Should schools ban the Boy Scouts?

Yes
John Heintz:
Schools should never back discrimination

The Broward County School Board in Florida recently voted unanimously to ban the scouts from their 215 schools. The board agreed that the Boy Scouts violated their policy against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The board made the right decision. Until the Boy Scouts of America agrees to allow all boys access to scouting, the Boy Scouts should be banned from schools.

This should be an easy decision for schools. Discrimination is unethical. The Boy Scouts not only chose to discriminate against gay scouts and leaders, it chose to fight for the "right" to discriminate all the way to the Supreme Court. As valuable as Boy Scout programs and services may be for a large number of American boys, the organization has proclaimed from the highest court in the land that they hate gays. This is a loud, bold, public announcement; and schools need to hear it. Schools cannot be partners with organizations that preach hate. Limited time and resources should be channeled to different youth programs that do not discriminate.

In an Evanston, Ill., district right next to where I teach, an elementary school recently voted down a measure to ban Scouts. A gay teacher and his adopted son, both at the school, now have to face the pain of knowing that their school partners with a group that labels them "immoral." They experience daily symbols of exclusion as they pass Scout recruitment signs in the halls. We know that gay youth, often the targets of hostility and violence, notice every visible sign of tolerance around schools such as rainbow flags and triangles. But they notice intolerant material, like Boy Scout recruitment posters, just as quickly. In many ways, Boy Scout posters are more hostile than anti-gay graffiti on walls; the scouting posters have the approval of the schools.

We educators know that excluding gays does real harm to gay and straight boys, denying gays the benefits of scouting programs and teaching straight boys that gays are immoral. The belief that gays are immoral, less moral, or even morally questionable is a lie that gay communities have been living with too long. Gays need to begin speaking aloud to the world what they've known all along: We've always led moral lives. The Supreme Court's close 5-4 decision highlights the uncertainty in society about gayness. We're learning that talking about the "gay" identity doesn't mean talking about "sex." As individuals learn to accept gays as a valuable minority in the fabric of society, institutions like the Boy Scouts need to appreciate diversity instead of litigating against it. The nation as a whole has begun to learn not to discriminate against gays. How did one of America's most-cherished institutions miss this lesson?

Until the Boy Scouts learn that being gay isn't immoral, they shouldn't be allowed in our schools.

No
Jeffrie A. Herrmann:
It's unfair and unconstitutional

On June 28, 2000, the United States Supreme Court reaffirmed the standing of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) as a private organization with the right to set its own membership and leadership standards. But some in the education community have taken strong and vocal opposition to the basic tenets of the First Amendment's protection of freedom of association and have deliberately contorted the court's ruling to launch unwarranted attacks on the Boy Scouts.

The BSA respects the rights of people and groups that hold values different from those encompassed in the Scout Oath and Law, and the BSA makes no effort to deny them the right to hold those differing attitudes and opinions. Scouting has never sought to impose its values on anyone. We welcome all who share them, and we respect the rights of others to walk a different path. We don't expect everybody to agree with our standards and values, but we do think it is fair to expect others to respect them.

For more than 90 years, the Boy Scouts of America has complemented youth education with a program that teaches participatory citizenship skills, leadership and ethical decision-making skills. Through scouting, boys learn skills and values that will help them throughout their lifetimes.

Scouting has become an American institution, a natural element in most communities. Scouts exemplify the values outlined in the Scout Oath and Law and dedicate themselves to serving their communities. For most of the nine decades of the Boy Scouts of America's existence, local public school officials have considered Scouting as partners in the process of educating children.

The Boy Scouts of America aims to allow youth to live and to learn as children and enjoy scouting without immersing them in the politics of the day. However, people dissatisfied with the Boy Scouts' membership policies and the moral views on which they are based have suggested that the BSA not have the privilege of meeting in public schools or distributing recruitment information at schools.

The United States Constitution guarantees the BSA the right to use public school facilities on the same basis and to the same extent as other community groups. To single out the Boy Scouts and exclude us from use of school facilities solely based on our exercise of our First Amendment right not to admit avowed homosexuals as leaders or members is unfair and indeed unconstitutional.

Just as other student or community groups are permitted to have access to public school facilities, the Boy Scouts of America aims to have the same access.

American Federation of Teachers, AFL•CIO - 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW - Washington, DC 20001