Social Change and My Community by

My Community: My Boy Scout Troop

liamparta — 2024-04-05 18:58:05 UTC

This is my Boy Scout Troop. We went on campouts, did service projects, and spent time giving back to our community.

Cultural

liamparta — 2024-04-05 18:58:31 UTC

The cultural acceptance of Scouting has positively affected the way my Troop functions by giving us many opportunities to visit places such as Washington D.C. and observe numerous historic monuments.

Historical

liamparta — 2024-04-05 18:58:43 UTC

History has shaped the way my Troop functions in society through multiple circumstances that have shaped Scouting into what it is today. Stand-out events include World Wars 1 and 2 where "Scouts supported their countries through the world wars by feeding the hungry and helping the injured." This took Scouting, a small movement of people in England, and catalyzed it into an actual globally recognized organization. Without these events, it's unclear whether my Troop in the United States would even exist.

Environmental

liamparta — 2024-04-05 18:58:50 UTC

Environments such as the Bethlehem House of Bread, a local church in my community have given us a place to hold our meetings and perform group activities. Without them, we would function a lot differently, having to sporadically move from place to place unsure of where we would meet next. Here is a picture of me doing my Eagle Scout project (repainting their parking lot).

liamparta — 2024-04-05 21:31:57 UTC

My troop and me in the white house.

liamparta — 2024-04-05 21:34:21 UTC

A picture of my troop and me.

Economic

liamparta — 2024-05-04 19:40:20 UTC

Events such as the COVID-19 pandemic have severely affected the economic stability of Boy Scout troops such as mine. The switch to virtual activities during this time period (primarily 2019-2020) has led to a decrease in gross revenue to “$187 million in 2020 from $394 million in 2019” (Vigdor). This has led to a lot of budget cuts in terms of activities for local Troops and a membership fee increase from $66 to $72.

Health and Safety

liamparta — 2024-05-09 22:53:24 UTC

Institutions related to health and safety have affected my community by establishing guidelines that require us to be more careful with how our Troop is run and managed. This includes background checks on leadership positions and mandatory youth protection programs.

Education

liamparta — 2024-05-15 22:24:40 UTC

Elements such as the hidden curriculum and intersectionality wheel affect my community as the environment created by Scouting is different to a lot of traditional environments that people in my troop may come from. For example, campouts often require scouts who do not know each other very well to perform tasks together such as doing chores. There is also a buddy system that requires two people to stay together at all times. People from more affluent upbringings are not as used to doing required chores, especially for free and people from urban areas that do not place an emphasis on being nice to strangers are placed in a different environment as well.

Religion

liamparta — 2024-05-23 20:44:07 UTC

Religion has played a large role in my community. It has created the space that my Troop now holds our weekly meetings in. The principles of religions such as Christianity that include helping others and being kind also go hand in hand with some of the fundamental principles my community holds.

Social Movements

liamparta — 2024-05-31 19:24:55 UTC

Social movements have heavily affected my community in the context of social change. One social movement my Troop has been influenced by is the SOLVE clean-up movement, which aims to keep beaches, forests, and protected wildlife areas free from litter. This movement motivates my troop to keep any area they occupy whether it's for a campout or service project clean through regular litter sweeps.

Social Change Influences

liamparta — 2024-06-03 22:37:23 UTC

The social change influence that has affected my community the most would most likely be the COVID-19 pandemic, a social change influence related to Health, Safety, and the State. Scouting membership dropped dramatically during the pandemic "from 1.97 million in 2019 to 1.12 million in 2020, a 43% plunge" (Crary). This was likely due to the increase in staying at home and away from other people. This caused a decrease in membership, which both hurt the social health of my community as well as economic health as less money was coming in to fund trips and activities. Another social change influence related to religion that has affected my community would be the societal shift away from religious beliefs. One of the main ideas of Scouting is to be reverent to a god or higher power. As society evolves in fields such as science and technology, secularism also increases. This leads to a decline in membership as the views and ideas of Scouting do not line up with some of American cultures more modern norms. Both of these changes affect people in my community differently as there is a large age gap ranging from middle schoolers to people in their 50s. The older people in my Troop who have been a part of Scouting for most of their lives who hold more traditional values are more impacted by its decline in membership than those who are younger and grew up during the pandemic and are still developing their world views in an age of increased secularization.