Originally posted by: Jawo
I think the bigest problem with the Boy Scouts is the upper management (as it is with most organizations). I wouldn't be suprised to see that people who hate/dislike the Boy Scouts would include the ~97% of members that do not receive the highest rank of Eagle Scout. I am an Eagle Scout and it was not an easy rank to achieve. It took years of dedication, camping, learning new skills, and leadership to obtain that rank. While I was interviewing for jobs out of college, it was interesting to see the number of interviewers who were interested in that I had received the rank. It sets a benchmark that person x has certain skills that have been deemed good prognosticators of success.
As with any group of people there are bad apples that spoil the image for others. By saying xx Eagle Scouts were terrorists, axe murders, psychopaths, et al, is irrelevant since you can find those people in all parts of the population. Check out
this list for notable Eagle Scouts.
Each Troop is dominated by the influence of its Scoutmaster. I had a very dedicated Scoutmaster who wanted the best out of us and taught me how to push myself to do the very best I could, and not settle for "good enough" which is prevalant in today's youth.