As patrol leader of Brookline’s Troop 6, 16-year-old Daphne Spunt guides her fellow Scouts through the presentation of the U.S. flag, the Pledge of Allegiance and the recitation of the Scout Oath.
It’s an inherently patriotic thing, Spunt said of Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts. “What other institution does the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag?” she said. “We represent America.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Scouting America this month that it could lose military support unless it adopts unspecified “core value reforms.” Hegseth has been a strong critic of Scouting America’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including its decision in 2018 to admit girls.
Troop 6 is unfazed.
“Scouting does not need a military perspective to help create better children,” said Clyde Lanford “Lanny” Smith, an assistant scoutmaster. “This troop stands strong without all that. We never needed that.”
Spunt joined the Scouts in middle school after feeling underwhelmed by Girl Scout activities. She said she found that Scouts offered the lifelong skills she wanted.
Among her accomplishments are the first aid, camping, swimming and rifle shooting merit badges. To earn these badges, Spunt said, she had to complete the same requirements as the boys.
“It’s not easier for me because I’m a girl,” she said.
As she rises through the ranks, Spunt said she has wondered why the country’s leadership “attacks” the current iteration of Scouting America.
“I’m able to do everything [the boys] can do. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed to participate in scouting,” Spunt said. “We just add – we don’t take away.”
Spunt invited her friend Astrid Shivers to join the Scouts.
“I remember being very mesmerized even though I was an outsider,” said Shivers, 16. “But then I thought, ‘I think I can actually learn a lot from this.’”
Like her friend, Shivers never understood the argument that girls should resort to joining Girl Scouts when Scouting America better suited her ambitions.
“Scouting America is all about preparing the youth, teaching them morals, discipline, and Girl Scouts is not that,” Shivers said. “I think what’s marketed towards those two genders says so much about how Western society values things that are male-oriented versus female-oriented.”
At this weekly meeting, Smith handed out discussion questions for Scouts to earn their Citizenship in Society merit badges, a required badge to become an Eagle Scout.
Introduced in 2022, the badge focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion, and asks Scouts how they can promote a culture of belonging.
“There’s a whole teaching around [this badge] that has made some people in leadership positions in the United States feel uncomfortable with scouting,” Smith said. “This badge says that if you’re an immigrant, you’re gay, trans, you are welcome.”
Unlike other badges, Scouts earn Citizenship in Society through discussions with their counselors.
Some questions ask Scouts to put themselves into scenarios where a peer may experience bullying and exclusion.
Other questions challenge prejudicial beliefs: What would they do if a camper makes an offensive comment about people with disabilities, if a social media account spreads harmful messages about a person, or if someone tells a new student from a different country to “go back where they came from.”
Scouts are encouraged to understand varying perspectives to make a positive and welcoming difference.
“We do not accept people who are mean to other people, people who are bullies to other people, people who make fun of others,” Smith said.
Scouts are asked to interview someone in their community or school who has made a significant impact promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. One question asks Scouts to document three or more areas of their life outside of scouting where they can include others because, “[DEI] is not just in here,” Smith said.
Craig Hagan, an assistant scoutmaster, said Troop 6 will travel to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, where Scouts can interact with people from “all over the world.”
“Part of that is learning how to get along with people from all walks of life,” Hagen said, “and find things like what you have in common, rather than focusing on the differences,
Hagan’s son Ben, 17, said race, gender and identity don’t make a difference in a Scout’s value in Brookline’s troop.
“It doesn’t matter who you are,” Ben said. “You’re a Scout.”
This story is part of a partnership between Brookline.News and the Boston University Department of Journalism.