SCOUTING AMERICA!!The Boy Scouts of America -- and all 207 local Councils -- will now use a new "communicative name" -- SCOUTING AMERICA ("Scouting America" for short. No initials, just the two words together) officially starting this week (the first full week of February and the 115th anniversary of Scouting in the United States)!!
The organization's public name will change from "Boy Scouts of America" to "Scouting America." Everything else will remain the same. Same Scout Law. Same Scout Oath or Promise. Same uniform (with a new strip replacing the current ones with the words "Scouting America" separated with the Scout emblem between the two words).
Why a "public name"? Because lots of surveys reveal that MOST adults don't know what the "Boy Scouts of America" does any more. If you asked that question back in the 80s or earlier, you got answers like "boys who go camping", "swimming", or "hiking" or "boys working toward their Eagle". Most adults don't know that since 2019, we have FEMALE youth members, many (over 1400 by now) have earned the Eagle Scout Award using the SAME EXACT REQUIREMENTS as the boys worked through.
So the organization had to take on a name more reflective of who they are TODAY...not from 1980 or 1965 or even 1933.
It will take some time for those who care to "adjust" to the new "communicative name". I personally wished they reused "Scouting/USA" and the red and white logo from the 70s. (Nobody asked me *smiling*.)
The values that Scouting emphasizes and supports -- responsible citizenship, strength of body and mind, personal character enhancement, and leadership development -- have not changed since the organization's incorporation and federal charter in 1910 or the "importing" of Scouting to the USA between 1908 and 1910.
I became a member of Scouting toward the late 1960s, a time of upheaval in our nation and in many parts of the world. I subscribed, raising my fingers in the sign of the Cub Scouting program -- and pledged to "do my duty to God and my country" as well as to "be square" as part of the promise at that time.
Do YOU have a story of your Scouting experience? I encourage you to please share them with us here on LinkedIn(tm)!
Wonderful Scout Week!!
