Documentary Review: Leave No Trace

credit: Leave No Trace

One has to wonder at what point it’s required that an organization looks inward rather than defending itself to the world in a defensive maneuver. The Boy Scouts of America has been a longstanding tradition in some families and has been an uplifting and positive experience in the lives of many young boys over the years, some of whom were thankfully never forced to undergo the abuse and scandal that has touched the lives of others. But in Leave No Trace, the memes, the jokes, and the ridicule that the BSA has endured over the years are aired out yet again as the victims of various cases of abuse speak up and remind people that the things they went through were very real and that the BSA was meant to be a positive time in the lives of so many, but eventually became a running joke and a horrible trauma that some folks have never managed to get over. The idea that such a thing could never happen in such an organization, that a lot of people thought of it as a myth made up by dissatisfied individuals who did not meet the requirements necessary, is kind of hard to fathom, but sadly it has happened. 

credit: Leave No Trace

Hearing the stories of the abused makes it kind of hard to have faith in the organization any longer. 

A lot of people can and have turned away from this story since it didn’t happen to them, even if they have or haven’t belonged to the BSA at one time in their lives. The thing about this is that if something happens to another person, then many will look at the story in a few different ways. Some will be empathetic if it happened to them as well or will deny any empathy since they don’t want to go back to that moment. Others will show a mix of concern, indifference, or other emotions based upon their own experience or lack thereof, as human beings are prone to seeing a situation in many different ways and will choose how they feel about the matter based on their own experience. In other words, some will care and some won’t, and it has a lot to do with whether they’ve experienced this or if they’ve known someone that has gone through this type of situation. But trust in the BSA is a personal thing, and usually, the people who care the most are those who have had something to do with the organization. The rest of us, well, we don’t have the emotional investment necessary to care. 

To this date, there’s still belief in the BSA. 

Seeing a total lack of belief that the BSA is still a worthwhile organization was never bound to come since there are too many people still invested in the idea of it. Plenty of organizations have managed to endure a few scandals in their long history, but what was seen to happen in the Boy Scouts was one that shook the entire organization to the core and could have ended it at one point if not for the type of damage control that was put in place long ago. Many people still believe in the core ideas that the BSA was founded with and are bound and determined to see those ideas pushed forward into the current era so as to maintain the idea that they are a wholesome organization that is needed to give purpose to the lives of young boys and men that need guidance and something in their lives that can show them how to be decent people. 

credit: Leave No Trace

Abandoning the BSA due to the actions of so many depraved individuals is likely tempting to some folks. 

There are those who have been put through a great deal of hell by what happened to their children who would likely want to see the BSA burned to the ground, especially since it would appear that the BSA didn’t do all that it could to punish those who were accused of sexual misconduct with one or more boys while employed by the organization. This is a visceral reaction that is very easy to understand since the protection and safety of one’s child are paramount to most parents, and the reactions of those parents who were interviewed are hardly surprising. But trying to burn down something that was started for a good reason and does still have several redeeming qualities, barring the individuals that have tarnished the name, feels like overkill to a lot of people. 

One would hope the vetting for those who work for the organization would be far more stringent. 

Time will only tell if the BSA has eradicated every foul element from their ranks, but it does feel that the hiring process might need to become near draconian at some point simply to preserve the mental and physical health of the boys that wish to belong to the BSA. If nothing else, making certain that those teaching these young boys are decent human beings is a great way to earn back whatever reputation has been lost.