Order of the Arrow
Discussions for OA Members and those interested in Scouting's Honor Society. Also includes a private sub-forum for OA Members only.
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LATEST POSTS
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By BetterWithCheddar · Posted
This seemed like a (mostly) thoughtful take. Aside from stating the obvious (lawsuits and recent membership changes have adversely impacted participation), he honed in on 2 other factors: 1. Civic engagement (Elks Club, Optimists, etc.) and church attendance has decreased in the US. These organizations have been major sponsors of the BSA and their parallel decline has resulted in less support for Scouting. 2. Society's definition of masculinity has widened. Fewer young men are expected to hunt, farm, fix cars, or join the military. Scouting was once viewed as an age-appropriate way to introduce self-reliance to boys. Today, those hard skills are less important in the information economy. I especially appreciate the second point. I doubt I'd meet the standard of 1970s masculinity. I'm not handy. I maintain my home to the minimum standard and hire help the second I get in over my head. However, I do make a decent living. Plus, we live in a safe neighborhood and are on track for retirement. My son also has everything he needs, including most of my attention outside of work. By the 2020s standards of masculinity, I'm probably doing just fine. -
BSA will be headed to bankruptcy again. They retained massive debt after the last bankruptcy and their business plan showed membership growth to over a million scouts by now. I saw some of their presentations online. I hope their plans work, but I struggle to see a turnaround in membership. -
By Eagle94-A1 · Posted
UNDERSTATEMENT! (emphasis). We also lose FOS support. The district chair who was yelled and cursed out at, well not only did he quit, he stopped contributing to FOS. Talked to other business leaders about this, and they dropped their FOS contributions. Today, the area that was my old district raises 10% of what I did 30 something years ago. -
Thanks...you made my point for me. Those axed volunteers go back and spread the word and we lose more volunteers. Recent resetting the YPT date to 5/31 to a large majority of adults is another case where a national decision is driving more volunteers away since they see no value added. -
Nada in the slide presentations.
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