Survey Shows Boy Scouts Have Fewer Risky Habits

May 13, 2004 Thursday

Survey shows Boy Scouts have fewer risky habits

By Jan Galletta; Staff Writer

SECTION: LOCAL LIFESTYLE; Pg. E8

Boy Scouts as a group are less prone to risky behavior than their peers, a new survey indicates.

The Cherokee Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America recently conducted a survey of young members' risk-taking habits and compared the results to data on the Community Research Council's 2002 study, "Choices: A Report on Risky Behavior Among Hamilton County Teens."

The Cherokee Council found that scouts were less likely than their counterparts to engage in such activities as smoking or trying drugs.

The findings could "show parents why they'd want to put a child in scouting," said Kevin Beirne, 38, finance director of the Cherokee Area Council, one of roughly 300 in the nation's 94-year-old scouting network.

The Boy Scout poll drew 234 male respondents, according to Mr. Beirne. He said it included nine questions, similar to those that appeared on the Research Council's 96-question survey.

The Research Council's questionnaire went out to 2,752 male and female students in grades 9-12 at 16 public and three private schools, according to the organization's Web site.

Because of disparity in sample size and makeup, "You can't compare the two (polls) statistically," said Ione Farrar of the Research Council. "But I'm not surprised by the differences in (responses of) peers and scouts."

The two sets of answers diverged most where experimenting with marijuana was concerned. Some 40 percent of the Research Council sample said they'd tried it, but only 6 percent of the scouts, according to Mr. Beirne.

Only small percentages in both groups -- 12 percent of the Research Council sample and 4 percent of the scout sample, according to Mr. Beirne -- said they'd seriously considered suicide within the past year.

Mr. Beirne said the Cherokee Council doesn't "look at it (the scout survey) as a fund-raising tool."

He said the council also did a scout survey in 2001 and weighed it against the Research Council's 2000 report on teenagers' risky behaviors. The earlier comparison was done "in working with the United Way to show that scouting does make a difference," he said.

(To see the Community Research Council's full Choices report, visit www.researchcouncil.net)

E-mail Jan Galletta at

jgalletta@timesfreepress.com