Boy Scouts of America

Boy Scouts of America
Age range	Learning for Life: Pre-K through 12th grade Cub Scouts: 5–10 Scouts BSA: 10–18 Venturing: 14–21 Exploring Club (LFL): 10–15 Sea Scouts: 14–21 Exploring Post (LFL): 16–20 Scout Leader: 18+ for Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA; 21+ for Venturing and Sea Scouting
Headquarters	Irving, Texas, U.S.
Location	United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea
Country	United States
Founded	February 8, 1910; 114 years ago (1910-02-08)
Founders	Charles Alexander Eastman William D. Boyce Ernest Thompson Seton Daniel Carter Beard
Membership	1,063,338 youth (2023) 42,822 units (2023)[1]
Chief Scout Executive	Roger Krone
Chair	Brad Tilden
National Commissioner	Scott Sorrels
Honorary Chair	President Joe Biden
Affiliation	World Organization of the Scout Movement
Governing body	National Executive Board
Website scouting.org
Scouting portal

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including 176,000 female participants.^[2] The BSA was founded in 1910; about 130 million Americans have participated in its programs, which are served by 477,000 adult volunteers.^[2] BSA became a founding member organization of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922.

The stated mission of the Boy Scouts of 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." 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, the BSA has four high-adventure bases: Northern Tier (Minnesota, Manitoba, and Ontario), Philmont Scout Ranch (New Mexico), Sea Base (Florida Keys, US Virgin Islands, and Bahamas), and Summit Bechtel Reserve (West Virginia), as well as nearly 100 camps and reservations dedicated to scouts.

The main Scouting divisions are Cub Scouting for ages 5 to 11 years, Scouts BSA for ages 10 to 18, Venturing for ages 14 through 21, and Sea Scouts for ages 14 through 21. The BSA operates Scouting 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 Scouters and volunteers. Additionally, Learning for Life is an affiliate that provides in-school and career education.

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.^[3] In 2023, BSA agreed to pay $2.46 billion to settle claims by some 82,000 former Boy Scouts who said they had been sexually abused by BSA officials and volunteers.^[4]

On May 7, 2024, BSA announced that the organization will change its name to Scouting America. While the name change will officially go into effect on February 8, 2025, on its 115th anniversary, all are encouraged to use the name immediately. The Scout Oath, Law and program will remain unchanged. The uniforms will also remain the same but will be embroidered with the new name.