The Pennsylvania Dutch Council of Scouts BSA (formerly Boy Scouts of America) is currently involved in a lawsuit over sexual abuse allegations, with the latest compensation set at $1.05 million. Of the 86 local victims, roughly 60 percent are from Lancaster county.

For decades, Scouts BSA National has faced sexual abuse allegations, with lawsuits popping up all over the country. The lawsuit in PA is part of the larger lawsuit that the organization is in now, which requires councils to pay a specified amount as part of the compensation as a whole, as determined by number of claims, state laws, and finances. In total, there have been 82,000 victims and the compensation is just over $2 billion.

Abuse in youth organizations is certainly not uncommon. The very nature of the groups, the close-knit brotherhood of children and adults, can attract some problematic people. 

In response to these risks, the CDC has released a list of proper policies and procedures in youth groups and Scouts BSA itself has taken measures to prevent abuse. Background checks are run on every adult, and a Youth Protection Training (YPT) must be completed every two years by volunteers. In the program, at least two scouters (adults who scout) or two scouts must be present in interactions to avoid a single scouter and scout being left alone.

Despite all of this, the community benefits of youth groups are undeniable.

“I wouldn’t be the same person without scouts so I don’t think it’s some fundamentally bad organization that needs to crumble,” said Kyle Mucha, an Eagle Scout in Lancaster. “Some troops are bad, some troops are good, the same for councils and camps.”

In fact, access to resources may actually help to get people out of abusive homes.  “Any abuses we see at camp (mostly bullying and less sexual abuse) we have to at the very least report to the troop and camp leaders, but it can escalate to the BSA national or the council itself. I’ve personally dealt with a kid being abused at camp and we took every single step we could to get that kid to better circumstances,” Mucha added.

Sexual abuse does seem to be decreasing, with the latest case of sexual abuse in the Pennsylvania Dutch Council’s lawsuit being in 1999. That being said, although sexual abuse by leaders has lessened, sexual harassment by other scouts is still a concerning and current issue, especially since the recent call to allow girls to join troops. In 2019, the organization’s name changed from BSA to Scouts BSA, with scouts being a more gender neutral term. This was done to improve funds and numbers after sexual abuse lawsuits, and as an extension of the allowance of gay scouts in 2013. But just as the Boy Scout name is still a part of the organization, female and queer scouts have not  been fully accepted yet, especially not by a majority of teenage boys.

It would be ignorant to say the organization is done growing; nothing ever is. And as this growth occurs, more problems are likely to be discovered. The opening of troops to girls, for example, raises some concerns with another scouting organization, the Girl Scouts of America, who has since begun suing the organization in a separate lawsuit. Some troops are working to combine their male and female subsections to be more inclusive of female and non-binary scouts. The organization is still based on the binary, however, which causes some structural problems. 

Additionally, there is still no true definition of harassment, as understood by scouters and scouts. “Harassment and bullying are not tolerated but are also not well defined,” said an anonymous source, going on to explain personal experiences where scouts and scouters alike didn’t know whether events should be reported. Scouts don’t understand that what they have experienced is harassment until well after it has happened. Although the current lawsuit only surrounds sexual abuse cases, this situation is common with victims of abuse, and victim numbers are most definitely higher than what has been listed in court. The YPT needs to be updated with this in mind.

Both Mucha and the anonymous source reported bankruptcy in their districts, a result of the pandemic and the lawsuit. The Pennsylvania Dutch Council lawsuit has not had any major impacts on local recruitment numbers, and it is certainly true that not every scout knows about the allegations, but $1 million is a lot of money, and the situation is serious.

Ultimately, the choice to join Scouts BSA comes down to people’s individual opinions alone. As Mucha mentioned, some troops will follow safety protocols, others won’t, and there will always be people who have bad experiences, abuse or not. The bad certainly doesn’t outweigh the good, but it is still prevalent. Lancaster troops seem to be following all protocols, and are receptive to opinions of scouts. Procedures are likely to continue changing, and the future growth of local troops should be expected.