Context: I was a Boy Scout for a number of years, making Eagle in 2020 right as COVID was really kicking off.
It was right afterwards, however, that the CSA scandal started popping up everywhere (which thankfully I was never exposed to or involved in during my time), and lately it seems like the organization & movement as a whole has fallen by the sociocultural wayside.
I would say that my time as a Scout did me objective good; I learned a decent amount about first-aid & survival-craft, participated in a number of volunteer & civic projects, and it generally made me a more well-rounded person. However, there’s no denying the impact that something “bigger than the Catholic Church scandal”, as I’ve heard it described, has on an institution such as this.
I’d like to get the community’s opinion, however; were any of you Scouts? How was your experience? What is your opinion of the institution today?
I remember being like 8 or something and having the scouts come into my school and try to recruit people and they brought some older boys I think maybe middle school aged? Perceptions of age are weird when ur a kid. They seemed old to me at the time. One of the older boys would NOT leave me alone. Like he really wanted me to join. And so my pathalogical demand avoidance kicked in and I wouldn’t touch the organization with a 10 foot pole for the rest of my life. Guess that worked out for me considering what I’ve heard since.