Boy Scouts

October 15, 1998 At a time when we hear so much about what is wrong with kids, it's encouraging to hear of the positive impact Scouting can have on kids. A recent Louis Harris study found significant benefits to involvement in Scouting. The object of the study was to determine specific benefits from participating in the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts.

The study found that: "staying away from drugs, building self-confidence, helping at home, and a strong sense of self-worth were all results directly tied to participating in the Boy Scouts of America." The study also found that 95 percent of parents believe their Cub Scouts learned moral and ethical values from the program, and 89 percent of those same parents believe they learned the value of staying away from drugs. Parents of Boy Scouts believe that Scouting made their children more self-confident, taught them skills they would not have learned elsewhere, and encouraged family togetherness. They felt that Scouting made their family strong, would help their kids get into college, and would help them get a good job.

I would suggest that this is a great report card for an organization that sometimes comes under attack by atheists and homosexuals for their stands on religious faith and moral purity. And according to the Harris study, Boy Scouts themselves suggested that the organization's core values of religious faith, personal integrity, and patriotism were conveyed in the program. And a strong majority (74%) agreed that "Scouting helps me tell the difference between right and wrong."

Since 1910 the Boy Scouts of America have stood for the core values of America. But today they sometimes come under attack for standing for those same values. But let me ask you, who has changed: the Boy Scouts or the United States of America? Maybe it's time for America to return to the values that formed the Boy Scouts and made this country great.

I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion.