Freaking Girl Scout Camp

[Anonymous]

It has been a long time since the GS movement prioritized camping as a fundamental experience for girls. The train left the station decades ago. Let's face it. The leadership and professional corps of councils aren't good at running park and hotel-style operations and don't like to do so for the smallish and diminishing percentage of families who choose to participate. Participation gets smaller every year and the camps keep on getting sold to developers so the wealth locked-up in these properties can be used differently. Effective off-the-shelf programs that allow for transparent reservations are easily available. If camping was a priority, there would be a credible effort to recruit and pay the staff necessary to provide services to meet the outsized demand. Ten years from now this won't exist -- inquirers will simply be told to find a commercial sleep-away camp. Enjoy these last few years while you can.

[Anonymous]

Bumping because we just got the lottery results for my kids, and they both got their first choices - hooray! I hope all of you who entered the lottery get good results (and if you haven't received the results yet, it said they'd be going out throughout the day today). I think this lottery system is a big improvement over previous years, and I hope it works out well for as many Girl Scouts as possible.

[Anonymous]

My DD got her first choice as well! The Lottery system is so much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD got her first choice as well! The Lottery system is so much better.

+1! DD also got her first choice camp this time. We were one of the families that got "burned" by last year's mess, in the sense that we had a spot originally but lost it and then got nothing. I agree that the lottery is fairer to everyone, though, and I'm grateful not to have to sit at my desk trying to register at a specific time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It has been a long time since the GS movement prioritized camping as a fundamental experience for girls. The train left the station decades ago. Let's face it. The leadership and professional corps of councils aren't good at running park and hotel-style operations and don't like to do so for the smallish and diminishing percentage of families who choose to participate. Participation gets smaller every year and the camps keep on getting sold to developers so the wealth locked-up in these properties can be used differently. Effective off-the-shelf programs that allow for transparent reservations are easily available. If camping was a priority, there would be a credible effort to recruit and pay the staff necessary to provide services to meet the outsized demand. Ten years from now this won't exist -- inquirers will simply be told to find a commercial sleep-away camp. Enjoy these last few years while you can.

+1. The camp I went to as a Girl Scout (Tweedale) closed several years ago and was sold. My memories of it, though, were much different from the current GS camp experience. Last year at GS sleepaway camp, many of my daughter's counselors presented as male, just as one example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has been a long time since the GS movement prioritized camping as a fundamental experience for girls. The train left the station decades ago. Let's face it. The leadership and professional corps of councils aren't good at running park and hotel-style operations and don't like to do so for the smallish and diminishing percentage of families who choose to participate. Participation gets smaller every year and the camps keep on getting sold to developers so the wealth locked-up in these properties can be used differently. Effective off-the-shelf programs that allow for transparent reservations are easily available. If camping was a priority, there would be a credible effort to recruit and pay the staff necessary to provide services to meet the outsized demand. Ten years from now this won't exist -- inquirers will simply be told to find a commercial sleep-away camp. Enjoy these last few years while you can.

+1. The camp I went to as a Girl Scout (Tweedale) closed several years ago and was sold. My memories of it, though, were much different from the current GS camp experience. Last year at GS sleepaway camp, many of my daughter's counselors presented as male, just as one example.

Which camp was that? Not my DD’s experience at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has been a long time since the GS movement prioritized camping as a fundamental experience for girls. The train left the station decades ago. Let's face it. The leadership and professional corps of councils aren't good at running park and hotel-style operations and don't like to do so for the smallish and diminishing percentage of families who choose to participate. Participation gets smaller every year and the camps keep on getting sold to developers so the wealth locked-up in these properties can be used differently. Effective off-the-shelf programs that allow for transparent reservations are easily available. If camping was a priority, there would be a credible effort to recruit and pay the staff necessary to provide services to meet the outsized demand. Ten years from now this won't exist -- inquirers will simply be told to find a commercial sleep-away camp. Enjoy these last few years while you can.

+1. The camp I went to as a Girl Scout (Tweedale) closed several years ago and was sold. My memories of it, though, were much different from the current GS camp experience. Last year at GS sleepaway camp, many of my daughter's counselors presented as male, just as one example.

Which camp was that? Not my DD’s experience at all.

May Flather, which skews older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has been a long time since the GS movement prioritized camping as a fundamental experience for girls. The train left the station decades ago. Let's face it. The leadership and professional corps of councils aren't good at running park and hotel-style operations and don't like to do so for the smallish and diminishing percentage of families who choose to participate. Participation gets smaller every year and the camps keep on getting sold to developers so the wealth locked-up in these properties can be used differently. Effective off-the-shelf programs that allow for transparent reservations are easily available. If camping was a priority, there would be a credible effort to recruit and pay the staff necessary to provide services to meet the outsized demand. Ten years from now this won't exist -- inquirers will simply be told to find a commercial sleep-away camp. Enjoy these last few years while you can.

+1. The camp I went to as a Girl Scout (Tweedale) closed several years ago and was sold. My memories of it, though, were much different from the current GS camp experience. Last year at GS sleepaway camp, many of my daughter's counselors presented as male, just as one example.

Which camp was that? Not my DD’s experience at all.

May Flather, which skews older.

NP here -- my kids who went to May Flather last summer didn't mention this, but it also wouldn't have bothered them nor would they have found it notable. In any case, here's GSCNC's statement on inclusion. It's good they publish this openly, so that families know these are the camp values and policies and decide if this is the right place for their child.

Once a Girl Scout, always a Girl Scout. All Girl Scouts are welcome to attend our summer camp programs, even if they begin identifying as a gender other than girl. Campers who are on the gender spectrum will share a sleeping shelter and all facilities with other Girl Scouts- no separate housing will be provided. Should any camper requiring special accommodations wish to attend summer camp, we recommend that the parent/guardian reach out to Denise Viau, Camping Services Manager, at [e-mail] or 202-274-3308, so that accommodations like those employed at schools across the country regarding changing, sleeping arrangements, and other travel-related activities can be made. Thank you for helping us ensure that every camper has a fun and enjoyable camp experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has been a long time since the GS movement prioritized camping as a fundamental experience for girls. The train left the station decades ago. Let's face it. The leadership and professional corps of councils aren't good at running park and hotel-style operations and don't like to do so for the smallish and diminishing percentage of families who choose to participate. Participation gets smaller every year and the camps keep on getting sold to developers so the wealth locked-up in these properties can be used differently. Effective off-the-shelf programs that allow for transparent reservations are easily available. If camping was a priority, there would be a credible effort to recruit and pay the staff necessary to provide services to meet the outsized demand. Ten years from now this won't exist -- inquirers will simply be told to find a commercial sleep-away camp. Enjoy these last few years while you can.

+1. The camp I went to as a Girl Scout (Tweedale) closed several years ago and was sold. My memories of it, though, were much different from the current GS camp experience. Last year at GS sleepaway camp, many of my daughter's counselors presented as male, just as one example.

Which camp was that? Not my DD’s experience at all.

May Flather, which skews older.

NP here -- my kids who went to May Flather last summer didn't mention this, but it also wouldn't have bothered them nor would they have found it notable. In any case, here's GSCNC's statement on inclusion. It's good they publish this openly, so that families know these are the camp values and policies and decide if this is the right place for their child.

Once a Girl Scout, always a Girl Scout. All Girl Scouts are welcome to attend our summer camp programs, even if they begin identifying as a gender other than girl. Campers who are on the gender spectrum will share a sleeping shelter and all facilities with other Girl Scouts- no separate housing will be provided. Should any camper requiring special accommodations wish to attend summer camp, we recommend that the parent/guardian reach out to Denise Viau, Camping Services Manager, at [e-mail] or 202-274-3308, so that accommodations like those employed at schools across the country regarding changing, sleeping arrangements, and other travel-related activities can be made. Thank you for helping us ensure that every camper has a fun and enjoyable camp experience.

PP here. My kid didn't find it notable but in relating stories referred to counselors as he and him, and I saw several with he/him on their backpacks at the bus drop-off. Just a different experience from when I was a camper, as I said above. In any event, I had issues with this particular camp so my daughter won't be returning. Her sibling is attending a different GS camp this summer.

[Anonymous]

If you want anything remotely like a traditional scout experience for your daughter, you are just going to need to go to an all-girl Scouts BSA troop and have her go to summer camp with them. GSUSA camps are crazy woke-mob places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want anything remotely like a traditional scout experience for your daughter, you are just going to need to go to an all-girl Scouts BSA troop and have her go to summer camp with them. GSUSA camps are crazy woke-mob places.

And BSA covers up sex abuse scandals. Pick your poison. Gender non conforming teens >>> sexual predators, but that’s my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want anything remotely like a traditional scout experience for your daughter, you are just going to need to go to an all-girl Scouts BSA troop and have her go to summer camp with them. GSUSA camps are crazy woke-mob places.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want anything remotely like a traditional scout experience for your daughter, you are just going to need to go to an all-girl Scouts BSA troop and have her go to summer camp with them. GSUSA camps are crazy woke-mob places.

+1

GSUSA has always been a very progressive organization. It was one of the few genuinely welcoming places for LGBT youth back when I was one in the late 90s. I cannot be more grateful for that and what it did for me as a young person. I fully and support their positions for youth now and the organization as a whole (warts and all- I’m a troop leader and totally get the frustrations). But I am enough of a realist to know that if you don’t, it’s perhaps not the organization for you if you want to be involved much beyond the troop level. There are many types of residential camps for kids at all expense levels. If Girl Scout camp isn’t a good fit, find somewhere else. Don’t expect a National organization change to fit your preferences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want anything remotely like a traditional scout experience for your daughter, you are just going to need to go to an all-girl Scouts BSA troop and have her go to summer camp with them. GSUSA camps are crazy woke-mob places.

And BSA covers up sex abuse scandals. Pick your poison. Gender non conforming teens >>> sexual predators, but that’s my opinion.

BSA has evolved. If you look at any of the BSA handbooks you would know that the very first thing you come across is a pamphlet that parents are supposed to read regarding sexual abuse, bullying, and harassment. The pamphlet discusses how you can identify if something might be happening, how to report it, and what BSA doing to decrease the likelihood that a Scout will have an issue in their Pack or Troop. All BSA leaders go through training that is required every other year. My sons Troop does not allow a parent to attend an event with the Scouts unless they have completed the Youth Protection Training. All the Parents are reminded that no Scout should be contacted by an adult leader without at least one other adult on the email.

So yes, BSA screwed this up badly in the past. It is possible that there are Packs and Troops not following the guidelines that BSA has put in place to try and prevent future abuse. BSA is like Girl Scouts in the sense that it is volunteer led and that each Troop/Pack takes on the flavor of the Volunteers leading it. That is why kids in this area can have a very different experience in a Girl Scout Troop (some camp and hike and do a ton of outdoor activities and some don't), because the kids and Parent Volunteers bring different interests and ideas to each Troop. BSA is no different. But the over all organization is responding in a manner that makes me feel very comfortable with my son participating in a Troop but we picked our Troop carefully and asked a ton of questions about how the adults interact with the boys and what their policies are. We talked with our son about the requirements and what to do if he finds himself receiving individual emails or alone with an adult in his Troop. We had the same conversation about sports and summer camps.

I would do the same if I had a daughter participating in Girl Scouts.