Prior to 1998 or 1999, the Boy Scouts had a co-ed program called "Explorers." Two of the most popular options were firefighting Explorers and law enforcement Explorers, and Explorer Posts usually had local Fire Stations or Police Departments as chartered organizations. After losing lawsuits to the ACLU because the Explorers' oath required belief in a Supreme Being, the BSA moved Exploring to its subsidiary, Learning For Life, which does not require belief in a Supreme Being.
BSA replaced Exploring with Venturing, a co-ed high adventure program for youth 14-21 (not to be confused with the old Venture patrols in Boy Scout Troops).
Schools and PTAs that had served as chartered organizations for Cub Scout Packs and Boy Scout Troops started to drop them earnestly beginning in the same era, based on both the ACLU lawsuits and the no-gay-leaders issues.
While it is true that churches (or police unions, for example) stepped forward to serve as chartered organizations, the loss of schools as COs hurt Scouting in urban areas. It was much easier for boy to stay after school for a Den, Pack, Troop, or Post meeting than to expect an urban youth to go to a church that afternoon, or to return to a church or other location that evening.
All of the minor decreases in Scouting youth enrollment pointed to from time to time by the ACLU since 1998 are the result of major loss of youth membership in a few major urban areas, not quite offset by large growth in all other areas.
Cyclotic, my Pack, Troop, and Crew are all self-chartered -- 25 years ago, the parents and former Scouts formed a nonprofit corporation solely for the purpose of chartering Scouting groups. We were lucky enough to own land and a Scout Hut that had been donated by a parent in the past. We have our share of internal politics, but it beats educating a new minister, principal, or union president about what a Scouting program is and should be.
Would stay longer, but I'm off to a meeting on the 2007 World Jamboree -- the 100th Anniversary of Scouting!
SUPPORT SCOUTING!
Thanks,
Enjoy the Jamboree.
Scouting is an organization that I dropped out of when I was 10. Dumb mistake. I now have a Tiger and a Webelo.
Scouting is an organization that I become more and more impressed with. I'm now a den leader (tiger), asst. den leader (Webelo), Asst. Cubmaster (planning on a hostile takeover of the Pack in 2 years when the Cubmaster moves on)
300 or so Scouters just met last weekend for University of Scouting leadership training. Great, great stuff.
BTW, if you get this before you go, please write a post and ping me about it on how the World Jamboree went. I'm particularly interested in the progress with Iraqi Scouting programs.
Thanks,
You're going to Britain? Lucky dog...my son will miss the minimum age cutoff by one year, or we'd be going as well. That will be a once in a lifetime event!