16 December 2008
Lack of Outdoor Activity Leads to Other Girl Groups
Posted by admin under: Girl Scout Reorganization .
Allison Miller at the Herald-Sun wrote an article about a girl who became disenchanted with indoor life in her Girl Scout troop. I don’t know if we’ll see more stories like this, but I worry about the future of the GSUSA if they don’t put more emphasis on traditional outdoor activities.
Twelve-year-old Genevieve Morris of Chapel Hill found her Girl Scout troop boring. She complained that the girls spent too much time indoors doing crafts instead of going outside and enjoying nature.
Then Genevieve’s mother, Kate Carroll, heard about Girls Council, a new nature-focused group in Chapel Hill for 10- to 17-year-old girls. She signed her daughter up for the group, which started meeting weekly last month.
…
But Girls Council is different because it’s more-hands on and more nature-focused, Haggerty said. Haggerty and her co-leader Rebecca Sornson said their goals are to create a safe environment for girls, teach them about nature and help them build confidence.
The other thing that outdoor groups can teach is leadership as the older kids teach the younger ones what they know and organize their own activities. This is consistent with the new GSUSA push toward leadership. The national organization needs to keep this in mind as they try to get their new agenda moving. There have been acknowledgements of the existence of outdoor activities as part of the Girl Scout program, but not the support that has historically been given. Hopefully, the new Board of Directors elected at the last national convention will exert more influence on the direction of the Girl Scouts and try to keep utilize the outdoors as a method for leadership training.
- Western Oklahoma Girl Scouts Turn Up the Heat
- Smoky Stokes Fiery Passion
- Changing Scouts Necessary?
- Change it Up! Basis of GSUSA Changes
- GSUSA: Los Angeles Girl Scouts Town Hall Meeting
