Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” – that defiant 1979 anthem against authoritarian control – was about the machinery that grinds children into conformity. Its target was rigid schooling, thought control and systems that rob kids of their individuality. Replace “teacher” with “culture warrior,” and it maps perfectly onto what is happening to the scouts right now.
For over a century, scouting has offered young people something rare: adventure, community and a framework for growing into capable human beings. Scouting America’s own mission says it best – try new things, learn and grow, boost self-confidence, explore the outdoors, serve others. That’s not an ideology. That’s a childhood. And it works.
According to Scouting America, 84% of scouts say it made them more honest, 74% say it improved their ability to work with others and 79% say it helped them sympathize with the less fortunate. Hegseth served in the Army National Guard – he knows what it means to be part of something larger than yourself. Or maybe he never learned that lesson. President Donald Trump, who avoided service with a bone spur deferment and has spent a lifetime serving no one but himself, is perhaps the last person who should be dictating the values of an organization built on duty, character and sacrifice.
The organization has been evolving – slowly, imperfectly, sometimes reluctantly – admitting gay youths in 2013, welcoming transgender children in 2017, accepting girls in 2019 and rebranding as Scouting America in 2024. These weren’t radical acts. They were an organization trying to remain relevant to America’s actual children.
Then came Secretary of War Pete Hegseth – and yes, it is still jarring to type “Department of War,” just as it is to write “Gulf of America” – threatening to pull all Pentagon support unless Scouting America rolled back its inclusion efforts (Herald, Feb. 27). His claim that scouts had drifted toward “pagan-centered religions” is fabrication. Scouting has always welcomed Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs. And here’s what Hegseth omits: “Duty to God” wasn’t even in the original Scout Oath. It was added in the 1950s, much like “under God” was inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance.
Under pressure, Scouting America dropped its DEI programs and discontinued its Citizenship in Society merit badge, which had required Life Scouts to engage with diversity and inclusion before advancing to Eagle Scout. That stings. But girls stay, all 200,000 of them, and transgender youths remain welcome. CEO Roger Krone told the AP: “We have transgender people in our program and we’ll have transgender people in our program going forward.” A former New York troop leader, speaking anonymously to The Washington Post, wasn’t mollified: “The Scout Law says a Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind and brave. There is nothing brave about caving to political coercion. There is nothing kind about telling transgender children they are not welcome.” The Herald’s editorial board stands with him. If the DEI merit badge is gone today, who is next? Children of color? Kids from immigrant families? This administration has shown no interest in stopping at one target.
Last year, Joe Rogan – enormously influential, not always burdened by facts – declared Girl Scout cookies “toxic,” citing a debunked, non-peer-reviewed study. Public health experts said the levels of herbicide detected posed no real-world risk. The cookies are fine. Buy some.
This administration has gutted services Americans depend on, handed tax benefits to the ultra-wealthy, and directed federal resources toward enforcement actions against immigrants and dissidents. Against that backdrop, the Secretary of War found time to negotiate the cultural terms of children’s after-school clubs. The scouts are one more brick in this administration’s wall.
Our diversity is our strength. The scouts don’t need another brick in the wall. They need adults who will get out of the way and let them become who they are. Leave those kids alone.
Girl Scouts will be at Tractor Supply in Bayfield on Friday, March 6, and at Walmart and Albertsons in Durango through March 15. Find a cookie booth or join a local Girl Scout troop at girlscouts.org. To find a Boy Scout unit or learn more about Scouting America, visit beascout.scouting.org.
