Comments on: Rumblings from Settummanque about Girls in Cub Scouts

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 01:19:50 +0000

I really hope they soon allow girls into boyscouts. There is no place for tomboys to go.

The UK and Canada already allow girls into boyscouts, so I strongly hope there will be a change.

I fully understand many of the arguments against it, but there is no place for young tomboys to have an outlet.

Now, I wouldn’t mind a group created a branch specifically for girls but at least give tomboys something.

By: Fox

Fox — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 23:50:00 +0000

Things are a pendulum.

Membership rates will rise and fall simply with time, just as the economy becomes prosperous and is later dessicated. And, continuing with the allegory, the best thing to do when the economy tanks is to just leave it alone–which is the best thing to do with declining membership rates in scouting councils.

We need not involve girl scouts in the boy scouting program. That is not the solution to an already outstanding program. Why fix what isn’t broke?

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:03:54 +0000

It’s happening…in Arizona they have a Cub Scout Pack set up that is 50% female. They are pretty open about it, and the District Exec is absolutely aware.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/2011/05/26/20110526phoenix-cub-scout-pack-refugees.html

By: Jim Molmen

Jim Molmen — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:37:30 +0000

Flattail, I respect your opinion – “Adolescent children need separate programs.” Can we make this change at the local level in the future? Let the local group decide (once it is acceptable on a national level). I don’t want to force my ideas on those that want it a different way. Can’t we all be flexible on this? Why don’t I want my daughter in girl scouts? Good question. I am not an expert, but I believe boy scouts teach leadership, whereas girl scouts teaches something else (more teaming oriented, self-esteem). I see girls dropping out of girl scouts in high school, sort of making fun of the organization. Also, I believe Eagle Scout is more appreciated than the girl scout equivalent (gold aware?).

By: Jim Molmen

Jim Molmen — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:29:27 +0000

Please, just do it! Your adventure scouting is coed, make the cubs/boy scouts coed too. You have a great program that teaches leadership. Shouldn’t girls be a part of it also? I have a daughter who is 2 years old. I’d love to have her become a cub scout (I loved it as a kid). We have a boy coming in March. Wouldn’t it be great to have my daughter lead my son into cub scouts?

By: Flattail

Flattail — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:09:56 +0000

I am afraid that if BSA is open to girls of cub scout and Welos scout age the program will evenually end up in the same condition the Girl Scouts now currently in. BSA’s venturing and Explorer programs are open to young ladies as is right due to the fact that at that age group the interaction between Girls and Boys is appropiate for their social development. Adolescent children need seperate programs. I would hate to see a wonderful program destroyed because of politcal correctness.

By: Maple Fan

Maple Fan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:30:04 +0000

I agree wholeheartedly that the GSUSA has essentially gutted the religious emphasis which remains in BSA. My daughter is almost done earning her Silver Award and has plans for her Gold. She was very shy when she started Scouting, and I have to thank her Girl Scout Troop for constantly encouraging her. On her own she has earned her religious awards. But I must say that if she was in a coed setting she would not have gained confidence at the pace she did. My son finished Cub Scouts and just crossed into Boy Scouts. I love the reverent moments his Den had at times, and I am equally grateful for all the gross, outdoorsy, stinky activities they had fun doing together. I believe they benefited by being outside a classroom and away from most female influences for some time. Whatever happens with these two organizations, I hope that they do not forget how huge their influence is on the kids who participate. I am opposed to girls in Cub Scouts, but I’m equally opposed to the strong feminist bent in GSUSA.

By: Settummanque, the blackeagle (Mike Walton)

Settummanque, the blackeagle (Mike Walton) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:29:13 +0000

Kitsap Scouter wrote and asked me:

“Mike, how can they possible merge when they are so fundamentally different? I’m not referring to the gender differences, but to their core values. I certainly don’t see GSUSA adding back the religious component. GSUSA also has no restriction on homosexuals serving in leadership (if you’ve ever been in their Los Angeles office, that’s quite evident.)

*IF* BSA feels that they need to expand their base, it ought to be with an organization whose values more closely align with theirs. It appears that BSA is deciding to turn itself into simply another Boys & Girls Club. Bad move.”

Which national organization with national resources and camping/outdoor facilities do you recommend? 4H has very little camping/outdoor resources; YWCAs are just about non-existant and again they don’t have the resources; Campfire does not have enough youth; and the rest belong to religious organizations.

I agree with you that the GSUSA’s religious and leadership stances are vastly different and many would say “more progressive” than ours at the BSA. However, I also feel that some of their stances can be curbed with pressure from both sides.

Time will tell…

Settummanque!

By: PurcellvilleScouter

PurcellvilleScouter — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:30:05 +0000

The organizations will only ever become “one” if the BSA accepts girls at all levels, hastens the GSUSA decline, and eventually the Girl Scout organization dies. The Boy Scouts stand for traditional values and morality. Within the Girl Scout organization, such voices are radicalized and marginalized. With the growth of American Heritage Girls, such voices will no longer be heard by the GS, and this will only accentuate the GS move to the left, pushing them further out of step with the American public. As much as I don’t care for the GSUSA, I am not really looking forward to that happening, but I imagine it will at some point.

It has been kindness by the Boy Scouts to the left wing radical Girl Scouts that has kept from from offering a program for Girls in the past. How long will they continue to be “kind” to a competing organization that is so diametrically opposed to them? Only time will tell. Maybe the Girl Scouts will “fight back” and open their program to boys. I am sure there would be a market for their version of scouting in San Francisco and some other urban city centers. They are welcome to the “Scouting for All” activists who are trying to remake Boy Scouts in the image of a few.

Organizationally, the AHG program is not perfect. Relative to the BSA, their paperwork is insanely complicated and their unit costs are expensive. Their attempt to honor Jesus Christ is neither exclusive enough to satisfy the Catholics or Protestants, nor open enough to satisfy the non-Christians and Deists and Agnostics. It will be interesting to see where they go from here. For now though, I am just relieved to have an organization that I can let my daughter be a part of. For our family, Girls Scouts was NEVER an option.

By: ScoutMama

ScoutMama — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:59:37 +0000

From my experience as a Scout Leader in Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and now also as a Girl Scout leader, I am much more impressed by the BSA program’s then the GSA programs. My GSA co-leader and I are running our troop more like a Cub Scout den than we are a Girl Scout Troop. The girls are loving it and our Troop has filled out at 10 in our second year. Perfect size. I have been involved in BSA as a registered leader for seven years now and have learned so much through Scouting, Training, Woodbadge that it has helped me grow and stretch myself in opportunities that would have never happened had I not become involved. Scouting is not only a incredible program for youth, but for adults volunteers as well.