The New York Times celebrates the death of the Boy Scouts of America

The organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America first allowed girls to become scouts almost a decade ago, in 2018. Membership has since fallen by 58%. The New York Times describes this as a “triumph.”To be fair, the op-ed describing this change does not address scouting membership levels at all. Instead, it is more of a personal essay written by a mother celebrating her daughter’s attainment of the Eagle Scout rank. Actual boys are rarely mentioned in the piece, and when they are, it is only to insult and dismiss them.The author recounts how her scouts “were sometimes treated as intruders” and “have been catcalled by boys,” behavior that some parents allegedly tolerated because “boys should be able to be boys.” This behavior is completely unacceptable, and there is no excuse for boys treating anyone like that or for parents tolerating such behavior. But the idea that boys need a space to be boys is a completely separate question from how they should act in spaces where boys and girls are together. The author again misses the point in the very next paragraph, writing, “The more serious challenge is a chorus—echoed at the national level — claiming that Scouting has lost its way and that it should be a space just for boys.”Members from Huntington Beach’s Boy Scouts of America Troop 1 carry a giant American flag along Main Street as they participate in the 122nd Huntington Beach 4th of July Parade in Huntington Beach on Saturday, July 4, 2026. (Jeff Antenore / Orange County Register via Getty Images) But instead of addressing this argument, the author creates a brand-new straw man. “I have also heard the argument that because girls tend to mature faster, putting them alongside boys is somehow unfair to the boys. That their competence crowds out male opportunity. But the logic that a girl’s excellence is a threat to a boy’s development has nothing to do with fairness. It only protects mediocrity.”No one is arguing that inserting girls into the Boy Scouts is bad because girls are inherently better and will make inferior boys feel bad. The argument itself is beyond insulting.What many of us do worry about is that whenever girls are added to a boys’ space, or boys to a girls’ space, the dynamic immediately changes. Let me give you an example.I am an Eagle Scout and served as an assistant Scoutmaster for my son’s troop for many years. I have hiked the Sierra Nevada, the Uinta National Forest, and the George Washington National Forest, and biked all the way from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. During that time, I also helped lead troops to many summer camps at Goshen Scout Reservation.During my last summer at Goshen, I was returning from the showers to our campsite when I came across one of my Boy Scouts in his hammock with a Girl Scout from another troop. They were both in their bathing suits. No other scouts or leaders were around. Under scouting rules, a two-person buddy pair cannot be mixed-sex. A mixed-sex group must include at least three youths. The two scouts were therefore not permitted to be alone together.This discovery set off a series of protocols, all adopted for understandable reasons. Adult supervision is governed by “two-deep leadership.” At least two registered adult leaders must be present for scouting activities. When female scouts participate, at least one registered female adult leader must also be present. Adults are additionally prohibited from having one-on-one contact with an unrelated youth.The incident, therefore, could not be handled as casually as it might have been in the old, all-male program. I had to locate the girl’s troop leadership, including a female leader, report what had happened, and ensure that both scouts were returned to their respective groups. A private disciplinary problem had instantly become a complicated mixed-gender supervisory matter.Whatever problems arise in single-sex troops, introducing adolescent boys and girls creates an additional category of problems that single-sex programs were never required to manage.As soon as the opposite sex is introduced into a single-sex environment, the atmosphere changes. It is a simple fact of nature, and no amount of diversity, equity, and inclusion training will undo that reality. The New York Times, of course, completely ignores this.CELEBRITY CULTURE WAS A MISTAKEMy father died when I was young, and the Boy Scouts was where I learned much of what it meant to be a man. The most valuable lessons did not necessarily come from the skills I acquired or the leadership opportunities scouting provided (although those were much appreciated). They came from watching fathers interact with their sons — during moments of high stress, on difficult hikes, and in low-key conversations around the campfire.That example taught me what fatherhood looked like. At a time when so many boys are growing up without fathers in the home, the Boy Scouts could be providing that same example to countless young men. But it is not, and it will not.My eldest son earned his Eagle Scout rank in 2024, the same year the Boy Scouts of America announced that it would surrender even its name and become Scouting America. My youngest son will not be joining.