Hear, hear!! I still believe the Scouting is the finest experience a young person can have. While we might not ever build another campfire using two matches and a lot of air, the process of preparing to do so carries over to life.
Before someone mentions adult Scout leaders' who take advantage- there are (as of today) 2.3 million youth (boys AND girls) and 1 million adult leaders in the organization. Using the accepted average length of service of adult leaders- 3 years- that means in the past 50 years there have been some (1 million X 50/3) 16 MILLION adult leaders.
Even 1/10th of one percent of that many people is 176,000 bad actors, or 3500 on average each year for the past 50 of the BSA in America. For comparison to the 1 million adult Scout leaders, there are approximately 36,000 active Roman Catholic Priests, and 18,000 Deacons, in the USA.
Mike Wyatt
Eagle Scout, 1965
Scoutmaster 1989 1992
Explorer Advisor 1992 - 1993
