I loved it as a kid 30 years ago. I think it was very formative for instilling girl power and this was back in the 80s/90s when things were very different. I wished I had a girl so that I could enroll her in girl scouts and see what it meant to me. I think it was a etraordinary program.

Anonymous wrote:Too bad the Scouting America (formerly BSA) troops for girls were not available then for your daughter. They offer the outdoor experience Girl Scouts used to have without the cookie stress. And, girls have the pride of earning everything they are awarded. Since opening to girls 5 years ago, the program has been well accepted by girls, who no longer feel it is an “alternative” choice. Girls now make up about 30% of membership. My daughter will become an Eagle later this year and has loved it.

What an odd thing to say. Girl Scouts also have the pride of earning everything they are awarded. My daughter has earned the Bronze, Silver, and is working toward her Gold Award. It is a huge amount of work and hopefully will have a lasting impact on our community. There is no reason to disparage one organization just because you participate in a different one. People like you give Boy Scouts or BSA or whatever it's called now a bad name.

People complain about the cookie sales all the time, but they fund all of the activities so that parents don't have to pay the huge dues that they have to pay for other organizations. We pay $25/year to the national organization for annual membership, but for the troop itself, we paid $25 in Kindergarten as start up dues, and have never had to pay for anything else because the girls have earned enough fall product and cookie money to:
1. Buy their uniforms, badges, patches, and awards every year
2. Buy the supplies necessary for their meetings used to earn those badges, patches, and awards
3. Go camping two weekends every year
4. Take one weekend trip to a different city every year as they got older (NYC, Philadelphia, etc.)
5. Do countless "field trip" type activities - horseback riding, rock climbing, dog sledding, Maryland science center, etc.
6. Fund donations to a variety of non-profits

and countless other things. They're all really motivated to sell because they know it's the only way they're going to be able to continue to do these fun things.

My daughter loves the Girl Scouts. She's been a member since K and is now about to graduate high school. A few years ago, she did a visit with a BSA troop, but it wasn't for her. Another one of her troop mates is doing both GS and BSA - amazing!

Our troop leader is fantastic. Having been in 3 different troops over the years (we move a lot) I would say the leader makes a big difference, but for my daughter - it was worth it.

Anonymous wrote:I loved my time in Girl Scouts - but honestly a lot of that was that a few moms kept things going for us as we got older and fewer girls wanted to participate. It's 100 percent what you make of it - which was awesome. And I have some lifelong friends who I would have never met. we were never a high pressure bunch - which is not to say that wasn't out there. And I'm pretty sure Boy Scouts sell popcorn - not sure why they are getting a pass on selling stuff!

Popcorn and (wildy expensive) Christmas wreaths and mulch and some other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting, based on the company-wide emails from a guy at my previous job. I think they bring up complaints about the cookies because at least some people actually want to buy them and that feels like cheating when you're trying to sell bulk mulch delivery to your dad's work colleagues.

I loved my time in Girl Scouts - but honestly a lot of that was that a few moms kept things going for us as we got older and fewer girls wanted to participate. It's 100 percent what you make of it - which was awesome. And I have some lifelong friends who I would have never met. we were never a high pressure bunch - which is not to say that wasn't out there. And I'm pretty sure Boy Scouts sell popcorn - not sure why they are getting a pass on selling stuff!

I have a DD in both GS and BS. Very different program IMO.
Both are great and fit the individual needs for both DDs.

Anonymous wrote:Too bad the Scouting America (formerly BSA) troops for girls were not available then for your daughter. They offer the outdoor experience Girl Scouts used to have without the cookie stress. And, girls have the pride of earning everything they are awarded. Since opening to girls 5 years ago, the program has been well accepted by girls, who no longer feel it is an “alternative” choice. Girls now make up about 30% of membership. My daughter will become an Eagle later this year and has loved it.

+1000. My whole family is now involved in Scouting America. It's been huge for us. CONGRATS to your daughter on making Eagle: we know how much work this is, and hope that you have the chance to enjoy celebrating her accomplishment!

Anonymous wrote:Too bad the Scouting America (formerly BSA) troops for girls were not available then for your daughter. They offer the outdoor experience Girl Scouts used to have without the cookie stress. And, girls have the pride of earning everything they are awarded. Since opening to girls 5 years ago, the program has been well accepted by girls, who no longer feel it is an “alternative” choice. Girls now make up about 30% of membership. My daughter will become an Eagle later this year and has loved it.

There's always someone who has to bring up Boy Scouts in these threads. They are two very different organizations with different goals (and different levels of parent involvement required). This is not a competition, PP.