S/o. Explain the appeal of GSA and BSA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a pretty big Scout fan I am fairly confident that girl troops will be fine additions to Scouting. My kids have gone to coed camps for years and never had any issues. The girls will just be in Camp Section A and the bathrooms will be girls only.

Having some girls in a merit badge class at camp isn’t going to freak out anyone.

I don't understand why a small group of girl parents feel privileged to take away the one organization that serves boys and young men.

Create your own organization...oh wait, you already have girl scouts.

DD has left GS for BS. Why you ask when she can do everything in GS that she can in BS? Well, in theory, you are correct. But in practice, it wasn't happening. DD is an outdoor kid. She loves to camp, hike, rock climb, rafting, canoeing, etc. She does not like crafts or animal shelters. Her troop was not interested in anything she is interested in.

Step up and lead you say. I did. I'm the trained level leader, the camp trained mom, and the first aid mom. I can step in and fulfill any role necessary to support the troop on an outdoor activity. Then plan the activity you say. I did that too---multiple times. Inevitably, the girls in the troop backed out of the activity for one reason or another. Find another troop that better meets your DDs needs you say. I tried that as well. I attended our SU meetings in order to find a troop. I reached out to GSCNC for troop ideas. I did not get responses from council and the troop leaders I met at the SU meetings indicated that their troop was like ours--not an outdoor oriented troop. Start your own troop you say. I tried that too. I advertised it as a troop focused on outdoor activities and service projects. I got some limited interest but most people wanted to know if I would do more crafts and wanted to ensure that they really wouldn't have to be involved.

So we joined the organization that does the type of activities that DD enjoys. It's not that GS doesn't offer these type of activities. It's that, in this area, GS does not seem to attract girls interested in outdoor activities.

Then form a different subset of Girl Scouts.

Stop trying to take away the one organization for young men and boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll also add that the BSA has had two coed programs, Venture Scouts and Sea Scouts, for years. While the ranks are different, they can participate in most, if not all, of the serious outdoor programs like Philmont, Sea Base and Boundary Waters. The world did not come to an end either.

Yep.

And they did not need to add girls to boy scouts.

They should have just created a parallel program with a new name and different highest rank and left boy scouts to boys.

(Actually, they should have worked within girl scouts to broaden the appeal of that organization first.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a pretty big Scout fan I am fairly confident that girl troops will be fine additions to Scouting. My kids have gone to coed camps for years and never had any issues. The girls will just be in Camp Section A and the bathrooms will be girls only.

Having some girls in a merit badge class at camp isn’t going to freak out anyone.

I don't understand why a small group of girl parents feel privileged to take away the one organization that serves boys and young men.

Create your own organization...oh wait, you already have girl scouts.

Let's be perfectly clear - it isn't girls' moms who drove the change. Rather BSA leadership trying to adapt to shrinking scouting memberships. This is all on them.
- Girl Scout leader and mom to a son who did 4 months of Cub Scouts and quit

yes, if there were enough boys, then the organization wouldn't have made this move. But there aren't enough boys who are interested, and the organization wants to continue to exists. Everyone who is complaining about this would rather see the boy scouts go belly up or scale back severly than admit girls? We have a boy scout and a girl scout. They are VERY different programs. So far my crafty, non-outdoorsy girl doesn't want to switch but I am happy a girl who wants the boy scout program can get it now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a pretty big Scout fan I am fairly confident that girl troops will be fine additions to Scouting. My kids have gone to coed camps for years and never had any issues. The girls will just be in Camp Section A and the bathrooms will be girls only.

Having some girls in a merit badge class at camp isn’t going to freak out anyone.

I don't understand why a small group of girl parents feel privileged to take away the one organization that serves boys and young men.

Create your own organization...oh wait, you already have girl scouts.

Let's be perfectly clear - it isn't girls' moms who drove the change. Rather BSA leadership trying to adapt to shrinking scouting memberships. This is all on them.
- Girl Scout leader and mom to a son who did 4 months of Cub Scouts and quit

yes, if there were enough boys, then the organization wouldn't have made this move. But there aren't enough boys who are interested, and the organization wants to continue to exists. Everyone who is complaining about this would rather see the boy scouts go belly up or scale back severly than admit girls? We have a boy scout and a girl scout. They are VERY different programs. So far my crafty, non-outdoorsy girl doesn't want to switch but I am happy a girl who wants the boy scout program can get it now.

or maybe the "boys only organization" folks want to see it appeal to more boys - turn it into a gamming club or sports related? Gross. Let it be what it is and open it's membership to who wants it.

[Anonymous]

To clarify a point about Scouts BSA, the program will include Troops that are either all-girl or all-boy, so there is not going to be a diminishment of the ability of boys to spend time growing up among their boy peers. As for the various motives attributed to the BSA national organization for welcoming all-girl Troops, it is irrelevant to our parent group. We are grateful for the many options available to girls in DC and our all-girl Scouts BSA Troop that will begin operating in February will slightly expand the options for young women in our area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To clarify a point about Scouts BSA, the program will include Troops that are either all-girl or all-boy, so there is not going to be a diminishment of the ability of boys to spend time growing up among their boy peers. As for the various motives attributed to the BSA national organization for welcoming all-girl Troops, it is irrelevant to our parent group. We are grateful for the many options available to girls in DC and our all-girl Scouts BSA Troop that will begin operating in February will slightly expand the options for young women in our area.

Best of luck. It really is a great program with plenty of room for all girl Troops.

[Anonymous]

All of these programs are splendid offerings for our children. Good things to celebrate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To clarify a point about Scouts BSA, the program will include Troops that are either all-girl or all-boy, so there is not going to be a diminishment of the ability of boys to spend time growing up among their boy peers. As for the various motives attributed to the BSA national organization for welcoming all-girl Troops, it is irrelevant to our parent group. We are grateful for the many options available to girls in DC and our all-girl Scouts BSA Troop that will begin operating in February will slightly expand the options for young women in our area.

For now.

As soon as the girls are not able to find a girl troop or discover they have to drive an hour to find a girl troop, they will start a social media campaign or sue to force the boy troops to go coed.

Separate but equal is not going to work because there is just not enough girl interest everywhere in this country to start girl troops.