Tell me about Boy Scouts for a girl
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Anonymous
I believe the rule is parents are required until Webelo year, which is 4th grade. Then a child can come solo and share a tent with another Webelo. But the other Webelo's parent is not allowed in that tent if the parent is staying. So the parent needs to sleep in their own tent. Parents are no longer required at camping once a Cub Scout bridges to a Troop because the older Scouts are expected to tent with another Scout and are not allowed to tent with a parent. |
cburkhardt
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Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts are quite different in many ways. You should examine both programs carefully before joining either. I’m lead Scoutmaster of the 53-member all-girl Scouts BSA Troop in the District. We have over 25 women and men involved with our Troop. Those who pay attention to Scouting-related postings on this site will recall that I hosted detailed discussions a few years ago when the former “Boy Scout” program became “Scouts BSA” and began all-girl operations. I just noticed this thread and read through the comments, many of which are illuminating. I won’t repeat my thoughts of a few years ago, but wanted to state basic facts for readers.
The Cub Scout program (for girls and boys age 5-11 is operated on the basis where small subgroup “Dens” of 8-12 youth meet fairly regularly. These groups are segregated by girls and boys, and the BSA is entirely welcoming of LGBTQ youth and adults. If a child identifies one way or another, just fine. There is no one-on-one parent-to-child requirement of any type, so the poster on that matter might not have the full understanding of how Cub Scouts currently works. My wife and I helped form and run an all-girl “Den” about four years ago when they were first allowed. We had a wonderful time with our daughter and many of her friends. Now, hundreds of all-girl Dens are all over metropolitan DC and can be located on the “BeAScout.org” web site. The small “Dens” get together occasionally as a larger “Pack”, when there can be some informal interaction with the all-boy Dens, but these are pretty infrequent (monthly in some cases). While members of the BSA are asked to confirm belief in a higher power, that is about it. There is no person going around administering litmus tests on that. Like society in general, the BSA went through its process of eliminating the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy it first adopted in the late 70s. These issues are “old news” to people familiar with the BSA in the DC area. My old postings go into elaborate detail about these issues, what happened and why. In just three years since forming, our Scouts BSA Troop for Girls in the District has become a respected institution. This is the program formerly known as “Boy Scouts” for youth age 10.5-18 years of age. Our 53 diverse girl members, 25 women and men adult volunteers, 106 supporting parents and the wonderful Episcopal Church parish that is chartered to provide the program provide astounding experiences and character development. Hard to believe, but this behemoth of an organization with a $60,000 annual budget is run by a high school freshman who became the District’s first female Scouts BSA Eagle Scout. We have three Eagle Scouts so far. If you want to see what one Scouts BSA Troop looks like, you can examine our web site at ScoutsBsaDcGirls.org. My experience is that girls join a Scouts BSA Troop to accept leadership challenges involved and experience the outdoors in a comprehensive manner. I’m certain that no other youth organization for girls in DC exceeds the variety and regularity of outdoor activity our youth leaders plan. While we are a bit larger than some Scouts BSA Troops near us, we are not unusual in offering these leadership challenges and outdoor experiences. You should visit and discuss what is offered by the Scouting-oriented all-girl organizations that are near you. While I don’t know much about it, I am very happy the Girl Scouts are so strong and well run in our area. We have several former Girl Scouts that have joined our Scouts BSA Troop for a variety of reasons, but no person on this site (including me) evidences the requisite knowledge to meaningfully compare these two entirely different programs with vastly different activities, objectives, business models and parent interfaces. What I can say is that in our metropolitan area, Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA operate at the highest possible level of program quality with very strict youth protection standards. Good luck with your exploration of Scouting for your girl. I hope she joins a Girl Scout or Cub Scout organization, and maybe later considers Scouts BSA. The time you spend evaluating her options is merited, because you may be choosing for her to spend many years with one of these programs, and they are quite different. |
Anonymous
Yes, and atheists too. They're not pushing a Christian agenda nor charging ridiculous dues to pay for their legal fees for past child sexual abuse. Girl Scouts is hands down the cheapest and possibly easiest activity your girl can do. The troop generates all its money from cookie sales. Most parents don't participate in any of the events. The curriculum is empowering and forward-thinking. Win-win all around. |
cburkhardt
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Parents of Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA girls have a variety of different involvements available to them ranging from minimal to regular time commitments. Scouting programs linked to the BSA are indeed “family” programs, because parents are involved in occasional transportation of Scouts, attend award ceremonies and closely follow the activities of their girls. Parents who want no engagement or contact with their girl’s youth service organization should probably look elsewhere. That said, our group will take any girl without regard to the willingness of parents to directly assist.
Time Commitment Interested Parents (minimum time commitment). All of our parents provide transportation to or from campouts on a car-pool basis, attend our semester award ceremonies and participate in occasional 30-minute Zoom calls for parents whereby we review upcoming activity plans and answer questions. We require our parents to be involved in at least this minimum level so they understand what the girls are doing and thereby participate in program oversight. Committee Members (4-8 hours per month). About 1/3 of our parents serve on the adult Troop Committee and help with financial management, membership, program or advancement issues. These meetings take place exclusively on Zoom. These parents provide core parent input and oversight to the Scoutmasters, who work directly with the Scouts. These people register as adult members of the BSA and take the youth protection training. Because they are trained in anti-abuse methods, they qualify to be chaperones (along with the Scoutmasters) for Troop activities. Merit Badge Counselors (10-20 hours per year). These parents teach small groups of Scouts focused subject matter. They typically present a merit badge course once a year. For instance, an accountant parent might teach the accounting merit badge once a year to a group of 4 Scouts. Scoutmasters (15-40 hours per month). These women and men are highly-trained BSA members who work directly with groups of Scouts in helping them plan and execute their activities. They provide a bulk of the outdoor instruction, although some focus on non-outdoor leadership instruction. We have 11 Scoutmasters and 2/3 are parents. It is a majority-female group, as is the above-mentioned Committee. To prevent the youth abuse that took place in the past, these individuals are trained in youth abuse recognition and prevention, thoroughly vetted and always work in pairs. Reading these involvement descriptions gives you a partial idea of how a Scouts BSA Troop for Girls operates. Cub Scout organization have similar parent involvement structures tailored to that younger-girl program. Fund Raising In our Scouts BSA Troop for Girls the young people do not sell products. No candy bar, popcorn, or anything else. We structure all-in Troop dues and some event fees to pay essential operating costs. For Scouts whose families cannot pay the entire dues or activity fees, we have an annual quiet fundraising coffee to raise this. Every girl can participate in every activity regardless of ability to pay. Our parents consistently tell us they want their girls’ time focused on Scouting program and not product sales. There are other valid ways to fund youth service organizations for girls, and I certainly admire them all. |
Anonymous
DS has done scouts the last 6 years (cubscouts). Yes it looked like a TON of meetings and things when we first signed up; that was compared to preschool age though. In practice it's been like this: - once a week den meeting - parent must attend but 99% of the time I was just there to "crowd control" my kid & only rarely was I working directly with him on something during the meeting; - once a month the weekly den meeting is instead a pack meeting - parent there just to make sure their kids is not a hooligan but nothing required of the parents aside from that; - once a month roughly there is a weekend activity - could be camping, scouting for food, hike, educational thing, nature center visit, etc. Parent required but the activity is normally fun (minus Fall camping which sucks because it is cold). It's not a lot and it's WAY WAY more manageable in my view DS's sports commitments because those tend to be 20+ minutes away multiple weeknights at an early time often vs. scouts weekly mtgs after supper in town or else on weekends. The schedule is just much easier in terms of distance & timing of events for scouts vs. sports. |
Anonymous
Well the Catholic and Morman churches have left scouting, plenty of non-Christian troops remain and LBGTQ+ kids are also included in Scouts. Parent participation is really important to maintain the safety standard of the organization so not issues with that. |
Anonymous
The Mormon Church has formally withdrawn from BSA although many Mormons still participate. I know of a number of Catholic Chartered Troops and have not heard anything about the Catholic Church withdrawing it's connections/support with BSA. There are a lot of non-religious or less religious Packs and Troops.There are religious Troops and Packs whose leadership has written book on Gay acceptance. Packs and Troops really are reflections of the individual unit. It is one of the reasons that Webelos are encouraged to visit lots of Troops in their area before they bridge over and find a Troop that fits them best. |