18 March 2010
Somewhat Bogus Sex Brochure Story
Posted by admin under: International .
So, an anti-abortion site called Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-Fam) is hawking a story that the Girl Scouts were at conference at which a pamphlet was given to them advocating sexual activity for young people.
Okay, first off it seems likely that this could have happened. The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) did state on its web site that they had sent a delegation of 6 to attend the UN Commission on the Status of Women and that they “were supported” by 10 Girl Scouts from Connecticut and Vermont (http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/CSW54). They also posted a written statement to the commission which says that because “27 percent of girls 15-19 in sub-Saharan Africa are married and 28 percent give birth by age 18″ they call on the international community and national governments to ensure that girls’ and young women’s health issues and concerns are addressed by “providing girls and young women with appropriate education, information, skills and access to health services and counselling to enable informed and responsible health choices, including providing non-formal education programmes for the social, personal and sexual development of girls and young women” (WAGGGSwrittenstatementfordistribution).
Since the International Planned Parenthood Federation shares this educational goal it does not seem out of line that they would be present and handing out literature including the brochure in question (HappyHealthyHot). It was published in England, but since the event discussed was at the UN, I’m sure it could easily have been there.
The real crux of the matter is who was in attendance and who was the intended audience of this panel? The C-Fam story makes it sound like all the adults were ushered out of the room and the panel started handing out sex guides to young girls. It’s more likely that only certain attendees were allowed into the panel discussion and that C-Fam’s whistle blower was a bystander without credentials to attend. So while it is possible that a small number of Girl Scouts may have been there (with their parents’ permission), this would not reflect a position by the GSUSA advocating for sexually explicit education during Girl Scout events. Girl Guides in the UK might be another story altogether.
For that matter, the IPPF brochure carefully avoids specifying an age for those it seeks to educate. They only say young people. There is plenty of stuff for people to be uncomfortable about or even strongly disagree with, but advocating sex for minors can’t really be one of them. I certainly don’t think this sort of information should be given to a Girl Scout. I really don’t want it to be part of our program as I said a couple years ago when WAGGGS started pushing for sex ed in Girl Scouts.
I think the C-Fam story is written to scare American moms and dads into thinking the GSUSA is trying to import that type of program here and I just don’t see justification for that implication. In any event I wrote to all the parties concerned to try to find out what the real deal is. Let’s find out if they write back.
Update: Color me impressed. I’ve mostly given up on people confirming stuff for stories so, unjournalistically (and I’m no journalist), I ask for information, but just write my blog post anyway because I rarely get a response. However, the President of Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, Austin Ruse, responded to my e-mail request for further information. His gave me every bit of information I asked for and I am grateful to him for that.
He confirmed that they only had one source for their story and revealed a talking-points type of response from an anonymous person somewhere in the Girl Scouts organization with an addendum for one particular council in Texas.
Earlier this month, Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) was honored to attend and participate in the 54th Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations, where girls were encouraged to take action on global issues concerning women and girls. Our participation in that conference was recently the subject of numerous internet stories and blogs that are factually inaccurate and troubling. Here are the facts of that meeting:
· The Girls Only Workshop was jointly hosted by Girl Scouts of the USA, UNICEF’s Working Group on Girls, Girls Learn International and The Grail. The meeting was only open to the girls and participating sponsors.
· Only seven adults were in the room at the time of the meeting, each representing one of the sponsors of the event. No one from Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute was in the room to report on the event.
· 30 – 35 girls from across the world participated in this event. All teenagers.
· The girls received a copy of the only document they were working on titled (“The Girls’ Statement”). No other documents were given to the girls as part of this event.
· The room in question was also used to host other events over the course of the multi-day conference. Prior to our girls entering the room, we did not “sanitize’ the room to ensure that no trash or other items were left behind. We did request that those not associated with the sponsors to leave the room prior to our session.
· The Girl Scouts of the USA was not contacted by Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) regarding its initial story to discuss the facts of this event. Had they applied these basic journalistic standards, perhaps the true details of this event would have been reported.Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas (GSSWT) does not have an affiliation with Planned Parenthood. Girl Scout policy states that any sensitive issues addressed with girls (including health and sex education) require parental permission. However, please consider that Bexar County has among the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the nation, and for girls in some communities, it would be appropriate for them to receive sex education from a factual perspective in Girl Scouts. To reiterate, any sensitive issues addressed with girls must be permitted through written consent by a girl’s parent or guardian.
The Girl Scout organization does not take a position on family planning. Our membership is a cross-section of America with regard to opinions on religious and social issues and practices. We believe these matters are best decided by girls and their families.
I have seen talking-point types of responses from Girl Scouts before and this seems legitimate, although its anonymous nature makes it somewhat questionable. The most troubling part of the response is “it would be appropriate for them to receive sex education from a factual perspective in Girl Scouts”. I don’t think I’ve seen advocacy of sex ed in American Girl Scouts before this. Even if it is a personal opinion and not a representative statement from the GSUSA it would indicate a mind-set within the organization I haven’t seen before and makes me worry that the WAGGGS position may become part of the GSUSA policy. I hope not.
- WAGGGS Responds to Girl Scout Sex Brochure Story
- WAGGGS Wants to Talk About Sex
- The Boy Scouts of Iraq
- When Worlds Collide
- G’Day Girls!
2 Comments so far...
LauraB Says:
22 March 2010 at 10:43 am.
Personally, I think the report by CFAM is absolutely bogus. They weren’t there, they weren’t allowed in, and they magically produced this document, because it was “in the room”, automatically assuming GSUSA/WAGGGS was distributing it. I have seen one report from a Girl attendee who flat out says nothing was given out. The girl says:
“Lizzi F. Says:
March 16th, 2010 at 7:51 am
Dear all
As a member of the WAGGGS Delegation to the UN last week,I would like to
correct some factual mistakes that have appeared in coverage about the World
Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts involvement at the Commission on
the Status of Women (CSW).
On 3 March, one of our Member Organizations, the Girl Scouts of the USA
(GSUSA), held a Girls Only Workshop in conjunction with UNICEF’s Working
Group on Girls, Girls Learn International and The Grail. This session was
facilitated by adults and was designed to formulate a Girls’ Statement to
present to the United Nations, drawing their attention to the plight of
girls around the world. There was no material distributed at this session
and no other organizations apart from those hosting it attended the event or
were involved in its planning or facilitation. …”
What follows is more about the organization, WAGGGS isn’t political, blah blah blah. Somewhat just a repeat of the official GSUSA statement, too. This is through a leader from the girl’s council, not National, from their website, but a “member’s only” sort of section, so she can’t just link.
GSLeaderMom Says:
3 April 2010 at 4:31 am.
The problem is, we have been presented a shell game. It was not the GSUSA session that utilized the brochures, it was the WAGGGS session. If you look on the WAGGGS website:
http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/CSW54/Day6 (Note the GSUSA disclaimer at bottom)
The language the boys and girls are using is IDENTICAL to the “Happy, Healthy and Hot” brochure. It is unmistakable. So, GSUSA can honestly say it was not their session, it was WAGGGS. But that is not the point. The point is: Why are we a part of WAGGGS? Why do we have to buy and wear the WAGGGS pin? What does WAGGGS do for American Girl Scouts?
Another dubious WAGGGS connection can be found on a SOCIALIST website:
http://www.socialplatform.org/AboutUs.asp?DocID=8144
Can anyone tell me what either of these things has to do with developing the good character of Girl Scouts? Is this where our money is going?
