated Press, Krone says that he sees this name change as a, “strong message to everyone in America that they can come to this program, they can bring their authentic self, they can be who they are and they will be welcomed here.”
The name change will officially take effect on Feb 8, on the organization’s 115th birthday.
