My experience is that the mixed gender works well for grades k-3 and then, if the girls are a minority, they end up really excluded in grades 4-5. It’s just really hard at that age — the genders don’t mix well. If you had a really small troop maybe it could work with a lot of attention from the adults.

I will say that the last couple of years has been rough for a lot of GS troops. People didn’t start new troops during the pandemic and it seems like there’s a bad combo of parents not wanting to volunteer and kids being not well socialized. The troops in my area are really trying hard to come out f that mess, so I’d say don’t give up—I’m hoping we’re nearing the light at the end up the tunnel. I always encourage parents that can’t be leaders to consider getting trained as the camp certified person. One big issue is always the lack of camp certified parents — you need at least one to take the kids camping. It aggravates me that dads do this for the Boy Scouts but neither moms nor dads are willing to do it for their girls. It doesn’t have to be a mom — a dad or aunt or grandparent can be the camp certified adult.

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!

You were given incorrect information. If you have three adults willing to work with the troop (two leaders and a money manager) you can always start a new troop.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please keep your girls out of Cub Scouts. It’s not fair to the boys.

OP what are you doing to improve the Girl Scout option?

How is it not fair to the boys that girls are joining an organization that allows girls?

BSA family here. The boys are fine. They are in boy-specific groups that occasionally interact with the girls. It’s the occasional parent who wants “boys to be boys,” but the kids themselves don’t seem to care.

And why should we support segregating? Isn’t it our responsibility to teach children how to interact with others? It’s 2023.

Anonymous wrote:Please keep your girls out of Cub Scouts. It’s not fair to the boys.

OP what are you doing to improve the Girl Scout option?

How is it not fair to the boys that girls are joining an organization that allows girls?

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?

OP here, I would LOVE to have my child join a troop, but as I said, the troops at her school are a mess. I work full-time and already coach sports for two kids across two seasons, I don't have time to also lead Girl Scouts. It would be great if other parents stepped up, but they don't want to, and the ones who did aren't willing to let new girls join and are threatening to disband the troop altogether at this point because they are upset that some girls that joined "without permission" <-- they don't need permission, all are supposed to be welcome. It's a mess.

And yes, I have concerns about BSA and the past abuse, too, which is why I am asking this question.

Please keep your girls out of Cub Scouts. It’s not fair to the boys.

OP what are you doing to improve the Girl Scout option?

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!

Anonymous wrote:If you are unhappy with your GS troop, please look for another one. It doesn’t have to be at the same school. Girl Scouts offer a unique chance for girls to grow with girls, and have tremendous leadership opportunities as they get older. And, they have much stricter safety regulations.

There’s a misinterpretation of how BSA works for girls going on here. Girls have their own dens. They still get plenty of girl-specific time. They participate with the boys at all the BSA events, so they also get the message that they can do what the boys do.

The US was, until recently, one of only 13 nations that had single-gender scouting out of 216 nations with scouting programs. Just an interesting fact, but one that suggests the BSA change was a good one.

As for safety, I can vouch for some pretty tight safety rules within the BSA. They are not that different than when we were in Girl Scouts.

If you are unhappy with your GS troop, please look for another one. It doesn’t have to be at the same school. Girl Scouts offer a unique chance for girls to grow with girls, and have tremendous leadership opportunities as they get older. And, they have much stricter safety regulations.

My daughter is in Cub Scouts. It’s been great for her and we love the family activities. There are about 3 times more boys, but it hasn’t been a problem. The girls have their own den. They meet with the boys for all major events, but also do things themselves. She wouldn’t say she feels second to the boys at all. (We also like the BSA activities more than Girl Scouts, which we tried first.)

I recommend looking into it. Like Girl Scouts, it’s going to be pack-dependent so you may want to hunt around.

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.

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?

My sons are in a mixed gender Cub Scout pack. There are definitely more boys than girls but it seems to be a non issue. One of the older girls is the total star of the pack, always winning awards and doing the most fundraising, etc. a girl in my 1st grader’s den has become a good friend of his. If you’re in a good pack with good leadership (critical in these types of activities!) then I don’t see why it would be an issue.

Is this at a highly regarded mcps elementary school? If is the same school, i feel the same way

The Girl Scout troop at my child's school appears to be a giant clusterfck, so we're looking for alternatives. I'm curious about people's experience having girls in mixed gender Cub Scout troops. Pros and cons?