Venturing

Venturing is a youth development program of the Boy Scouts of America for young men and women who are 14 (and have completed the eighth grade) through 20 years of age. Venturing's purpose is to provide positive experiences to help young people mature and to prepare them to become responsible and caring adults.

If you really want to trace the roots of Venturing, you have to go way back. The need for a senior Boy Scout program probably surfaced the second day after Scouting started in the United States in 1910. Actually, in the very first National Executive Board meeting report, there is a discussion about losing older boys. It was no surprise to our founders that older boys needed an age-specific program with challenges appropriate for them. Older boy programs cropped up across the country during those early years, causing the need for national action. In 1935, the BSA created Senior Scouting, publishing the Guide to Senior Scouting. There were several options, including Explorers, Sea Scouts, and Air Scouts. In 1949, the BSA consolidated the senior programs, with the exception of Sea Scouts, into Explorer Scouts. At that time, a boy could be an Explorer in the troop or in a stand-alone unit called the Explorer post. The Explorer advancement program included the Bronze Award, the Gold Award, and the Silver Award. Sound familiar? The last Silver Awards were earned in 1966 as Exploring began to turn more toward career emphasis. That is until the new Venturing Silver Award was reintroduced in August 1998. The new Venturing advancement award medals are very similar in design to their predecessors of the 1940s and 1950s.

What was true in 1920 is true today: Older teens need a program specific to their needs and abilities. How old are our Venturers, anyway? Our age chart is almost a perfect bell curve with 17 being the highest point. Eighteen is next, followed by 16. There are actually more 19-year-olds than 14-year-olds. Because Venturing is very challenging and usually involves ambitious travel, it lends itself more to older teens.