Pete Hegseth hates scouting
I was a Boy Scout for about three years as a teenager. The troop I was in was sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. Every evening on camping trips we said the rosary around the campfire. I progressed to Star Scout rank before dropping out. One of my younger brothers was in a different troop and made it to Eagle Scout, the highest rank.
I can’t say that scouting made a big difference in my life. I recall a few hikes and campouts in the Smokies. The other boys were certainly not the kind of role models my parents would have wanted for me, and I didn’t look up to the older boys as any sort of example. But if Pete Hegseth is unhappy with scouting, they must be doing something right.
“According to a leaked proposal obtained by NPR, Hegseth is unhappy with the organization and wants his Department of War to end a 100-year relationship, which would leave officials running the annual National Jamboree scrambling to fill the void.
“NPR reported that Hegseth believes the organization, “once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt, no longer supports the future of American boys,” and is currently designed to “attack boy-friendly spaces.”
*snip*
“In the memo, Hegseth complained that the organization no longer cultivates “masculine values,” with NPR noting the current Pentagon chief complained about the Scouts when he was a Fox News host, telling viewers, “The Boy Scouts has been cratering itself for quite some time. This is an institution the left didn’t control. They didn’t want to improve it. They wanted to destroy it or dilute it into something that stood for nothing.”
I’m not sure what “masculine values” means, but if Pete Hegseth is supposed to embody them, include me out. To me, he just looks like another Fox News pretty boy with his oily coiffure and makeup.
Read: “Leaked memo reveals an Unhappy Hegseth is coming after Boy Scouts next,” Raw Story
Oddly enough, in one of my mother’s attempts to make me normal after her ex-husband gave up she put me through scouting. Was a Den-Mother, and though we were Witnesses a KoC sponsored troop. Made First Class. It had lasting impact. Then things happened
Kegsbreath couldn’t fight his way out of a wet paper bag …
What’s his complaint? Do the scouts tolerate gay people? When I was in, during prehistory, it was all about camping and outdoor skills of one kind or another.
Whatever the complaint that Hegseth has, Boy Scouting has at least a couple of significant headwinds. The cohorts of boys at scouting age are diminishing, but not falling off the cliff. The modern approach to youth sports, though, has had a very notable impact on the scouts. In pretty much all but the smallest high schools in my state, participation in boys sports hinges on being highly coached and experienced as you enter as a freshman. The levels of pre-high school preparation as to time (and usually money) is similar to what in my day a half-century ago only swimmers and skaters were getting, which are individual sports, not team (relay excluded). So there is developing a large class of what formerly were potential scouts who do not have the time for it. Girls are catching up to that also: dance, cheer, gymnastics, volleyball all have consumed lots of time that otherwise would be available for scouting or other activities. These boys and girls often have the highest esteem levels in their schools. I know many parents that would forbid their sons to do scouting on the basis that there are no potential scholarships or NIL for Eagle Scouts.
Eric:
No potential scholarships for Scouting is true. It does look good on an application for school or a job. It has the potential of showing involvement in the community or community service. It expresses, the “not all about me or me, or me.” The little prince gets involved in giving back to the community as well as learning things which may help in surviving in the world as we know it. Practical knowledge . . .
As one former scout returned to a Troop Meeting in full USMC uniform as a Lt Colonel. Much is learned which can not be learned while playing B-Ball and averaging 12 points a game.