On Tuesday, Boy Scouts of America announced a significant change coming to their organization.
For the first time in its 114-year history, the youth organization will change its name to better reflect it efforts to support all youth in the U.S. to “experience the benefits of Scouting.”
“Though our name will be new, our mission remains unchanged: We are committed to teaching young people to be Prepared. For Life,” Roger A. Krone, president and chief executive officer of the Boy Scouts of America, said in a statement. “This will be a simple but very important evolution as we seek to ensure that everyone feels welcome in Scouting.”
The change comes years after the organization was marred with by scandal, including the expulsion of a gay assistant scoutmaster, accusations of sexual abuse, and bankruptcy.
BSA also faced criticism when in 2016 an eight-year-old boy was kicked out of the Cub Scouts after parents complained he was transgender.
“I’m way more angry than sad,” Joe Maldonado told The Record at the time. “My identity is a boy. If I was them, I would let every person in the world go in. It’s right to do.”
The following year BSA announced they would allow transgender children who identified as boys into their programs.
Somewhat overshadowing the news of allowing transgender children into the youth organization, was the news that girls would now be allowed to participate in the scouting program.
According to the organization, more than 1 million youth are currently involved with the program, including more than 176,000 girls and young women. So far, 6,000 young women have achieved the highly coveted rank of Eagle Scout.
However, it seems not everyone is happy with the name change. When the organization made a post on X (formerly Twitter), they were met with a lot of backlash.
One person wrote, “You destroyed an outlet for boys to be boys and learn to be men.”
Another person wrote a very scathing post, saying, “You no longer deserve to be an organization. Fold immediately.” Another person wrote, “Let boys be boys. Try that for a change.”
A person who agreed with the decision wrote, “As an Eagle Scout, I have no problem with this. If you do, I question how much you know about the scouting program or why you think little girls couldn’t or shouldn’t benefit from the skills and values scouting instills.”
Do you like the name change? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!