The Boy Scouts of America is considering declaring bankruptcy, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The Wednesday report comes in the wake of sinking membership and multiple controversies surrounding the 108-year-old organization, including sex abuse allegations and its controversial decision to change its program name from Boy Scouts to Scouts BSA and allow girls into that program.
Chicago law firm Sidley Austin has reportedly been hired to assist in what would be a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
As the organization has made decisions deemed to be more inclusive, such as allowing openly gay scouts in 2013 and scoutmasters in 2015 as well as the 2018 decision to allow girls, membership has continued to decline sharply, from over 4 million members at its peak to a claimed 2.3 million members at present.
Those numbers will likely continue to decline. Earlier this year, the Mormon church announced the end of a long-standing partnership with the Boy Scouts and the formation of its own program for boys beginning in 2020, a move that could cost the organization almost a third of its members. The church was reportedly “deeply troubled” by the group’s decision to allow openly gay leaders. (RELATED: The Scouts’ Inclusion Of Girls Is A DISASTER For Both Boys And Girls)
Additionally, the Boy Scouts have come under criticism of late for keeping records of sex abuse perpetrated by scoutmasters — called the “perversion files” — under wraps for decades instead of revealing them to the public.
Mike Rowe wrote in May of the “death of the Boy Scouts of America.”
In my opinion, this kind of attrition can only explained by an increasing lack of relevance, or, the perception of irrelevance. Right now, there’s a perception that The Boy Scouts have gone soft. That’s the real tragedy, Sharon, because I can’t think of anything more needed in our country today, than a youth organization that offers kids the same experience I underwent in the basement of Kenwood Church. Why? Because our country’s current obsession with ‘safe spaces’ is destroying character faster than the Boy Scouts of today can build it.
