4 September 2008
Girl Scouts Ditch Badges – Adopt Journeys Exclusively
Posted by admin under: Girl Scout Reorganization .
Well, it appears that Girl Scouts of the USA is getting rid of the program that has served them well for over 90 years. Instead of earning badges girls will now be encouraged to set their own goals through the Journeys program.
The change won’t take effect immediately. In fact, we’ve been told not to worry. However, the end is in sight.
http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=444404#Post444404
http://www.girlscouts.org/strategy/faqs_leadership_aug1.asp
What about current program resources and awards?
Keep using them. It will take several years to create sufficient new program materials for each age level, and there are many great examples of our Discover, Connect, Take Action leadership philosophy at work in the existing materials. Refer to the Winter 2006 issue of Leader Magazine: (Setting the Pace for the Future: The Girl Scout Leadership Model and Activity Tip Sheets) for tips on how to adapt existing materials to the new leadership philosophy. Existing materials will begin to be phased out around 2010.
…
What is the timeline for implementation of the Core Business Strategy?
Development of the Core Business Strategy began in June 2004, with the next phase of the Strategy development commencing in January 2005 with the appointment of the Gap Teams. Work of the Gap Teams is ongoing through 2005, with consultation from outside experts, feedback from Girl Scout members, and regular reporting. In 2006, the work of each Gap Team will be integrated into the ongoing work of GSUSA. Based on the recommended pathways identified by the Gap Teams and with continuing advice and guidance from Council representatives, GSUSA will phase in the recommendations at varying times depending upon the complexity of the action plans. We do not underestimate the time and logistics of implementing the Core Business Strategy, which can be more efficiently and effectively accomplished through the support and involvement of our members. We plan to have the Core Business Strategy fully operational by our 100th Anniversary in 2012.
Change the uniforming, change the focus, change the program, get rid of councils, but for goodness sake don’t stop selling cookies! That’s the most important thing to retain. Sorry for the sarcasm, but the message which has been clearly communicated on the web has not filtered down to the volunteers. Not only is the GSUSA changing, you will have no choice in the matter.
Update: SmokyScout says in the comments that it’s not as bad as I fear and that badges will still be around. She should know since she’s a Girl Scout Trainer. I am not completely at ease, however.
- Any Questions, Girls?
- Different Take on Journeys Transformation
- Smoky Stokes Fiery Passion
- Journeys Info on GSUSA Site
- Jawing About Journeys
16 Comments so far...
Smoky Scout Says:
4 September 2008 at 2:22 pm.
As a GS trainer, last week I attended a session on the leadership model and the Journeys books to learn how to train new and experienced leaders on this new stuff. The message I got was that Try-Its, badges and IPPs are not going away, but the books will be revamped as happens periodically. We went through the training modules very slowly because trainers know we will get loads of questions from experienced (translate: skeptical) leaders. Honestly, the new leadership module is full of jargon, but the idea is not really new. Its buzz words – discover, connect, take action – just mean that a girl will learn about a new topic (or more about an old topic), learn how it relates to different people, and then do a service project about it. Sounds like IPPs, doesn’t it? It was a lot less scary once we had gone over this training.
admin Says:
4 September 2008 at 2:28 pm.
You’re the only one I’ve been able to get any reassurance from. Why is the GSUSA dribbling out the details on this? What is so difficult to develop? Why can’t we clearly see what the new program will look like? The GSUSA is bungling the PR on this change. I do appreciate your info.
Cici Says:
5 September 2008 at 9:35 pm.
Our local trainer conveyed the same message. However, the Girl Scout Leader magazine had an article that said Girl Scouts would be pulling away from award-driven program. That’s what first raised my suspicions. So I started asking questions. There weren’t many answers at first. Then the trainers came back with sample Journeys books and some answers.
I wanted to know if Journeys would be required in earning Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards. Answer: Not right now. When Studio 2B came out, it was an “option” available to the girls. Now, it is required for the Silver and the Gold.
The Journeys books look like handbooks and some of the other available publications that can be added to your program… So how is it different? Answer: It isn’t really. It’s new. There are great ideas that are age appropriate… Sounds like what we already have.
Apparently, there will be a new book every year (with a different theme). GSUSA doesn’t even force girls to buy uniforms… how can they expect girls to buy a new book every year?
I said that if my girls don’t HAVE TO have the book, how can I convince them to buy it? and why should I? It’s hard enough to get them to buy their level handbook (and they need that for Bridging and special awards). Answer: They don’t have to. We should buy one for the troop and have it available for everyone’s use. Well, that’s fine, but they never look in the Ceremonies book or any of the other publications made just for them that are laid out at the meetings. (to be fair – we do so much at our meetings that they really don’t have time, but if they did I KNOW they would spend that time socializing with eachother)
It was suggested that we could get Journeys books for younger levels and use them to put on program. Okay. That’s fine. But if it’s just another option, why the huge push? They didn’t even have special training classes for Studio 2B.
I don’t believe the trainers are being given the full story. GSUSA believes (I’ve heard it stated from several sources) that the LEADERS are preventing the girls from using Studio 2B and now Journeys because it’s not what WE want… GSUSA clearly has not met my troop. GSUSA says that surveys show that the GIRLS don’t want to work on badges. Again, I haven’t met those girls they surveyed… Maybe my girls are just weird. Because of this belief (that we leaders are an obstacle to what the girls TRULY want), I think they are not being completely forthcoming about the changes to the program.
The other night, someone from council said that the badge books were going to be “phased out” starting in 2010. Not updated as Smoky Scout seems to be indicating. That would support the statement that I read a year ago in the Girl Scout Leader magazine.
Today, I tried to get materials for our Service Unit on the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards (there are packets at council). I was told that they can’t give any out because they are changing the Silver and Gold Award requirements…
I think that National is trying to circumvent the leaders rather than deal with their questions and objections. I would gladly have them speak directly to my girls about their decisions. I have no secrets from my girls. However, if they’re so sure we leaders will complain, how do they know we will stick around? I’m just one person; why should they care? Well, this one person is a troop leader, a Service Unit Manager, a Special Event Coordinator…
Thank goodness it’s so easy to get volunteers though.
» Girl Scouts National Geographic Diversity Says:
6 November 2008 at 4:23 pm.
[...] big deal. We can give it a swing, but it’s not required for anything. Now rumblings are that it will supplant the old program. All of these program changes come down from the mysterious realm of the national [...]
Suzanne Oswald Says:
12 November 2008 at 11:59 am.
Yea, and a few years ago Studio2B was “THE” new program. When this falls on it’s face as being too wishy-washy and touchy-feely they will back off this too, or change it into a program that can actually be used and teaches something besides talking. If not, then we will all just join a BSA Venturing Crew for girls over 14 and keep pushing BSA for programs for middle school girls too.
Jill Says:
14 November 2008 at 2:37 pm.
My co-leader and I have really examined the Daisy Journey Leadership (1st book). With the news Daisy program now two years, they needed something more. The Daisy year was personally one of our favorite years because it was so open ended, we could do whatever we wanted, tie whatever we wanted into learning those laws and understanding the Promise. So we weren’t too thrilled with a more structured program.
Both of us have an education background, so putting fun lesson plans together was something we both enjoyed and missed. However, that’s probably not the case for most Daisy leaders who, 1) were probably not Daisies themselves 2) work outside the home 3) Might not have the time or feel comfortable putting together lessons.
In our opinion, the new Daisy Leadership book will be beneficial to both leaders and girls. There are loads of suggestions for stretching the central theme or law and presented in a manner that will help busy parent leaders to step right in and get their troop going. AND you can extend it to go way longer than 6 weeks.
HOWEVER, this first book, in our opinion, is not suited for Kindergartners. It is much more developmentally appropriate for first graders, and even then, I wouldn’t suggest the girls buy their own books. Instead, we’ve been telling leaders in our area to buy just the leader and girl book for the troop, and work from there.
First, the story is long, which is okay, but it needs to be broken up with more pictures. These girls cannot read, and that’s a long time to be listening to the story and staring at one picture (2 pages of reading for one pic – makes me wonder if GS looked at a lot of books for the K/1st grade level before producing this one).
The girl book is attractive and fun to look at, but not very practical for girls who are at the beginning/emerging readers stage. Plus, the lines for them to write their own thoughts in are way too small. I’m a firm believer in creative spelling at this age group, and encouraging them to write, but the lines are like college rule – 4th graders have a hard time writing in lines that close together.
However, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised with the program, and look forward to seeing the older age groups. We have a multi-age troop, and I think we’re going to start in Jan. ‘09 with our Juniors. We’re asking them to buy books. If they can’t, we’ll purchase them with troop funds, but they cannot write in them and must return them.
A Scout Says:
20 April 2009 at 10:39 am.
I have been a Girl Scout for over 16 years. We, my daughter who is a Cadette, and I did the Journey’s for Cadette Level. It was boring, pointless and a complete waste of time and paper. My daughter did not learn anything new and neither did I. I’m disappointed that the “Corporate Girl Scouts” cannot see that if you keep re-inventing yourselves…you end of up losing the meaning of why you started in the first place. Boy Scouts don’t keep ‘re-inventing’ in an attempt to look attrative to potential new members. They keep with traidition…that’s what Girl Scouts needs…back to basics. Like our country, we need to go back to the beginning so that we can remember what a great country we have.
Gus B Says:
2 June 2009 at 7:40 pm.
Friday, 29 May 2009 01:46
The Girl Scouts’ new curriculum is rife with eastern mysticism, New Ageism, feminism, moral relativism, and communist and lesbian role models.Girl Scout cookies may still be sugar and spice, but the same can no longer be said of the organization itself. This is owing to a new curriculum adopted by the Scouts called “Journeys” — a fitting name, as it’s a real trip to the dark side. Chelsea Schilling at WorldNetDaily reports on this new curriculum, writing, “When many parents think of Girl Scouts, they imagine young girls in uniform selling Thin Mints and Tagalong cookies – not learning about stone labyrinths, world peace, global warming, yoga, avatars, smudging incense, Zen gardens and feminist, communist and lesbian role models.” Yet this is precisely what Girl Scouts USA (GSUSA) is now pushing.This New Agism on steroids is, not surprisingly, attended by a de-emphasizing of Christianity. As to this, Schilling quotes former 20-year GSUSA member Patti Garibay, who resigned from the organization for this very reason and explained, “. . . mandates were made against Christmas caroling, praying at meetings and singing hymns. I had a true moral dilemma and felt that I could not uphold the GSUSA’s rules and remain a Christian never denying my Lord.”Schilling also illustrates how GSUSA has transitioned from a demoting of Christianity to the exalting of paganism. For example, she writes of a “Journeys” book entitled “Amaze: The Twists and Turns of Getting Along,” in which, “. . . girls from the sixth to the eighth grade will read a quote from Buddha and be encouraged to explore mazes and stone or dirt labyrinths – symbols rooted in pagan mythology and popular within the New Age movement as meditation tools.” Thus, it seems that in the GSUSA’s universe, all religions are equal, but some are more equal than others.Without a doubt, the ostensibly tolerant “Journeys” certainly takes sides, and it’s never the right side. In the GSUSA text “Your Voice Your World: The Power of Advocacy,” Garibay says that “Men are not seen favorably but, rather a force to diminish and avoid,” and women of faith are hardly mentioned. Yet an assortment of communists, lesbians and hard-core feminists (why do I feel like I’m repeating myself?), such as Simone de Beauvoir, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Betty Friedan and Martina Navratilova, are exalted. In other words, to paraphrase Pat Buchanan, the curriculum is reminiscent of the bar scene in Star Wars. This isn’t surprising, though, as WorldNetDaily reports that “. . . roughly one in three of the Girls Scouts’ paid professional staff is lesbian.”Generally speaking, “Journeys” instills girls with a sense of grievance and is designed not to build character, but activists. Worse still is that all this strong ideology is served up with the self-delusion of moral relativism. And I call it self-delusion for good reason. In 1993, the GSUSA decided to make God optional in its program, but does it make protecting the environment and “female empowerment” optional? Leftists may roll their eyes here, but I’m not just being cheeky. The point is that every curriculum takes certain values for granted; every organization has certain explicit dogmas and many more implicit ones. As G.K. Chesterton said, “In truth, there are only two kinds of people; those who accept dogma and know it, and those who accept dogma and don’t know it.” And the problem with the modern man is not just that he so often has the wrong dogmas; it’s that he often doesn’t even know they are dogmas. This leads to immaturity in debate.What I mean is, modern man is intensely aware of dogmas he doesn’t like just as an oyster cannot ignore the grain of sand in his midst. He then protests against making them the stuff of indoctrination, saying that not everyone agrees that God exists, or whatever the case may be, and that it’s wrong to “impose” values on others. But this settles nothing. It doesn’t yield value neutrality — which exists only in fantasyland — and cuts off at the knees the most important debate we ever could have: that about what our dogmas should be.Thus, modern man still imposes dogmas, only, without the awareness that they actually are dogmas; he is blind to his own biases. Sure, the dogmas may be popular, such as the notion that we all have a duty to reduce carbon emissions. But eugenics and slavery have been popular in various times and places, too. The modern man may be sure his dogmas are correct, such as the idea that feminism is a good thing. But such assurance was shared by communists in 1917, Nazis in 1933 and the Taliban today. Everyone is sure of his dogmas; that’s why they’re called dogmas. But if we’re not even aware of our own biases, correct or incorrect, our lack of self-knowledge is striking indeed.Lastly, even if we played the devout relativist, we’d still have dogma. For the statement “All values are relative” is a dogma. Moreover, even if we were to say that you could view matters as relative or absolute, as your fancy inclines, we would be operating based on the implicit dogma of “Whatever works for you.” And, in any case, the advocacy of relativism certainly involves the corollary that absolutist creeds, such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam, are not the Truth, as they claim.Of course, you could just say with respect to values, “I don’t really know anything; in fact, I don’t even know that there is anything to know,” but then you don’t have a curriculum. You just have a lot of confused looks.Really, the biggest problem with the GSUSA and most of the modern world is not that they may be wrong, for we all can descend into error. It is that they fail to honestly search for what is good, for Truth. And while it may be excusable to be wrong, far less so is the failure to search for what is right.
Author of this article: Selwyn Duke
Anonymous Says:
17 January 2011 at 11:51 am.
Girl Scouts is not now (nor has it ever been) a religious organization. If that’s what people are seeking for their daughters, their religious institutions are usually more than happy to help. One only has to refer back to Juliette Gordon Low’s words that Girl Scouts is for “every girl, every where” to realize that she never meant to create an organization that catered exclusively to Evangelical Christians. One of the greatest gifts GS can give to girls is the opportunity to befriend those who are different from themselves and develop the skills to function in the real world alongside the various people who inhabit it. Non-Evangelicals are not evil monsters that your children need protection from. Please stop trying to make Girl Scouts into something it’s not and recognize what it does do: build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place.
Girl Scout Mom Says:
6 March 2011 at 8:15 pm.
Smoky Scout left out that the Journeys won’t be optional. That they take a huge amount of time from the girls chosen i.e. (girl led) activities and that nation wide girls are dropping out of girl scouts and donations are down! Our troop is at half the registration since the journey programs started. And our girls just don’t want to do them AT ALL. But if you want to earn leadership awards (earn a leader recognition such as the bronze, silver, or gold awards) and be recognized as a leader you have to complete a journey. (i.e. check your free will at the door and join the herd). The new journeys are so off base from the what makes girl scouting great GIRL LED DISCOVERY. Juilette Gordon Low was giving the gift of being able to take on male dominated roles, and to be able to cross class and racial barriers. These are the gifts that the last 99 years of girl scouting has been founded on and that have been given to countless girls. The journeys force feed a narrow viewpoint and take away the heart of the program leaving behind something the girls don’t enjoy.
WHAT may I ask is girl led about the guided STEP BY STEP journey system? Nothing. Oh sure you can bend over backwards trying to make activities to fit the journey guidelines that might be able to also fit the girls interests but the girls are not fooled. And the experienced leader who Smoky are not skeptical they are Knowledgeable not to mention that they are the backbone of the program and you ought to give more respect to the fact that they are the ones who do the real work with the real girls and they can smell a cow pie and recognize it when its presented to them. No matter how many buzz words you add to it.
So no I don’t for one trust the changes as they have gone so far away from girl scouting to be unrecognizable. The plain truth is that they are destroying the girl scout experience and just when we’ve achieved 100 years of scouting. How sad it that?
How grossly off base are they? Use the changes to the trefoil as an example the official statement on the change of the trefoil referred to it as a facelift. The actual changes? they made the women depicted skinnier, with perkier noses (yeah girl you too need to be thin and get a nose job) and oh don’t forget to get your hair redone after all real beauty doesn’t come with out a hairstylist and a cosmetic surgeon.
Heidi Says:
26 March 2011 at 4:28 am.
I actually like the Journey’s. Last year my 2nd grade Brownie troop did a journey and a great service project. They did a really good job- but the journey was long. It was all redeemed in their eyes when they pulled off a the service project. I was leader 2 and leader 1 did not like the program. I do feel that in many of the leader meeting so many are negative about the Journey’s Right now I am doing Wonders of Waters with my own 3rd grade Brownie. She is so excited about a couple ideas with the loving water section. We are in a new troop this year and they did a lot of daisy journey and just got worn out so we are doing Try-it. Which are so fun!!
I don’t think it is a big conspiracy to make Girl scouts different. I am actually more upset that GS stopped making GS pocket knives. I wanted to give dd one for bridging to juniors. You need a pocket knife to go camping IMHO:-)
And Journeys are required now for the Bronze Silver and Gold award. I think it is good to train young people to see a problem and take action. I think training kids to serve their community is good. I think it is good to open there perspective I even like the little Brownie Elf that leads the girls through the Brownie journey. Today I told my dd instead of an elf in juniors a friendly spider guides us through – she was thrilled – she loves bugs and such! I really think that girls like to be together to play and talk and learn. They know no other girl scouts. They just love what they know.
One the other hand have you ever seen the boy scouts requirements even at the earlies levels. WOW!! That is some training and structure!
Kerry Says:
29 March 2011 at 4:31 pm.
If you want to get back to earning badges, check out the Frontier Girls program at http://www.frontiergirls.com. They offer more than 1200 individual badges as well as higher awards. Their mission is “to raise women of honor to be the mothers and leaders of the future through life skills, leadership, character building, teamwork, and service to others.”
Kim Says:
24 July 2011 at 10:52 pm.
I have been a Girl Scout for 30 years, I am a lifetime member and I have a multi-level troop of 26 girls. I have to say that I do not like the direction that Girl Scouts is heading in. I am so sad to be looking for other opportunities for my three daughters, but Girl Scouts has changed so much that it is nowhere near the program that I have loved for most of my life. The girls in my troop have no interest in the Journey’s, I have tried to do three of them with from Daisy to Juniors and they just can’t get into them. As the 100th anniversary approaches, I think Juliette Low would be disappointed in the Girl Scout program today.
Karen Says:
7 September 2011 at 2:55 am.
Besides being a new leader (just started last year with 3rd grade Brownies), I find out half-way through the year, just as I’m starting to get my feet under me, that they’re dropping the badges in favor of the Journey books. They were supposed to have the new Guide to Girl Scouting books available by September (which I thought was poor planning), and now they’re saying November! Now I’m a leader of Juniors and no books to use *except* the Journey books. I’m so ticked off, I’m thinking about celebrating the 100th anniversary year by going Retro with the GS program and finding a friend to machine embroider old badges for us.
Sarah Says:
16 September 2011 at 5:39 pm.
Going Retro!! I will get aboard that train! The new program is terrible…i peeked through the brownie handbook trying to get an idea of what we are in for and one of the “badge” requirements was to —”find an old handbook and read the Brownie Story…”—-what?! So now we have to buy old handbooks on ebay in order to fulfill badge requirements in the new handbook. Who put this program together and how much did they spend…GS should ask for a refund! Girls want to learn something and leaders need a handbook to help guide the girls through their interests and maybe teach them about things they know nothing about- 99 years of a program then poof- all of a sudden girls are completely different…I don’t think so. It is sad. Let’s hope the Girl Scouts after trying out this pathetic program decide to go the way of coke…classic girl scouts and new girl scouts…I know what my girls will want to sign up for.
Mich Says:
17 September 2011 at 1:46 am.
I have been a leader for 13 years, and currrently have a 2nd grade Brownie Troop for my youngest daughter. I am not thrilled with the Journeys either, as they are hard to navigate through. On the GSUSA website in the Journey section, there is something called Journey Assets that have been really helpful for me and other leaders I know.
Also, The new Girl Guides to Girl Scouting have badges in them. If you go to You Tube and search for: “Brownie Elf video for the NEW Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting” you can see what the new books look like. Brownie Try Its and Cadette/Senior IP’s are now called badges, Brownies through Ambassadors have their own Legacy Badges that build skills with each new level. For example, each level has a First Aid badge, where they gain more First Aid skills when they bridge to the next level that are age appropriate.
The are also badges that go with the Journeys called Skill Builders. These are separate kits for purchase that you can add to the Girls Guide books. Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles has a copy of the books in their stores to view, and they are so suppose to come in soon for purchase. I have seen the books and they are nice, however, there are not a lot of badges yet.
Finally, I would definately let GSUSA know you don’t like the Journeys and why. That could be a meeting, having your troop write a letter stating what they dislike about them. The more people that complain to GSUSA, the more they will have to listen. Studio 2B was the next great thing, and it only lasted about 6 years.
