cub scouts for girls/mixed gender Cub Scout troops - what are your experiences?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The nasty tone of the anti-BSA comments from established partisan voices on this thread is an accurate reflection of the behavior and language your family will experience if your girl joins a Girl Scout troop. If you are uber-left, you will appreciate the toxic anti-male attitudes your daughter will absorb and begin exhibiting to her father, brother and male teachers. If you are with the 90% of us who are open-minded, you should think carefully before going that way.

Wow

I am a BSA poster and think your post is out of line. None of the Girl Scout Leaders or kids I know are anti-men or toxic.

BSA is going through a rough patch due to poor screening and not reporting sex assault and abuse. I get that. Today’s practices are very different then the practices that allowed many boys to be harmed but those changes are not making headlines. I get that. I advocate for the NoVA Scouts BSA because I can see how the Council has responded but I know most people don’t see the changes. I understand families being worried.

Girl Scouts is a great program that works for many young women. BSA might work for others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boy Scouts (or now Scouts BSA) is hands down waaay better than GSA. Most moms who head up GSA are interested in the crafts but not adventures. Plus, the model of BSA/Scouts includes a lot of mentorship. You have your den meetings weekly and then pack meetings monthly - pack includes all ES grade dens. GS does nothing like that - I tried to get our ES GS troop to do this to no avail.

It's GSUSA, not GSA. If you're going to bad mouth something, at least use the right name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Our existing troops don’t want your girl, but we have such a great program that you should gladly agree to form your own troop and run the entire thing just to create a slot for your daughter. You are plain lazy not to do so. By the way, when you form your own troop you will gladly spend months complying with our procedures and engaging in retail product sales to pay the salaries of our professionals.”

There is a big difference between this program
and business approach and that of other opportunities. Think carefully before you agree to do this. Narrow your focus to only that which is best for your daughter. Select an organization that will serve your family and not the other way around.

I'm a 12 year Girl Scout, Gold Award Girl Scout, and now a leader for six years. this is definitely something I still can not figure out how BSA does so much better. They seem to ALWAYS have room for kids, with no limit. And I just don't know how they do it! GS has really strict adult to child ratios. They're hard and fast rules that just can not and should not be broken. So when a leader says there's not room for a girl in her troop, she's telling the truth most of the time. (Not saying there aren't crappy mean-girl mom leaders, because those crappy mean-girl people exist in all aspects of life, but they aren't the usual.)
I can't figure out how Boy Scouts can just keep taking boys! Do they not have the same ratio requirements?

As for cookies sales - that is so totally troop dependent. My troop does 3 weekends of cookie booths per year. We do well during those weekends, and that's the end of that. It's less time than popcorn and wreaths and mulch seem to take up from our local BSA troop.
But I realize some leaders make cookies into a months-long production.

[Anonymous]

Cub Scouts break the kids into Dens based on grades. Dens are normally around the size of a Girl Scout Troop. When a Den on our Pack got to 10 kids we started to look for another Den Leader so we could split the Den into two if we hit the 13 kid mark. Many times the two Dens would meet at the same time but it effectively reset the Den size to 2 adults for under 2 kids. Sometimes it would allow the Dens to meet on different nights which might work better for some families.

It also helps that the Adventures in Cub Scouts are set. The Den Leader needs to read the book for that particular session and they can walk the kids through the Adventure. There are set Adventures kids do each year to ear their rank and then the Den Leader/Scouts will choose extra Adventures that they can do if they want. This limits prep time for the Den Leaders. My sons Den started off requiring Parents coordinate one of the Adventures with the Den Leaders so that decreased the workload. The parents got in the habit of doing that so we kept it up through each year in the Pack.

BSA Troops are larger but they break the Scouts into Patrols. Our Troop has 12 kids in a Patrol. Each Patrol has a Patrol Leaders, a First Class Scout (so they have completed Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class where they learned how to teach using the Edge method and have lead some smaller activties). The Patrol Leader helps younger Scouts, attends the Patrol Leaders meetings to discuss planning activities and meetings, and helps run meetings. The larger the Troop, the more Patrols you have. This means more opportunities for kids to lead and grow. Patrols are reorganized as needed.

The larger group breaks down to smaller units, in the form of Dens and Patrols. The larger group continues year to year regardless of the adult volunteers leaving because a kid was done or the kid aged out. New kids can join on a regular basis and the system helps keeps the numbers at a good place for the smaller units (Dens or Patrols.) The adults start off with smaller roles, helping out with meetings or popcorn or something, and step into bigger roles as other adults leave. There is a focus on identifying new adult leaders to keep the Pack or Troop running over time. It also means that there are more parents to take on tasks like camping or skiing or canoeing or hiking or social events.

[Anonymous]

Have any of you ever heard of a dad being a Girl Scout troop leader. There is a dad leader in my local troop and I’m really bothered by it. I wanted my DD to see an example of girls leading each other. I also worry more about exposure to potential abuse when it’s a dad leader.

I’m thinking about not joining for these reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have any of you ever heard of a dad being a Girl Scout troop leader. There is a dad leader in my local troop and I’m really bothered by it. I wanted my DD to see an example of girls leading each other. I also worry more about exposure to potential abuse when it’s a dad leader.

I’m thinking about not joining for these reasons.

I’m on service unit leadership team. We have one dad leader (we used to have two, but the other’s daughter just graduated). We also have several dad first aiders, our archery trained facilitator is a dad, and for a while our su cookie manager was a dad.

I think it’s fantastic for girls to see dads taking their activity seriously and being invested in it. And regardless of the leader being a woman or man, you’ll still see examples of girls leading each other - a well run troop will be girl-led (which obviously looks different as Daisies than ambassadors)

As far as safety goes, at **all** times, there must be two unrelated adults at least one of whom is female. So even if the dad is the main leader, there must also be a woman there. There are also very detailed rules about where dads can sleep and which bathroom they can use on overnight trips - that’s certainly a very fair question to ask your leader when the times comes.

Finally, not every troop is right for every family. I really hope you find a troop that’s an awesome fit for your girls and your family so she can experience Girl Scouts!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please start your own GS tropp, rather than join BSA. Let's take a look, shall we: they abuse boys and move molesters around the country, cover-up the assaults, and when about to go bankrupt, come up with an idea to allow girls (the 50% they've excluded for decades, and fortunately, spared from the abuse).

The GS troop is 100% leader dependant. Get a good one and you are golden - my daughter started as a daisy and ended as a caddette, earning her gold award. Why not be a part of the solution?

Totally agree. Plus all of the girl Boy Scouts I know say they’re sort of a second thought. I’m sure that’s not universal, but it’s the total opposite of what scouting should be.

It's tough if there's already a GS troop available but it's toxic. They won't let you start a new troop if there's space available in a local one. So you are stuck with traveling to find a new troop (so all the friends your kid makes aren't local, not to mention the added time involved), or you go to a local Boy Scout troop that welcomes girls.

Ask me how I know!

This is not true. You are allowed to start a troop anytime. Reach out to your council. You also do not have to be in a troop to participate. You can be a Juliette which is just an individual participating in Girl Scout activities without being associated to a troop.

Ask me how I know!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have any of you ever heard of a dad being a Girl Scout troop leader. There is a dad leader in my local troop and I’m really bothered by it. I wanted my DD to see an example of girls leading each other. I also worry more about exposure to potential abuse when it’s a dad leader.

I’m thinking about not joining for these reasons.

Well, we have a girl troop of MS and HS girls in Scouts of America (formerly known as Boy Scouts of America) and there is a father that volunteers at all the activities and his daughter is not even there. She is a register member of the troop but does not participate in most activities. Many of the girls find this/him creepy and have mentioned it to the leaders and the girls have basically been ignored. Sad.

[Anonymous]

We have a linked model. Boys and girl do flags together and then have separate meetings. The boys parents are toxic.Not sure what they are scared of. They are doing everything they can to get our troop to disbanded. It’s so sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a linked model. Boys and girl do flags together and then have separate meetings. The boys parents are toxic.Not sure what they are scared of. They are doing everything they can to get our troop to disbanded. It’s so sad.

I would delink and not do activities with the Boys Troop. It sounds like you have a good Chartering Organization, maybe try and set up a meeting with them to discuss the problem but I would simply delink the two and ignoring the boys. It might take some time for people to adjust to the new norm but it will eventually go away or those families will leave the organizaiton.

We had a male donate money to the popcorn drive and then make a nasty comment about Girls in BSA, I returned him his money and told him we enjoy having Girls in the Pack. I hope that it showed the Boys working the booth that day that the Adults in their Pack did not appreciate the people putting down Girls participation.

[Anonymous]

Girl Scouts is not all about crafts. They do some hard core stuff. Find a troop that fits your vibe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The nasty tone of the anti-BSA comments from established partisan voices on this thread is an accurate reflection of the behavior and language your family will experience if your girl joins a Girl Scout troop. If you are uber-left, you will appreciate the toxic anti-male attitudes your daughter will absorb and begin exhibiting to her father, brother and male teachers. If you are with the 90% of us who are open-minded, you should think carefully before going that way.

WTF? Scouts (boy or girl) are not political.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have any of you ever heard of a dad being a Girl Scout troop leader. There is a dad leader in my local troop and I’m really bothered by it. I wanted my DD to see an example of girls leading each other. I also worry more about exposure to potential abuse when it’s a dad leader.

I’m thinking about not joining for these reasons.

Yes - there are a lot of rules around what men can and cannot do in Girl Scouts. He can never be alone with the girls, for example. There must always be another adult female present. When they go camping, he has to have his own tent/cabin and bathroom. He cannot share with the girls or even female adults. I think there is far more potential for abuse within Boy Scouts, given its, you know, history of abuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Our existing troops don’t want your girl, but we have such a great program that you should gladly agree to form your own troop and run the entire thing just to create a slot for your daughter. You are plain lazy not to do so. By the way, when you form your own troop you will gladly spend months complying with our procedures and engaging in retail product sales to pay the salaries of our professionals.”

There is a big difference between this program
and business approach and that of other opportunities. Think carefully before you agree to do this. Narrow your focus to only that which is best for your daughter. Select an organization that will serve your family and not the other way around.

I'm a 12 year Girl Scout, Gold Award Girl Scout, and now a leader for six years. this is definitely something I still can not figure out how BSA does so much better. They seem to ALWAYS have room for kids, with no limit. And I just don't know how they do it! GS has really strict adult to child ratios. They're hard and fast rules that just can not and should not be broken. So when a leader says there's not room for a girl in her troop, she's telling the truth most of the time. (Not saying there aren't crappy mean-girl mom leaders, because those crappy mean-girl people exist in all aspects of life, but they aren't the usual.)
I can't figure out how Boy Scouts can just keep taking boys! Do they not have the same ratio requirements?

As for cookies sales - that is so totally troop dependent. My troop does 3 weekends of cookie booths per year. We do well during those weekends, and that's the end of that. It's less time than popcorn and wreaths and mulch seem to take up from our local BSA troop.
But I realize some leaders make cookies into a months-long production.

Its because Cub Scouts is organized differently. Cub Scouts has grade level dens within the pack. So if they have too many kids in a den they split the den but are still in the same pack. They just need a couple parents to run that den. Girl scouts has the one troop and thats it. And if there's no more space you have to form an entirely new troop.

Visit all of the different Join Scouting nights of packs near you and see what feels right, observe the kids and the parents, ask questions. https://www.scouting.org/programs/cub-scouts/
They are all different in how they are run and the makeup of the kids. We just switched out of the pack at our elementary to a different one that was a much better fit for us. The thing I love about our new pack is that the older dens organize and run all of the pack meetings, which is what they will do as older scouts. I love that aspect of the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Our existing troops don’t want your girl, but we have such a great program that you should gladly agree to form your own troop and run the entire thing just to create a slot for your daughter. You are plain lazy not to do so. By the way, when you form your own troop you will gladly spend months complying with our procedures and engaging in retail product sales to pay the salaries of our professionals.”

There is a big difference between this program
and business approach and that of other opportunities. Think carefully before you agree to do this. Narrow your focus to only that which is best for your daughter. Select an organization that will serve your family and not the other way around.

This AND they make everything so hard to do anything. A parent has to take a multi-hour class on the right way to roast marshmallows, otherwise we can't do it at a sanctioned event. Any business that we do an activity with has to have 2 million in insurance. Can't carpool to events unless the driving parent is registered with the girls scouts. You have to do a background check beforehand to attend events with your child. The troop only gets like 80 cents per box of cookie sales and we always have to sell in the middle of winter weather and the rewards are garbage but are constantly pushed to sell more more more. The service unit is completely hands off if you need actual help but always demanding financial handouts from your troop and strict adherence to "the rules". The politics and the BS is astounding.