NBC Nightly News - Scouts

[SR540Beaver 116]

You know, I'm reminded of combination youth/music ministers in churches. They have split loyalties/responsibilities and usually give more attention to one over the other. I agree that the way to increase membership is to ensure that districts are providing good training and program opportunities to the units. It is hard for a DE to do that job when he is held accountable for FOS too. One is going to get priority over the other and one will suffer while hopefully the other will thrive. Of course, without money, you can't provide program either. Since you can't manufacture money, some end up manufacturing scouts.

[jkhny 10]

About "integrity" - this is not the first time this has occurred. BSA has recurringly had problems with overstating enrollments. National blames "individuals" yet BSA itself sets the tone that encourages this behavior by PROFESSIONAL PAID Scouters. Quoting an accomplished professional, BSA focuses on "meaningless, simplistic measures of success" to evalute paid staff: 1) How much money they raise 2) How many boys are enrolled 3) How many new units are started 4) How many "Quality Units" they oversee. Note the priority.

 

Every Scouter I have ever talked to has had "roster errors" where boys and adults are left on the rolls long after they are gone - the less obvious way to pad rolls. Even the way boys are added as soon as possible in the fall when school starts - months before those that fail to return are removed provides a window to allow overstated enrollments.

 

Many Scouters are also aware of Units kept on Council rolls long after they fall below minimum requirements - or have faded completely away. "Quality" awards are routinely approved - whether units qualify or not. Read the requirements for a "Quality District" and see if you believe that yours qualifies. BSA's much touted "inner city" initiatives are not just a problem in Atlanta. We made much of new "inner city" units in our Council - yet no new leaders were ever trained for them. Suddenly they have "disappeared" - with no explanation. It seems clear - they never existed.

 

VOLUNTEERS (Council Board Members) in Alabama called in the FBI, disgusted with the behavior of their paid professionals. Their Scout Executive had aspirations to "move up" and wanted to look good. Not mentioned in media coverage was the push to sell off Council properties and "consolidate" - many felt that the proposed "new and larger" property was NOT fairly priced.

 

Nobody wants to see bad in Scouting but this is far too common behavior by paid professionals. Despite National's public disavowal, many professionals guilty of this behavior are NOT punished. BSA seems to more than welcome "success" - at any cost, real or not - and are guilty of the same. Read BSA's National reports to Congress - if you can still find them. The ending numbers from one year never match the beginning numbers of the following year. (And just try to find clear numbers in recent reports. They are vague or buried.) The "error" or "correction" between years always falls in BSA's favor to let them claim an "increase" - well, actually, less of a DECREASE in numbers. Even as BSA contiues to tout "successes" their "numbers" continue to fall.

 

I do not see how this recurring problem - and it seems to be wider spread than past prosecutions indicate - cannot be blamed on BSA. How does this keep happening decade after decade? If there was a will to stop this it would have been stopped decades ago. Paid professionals would be fired.

 

Our SE is playing similar games - creating a new District to show "growth" and pushing DE's to add units. An internal memo pushing DE's to "Raise more money! Raise more money! Find new volunteers that will raise more money for us!" typifies an attitude that has left volunteers appalled. Our FOS contributions by registered leaders have decreased dramatically - the only way left to protest. Our SE scrambles to find new sources of funding with "grant writing workshops" and more. National has heard repeated and regular complaints but says it is a "local" problem. A convenient approach.

 

Communications woth volunteers and professionals throughout the country indicate that there are serious problems with the "culture" among many "paid professionals." The push to meet the simplistic measures of success at any cost has hurt - and IS hurting Scouting. Many paid professionals are upset with what they see but note the unspoken rule - NEVER criticize another paid professional, NEVER criticize BSA. Do so and you will suffer consequences. Is THAT appropriate in Scouting? Criminal fraud is ignored - unless publicly exposed - while efforts to stop it are punished.