(NewsSpace.com) – The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has long been plagued by controversy. Established as an organization in 1910, its motto is “to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes.” However, those ethical and moral choices apparently didn’t apply to the scout leaders, many of whom were accused of sexually abusing the very children they were assigned to lead. After years of scandal, the organization is renaming itself.
Beginning in 2025, the Boy Scouts of America will become Scouting America. The organization’s president, Roger Krone, said the name change was due because it is “an organization for all.” In fact, the group started welcoming girls in 2019, after opening the doors to LGBTQ youth in 2013 and then gay scout leaders in 2015. He said the name change “will enable us to chart a course towards continued growth, relevance, and impact.”
The continued growth is likely to hinge on whether the organization can save its reputation. Since its inception, it’s allegedly been plagued with the presence of sexual abusers. According to the organization’s records, more than 10,000 children have been subjected to assault while in the Boy Scouts, and the allegations date back decades—nearly 100 years—to 1940.
Additionally, it came to light that since 1919, the BSA has kept a list of names of leaders who were accused of abusing children. They didn’t act on the allegations, nor did they share them with local chapters, which allowed the suspects to move between troops, giving them access to even more victims. One former scout, Frank Spinelli, said he experienced abuse at the hands of a scoutmaster for three years, and the Boy Scouts “institutionalized child molestation” while “protect[ing] these perpetrators.”
The sheer number of lawsuits—more than 82,000—led the organization to bankruptcy. It ended up creating a $2.4 billion fund to settle claims. Its numbers have dropped, too. Just six years ago, the BSA had more than 2 million members. Today, that has dropped by half. Nearly 200,000 members are girls.
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