girl scouts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GS is terrible. Very cliquey and has a mean girls vibe to it. There's too much emphasis on selling product as well to raise money.

While agree that there's too much emphasis on sales, we've had the complete opposite experience with inclusiveness. My daughter is terribly shy and Girl Scouts has been a boon for her - the girls are so sweet and kind and make a point to include her in everything. They also have a special needs girl in their group that they are so wonderful with.

[Anonymous]

Agree with everyone else, it can be really great. I was a troop leader (with a partner). We tried to follow the philosophy of gauging the girls' interests and rolling with them, letting them take on ever-growing leadership. We got them through junior high! A couple of girls wanted to continue and found another troop.

[Anonymous]

I was an assistant troop leader for 2 years. Couldn’t get parents to volunteer for anything. Gave it up. The cookies were a lot too. I know it’s not required but it’s pushed, most of the time it’s parents doing it online so it’s not really Girl empowerment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GS is terrible. Very cliquey and has a mean girls vibe to it. There's too much emphasis on selling product as well to raise money.

While agree that there's too much emphasis on sales, we've had the complete opposite experience with inclusiveness. My daughter is terribly shy and Girl Scouts has been a boon for her - the girls are so sweet and kind and make a point to include her in everything. They also have a special needs girl in their group that they are so wonderful with.

That's been our experience too. Now that the girls are getting older, they are all *very* different kids. They don't do a lot of activities outside of school together, and my sense is they don't all run in the same circles in school, but while at girl scouts it's a safe space for them all to be themselves and have fun.

[Anonymous]

We don't have enough girls and parents interested in our elementary school to start a Brownie or Daisy troop and I am aggravated that I've reached out many times to the regional designated contact, and she refuses to try to match us with another troop nearby that has "openings," nor will she permit my daughter to just join the well-established troop of girls at our small elementary school one grade above her (and she knows many of the girls!). It all sounds very unnecessarily rigid (at least in the Montgomery County area) and has turned me off, though I had a wonderful experience doing Scouts as a child myself in a different part of the country.

So to the above PP who mentioned you can easily just leave a troop and find another if it's not working for you, I'd love to know how this works!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a 12 year girl scout and now I'm my 5th grade daughter's leader.
I love so much about girl scouts. I gave me so much confidence and new experiences as a girl (and my first job!)
For my daughter, it's her one awesome activity. She's tried a few different sports and other clubs, but she's found a great group of friends at Girl Scouts.
SO far this year our troop has gone camping, done archery, served dinner at a homeless shelter, tried (and failed) to see the green comet, plus our normal meetings where the girls lead each other through badges. We also have ice skating, kayaking, and another archery day planned for this spring.

BUT... the wonderful and terrible thing about girl scouts is that it's an extremely flexible program. You can have a completely legitimate troop that never once goes outside, but focuses on STEM or art activities. And you can have a troop that camps every month and goes to GIRL fest high adventure camp and to national convention. And you can have a completely legitimate troop that never sells cookies. And you can have a completely legitimate troop that turns cookies into a huge marketing/business curriculum.

So is it "worth it" - that totally depends on your troop. It's about the cheapest program your kid can do, so give it a try! And consider becoming a leader or outdoor trained volunteer or first aider os something to help your child have the best possible experience.

This is exactly right. My DD's troop was very arts and crafts focused, very indoors, no cookies Not a fit for us but a great fit for others. To echo everyone else- it's the leaders that make all the difference and adults with enough time are harder and harder to find.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't have enough girls and parents interested in our elementary school to start a Brownie or Daisy troop and I am aggravated that I've reached out many times to the regional designated contact, and she refuses to try to match us with another troop nearby that has "openings," nor will she permit my daughter to just join the well-established troop of girls at our small elementary school one grade above her (and she knows many of the girls!). It all sounds very unnecessarily rigid (at least in the Montgomery County area) and has turned me off, though I had a wonderful experience doing Scouts as a child myself in a different part of the country.

So to the above PP who mentioned you can easily just leave a troop and find another if it's not working for you, I'd love to know how this works!

I'm in GS of Central Maryland, so I can't speak to how GSCNC is supposed to work for finding a troop. The reality is that there are more interested kids than available troops, so the best thing would be to consider starting your own troop if that's something you might be interested in.

Is the regional contact a person at Council or your local Service Unit Manager. A good service unit manager will have a sense of the actual situation and if it's a matter of waiting until next year for some spots to be available or if you just need to get connected to the right people. Council should be able to tell you who the local SUM is, or just ask on your mom or school facebook group.
You definitely don't need to be at a troop associated with your school. Some troops are pretty strict about grades, though, because they don't want to deal with the complications of a multi-level troop, so that doesn't totally surprise me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Lifetime Girl Scout. Girl Scouting is an excellent organization, and I have worked for and with them in several states. There are weak spots in any large organization, and the troop leader in the earlier years does have a large impact on the troop experience, however, GSUSA has put a real emphasis on encouraging many parents of troop members to participate in leading the girls. You can always leave a troop that isn’t a good fit and find another.

Girl Scouting offers girls a chance to try new things, to gain skills, to work cooperatively with others, and to have fun and be accepted for who they are.

Girl Scouting offers older girls so many unique experiences, from travel both in the US and overseas, to participating as a delegate to local and national conventions, and as a participant in outdoor experiences that all serve to build girls of courage, confidence, and character.

Girl Scout resident camps are safe, relatively affordable, and accept non-Scouts. I, and later my daughter, have had the chance to take whitewater canoe trips, ride horseback for overnights in the mountains, kayak in the most beautiful areas of our country, and cook meals over a campfire before crawling into a tent.

It is what you make of it.

Is Girl Scouts now open to boys too?

It is not open to boys, girls only. I'm not sure how they deal with "gender fluid" issues.

Cub Scouts(K-5th grade) and Boy Scouts(6th grade through 18yo) is co-ed and now open to girls(recently in the past 5-6 years).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Lifetime Girl Scout. Girl Scouting is an excellent organization, and I have worked for and with them in several states. There are weak spots in any large organization, and the troop leader in the earlier years does have a large impact on the troop experience, however, GSUSA has put a real emphasis on encouraging many parents of troop members to participate in leading the girls. You can always leave a troop that isn’t a good fit and find another.

Girl Scouting offers girls a chance to try new things, to gain skills, to work cooperatively with others, and to have fun and be accepted for who they are.

Girl Scouting offers older girls so many unique experiences, from travel both in the US and overseas, to participating as a delegate to local and national conventions, and as a participant in outdoor experiences that all serve to build girls of courage, confidence, and character.

Girl Scout resident camps are safe, relatively affordable, and accept non-Scouts. I, and later my daughter, have had the chance to take whitewater canoe trips, ride horseback for overnights in the mountains, kayak in the most beautiful areas of our country, and cook meals over a campfire before crawling into a tent.

It is what you make of it.

Is Girl Scouts now open to boys too?

It is not open to boys, girls only. I'm not sure how they deal with "gender fluid" issues.

Cub Scouts(K-5th grade) and Boy Scouts(6th grade through 18yo) is co-ed and now open to girls(recently in the past 5-6 years).

https://www.girlscouts.org/en/footer/faq/social-isues-faq.html

What is Girl Scouts' position on serving transgender youth?

Girl Scouts is proud to be the premiere leadership organization for girls in the country. Placement of transgender youth is handled on a case-by-case basis, with the welfare and best interests of the child and the members of the troop/group in question a top priority. That said, if the child is recognized by the family and school/community as a girl and lives culturally as a girl, then Girl Scouts is an organization that can serve her in a setting that is both emotionally and physically safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's a religious group becareful with the abusers

You’re confusing Girl Scouts with Boy Scouts. Girl Scouts doesn’t have the religious component or history of sex abuse cover ups that BSA does.

I wish it was called girls and boys scouts. If that's true then it would be nice if boys are included too

[Anonymous]

My older DD is in Daisies. We are in NoVA, and it took forever to find a troop with an opening, and she will be aging out of this troop at the end of the year, so we will need to start all over again in the search for a Brownie troop. From what I understand, this is a common problem, and there's no ability to form a group that lasts beyond 2 years or so, because every time you move up a level, you're on your own to search for a troop, and then it is an entirely new mix of kids.
I did Girl Scouts from K-5th grade as a child, and this was no a problem back then (1980s).
I'm a money manager, but I can't afford the time commitment to be a good Troop leader. Fortunately, the 2 ladies who volunteered to lead our troop are excellent. There's lots of inexperience at the council level that has impacted our troop's ability to get some things done. Every time we reach out with questions, we're talking to someone who is new to their role and also doesn't really have a clue. We've been told that lots of the more experienced leadership dropped out during the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My older DD is in Daisies. We are in NoVA, and it took forever to find a troop with an opening, and she will be aging out of this troop at the end of the year, so we will need to start all over again in the search for a Brownie troop. From what I understand, this is a common problem, and there's no ability to form a group that lasts beyond 2 years or so, because every time you move up a level, you're on your own to search for a troop, and then it is an entirely new mix of kids.
I did Girl Scouts from K-5th grade as a child, and this was no a problem back then (1980s).
I'm a money manager, but I can't afford the time commitment to be a good Troop leader. Fortunately, the 2 ladies who volunteered to lead our troop are excellent. There's lots of inexperience at the council level that has impacted our troop's ability to get some things done. Every time we reach out with questions, we're talking to someone who is new to their role and also doesn't really have a clue. We've been told that lots of the more experienced leadership dropped out during the pandemic.

This isn't entirely accurate, unless the troop is disbanding. The girls and leaders move up together through the different levels. Eventually, if the leaders don't want to continue on, then the troop would disband and you would have to search for placement in a new troop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My older DD is in Daisies. We are in NoVA, and it took forever to find a troop with an opening, and she will be aging out of this troop at the end of the year, so we will need to start all over again in the search for a Brownie troop. From what I understand, this is a common problem, and there's no ability to form a group that lasts beyond 2 years or so, because every time you move up a level, you're on your own to search for a troop, and then it is an entirely new mix of kids.
I did Girl Scouts from K-5th grade as a child, and this was no a problem back then (1980s).
I'm a money manager, but I can't afford the time commitment to be a good Troop leader. Fortunately, the 2 ladies who volunteered to lead our troop are excellent. There's lots of inexperience at the council level that has impacted our troop's ability to get some things done. Every time we reach out with questions, we're talking to someone who is new to their role and also doesn't really have a clue. We've been told that lots of the more experienced leadership dropped out during the pandemic.

That is extraordinarily unusual. My daughter has been with the same group of girls for six years now. I know of no troop in our area who just disbands as girls reach each level. (Of course troops do occasionally disband, especially as the girls get older)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My older DD is in Daisies. We are in NoVA, and it took forever to find a troop with an opening, and she will be aging out of this troop at the end of the year, so we will need to start all over again in the search for a Brownie troop. From what I understand, this is a common problem, and there's no ability to form a group that lasts beyond 2 years or so, because every time you move up a level, you're on your own to search for a troop, and then it is an entirely new mix of kids.
I did Girl Scouts from K-5th grade as a child, and this was no a problem back then (1980s).
I'm a money manager, but I can't afford the time commitment to be a good Troop leader. Fortunately, the 2 ladies who volunteered to lead our troop are excellent. There's lots of inexperience at the council level that has impacted our troop's ability to get some things done. Every time we reach out with questions, we're talking to someone who is new to their role and also doesn't really have a clue. We've been told that lots of the more experienced leadership dropped out during the pandemic.

That is extraordinarily unusual. My daughter has been with the same group of girls for six years now. I know of no troop in our area who just disbands as girls reach each level. (Of course troops do occasionally disband, especially as the girls get older)

The troop has a mix of K and 1st grade, mostly K. Troop leaders’ DDs are both K. So, my 1st grade DD and one other girl will need to find a new troop for Brownies.
Surprised to hear this is unusual, as the coordinators for our area indicated this is a common problem here.

[Anonymous]

You can also consider 4H. Kids work on independent study projects, leadership development programs, group activities, no selling things.