Editing Scouting America (section)

{{short description|Youth organization in the United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
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{{Infobox WorldScouting
| name             = Scouting America
| image            = Scouting America corporate logo.png
| age              = {{plainlist|
* [[Cub Scouting (Boy Scouts of America)|Cub Scouts]]: 5–10
* [[Scouts BSA]]: 10–18
* [[Venturing]]: 14–21
* [[Exploring (Learning for Life)|Exploring Club]]: 10–15
* [[Sea Scouts (Boy Scouts of America)|Sea Scouts]]: 14–21
* [[Exploring (Learning for Life)|Exploring Post]]: 16–20
* [[Scout Leader]]: 18+ for Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA; 21+ for Venturing and Sea Scouting }}
| headquarters     = [[Irving, Texas]]
| location         = United States, [[American Scouting overseas#Transatlantic Council|Europe]], [[American Scouting overseas#Far East Council|Japan and South Korea]]
| country          = United States
| members          ={{Scoutstat BSA|bsa}}
| f-date           = {{start date and age|1910|02|08}}
| founders         = yes
| founder          = {{plainlist|
* [[Charles Alexander Eastman]]
* [[William D. Boyce]]
* [[Ernest Thompson Seton]]
* [[Daniel Carter Beard]]
}}
| chiefscouttitle  = [[Chief Scout Executive]]
| chiefscout       = [[Roger Krone]]
| chiefscouttitle2 = [[National Chair of Scouting America|National Chair]]
| chiefscout2      = [[Brad Tilden]]
| chiefscouttitle3 = [[Leadership in Scouting America#National level|National Commissioner]]
| chiefscout3      = [[Devang Desai]]
| chiefscouttitle4 = [[List of presidents of the United States involved in Scouting|Honorary Chair]]
| chiefscout4      = [[President of the United States|President]] [[Donald Trump]]
| website          = {{URL|scouting.org}}
| affiliation      = [[World Organization of the Scout Movement]]
| governance       = [[National Executive Board of Scouting America|National Executive Board]]
|name1=Boy Scouts of America|namelabel1=Previous name}}

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'''Scouting America''' is the largest [[scouting]] organization and one of the largest [[List of youth organizations|youth organizations]] in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-06 |title=Boy Scouts see a small membership uptick after rebrand to Scouting America |url=https://apnews.com/article/boy-scouts-scouting-america-birthday-name-change-796935fe9474fda03d179aa8c087ab42 |access-date=2025-03-02 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> Founded as the '''Boy Scouts of America''' in 1910, about 130 million Americans have participated in its programs, which are served by 465,000 adult volunteers.<ref name="rebrand2025">{{cite web |date=May 7, 2024 |title=Boy Scouts of America to Become Scouting America |url=https://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/press-releases/boy-scouts-of-america-to-become-scouting-america/}}</ref> The organization became a founding member of the [[World Organization of the Scout Movement]] in 1922.

The stated mission of Scouting America is to "prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law."<ref>{{Cite web |title=What are the Scout Oath and Scout Law? |url=https://www.scouting.org/about/faq/question10/ |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=Scouting America |language=en-US}}</ref> Youth are trained in responsible citizenship, character development, and self-reliance through participation in a wide range of outdoor activities, educational programs, and, at older age levels, career-oriented programs in partnership with community organizations. For younger members, the [[Scout method]] is part of the program to instill typical Scouting values such as trustworthiness, good citizenship, and outdoors skills, through a variety of activities such as camping, aquatics, and hiking. To further these outdoor activities, Scouting America owns four [[High-adventure bases of the Boy Scouts of America|high-adventure bases]]: [[Northern Tier (Scouting)|Northern Tier]] ([[Minnesota]], [[Manitoba]], and [[Ontario]]), [[Philmont Scout Ranch]] ([[New Mexico]]), [[Sea Base]] ([[Florida|Florida Keys]], [[US Virgin Islands|U.S. Virgin Islands]], and [[Bahamas]]), and [[Summit Bechtel Reserve]] ([[West Virginia]]), as well as nearly 100 camps and reservations dedicated to scouts.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=About Scouting America |url=https://www.scouting.org/about/ |access-date=2025-03-02 |website=Boy Scouts of America |language=en-US}}</ref>

The main Scouting divisions are [[Cub Scouts (Scouting America)|Cub Scouts]] for ages 5 to 11 years, [[Scouts BSA]] for ages 10 to 18, [[Venturing]] for ages 14 through 21, and [[Sea Scouts (Boy Scouts of America)|Sea Scouts]] for ages 14 through 21. Scouting America operates by chartering local organizations, such as churches, clubs, civic associations, or educational organizations, to implement the Scouting program for youth within their communities. Units are led by volunteers appointed by the chartering organization, who are supported by local councils using both paid [[Professional Scouter (Boy Scouts of America)|professional Scouters]] and volunteers. Additionally, [[Learning for Life]] is an affiliate that provides in-school and career education.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Programs |url=https://www.scouting.org/programs/ |access-date=2025-03-02 |website=Boy Scouts of America |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2019, the Boy Scouts of America renamed its flagship program, Boy Scouts, to Scouts BSA to reflect its policy change allowing girls to join separate, gender-specific troops.<ref name="scoutingwire_">{{cite web | date = May 3, 2018 | title = BSA's Organization Name Not Changing, and Other Facts to Know and Share | url = https://scoutingwire.org/the-boy-scouts-of-america-organization-name-is-not-changing-and-other-facts-to-set-the-record-straight/ | work = Scouting Wire | access-date = May 7, 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180504190932/https://scoutingwire.org/the-boy-scouts-of-america-organization-name-is-not-changing-and-other-facts-to-set-the-record-straight/ | archive-date = May 4, 2018 | url-status = live  }}</ref> Accordingly, on February 8, 2025, its 115th anniversary, the BSA changed its name to Scouting America. The Scout Oath, Law and program remain unchanged.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-06 |title=Boy Scouts see a small membership uptick after rebrand to Scouting America |url=https://apnews.com/article/boy-scouts-scouting-america-birthday-name-change-796935fe9474fda03d179aa8c087ab42 |access-date=2025-03-02 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>