Starting in 2018, Boy Scouts will allow girls to join Cub Scout dens. On top of that, they’ll also concoct a way for older girls to earn the highly-prized Eagle Scout rank.
With that, the Boy Scouts of America have officially gone full Social Justice Warrior. Never go full Social Justice Warrior.
Here’s what the BSA tweeted out on Wednesday:
The BSA expands programs to welcome girls from Cub Scouts to highest rank of Eagle Scout https://t.co/WbFQxCXZBN
— Boy Scouts – BSA (@boyscouts) October 11, 2017
Did the Boy Scouts not notice something kind of important? Like, there’s already a Girl Scouts USA?
So where does the BSA get their executives — from the Department of Redundancy Department?
Meanwhile, the Girl Scouts are quite miffed about the announcement. In fact, they’ve been smelling a rat for a while now. Back in August, the Girl Scouts sent a, well, strongly worded letter to the BSA accusing them of a “covert campaign to recruit girls.” Furthermore, they wondered why the BSA would seek to recruit girls rather than the “90 percent of boys who are not involved” in Boy Scouts.
Could the BSA be floundering because of its 2015 decision to allow openly gay adults into the program as leaders? Oh, nothing to see here! chirped the AP. The Boy Scouts seem “more robust” than they have in years, it wrote.
Really? Than why is the Mormon church peeling off about 200,000 Boy Scouts as it starts its own program? Why are Boy Scout camps closing? Moreover, why is the BSA printing articles in its publication on “how to revive a declining pack or troop?”
No, the BSA isn’t looking for girls to join because its numbers shrank 7% in a ten-year period, would it?
Whatever cockamamie reason the Boy Scouts might have for admitting girls, they’re doing it wrong. Not only are the Girl Scouts royally peeved, so are some former Eagle Scouts, like Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA. He appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight with righteous anger aimed at the BSA. Both Kirk and Carlson feel it’s just another step in the destruction of traditionalism.
So American parents of sons, say goodbye to the Boy Scouts you grew up with. This is no longer your Boy Scouts, and it’s no longer your grandfather’s Scouts, either. It’s now just another group where young kids are groomed to turn into social justice warriors taking marching orders from an ever-more strident Left.
Oh, and as far as the Girl Scouts USA go — they’re not exactly a paragon of traditional virtue either. They promote people like Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem as role models, which is why some Catholic dioceses are breaking away from Girl Scouts.
Come to think of it, maybe the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts actually belong together. Sad, isn’t it?
Did the Boy Scouts not notice something kind of important? Like, there’s already a Girl Scouts of America?
Did they not notice something even more important? That Baden-Powell formed the Boy Scouts expressly to make boys into men?
why is the BSA printing articles in its publication on “how to revive a declining pack or troop?”
TBH, this is a common problem with any large organization, as elements of it wax and wane. They’ve had those sorts of articles since I was in as a boy (decades ago).
This is no longer your Boy Scouts, and it’s no longer your grandfather’s Scouts, either.
It’s no longer Baden-Powell’s Scouts, either. Nor of Seton, Beard, or Boyce.
I still have a good deal of pride in my time as a Scout, and my time as a Scouter (an adult, helping the boys). But, the point of the organization – things like “morally straight” and “A Scout is … reverent”, along with the founders’ ideas of turning boys into men – has been obliterated in the quest for funds, and to avoid the acrimony of the Politically Correct elite.
It’s hard to argue that an aspiring Eagle Scout should hold fast to his principles – especially “moral” ones – when the management so easily abandons theirs.
It’s all about the Money, money, money
Maybe parents stopped letting their boys join BSA because BSA allowed in-your-face Sexual Orientation as a favorable factor into determining a Scout Master, and the $$$ dried up?
Girls got $$$ too…
It is truly sad what has become of the BSA. My Father made it to Eagle, as did I, and I have to agree with everything GWB posted above.
Though in the spirit of full disclosure, if that young lady in the first picture (wearing a 1970’s or earlier uniform shirt) had been in my troop, i’m pretty sure i would have never missed a meeting…
It’s hysterical to see people who have no idea how the BSA is structured get something this wrong, as wrong as you have, There is no SJWness to this. Nothing will be concocted.
For a unit which admits females, those scouts will do the same work as the males, or they won’t get the badges.
To DD Meow, nothing was mandated, whether an admittedly gay leader was allowed was left to the Councils and the Council left it up to the charter orgs. It would be a good thing if you knew what you were talking about, before you opened your mouth and removed all doubt. You and Kim Quade are social justice warriors not less then Triggilypuff is, you just want your views mandated. You’re fine with centralized authority commanding from the center, as long you own the center.
You’re wrong.
It’s irrelevant (a strawman, too) whether they do the same work – the fact that the Boy Scouts is intended to turn boys into men means that girls shouldn’t really be anywhere in the mix as members.
As to homosexuals, yes, you again argue a strawman. The problem is that “morally straight” was tossed out the window in order to accommodate the continued inflow of money from corporations (which trend overwhelmingly progressive) and to abate the SJW criticism. Yes, individual sponsoring organizations could maintain their current guidelines, but most of them couldn’t fall back on strong guidance internally, and with no guidance from BSA, the first time someone complained and threatened to sue, they would have to cave.
As to Victory Girls being SJWs, that sort of claim lays bare your true affiliation.
Agree GWB.. along with the fact that gay men are much more likely to be pedophiles than straight men, what could possibly go wrong with putting them in charge of young boys, camping out in the woods.. and then add in gay scouts.. we all know the kind of peer pressure, and potential bullying that can happen between teen boys, now imagine your 12 y/o straight son sharing a tent with a much larger, stronger 17 y/o gay scout… still don’t see any potential for bad things to happen? I’d argue that anyone who doesn’t is seriously delusional…
No, the problem is that thinking “morally straight” meant treating homosexuals badly–as if they were inherently not–is not true. It is witch doctor hocus pocus and part and parcel of burning witches at the stake. It is not part of a Christly life, and not apart of His example as recorded in the gospels.
You people always say this. “They’ll do the same work the guys do or they won’t get the badge.”
And when they don’t do the same work the guys do, because they can’t, standards always get lowered until they can.
Pls go with your retarded egalitarianism.
You people always say this. “They’ll do the same work the guys do or they won’t get the badge.”
And when they don’t do the same work the guys do, because they can’t, standards always get lowered until they can.
Could not agree more, People really need to know what they are talking about before opening there pie hole. I will be honest I am now 50-50 on the Girls in BSA, I truly do see some pros and cons. The over whelming feeling for it, which may over whelm the cons, I, Me, Myself know what a great program this is, there is NO other program like it or better for our youth. Why wouldn’t we want that for our daughters? This world needs all the great leaders, morale leaders, and genially good people in this world. BSA does there part, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
Allow gay Boy Scouts.
Membership declined.
Allow gay Boy Scout leaders.
Membership declines.
Allow trans Boy Scouts.
Membership declines.
Allow girls in Boy Scouts.
Membership will decline.
On the plus side:
continued hate from those who will never be appeased.
And they get to relive the days of the perversion files.
As a commissioned volunteer, I see a lot of stats and I deal with scout parents in the field.
Membership has been trending downward for decades. Within councils, attempts to explain have the gamut.
Clear problems arise from homosexual membership, but these problems come from decades ago. More liberal families had a problem putting their sons in the BSA while the ban was in place. Liberal school administrators and school boards had a problem with their school districts sponsoring units that banned homosexuals in any age group. They withdrew sponsorship. That lose of sponsorship caused cataclysmic losses of members. We still have not recovered.
We lost units and members when each stage of the ban (youth and adults) was lifted. Now membership is stabilizing. More liberal families no longer had the ban as an excuse not to participate.
Competition for extracurricular time has rise now exponentially since the 1980’s when colleges began looking at them more carefully in admissions decisions.
Travel sports and athletic specialization have taken a huge chunk. We lose many boys as athletic participation increases with age.
Cub Scouts (1-5 grades, with K in more councils every year) was a boring program because there was no push to camp. After a revamp 3 years ago, camping emphasis has increased. Cubs are more likely to stay in the program. Still transitioning into Boy Scouts, we lose numbers, mostly due to another level of increase in competing extracurricular activities.
Now we have a problem that fewer families have a history of Scouting, and those families are most likely place kids in the program.
But the BSA has a major problem that is has not addressed remotely. In its history, past leaders pushed recruitment relentlessly and made participation obvious. In my locale they had yard parties inviting the whole neighborhood. They were in papers. Scouts wore their uniforms everywhere. They did not take no as answer. When the next generation too over, they did not have to recruit. Scouting was part of the family tradition. The next generation hated uniforms and compliance with expected norms. Rebellion included refusing to join Scouts. Now we are dealing with the kids and grandkids of those self described rebels. No wonder membership is off.
Most BSA volunteers today see it as violation of the Scout Law to twist arms and confront false beliefs: “A scout is trustworthy, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, . . . Cheerful. . . .”
Unfortunately, persuasive salesmen don’t tend to follow the Scout Law. Persuasive sales are not the BSA forte.
Do you want to see the BSA grow? Sponsor a new unit. Twist young mothers’ arms to recruit. Don’t take no for an answer. Demand your school district not only allow scout units that pay rent, but that the school district sponsor a unit rent-free: spend money on units.
Schools with heavy Scout participation at any level have massive reductions in discipline problems.
Don’t accept that all extracurricular activities are interchangeable or that a prayer group rises to the level of Scouting.
Don’t watch. Take action. Demand action.
As an Eagle Scout, Cub scout leader and father of 3 girls (no boys) I have some sympathy for National. I live in a Philly suburb, and the gay scout leader decision was a net plus for us (our Council was certainly in the faction pushing for it, and in our area there were few units who would have paid much attention to the National ban anyway). We already have units that run (unofficially) programs in parallel with Girl Scout units (they were approached by the Girl Scouts, not the other way around – girls are much interested in outdoor activities than their typical leaders are). On the other hand you have much more traditional groups like the Mormons who are strongly opposed to all of this.
As the country divides more and more on social issues, National is faced with an insolvable dilemma. Until recently, the hands-off live and let live approach was reasonably effective, but neither camp will accept that anymore. We were being cut out of schools, denied public recruiting opportunities and were sued by Philadelphia over the gay scoutleader issue. In our district we are growing again since the change. No matter what National does someone is going to be infuriated.
Modern America feels more like the ante-bellum US (where almost every national organization split over slavery) every year. Until the country as a whole can come to some sort of consensus on these issues national institutions like Scouting will continue to fracture and shrink, regardless of what their leader do.
National is faced with an insolvable dilemma
Bullcrap. If your only goal is membership numbers, then you need to cease operations as Baden-Powell’s organization. Period. If acceptance is your only criteria, then you certainly are NOT upholding the ideals of Scouting, as committed to memory by every boy who has ever made it past Tenderfoot.
If you actually believe in the principles you claim, then the dilemma is very solvable – you hold on to your principles against all comers. But, they abandoned the principles to satisfy those against whom the principles were intended to stand.
Exactly
But, but it’s so hard to stand on principles and be able to attend cocktail party conversations.
I, I like BSA principles and in these gender fluid modern times, what’s a lirrle give for the health of families without boys.
Headline in 10 years – BSA disbands
More likely that BSA, GSA will merge to become LGBTQ…SA
My take is a little different- I’m a live and let live right winger from the South now deep in the heart of California. I have many gay friends and I’m happy for their rights but would be angry if they forced their demands or viewpoints on me or anyone else. (Cake bakers for example) I made it to Eagle and loved my time in scouts but the BSA has been hurting since drawing the line in the sand with gay scouts years ago. At the time I agreed they had the right to do so but the times had already changed and it didn’t feel right. I have 2 girls, one still in Girl Scouts and if the BSA can stay true to the mission I grew up with while expanding the ranks, I would rather have my girls learn those values instead of the core GSA values.
The social conservative social justice warriors want to pretend treating gay people badly is a core value of the BSA. It was once a core value of the society the BSA was in, but that is no more to our credit than were “whites only” signs.
The Scout Oath and Law are good things for boys, men, and girls and women to live by.
I am with you.
The people pushing co-ed education were not outsiders trying to break up what they saw as a “Boy’s Only Club”. It was the families who make up the heart and soul of scouting.
There is nothing hard enough in Scouting that girls cannot accomplish them. How do I know? Because I have watched my daughters accomplish everything along with my son. One of the greatest aspects of Scouting is that they encourage family participation. At pack and troop camp-outs, all the girl siblings are playing and working alongside the boys. This is one of the reasons that we have stuck with scouting for so many years. My wife and I both work and volunteer in our local crew, something that would be impossible if one of us had to stay home with the kids.
Girl Scouts is the opposite. It is full of SJW nonsense, and men are discouraged from helping their daughters in accomplishments to the point of being prohibited from joining them on ANY overnight activities. Families have recognized this for over a decade, and have been looking to BSA to recognize this and formalize what has been happening anyways.
I think you’ll see a number of Scout troops break away from the BSA national organization and a number of churches stop sponsoring those that don’t.
Also – as a practical matter I don’t think integrating girls into Cub Scouts will be any big deal. Cub Scouting is a family program, so we already have a lot of sisters at meetings and on outings, they just don’t get the badges. I expect those will largely be the girls we add, with as the parents will be happy to consolidate the family commitments to a single program.
It is different with the Boy Scouts. Sensibly, the National announcement is more a statement of intent than an actual proposal at this point. I would hope they have the wisdom to not require units to accommodate girls. Scout troops have a lot of autonomy in how they develop their programs, and there is really no reason not to allow units the option of maintaining a boys-only program for those kids who want that. My concern at this point is that that will be unworkable from a legal perspective (Sadly, I have no faith in the wisdom of our court system these days.)
And, on a strictly personal note, I’ve never been impressed with the Girl Scout program. Their governance model is top-down and relatively inflexible and it hurts their ability to adapt the program to local circumstances. Unit continuity is weak – succession planning is always a challenge but Girl Scout units (at least in my area) are very bad at it. And, while it is certainly understandable, they have issues with co-ed adult leadership that make it difficult to utilize the skills of the fathers. If I had the choice between a Brownie Troop and a Cub Scout pack for my girls the choice would have been easy.
Makes PC sense: the Boy Scouts are importing role models to teach our boys to be better girls.
The decline is much, much worse than stated in the blog. The Scouts did not “shrink 7% in a ten-year period.” It shrank 7.4% in ONE YEAR, 2014, continuing a decade-long decline. From 2003-2013, the Scouts shrank 2-4% PER year, nearly 30% in total. In 2013, the decline accelerated to 6%. (Gee, what happened then?) The Scouts have lost 6% per year since 2013. From 2003-2016, the Scouts went from 4.7 million members to 2.3 million, a decline of 50% in 13 years.
I had that same shirt when I was a Boy Scout. The only difference was my First Class badge would have been on the left pocket and the camp patch on the right. Oh, and who every heard of sewing merit badges on your sleeve?
I was a late bloomer but I still finished earning my Eagle. It pains me to see what has become of BSA as an organization.
John, The current regs definitely agree with you, and as far as rank and camp patches, you may be right across the board, but at one time, it was acceptable to sew merit badges on the sleeve, there was a limit, i believe 8-10, after which they would need to be put on a sash. I I have been lucky enough to collect a number of old BSA handbooks, some dating back to the 1920’s… that early one even had instructions on how a mom could convert her husbands WW I uniform into a scout uniform for her son… Times and uniforms truly have changed quite a bit.
It was the standard when I was a Scout. Most moms didn’t want to have to take them off the sleeve later, so they went straight to the sash.
Scouts were also allowed (at least up through 2012 or so) to wear any past version of the uniform, as long as it could be worn properly and was in good repair. My son wore my Webelo hat when he was in that rank. It looked a little different from the other kids’, and he got asked about it. (Most of the other kids thought it was cool that he was wearing his dad’s hat.)
I think local troops / councils had a lot of say in the “wearing past versions” thing, I tried that a few times with my dads old shirts, and shorts made from military pants, both of which were shot down. The neckerchiefs and slides i did get away with..
It was 6, and on the long-sleeve shirt.
Thanks for the correction… I knew i had the concept right, but figured i was a bit fuzzy on the details
Still is true, 6. Guide to Uniforms on scouting.org.
It was acceptable to sew them on your sleeve in the 50s, when I was in. Up to 10 in two rows, but only on long sleeves.
They’ve had girls in the explorer program for years, and the results have been mixed.
The good is that it has kept more boys. I know that one of the reasons that I, personally, didn’t get past Life was that I had to choose between programs that got me next to the soft humans that smelled good, and Scouts. My hormones made the choice.
OTOH, one big problem has been analogous to the “possible pedophile” issue, where mixing adult hetrosexual advisors as authority figures with nubile girls has produced bad results.
I can’t wait for the contest to rename the Boy Scouts of America. How about the “Whatever You Feel Like Today Scouts of America”. Very inclusive.
Girls have been jealous of Boy Scouts forever. Unfortunately, once they storm the gates and take the castle what they will find is that the Boy Scouts they joined isn’t the Boy Scouts they wanted to join. Boys being boys, and guided by men into being men, is what Boy Scouts is about. Boys and girls need same gender friends and spaces to help them develop into men and women. Men and women need same gender friends and spaces to help them preserve their sanity. Our culture is evil, and insane.
And women need to develop differently than men. Despite the current idiotic pedagogy of “no difference! equal means same!”
The current culture is a more extreme version of what Baden-Powell was trying to counter when he established his first troop in England. He wanted to build a proper masculinity, for the boys’ sake and for England’s. This is a surrender to the culture, for the sake of numbers: membership and money.
There are two main reasons BSA is starting this program, and neither of them is political:
1) Lots of girls aren’t interested in Girl Scouts because they _are_ full SJW, don’t do much in the way of outdoors/camping activities, and are more focused on cookie sales than anything else.
2) Parents who have both boys and girls want to be able to take their kids one meeting at one time. It reduces the shuttling necessary, and makes it more possible to fit Scouting in with other activities.
Pubescent boys and girls out in the woods overnight with little adult (generous definition) leadership?
Ahh….such a cute, pastoral setting of innocence (temporarily!).
Whatever could go wrong with that?
Cue the chorus from Homer and Jethro’s 1960’s parody song “Camp Cucamonga” —
Oh, we’re the boys from Camp Cucamonga
Our mothers sent us here for to study Nature’s ways
We learn to make sparks by rubbing sticks together
But if we catch the girls then we’ll set the woods ablaze
(And I was made ’cause me mother sent me up here – ha ha ha)
Yuppers, our intellectual and moral betters (re: Hurricane Hollywood Harvey, etc.) dictating to we ignorant peasants how things SHALL BE DONE henceforth and forever more (und yu will like it, ya?).
New organization name — Scouts In Search Of Who The Heck Are We, Anyway?
Three of the top 5 Boy Scouts of America programs have been coeducational for a long time. Venturing, Exploring and Sea Scouts already have female scouts. And the STEM Scout pilot program is coeducational.
Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts (and the related and oft overlooked Varsity scouts) have been boy only.
I personally know a number of families who are excited that their daughters will be able to participate in Cub Scout activities with their brothers. They’re coming to all the den meetings anyway, but not getting credit for participating.
And the BSA isn’t opening Boy Scouts to girls (at least not at this point – I am, justifiably, a bit cynical). But they’ve committed to developing a parallel program to provide a path to Eagle for girls. I’ve two daughters, and I’ll be just as happy to help them along that trail should they decide to follow the path their brothers are taking.
My son is an Eagle Scout. My daughter a Girl Scout Gold Award winner (equivalent to Eagle rank) The Girl Scouts went full Social Justice Warrior years ago.
THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT THE BOY SCOUT PROGRAM NOT APPLICABLE TO GIRLS. Scout Law? Check. Scout Motto? (Be Prepared) Check. Learning self sufficiency? Check.
The Girl Scout program now fails girls. The Boy Scouts expanding their program is a good thing for girls. Note that the Boy Scouts have had the co-ed Explorer Program for many years now without issue. What they are doing now is allowing younger girls to join.
THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT THE BOY SCOUT PROGRAM NOT APPLICABLE TO GIRLS.
Wrong. The point of the program is to turn BOYS into MEN.
Oh yes, the law and motto can apply to women, too. (Though, really, their creeds should be different.) Except that the point is to apply them to boys to turn them into proper men. I get that that’s no longer the point (by very clear actions of corporate BSA). But, if you want a co-ed organization to just make good adults of kids, go join AWANA (unless you don’t want your kid being indoctrinated into Christianity, too), or start your own club.
And, the Explorer (and Venture/Sea Scouts – all part and parcel) program has always been a sop to various folks. It’s something a bit different from Boy Scouts, and not always helpful to the Boy Scout program. (Honestly, Cubs is also a bit of an offshoot – Boy Scouts started with adolescent boys for a reason, and Cubs was started to get the boys in early so they would stay in when adolescence hit. IOW, it’s a recruiting game.)
” Wrong. The point of the program is to turn BOYS into MEN. ”
MEN as being responsible adults.
Looking as the Scout Oath and Law, I see nothing there a girl becoming a woman would not benefit from.
Will there now be badges for safe sex techniques? Boys on boys, girls on girls, boys and girls on boys and girls. Yippee, lets all gather round the bon-fire and talk about the excitement of promiscuity, homo-sex and pre-teen sexual desires. C’mon SCOUTS, let’s light this FIRE!
This doesn’t come as a surprise considering one of the top officials in the BSA is gay and he made it clear he intended to clear the way for gays to be in the Scouts. He’s apparently succeeded. I’m grateful my 4 sons – Eagle Scouts all – went through Scouts before this nonsense started.
[…] blog of the day is Victory Girls Blog, with a post on the Boy Scouts going full […]
You seem to be assuming that letting in wimmin will turn anything into a progressive SJW nightmare. Kinda funny on the VICTORY GIRLS blog.
Admitting gays was a moral issue. This isn’t.
“Did the Boy Scouts not notice something kind of important? Like, there’s already a Girl Scouts USA?”
We’ve noticed the SJWA — pardon me, the GSA.
I’m father to a boy and a girl. One had a great program available, the other had a crappy crafts and “Gurlz Powr” indoctrination program available. (GSA varies widely by region.) When my daughter was 14 I started a Venturing crew so she could do an actual Scouting program, like Baden-Powell intended when he created the Girl Guides as a Scouting program.
Cub Scout dens, which is where the weekly program happens, will be single-sex. Packs meet for an hour a month — they can choose to be all-boy, all-girl, or mixed. BSA hasn’t finalized the Boy-Scout-age program for girls.
Boys will get to be boys, girls will get to be girls, and both will get a program where they can have fun in the outdoors and learn self-reliance, teamwork, leadership, and duty to God and Country. My daughter didn’t get to have that.
Seriously, Girl Scouts of America? Did you read the letter and press release from the GSA? Do they sound like people you want leading your daughters? If you hired a bad sitcom writer to pen a parody of an angry, bitter housewife, those are what you’d get.
No, this isn’t your father’s BSA. We study rockets and nuclear science as well as woodcraft and tracking. The values of the Scout movement endure. (Yes, they do. Excluding homosexuals, while a moral choice, went beyond the values of the Scout movement: Duty to higher authority (God and Country), duty to others, duty to yourself.)
I’m not a Progressive Transnationalist — I’m more of a transgressive pro-nationalist — but I can still look at other nations. There are 171 nations that have an affiliate of the World Organization of the Scout Movement — like Boy Scouts of America. Of them, 150 admit both boys and girls, total membership about 33 million. There are only 14 nations where the WOSM affiliate only admits boys, with about 700,000 members, almost all in Pakistan.
I don’t feel sad about joining countries like the UK, Austria, Argentina, India, and Canada, and leaving countries like Bahrain and Papua New Guinea.
110 of the nations with WOSM members also have a separate member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, just like the USA will. So this is not exactly breaking new ground. Girls will benefit from having greater choice available, especially in areas where the GSA program kinda sucks rocks.
It’s a positive change and will hopefully expose a generation of girls to being self-reliant go-getters instead of whiny go-bitchers.
Admitting gays was a moral issue. This isn’t.
Perhaps it isn’t a moral issue. But it IS an identity issue. The Boy Scouts is about BOYS.
Honestly, I don’t care about the other nations. I never follow their lead.
GWB, I mostly agree with you.
Units where the youth regularly interact should be single gender. This seems to be what they are planning. Boys are boys and girls are girls.
I don’t think it will harm the boys to have girl units exist elsewhere in the overall program, and occasionally interact.
I do think the program has a lot to offer young women. Remember that Baden-Powell started Girl Guides because so many girls were forming groups and following the scouting program. In my experience with my daughter in the Girl Scouts — which is limited — I saw nothing of the patrol method, or youth leadership. Those are important for girls as well as boys.
I hope you will wait and see whether they truly do mess everything up or not.
I appreciate you responding to one of my actual points, and not spewing filth the way some of the people in these comments are doing. Respectful disagreement exercises the mind.
a couple of years ago, after retiring from the Army, I was looking for volunteer work in the remote area that I lived. I thought I could put my infantry skills to use with the Boy Scouts, but they were flush with volunteers, so I signed up for a volunteer finding website and saw dozens of desperate sounding postings for Girl Scout volunteers, so I thought “what the heck” and answered several of them, laying out my expertise in various fields that could be of help, I didn’t get one single response. I thought it was sadly funny that in the Boy Scouts you could have Den Mothers, and even a Scout Leader that was female (I’d met one several years ago), but the Girl Scouts refused to even entertain some help from an old male military retiree, and I wasn’t even seeking a leadership position, I just told them that I could teach some classes and help out with events.
[…] Boy Scouts Admit Girls and Go Full Social Justice Warrior Starting in 2018, Boy Scouts will allow girls to join Cub Scout dens. On top of that, they’ll also concoct a way for older girls to earn the highly-prized Eagle Scout rank. […]
Those reading this, who do not currently have kids in Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts, I ask that you consider that this is a WIN for conservatives, not a loss.
I just returned from our Pack’s fall Cub Scout camp out. As in previous years, half a dozen or so girl siblings joined us for the weekend. At our closing ceremony, our Cub Master (a woman) asked all the kids what their favorite moments were. My eldest daughter called out the Whittling Workshop. Some of the other girls called out the campfire where the siblings performed their own skit along side the other dens.
As in previous years, the girls felt part of the family- a part of the pack- because they were there doing all the activities along side the boys. These were good activities- centered around goal-setting, conservation, respect and loyalty. The only difference was that they didn’t get the belt loops and the whittling chip in recognition of their efforts.
This is what makes Cub Scouts special. Despite the moaning and groaning about changes to Boy Scouts, there have been co-ed programs for years in the organization (c.f Venture, Explorer and Sea Scouts). But at the cub scout level, the families who run the program have always been encouraged to bring girl siblings to join in the fun and learning, yet they have never had a formal program where the girls could get recognition for their participation.
This change is not being driven by angry feminist SJWs. It is being driven by parents who want their girls to enjoy the same loving, exploratory, values-driven program with the goals and awards that come with it. Those families don’t have time between working and other activities to be volunteers for the boys only, and so they have always included their girls in the activities. And this family-centered perspective is refreshingly unique in a country of Government Funded Everything where you just drop off your kid for some lib-arts major to supervise. As a father who wants to spend time with his son AND daughters, it is a God send, since in the Girl Scouts I am not welcome.
As a conservative guy living in California, I know that it can feel like our values are being assailed from all sides, every day of the week. But I don’t need it from my right as well. If you are not an active participant in scouting, I ask you- I BEG you- do not pick this issue as a target of scorn. Recognize it as the victory it is! It is a chance for us to give our girls an alternative to the boy-hating, enviro-governmental, progwash that is Girl Scouts. It is a chance to give them the recognition for living a moral, trustworthy, dependable and self sufficient life.
If you are in Scouting, I beseech you to take this win, and hold our ground. Keep being active. Make sure the SJWs don’t do to BSA what they have done to GSA.
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