The 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 Scout Law.

Scouting helps youth develop academic skills, self-confidence, ethics, leadership skills, and citizenship skills that influence their adult lives.

Scouting provides youth with an opportunity to try new things, provide service to others, build self-confidence, and reinforce ethical standards. These opportunities not only help them when they are young, but carry forward into their adult lives, improving their relationships, their work lives, their family lives, and the values by which they live.

A study was conducted by Harris Interactive that validates these claims.

Boy Scouts of America®

Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is the most effective youth organization in history for building responsible leaders and citizens. Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturers are all members of the BSA. However, they are entirely different programs: Cub Scouting is a family-oriented program designed specifically to address the needs of younger boys. Boy Scouting is designed to achieve the aims of Scouting through a vigorous outdoor program and peer group leadership with the counsel of an adult Scoutmaster. Venturing provides positive experiences through exciting and meaningful youth-run activities that help members pursue their special interests, grow by teaching others, and develop leadership skills.

Scouting has been around for over 100 years. The official BSA website has a brief but interesting history of Scouting.

Boy Scouts • Ages 10-17

Boy Scouts is one of the best programs in which a young man can become involved. This is especially true if he is interested in developing high character and excellent leadership capabilities. Boy Scouts is a boy-led and boy-run organization. This means that the majority of the responsibilities for the success of the group is with each scout.

The highest rank in Boy Scouts is Eagle Scout. To earn this rank, a young man must finish a daunting list of requirements then complete a large-scale project that demonstrates a high level of leadership. Because of this, Eagle Scout is still one of the best credentials a young man can put on his college transcripts.

The Troop

The troop is the entire local Boy Scout unit that implements the scouting program for the chartered organization. A troop is comprised of patrols, which are smaller sets of scouts. Adult leaders, known as Scoutmasters, oversee the boys as they lead the scouting program.

Patrols

Patrols are the building blocks of a Boy Scout troop. A patrol is a small group of boys who are similar in age, development, and interests. Working together as a team, patrol members share the responsibility for the patrol's success. They gain confidence by serving in positions of patrol leadership. All patrol members enjoy the friendship, sense of belonging, and achievements of the patrol and of each of its members.