Boy Scouts of America to allow girls to join

boing
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The problems with GSUSA is one of the reasons I absolutely will never work for Girl Scouts again. (Especially since they’re singlehandedly responsible for 90% of the dire straights the councils are in these days.)

I don’t think the girls have ever felt like they’re a slave labor force. They love the cookie sale, and it’s really good for them. I was a skeptic when I started working for the girl scouts, but watching these kids, these girls who’d never really had a chance to learn these kind of business skills, to learn how to put themselves out there, just leaping into it and the confidence they gained from it really changed my view. There were girls that I met at recruitments who were so darn shy they could hardly tell the other girls their names, but by the end of booth sales, they’d be right out there talking to people and telling them in no uncertain terms why they definitely wanted to buy some cookies and what their troop was planning to do with the money.

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I agree.

Having said that, there are some severe ironies at play here. In giving more choice to girls, they’re potentially eliminating some choices, by endangering the overall health of the Girl Scouts.

The motives of the Boy Scouts are highly suspect here. One prime motivation for opening up membership to girls is that their own membership was declining among boys. It would’ve been seen as a much more virtuous decision if there wasn’t the taint of desperation.

And, shouldn’t Boy Scouts, which now enrolls girls, be called something else? Like “Scouts”?

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They may yet announce such a change, but even if they don’t they’d hardly be the first organization to hang on to a now-outdated name for the sake of brand recognition.

For example, many non-religious elderly women now regularly take swim classes at their local Young Men’s Christian Association.

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Whoa - oh…

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Is one of those “reasons” “original sin”? :grimacing:

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Very well said. There’s definitely a whiff of taint around the BSA.

Hey, I got a mass email from the GSA CEO and thought the talking points contained therein would be interesting to this discussion:

Dear Girl Scout Family:

Yesterday, on the official International Day of the Girl Child, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced that they will allow girls into the Cub Scout program beginning next fall. A separate program for older girls will be announced next year and it is expected to be available in 2019.

Call to Action
We urge all our Girl Scout members, alumnae, volunteers, program partners and supporters to speak up on behalf of our exceptional programs for girls and share the stories of impact that Girl Scouts make in our communities.

Please refer to our one-pager, The Girl Scout Difference, in addition to recommended talking points to help you discuss why Girl Scouts remains the best choice for girls.

NBC4 will be airing a segment today at 4:00 PM featuring my interview with Tom Sherwood.

Talking Points:
For 105 years, Girl Scouts’ priority has been to give girls the best leadership experience so that they grow in confidence and develop as leaders.
The outdoors is core to our program . Girl Scouts are backpacking, rock-climbing, kayaking, caving and taking on high adventure. These experiences help girls take risks, seek challenges and develop the resilience and grit to be successful. Every year over 42,000 of our members enjoy outdoor education in our eight amazing camp properties.
This year we released new STEM badges to help girls think like engineers, program robots, and be prepared to take on cybersecurity.
Our program is based on time-tested methods and research-backed programming and has constantly evolved to keep up with girls’ interests. Compared to their peers, Girl Scouts are more likely than non-Girl Scouts to be leaders because they:
Have a strong sense of self (80% vs. 68%)
Have positive values (75% vs. 59%)
Seek challenges and learn from setbacks (62% vs. 42%)
Develop and maintain healthy relationships (60% vs. 43%)
Exhibit community problem-solving skills (57% vs. 28%)
The Girl Scout program is designed and proven to change these statistics for girls:
Starting at about 6 years old, girls start thinking that boys are smarter than them.
In elementary school, girls are as excited about science and math as boys, but by middle school, they lose interest.
1 out of 3 girls say that they are afraid to lead because of what others might think of them.
Our results are proven:
90% of all female astronauts
75% of all female U.S. Senators
80% of all female tech leaders
And every female secretary of state-all Girl Scout alumnae.
Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital’s membership continues to grow as girls and their families embrace Girl Scouting in the Greater Washington Region. Over 60,000 girls in grades K-12 participate in our program, and hundreds of Girl Scouts each year earn the highest award, the Gold Award, which is recognized by colleges, employers and the military.

If you need additional information or have ideas of how we can continue to promote our great programs, please contact customercare@gscnc.org.

Thank you for all your continued support.

Sincerely,

Lidia Soto-Harmon
CEO
Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital

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Mister Spock did way too much LDS on the sixties.

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Is this change going to affect the cookies?

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Yes. I certainly have issues with the BSA, but they ARE one of the very few organizations the provides kids with age appropriate responsibility. When a friend of mine’s kid was moving from Cub Scout to Boy Scout, (and now he just made Eagle) part of the process was my friend learning to back off a bit in his role and let the kids make mistakes and learn from them.

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a fun read, btw
image

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Wow.

Thanks for the rec.

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I understand why the Girl Scouts are concerned about their organization’s future and why many people see this move by the BSA as a cynical ploy to drive up recruitment numbers.

On the other hand, I can’t see how it would be more morally justifiable for the BSA to continue a discriminatory gender policy. I’m sure enrollment at women’s colleges across the United States took a collective nosedive after previously male-only institutions started going coed, but aren’t we still better off living in a world where a woman can study at Harvard if she wants to?

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This. Even if all it does is drive GS to create an option of a more outdoor skills based program, it’s a win, no?

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There are already troops that do that. My daughter’s troop does backpacking, river-rafting, snowshoeing, and hiking, in addition to civic service projects.

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Then I doubt your troop will lose any girls to BSA. What do you make of the defensiveness of the GS leadership? It seems the attitude of someone who knows they’re offering an uncompetitive product.

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I disagree wholeheartedly.

As a woman, I see it as an institution that was formed because girls were not allowed the same oppertunities when BSA was formed (remember, BSA was created specifically to make boys more masculine), and which had to limp along under the weight of gender-specific pursuits for decades, with far less support from churces and other organizations.

Now after years of segregation, they are more free to do what they want, and the BSA is flailing after shutting out both girls and non-straight boys, they have magnamiously decided to allow girls, hoping to bolster their own membership. No girls allowed, until it’s conveinent for the BSA.

Who is really uncompetitive?

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I guess we’ll see…

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Do you have any personal experience with the GSA?

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No, just as I said upthread, friends of my daughter complaining it was boring. Look, obviously you take this personally, I didn’t mean to attack GS or you per se, just question why they think they will lose members or potential members. It doesn’t sound like the local GS offered @higreg’s little goalie what she was interested in, so why be upset that she can now join an org that does? Isn’t more choices better for everyone?

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cosby-show-claire-okay-dude

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