A Scout Is- Part 1

I've been holding this post inside my head for nearly a year now. I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to be. I know what I would like it to be and I would rather not have an agenda. But I know the subject will bring up mixed feelings in readers. You see, what I would like this post to be is a brief photo journal of some thoughts and feelings I have about my son's amazing experience in Boy Scouts. But that will have to wait until part 2 of this post. It is difficult to write about all of the positives without qualifying my disdain for some of the BSA policies. Come on, you follow the news, and you know what I'm talking about. The BSA's BS on homosexuality. First gays weren't allowed. Now the boys who are gay are allowed, and the leaders aren't. At least not if they're "open or avowed homosexuals." Oy. I can hardly believe I support any aspect of an organization that would put such lunacy in their bylaws. But hear me out...

When my son joined Cub Scouts in 2nd grade, none if this had even been on the radar. We- my husband and I, never gave it any thought. Why would we? People are people (if you're singing Depeche Mode right now, I hear ya), so a good leader is a good leader. Our son crossed over to Boy Scouts in 5th grade, like all Cub Scouts who decide to continue the scouting program. After all, this is what they worked for, no more pack camping and co-camping with parents. Just the kids and a few adult leaders, because a true Boy Scout troop is boy run. Anyway, it wasn't until our son was well into his Boy Scout career when all of the policy discussion surfaced. For me, it's a no brainer. Hands down, I do not agree that any boy or any trained and well-intentioned adult should be excluded from scouting on the basis of their sexuality. A few situations here and there might have to be handled a little bit differently, but so what. We do it for female leaders.

I am encouraged to read that at the national meeting in May, the BSA president said the policy of banning openly gay adults from leadership should be changed** in order for the organization to survive and maintain its relevancy. He supposedly requested and expects they'll take action by October of this year. His suggestion was to take it out of the hands of the national organization and leave it up to the charter organization, to set the guidelines to align with the mission of BSA. Seventy percent of charter organizations are religious organizations and they would have the right to set up their own criteria, many will likely support the same beliefs as the original policy. But only time will tell. I'll be on the lookout for updates.

This brings up a major point of conflict for me. As I mentioned, my son was involved in the scouting program well before I became aware of any of this. Now I have to ask myself, is my disdain for the policy enough for me to yank my boy out of scouts and all of the positive experiences he's had, and is still having? I hate to say it, but no. My son is old enough to engage in conversation about all of this. He now knows about the policy and though it might be one that we do not agree with as a family, virtually every other aspect of scouting has been beneficial to my son as a growing young man, an outdoorsman, a developing leader, a member of the community, and a citizen. We will never support the policy, but we support scouting. And I still ask myself, is that okay? Then I think about this...

We participate in lots of things in this country even when we don't agree with every aspect and every policy in the institution. Let's take for instance public school. There are bushels of policies I don't agree with. Over-testing, grading of schools, school choice, over-standardization, VAM scores; I could go on. The point is, I don't pull my kid out of school and put him in some second rate private school or over-priced prep school. He goes to public school. And great things are happening with him there. Are there crappy policies that I'd like to see change? Definitely. But we need to try and change poor policy from within. When so much of an agency, organization, institution is good, we need to try and work on what's bad and not just bail. We need to actively voice our concerns about what's wrong, and speak loudly that we won't stand for it. That's the way we get policies changed.

Where does that leave me? It leaves me with the recognition that scouting has been wonderful for my son. He has been on so many adventures. Actually about now, he's probably hanging off a mountain at Ranger Camp in Georgia, part of Boy Scout Summer Camp. He has developed leadership skills. Actually, he went from being a smart ass and a clown to the current Senior Patrol Leader of his troop. Okay, he's probably still a bit of a smart ass and a clown, but he's learning there's a time and a place. He has learned various aspects of scouting, survival, service, citizenship, trade, and academia all on his way to what he hopes will be his Eagle Scout rank. At a time and an age when many boys quit scouting because they don't like the uniform or there aren't any girls, a few of them stick with it because they see the value in what they're doing.

I hope we hear of some updates to the policy in October. I really, really hope we do. I'll feel a little bit better about the organization my son is representing and cherish a little bit more. Let's hope. In the meantime, my son continues to grow into an adventurous, independent, young leader. He certainly is, as all scouts strive to be: trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent*.  Okay, maybe he still needs a little work on the obedient part, but he's getting there.

Part 2 will include the photo journaling I referred to at the beginning of this post.

*Beginning with A Scout is, these are the characteristics included in the Scout Law.
**In July 2015, BSA updated the policy banning gay leaders.