Leaving Scouting America

As of January 1, 2026, I am no longer an Assistant Scoutmaster for my son’s Boy Scout troop. While I enjoyed my time as a leader, it is apparent that it is time to move on. In the last several months, the troop has undergone several changes that I feel are not in the best interest of the scouts. This, combined with the fact that I am now under attack for speaking out against the Committee Chair, has made me realize I no longer belong. 

The Committee Chair is so unbelievably bothered by the fact that I wrote a blog post in which I expressed my frustrations regarding the planning of my son’s Eagle Court of Honor that she has made it clear that I am no longer welcome—not unless I bend to her whim. Those of you who know me, know there in no chance that will happen. The minutes from her report at the last committee meeting (from early December, though I only saw them now) state, “Discussion of Assistant Scoutmaster's Public Blog: Committee members noted that the blog included real-time updates about troop outings, which violates Scouting America guidelines and troop policy on digital communication and youth protection; photos of Scouts were posted on the blog without prior notification to the troop, parents have explicitly requested that their child’s image not be shared on public platforms, making the blog postings a district conflict with those wishes; real time location updates and identifiable photos of youth on a public site were discussed as significant safety and privacy risks; committee requested to SMC that Assistant Scoutmaster must be informed of the violations and asked to remove the posts and discontinue the practice.” These accusations make it clear that she wishes to completely discredit me in an attempt to falsely vindicate herself, but her lies will accomplish nothing other than driving me from the program and denying the scouts the services I’ve provided over the last four years.

What I find interesting is that I have been posting about Boy Scout outings since November 2021. That means I have been writing about and sharing my essays regarding scouting activities for four years. Each of my posts have been public and shared on social media. In that time, not one person has ever come forward to complain or express concern about what I’ve posted. At least not until now. Coincidence? I think not. My posts were never a problem until the Committee Chair felt the need to silence me because she didn’t like what I was saying about her.

According to the minutes, “Committee members noted that the blog included real-time updates about troop outings, which violates Scouting America guidelines.” It is important to note that I never mentioned my son’s troop number, nor did I ever mention anyone’s name. I’ve always been keen on anonymity when writing about other people. Plus, I attended these outings with other adult leaders who were well aware that I was keeping an online journal. I spoke about it openly. At the time of posting, no one expressed concern. Not one of the adults on the trips ever approached me and asked me to stop. The posts were on social media where several other leaders had access to what I was saying, and again, not one person messaged me and asked me to amend anything I said. If it was a problem at the time, and someone spoke to me about it, I very easily could have delayed posting. But it wasn’t a problem while I was writing. It only became a problem once the Committee Chair desired to disparage me. It was a bullying tactic intended to prevent me from speaking out more than I already have. 

She went on to state, “photos of Scouts were posted on the blog without prior notification to the troop, parents have explicitly requested that their child’s image not be shared on public platforms.” I find this extremely perplexing since I never posted a picture that showed anyone’s face. The only scout whose face was visible was my son’s. Every other picture was taken from behind so that all anyone could see were the backs of the scouts. But again, these pictures—which were visible to parents for four years—were never an issue until the Committee Chair made them one. If anyone expressed concern prior to the Committee Chair’s blow up, I would have removed the pictures immediately. I think what angers and hurts me the most is the fact that I thought some of these other parents were friends, or at the very least friendly enough that if they had an issue with me or anything I was doing they might have approached me personally. But they didn’t.

Finally, the Committee Chair accused me of posting “identifiable photos of youth on a public site.”  How can the pictures be identifiable if they never showed anyone’s face? But her insistence in an extremely effective propaganda tool. If she says something enough times, well then it must be true, right? Keep in mind this is a woman who has mastered the art of twisting information to match her narrative. Remember, without any tangible evidence, she falsely accused my son of spraying Lysol in the faces of other scouts. She then used those lies as leverage to try and have him removed from his position of leadership. 

The sad truth is, if I had never spoken honestly about her, no one would care what I posted on my blog—a blog with a very small readership. But she has created a smokescreen in an attempt to protect herself.  As a result, other adults in the troop have decided to protect her—a woman who spread lies and violated the trust of a child—instead of the child who was hurt by some of those lies. I’m beginning to understand why the Boy Scouts had so many lawsuits against them. It’s inevitable when the opposition is silenced and adults rally around their friends at the expense of what’s best for the scout.

For four years, I have volunteered my time. I have worked with dozens of scouts in their quest to earn various merit badges. I have gone through numerous hours of training—all of which I had to pay for myself—and attended multiple camping trips and weekly meetings. I have very much enjoyed my time with the scouts, but I don’t need to volunteer. Mostly, I did it so that I could share the experience with my son. Therefore, my intention had been to keep volunteering until he aged out. As such, I was planning to spend two more years with the troop, but over winter break I made the very difficult decision to step down. The anger aimed at my blog is not about my writing—what I did or did not post. If it was, something would have been stated sooner—years or, at the very least, months earlier. Instead, my blog was weaponised to discredit me because I spoke out against injustice. I am too old to be bullied into keeping quiet and I have too much self respect to work with someone who repeatedly manipulates those around her. 

The irony is the troop desperately needs adult leaders. In the minutes from last month, several points down from the attack on my blog, is a note that they need to recruit more parents to leadership positions. It’s the scouts I feel bad for, they are the ones who will miss out. I had been hoping to lead several hikes so that some scouts could earn their hiking merit badge. I had also planned to run some venture crew trips for the older scouts. Specifically, I had been hoping to schedule a snowshoe trip in the near future. Unfortunately, none of that will occur now, not with me. The troop will need to find someone else willing to be a merit badge counselor and someone else willing to lead high adventure trips. I’m replaceable—mostly. I hold no illusions. If the powers that be wanted me to stay, perhaps they would have listened to my initial complaint, but they didn’t. Still, as replaceable as I am, it might take awhile for them to find a replacement. Until then, I don’t know who will camp in the cold or take over the Citizenship merit badges, but it’s not my concern. The Committee Chair and those who rallied around her made sure of it.

When I spoke to my son over winter break about stepping down, he was extremely supportive. “It’s okay,” he told me, "if you don’t participate in Boy Scouts. We can still do trips together. We’ll probably have more fun anyway.” He was right, of course. As long as he’ll have me, and as long as he is interested in spending time with me, I am here for him. And so, since I wouldn’t be taking the venture crew, before winter break ended, he and I went snowshoeing together.