Boy Scouts in fear of going out of business

December 26, 6:20 PMAtheism ExaminerTrina Hoaks

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Scoutreach District Executive Ramon Loredo Jr., right, leads Boy Scouts in the scout

oath prior to soccer practice Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008, in San Jose, Calif. The Boy

Scouts of America are turning 100, and honing their survival skills for what

might be their biggest test yet: drawing Hispanics into their declining and mostly

white ranks. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

It was reported today that the Boy Scouts of America finds it necessary to target Hispanic youth for membership to stay afloat. In fact, they have hired a marketing firm to do just that. As it stands now, the Boy Scouts' membership is comprised primarily of Caucasian boys.

The membership roster of the organization, which is the largest youth group in the United States, has been declining since its peak in 1972, taking its biggest hits in the ‘80s and ‘90s after they banned gay and atheist leaders. It is also said that TV and video games have added to the plummeting membership figures. They currently have approximately 2.8 million members, half of what they had in 1972.

Because Boy Scouts officials recognize that the citizenship demographics of the United States have changed, they feel the need to target the group that seems to be most underrepresented in their ranks. As it stands now, only 3% of their membership is Hispanic, while the US census reports that one in five children under the age of 18 is Hispanic. Rick Cronk, Chairman of the World Scout Committee, said that they “either are going to figure out how to make Scouting the… organization for Hispanic kids, or [they’re] going to be out of business.”

I have said it before and I’ll say it again, the Boy Scouts is a wonderful organization when it comes to promoting the idea of family and the like. I enjoyed it very much when I was involved in Scouting with my son when he was a child. I think it would be a shame if they “went out of business.”

Having said that, I must also say that, perhaps, if the Boy Scouts were to shed themselves of their bigotry toward gays and atheists, they might see an increase in their membership. Considering the fact that they receive government funding and the like, they have no right to operate as a private organization that practices exclusivity and discrimination (not that it is ever okay in my estimation).