Of course, one can’t help but think of the legendary Boy Scouts. For one thing, it is the largest children’s organization in America. Today it consists of about 3 million children and about a million adults, mostly volunteers – former scouts. The organization was founded in the U.S. back in 1910 as part of the world scout movement, which three years earlier had first appeared in England. In all, more than 110 million Americans have passed through it since then. It is believed that today up to 40 million people around the world take part in the Scout Movement.
Traditionally, American children as young as six years old can join the Boy Scouts and stay there until they are eighteen or twenty-one. This movement has always been under fire from US liberal organizations for its internal principles, and at one point it even took the intervention of the US Supreme Court to protect the right of a scouting organization to independently determine its internal rules and principles. This fact, incidentally, became a legal precedent.
The purpose of the Boy Scout Movement was, and still is, to build character and citizenship. A child should get used to counting on his own strength, and learn to survive in hard conditions, to become a leader and a leader. Usually Boy Scout camps teach children practical skills, from making fires to orienteering in the woods, from swimming to rock climbing. The organization exists on membership fees and monetary gifts from other organizations – religious, trade union, business, etc., as well as on fees for participation in its activities, including camps.
Virtually any child can become a Boy Scout, regardless of color, age, parental income, school success, or health. Today, more than 100,000 children with disabilities or developmental disabilities are members of Boy Scout organizations in the United States. The Boy Scouts have a strict internal hierarchy, awards, and honors. Members can grow through their internal ranks, but may stop their career and professional growth at the stage and area of greatest interest to them if they wish. Adults who work in the Boy Scout movement usually do so as free volunteers, and many consider it a matter of honor to become one. Not all adults can be accepted to work in the Boy Scout organization, and the criteria are rather strict.
Although the Boy Scout movement began as a boys’ movement, in 1950 a mass organization of Girl Scouts, i.e. girl scouts, was established in the United States. Today it includes about 2.3 million American girls and about 800,000 volunteers who work with them. The organization’s goals for girls are about the same as those for boys, although one of the Girl Scout movement’s goals is to work to increase the social role of girls and women in society.
Ordinary Americans who are indifferent to Girl Scouting tend to encounter it during the big campaigns. The most famous campaign is the annual nationwide sale of special cookies distributed by Girl Scout organizations. A huge variety of Girl Scout cookies are produced, and I think every American family buys them as a result. On average, more than 200 million packs a year are sold, and the girl scouts are competing to see who can sell the most. It reminds me of the good old fashioned paper-paper-picking by the pioneers in the USSR. In the U.S., however, Boy Scout cookies have become such a deep tradition that kids swap different kinds of cookies, and collectors keep boxes from different years, making for very quirky collections. Even I know there are 28 varieties of Scout cookies today. Scouts in the U.S. also collect food for the poor and other strictly humanitarian programs, and correspond with Scouts from other countries.
This movement is another opportunity to organize the free time of children and teenagers in America, popular with those who are relatively new to the country. The Boy Scouts practice a high degree of tolerance within themselves, and their principles include friendship and help, so there are many children of recent immigrants, children from low-income families, and families who cannot afford to spend too much time with children. However, as I have noticed, many Americans view Boy Scout organizations with a certain amount of irony, especially the adults who participate in the movement and wear Boy Scout uniforms with neckties and lots of badges and stickers.
The Boy Scouts have close ties with various churches, Christian associations, civic and professional groups, and organizations that help sponsor their activities. However, these organizations in America do not have much meaningful influence on the activities of those they sponsor. For example, near me in Washington, D.C., there is a large multi-story sports center owned by a world-renowned religious organization called the YMCA, that is, the Young Men’s Christian Organization. I occasionally visit this sports center in my long and ignominious struggle with my own excess weight. But if you don’t know its affiliation, you’ll never guess it in your life. Not only is there nothing strictly religious about the building, but this sports club admits anyone who wants to be a member without asking about faith or religious affiliation, but is only interested in the newcomer’s credit history. Moreover, a large number of sexual minorities living in the Washington, D.C., area play sports here, and they face no restrictions, despite the “Christian” identity of the club.