Of any one
hundred boys who become Scouts, it must be confessed that thirty will
drop out in their first year. Perhaps this may be regarded as a failure,
but in later life all of these will remember that they had been Scouts
and will speak well of the program.
Of the one hundred, only rarely will one ever appear before a
juvenile court judge. Twelve of the one hundred will be from families
that belong to no church. Through Scouting, these twelve and many of
their families will be brought into contact with a church and will
continue to be active all their lives. Six of the one hundred will
become pastors.
Each of the one hundred will learn something from Scouting.
Almost all will develop hobbies that will add interest throughout the
rest of their lives. Approximately one-half will serve in the military,
and in varying degrees, profit from their Scout training. At least one
will use it to save another person's life and many will credit it with
saving their own.
Four of the one hundred will reach Eagle rank, and at least
one will later say that he valued his Eagle above his college degree.
Many will find their future vocation through merit badge work and
Scouting contacts. Seventeen of the one hundred boys will later become
Scout leaders and will give leadership to thousands of additional
boys.
One in
four Eagle Scouts will earn their Bronze Palm. Only about half
of these boys will earn their gold and silver palms.
Only one in four boys in America will become a Scout, but it
is interesting to know that of the leaders in this nation in business,
religion and politics, three out of four were Scouts.
This story will never end. Like the "Golden Pebble" of
service dropped into the human sea it will continue to radiate in
ever-widening circles, influencing the characters of men down through
unending time.
More Statistics
Scouting's alumni record is equally impressive. A recent
nation-wide survey of high schools revealed the following
information:
85% of student council presidents were
Scouts
89% of senior class presidents were
Scouts
80% of junior class presidents were
Scouts
75% of school publication editors were
Scouts
71% of football captains were
Scouts
Scouts also account
for:
64% of Air Force Academy graduates
68% of West Point graduates
70% of Annapolis graduates
72% of Rhodes Scholars
85% of FBI agents
26 of the first 29 astronauts
Other interesting Statistics
104
million The number of members since 1910.
1,209,077 The number of adults providing the
Scouting program to America's youth.
124,660 The number of Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout
troops, and Venturing crews.
40,029 The number of Eagle Scout badges earned.
240 The number of individuals who earned a
heroism award.
1,363,795 The number of subscribers who learned
to read or improved their reading skills with Boys' Life magazine.
136
The number of chartered organizations the BSA worked with
during the year.
75,000+ The number of religious emblems earned.
