Boy Scouts Announce They Will Accept Girls
nytimes.com
Boy Scouts Announce They Will Accept Girls
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Re: Boy Scouts Announce They Will Accept Girls
#2I think that's a pretty good idea. Our daughter joined the Girl Scouts for two years and all she got out of it was to be free child labor for cookie manufacturers. Apparently the troop leader did something fishy with the cookie money and even though they met their goal, they didn't get the reward. We still have boxes of the stuff in our pantry.
I was a Weeblo (Boy Scouts) as a kid and didn't get much out of it other than classroom learning, but it was better than selling cookies. I got bored after a few months and didn't go back. Like any nationwide organization, the quality is determined by the locality support.
I guess they will have to change their name from The Boy Scouts if enough girls show interest.
Re: Boy Scouts Announce They Will Accept Girls
#3This is sad. Not that they accept girls, but that the Girl Scouts apparently suck so much at understanding their audience.
Fallout from this would probably result in either 1) the Girl Scouts becoming much better at satisfying their target audience or 2) the Girl Scouts essentially becoming an irrelevant organization.
I hope the first, but the latter looks more likely. They’ve hidden behind cookie sales for years, and outside that, I can’t tell you one thing that they do.
Re: Boy Scouts Announce They Will Accept Girls
#4This is sad. Not that they accept girls, but that the Girl Scouts apparently suck so much at understanding their audience. Fallout from this would probably result in either 1) the Girl Scouts becoming much better at satisfying their target audience or 2) the Girl Scouts essentially becoming an irrelevant organization. I hope the first, but the latter looks more likely. They’ve hidden behind cookie sales for years, an…
Girl Scouts is actually a terrific organization in a lot of ways, one thing it's not great at is marketing and leadership support. On top of that We are a family of scouts and scout leaders, and my wife and I both did leadership for our daughters Girl Scout troop. I am also a leader in my sons Cub Scout pack.
Girl Scouts has been fundamentally more inclusive and secular than Boy Scouts. A scout is just a scout in Girl Scouts, no matter their gender or religious identity. The program for the girls has adapted well over time and has some great educational components across all types of activities. There is a real focus on getting the girls inspired by STEM. Our local council sponsored and provided materials and funds for First Lego League, and several troops went on to state finals. They hold science fairs, have great camp grounds (and summer camps) and have fantastic outdoor education from both an environmental and sports/leisure aspect.
Unfortunately, they also lack funds, so most of the support goes to the girls. Finding and maintaining good adult leaders and volunteers has become increasingly difficult, and adult leadership is what really makes for a good Girl Scout experience, especially when the girls are younger. And the fewer good leaders, the fewer girls who participate, and as a result fewer funds for the organization so spread around. I was in a "scouting family" when I was a kid, and the level of engagement of the adults back then was much better than today. For whatever reason people are "too busy" these to volunteer for something that benefits their kids, and often seem to want to use scouts as baby sitting :(
Also, I understand your sentiment on the cookies, but a surprising amount of the money goes back to the troop and to the girls in the form of rewards and scholarships. In our troop we had several girls who were super motivated to sell as it was the only way for their families to afford summer camp (you'd get if I remember correctly, 10% of your sales as money towards camp) and most of these girls would hustle enough to make all they needed to fully fund camp, which was $300-400. Yeah there's some profit for the cookie company, but I think it's something like 50% goes back to Girl Scouts (the org, the troop and the individual girls.)
Re: Boy Scouts Announce They Will Accept Girls
#5This is sad. Not that they accept girls, but that the Girl Scouts apparently suck so much at understanding their audience. Fallout from this would probably result in either 1) the Girl Scouts becoming much better at satisfying their target audience or 2) the Girl Scouts essentially becoming an irrelevant organization. I hope the first, but the latter looks more likely. They’ve hidden behind cookie sales for years, an…
They’ve hidden behind cookie sales for years, and outside that, I can’t tell you one thing that they do.
You think Boy Scouts, you think Eagle scouts, tying knots, and camping. Outdoorsy, can-do, and always prepared. The animal shelter at which I volunteer has benefitted from the multiple Eagle Scout projects that built needed equipment for us. You think Girl Scouts, you think Thin Mints. A Girl Scout could have built the agility equipment for that same animal shelter. Instead, the local GS troop did a water color wall painting. Way to go, you girls stay and decorate while the boys build useful stuff. That's a failure not only of marketing, but also of programming.
"You said you don't know jack about boating, how'd you know how to tie a bowline?"
"I was a Boy Scout."
That's my answer to a lot of "how'd you know...?" questions. And I'll bet not a week goes by that I don't use knowledge gained from Boy Scouts. From sharpening a kitchen knife to tying a timberline hitch for an ad hoc guy line, I wonder if even a day goes by that I don't use knowledge gained from scouts. Not to mention the leadership and mental attitude aspects.
I don't recall a woman ever answering "how'd you...?" with "I was a Girl Scout". Of the women I've questioned who were in Girl Scouts, I don't recall any that found it to be a particularly valuable experience.
Now, that's certainly anecdotal, and most likely very dated given my age. But GSA needs better PR than "we sell cookies", and they need the programs to match. I'm neutral on BSA accepting girls, but I'm disappointed that the GSA has failed girls such that it was needed to begin with.
Re: Boy Scouts Announce They Will Accept Girls
#6Disappointing.
Another example of women and girls limiting the opportunities for men to build strong positive masculine identities.
With the "women's only fitness" to other women's only clubs.... we are turning this into a twisted future where womem are the only ones allowed to have groups that are gender discriminatory.
Re: Boy Scouts Announce They Will Accept Girls
#7Finally catching up with the rest of the world. As a child in Canada, I was a member of the local Scout troupe which had quite a few girls in it. Definitely made for a better, more balanced experience.
We would make fun of the American troupes who weren't allowed to have any girls in them. Made no sense why not.
Re: Boy Scouts Announce They Will Accept Girls
#8Weird, because my Scout leader led adventure scouts;
http://adventurescoutsusa.org/
Re: Boy Scouts Announce They Will Accept Girls
#9Putting aside the context of whether this makes sense with the existence of Girl Scouts, as an Eagle Scout I’m pretty happy that the organization has made strides to turn around its image of exclusivity. It’s certainly about 15 years later than it needed to be, but such a huge organization that is dedicated to inspiring ideals in young people should be sending the right message. It’s a far cry from the early 2000’s era Boy Scouts which was projecting a much different message.
I’m quite ambivalent about the organization’s attitude toward religion, in that it is impossible to be an outspoken atheist and reach the rank of Eagle Scout. To reach the highest rank you must undergo an Eagle board of review, which is an interview of sorts with highly ranked regional council members. During mine, I was asked questions that were mostly formalities until the final question: “Do you believe in a higher power?” When given context to the question, it made a bit more sense: I was told the higher power could be anything, like the Mother Nature or karma. It was then that I understood that the question, however poorly worded, isn’t meant to really be around religion, but instead letting go of your ego. There are much better ways to ask that sort of question though, and being atheist and letting go of your ego are not two mutually exclusive properties.
I was agnostic at the time so it was easy for me, but I still question the approach now even though it wasn’t the WASP-like approach I expected.
Re: Boy Scouts Announce They Will Accept Girls
#10What if it turns out that there is a deep-seated psychological need present in many (NOT ALL) humans to participate in peer groups defined along lines of gender - and what if it turns out that if society denies them acceptable outlets for this need, that they fill the need by joining socially unacceptable groups (ie. gangs)? If we suspect that this psychological need is present, do we persist in denying acceptable outlets for it?