The Boy Scouts of America announced on Wednesday that girls will soon be allowed to become Cub Scouts and to earn the coveted rank of Eagle Scout, the organization’s highest honor.
"We believe it is critical to evolve how our programs meet the needs of families interested in positive and lifelong experiences for their children," said Michael Surbaugh, chief executive of the Boy Scouts.
The scouting board of directors voted unanimously to make the historic change in an organization that has been primarily for boys since its founding more than 100 years ago.
Starting next year, young girls can join Cub Scout units, known as dens. Local scouting organizations can choose to have dens for girls and dens for boys. "Cub Scout dens will be single-gender — all boys or all girls," the organization said in a statement.
A separate program for older girls will be available in 2019, the Boy Scouts said, enabling them to earn the rank of Eagle Scout.
Lots of progressives are really excited about this, and of course the conservatives are in a snit, but is it really a good thing?
When I was a kid and joined the Boy Scouts my complaint against them was that they were too militaristic, and at a time of protests against the Vietnam War I was simply uncomfortable in that environment.
However these days the Boy Scouts have devolved into an indoctrination program seemingly focused on bringing children into the religious fold.
I much prefer the philosophy of the Girl Scouts which is more clearly focused on helping their communities, learning useful skills, and of course cookies. (God I love their cookies!)
Besides the Girl Scouts have been allowing boys to join since 2011.
And by the way the Girl Scouts are not in any way thrilled with this new policy.
Courtesy of ABC News:
The Girl Scouts of the USA has issued a blistering rebuke of the Boy Scouts of America's decision to begin letting girls into the ranks of its troops.
"The Boy Scouts' house is on fire," Girl Scouts told ABC News in a statement today. "Instead of addressing systemic issues of continuing sexual assault, financial mismanagement and deficient programming, BSA's senior management wants to add an accelerant to the house fire by recruiting girls."
Yeah, exactly.
No if the Boy Scouts want to signal a real change, they should give up their charters, let the Girl Scouts absorb them, and start learning some real skills in how to be positive contributing members of society.
Oh, and learn to make cookies too. (Damn I love those cookies!)
OK, it's early , but this made me think of Orange is the New Black and the Frieda who was a survivalist. In the flashbacks they show her as a girl scout and she would definitely have made Eagle Scout.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7itrIM9H7M
Anyhoo, this won't last. Some fundy parents will freak and it will never come to pass.
Fundy parents already pull their boys and put them into Fundy Scouts (Heritage Girls and ??? Boys).
DeleteWhy do you insist on pretending like you were some sort of hyper-politically and religiously aware kid at a young age? The second paragraph of this screed is preposterous. Nobody is fooled.
ReplyDeleteIt was 1971, I was eleven years old, everybody was talking about the war, and the TV was filled with images of protesters.
DeleteIt was not terribly difficult to form an opinion at an early age.
I am so sorry that your own intellectual development was so significantly delayed. That must have been quite a burden.
4:10 didn't you know when Gryphen dropped from his mother (who was the daughter of Zeus), he was born with ultimate universal knowledge and a tenth degree black belt?
Delete@8:29 Which daughter?
Delete"Athena was born when the god Hephaestus, the result of his mother Hera's asexual conception, cracked open Zeus' head. In the mythology, Athena sprang forth fully formed and ready to defend her father. She was inside Zeus's head to begin with because Zeus had swallowed her pregnant mother, Metis, acting upon Gaia's prophecy that the daughter of Metis would bear a son who would in turn destroy Zeus.
Also among Zeus' celestial daughters were the three Horae (Seasons), the three Moirae (Fates) and the three Charites (Graces).
These goddesses served as MORAL guides for MANkind.
Zeus often disguised himself in order to seduce mortal women, including Leda and Electra. Zeus famously seduced Leda in the form of a swan. From such liaisons, he fathered a great many daughters, including Clytemnestra,
Helen of Troy and Harmonia."
Does that make you
"born with ultimate universal knowledge" regarding Gs birth?
" slogan for The National Enquirer supermarket tabloid – “Enquiring minds want to know” 1981
Not a good idea. How about camp next to each other? Maybe do some outings together. The only thing needed is to keep the horny predator boy scout leaders and confused out of these organizations. A Big NO. Don't mix the scouts!!! So is this about trans scouts in the boy scouts? Trans leaders?
ReplyDeleteCamp Runamuk WAS funny>
Delete"The competitiveness between the two camps and the incidents and accidents that would normally occur at such summer camps - missing kids, people falling into the lake, food poisoning, and so on - formed the basis of most of the show's plots."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Runamuck
Do the Girl Scouts have anything similar to Eagle Scout? I do not understand why girls would join the Boy Scouts unless it was for equal opportunities and a different program format.
ReplyDeleteIt would be more fun than the dry old girl scouts. - a girl.
DeleteYes, Girl Scouts have the Gold Award, the equivalent of Eagle Scout. For some reason it's very poorly publicized. You don't see newspaper articles etc about Girls earning it. But it is just as difficult - my children were both in Scouts - one a boy and one a girl and I know what the requirements were/are. Girls also can earn a Silver Award and a Bronze Award before they get to the High School level and earn the Gold Award.
DeleteSo wasn't it less than a decade ago that the "Boy Scouts" were in a snit over having a female Cub Scout leader, even though she was far superior to any of the dads? Then there was the whole 'gay scout leaders' mess, and the "we want boys, not gays" in our packs. Let me guess. Gay boys would be shepherded into the female packs.
ReplyDeleteBeware, young women..they are not doing this for YOU.
I wonder if this policy change is an attempt to have a policing effect on the adult gay scout leaders' mess, because "little girls tattle." whereas boys are supposed to be little men with honor and loyalty.
Delete#1>'GAY' and Pedophilia are NOT THE SAME!
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia
KNOW IT!
What are they going to do when a lesbian scout wants to make Eagle?
DeleteThese are both MONEY making organizations. The Boy Scouts are just trying to poach a bunch of new money givers and the Girl Scouts are pissed off losing them.
ReplyDeleteNow the Boy Scouts will have a "50 Shades of Grey" badge to earn.
ReplyDeleteAt the higher levels, camp outs will be quite a challenge. And I'm talking from middle school up. There will need to post a guard who doesn't sleep all night in order to make sure there is no hanky panky - even if they camp in separate areas. I've been involved in joint BS and GS camp outs and it is exhausting.
Delete@8:07 You got THAT right. "it is exhausting."
DeleteBoys Ages 11-17.
Girls 5-18.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membership_levels_of_the_Girl_Scouts_of_the_USA
P.s. Not ONLY Scouting Camps, ALL Camps.
See no evil https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DMBYP_jVAAI8G2N.jpg
ReplyDelete"Contributing to the problem is a misunderstanding of what a typical sexual predator looks like. Countless studies show that attackers are not usually stereotypical perverts. A sexual attacker can be anyone — from the helpful, adorable boy next door to a wealthy, staid, respectable pillar of the community with a loving family. When they are accused of sexual harassment, abuse or rape, the gasp of disbelief ripples not only through the alleged perpetrators’ families, but among friends, associates, law enforcement and the courts."
Deletehttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-sex-assault-weinstein-cosby-1010-story.html
Men teaching boys to hide behind girls skirts. Notice the women CEO's making excuses for the men and their animal instincts. Little pussy men hiding behind a woman making excuses in front of media for the big manly lies and crimes.
ReplyDeletelol. What in the world are you talking about nutter butter? Please respond with specifics.
DeleteSo, to you, a man you don't like is described as having womanly attributes (pussy)? So you really hate all women that much that it's the worst insult you can come up with for a man?
DeleteWell, 8:22, for one, Sarah Walleye Huckleberry cleaning up Donald’s crap, repeating over and over about CORPORATE tax rates when she knows damned well that Trump LIED when he said the U.S. has the highest tax rates in the world. Every time the reporters called her on Trump’s LIES, she would say he was correct and repeat the reporters’ questions inserting CORPORATE in there to make it correct. We know it’s a lie and Huckleberry was shielding Trump’s LIE.
DeleteHow’s that for hiding behind a woman’s skirt?
Terrible example mlaiuppa... lol.
DeletePress secretaries may as well be androgynous, they are paid to deflect and bullshit regardless of body parts. Huckabee is no CEO.
Try again.
I are with m. Walleyes will burn in Hell with the rest of them.
DeleteThen there's Kellyanus Conjob.
DeleteTrump hand picked both of these women to hide behind.
Oh the irony. Liberals like you mlaiuppa always complaining about women being being downtrodden by men... republican men right? And here are two women serving fairly high in rank in an administration, and you have nothing but scorn. Must suck to be as confused as you are.
Delete11:43
DeleteNice false equivalency but thanks for playing, Sergei.
I'm a Girl Scout leader to young elementary girls after being away from scouting for 13 years. I helped with GS troops and was a leader back then - my daughter was in from K through 12th. I was also an asst. den leader for my son's cub scout den and managed advancements for his Boy Scout troop. Girl Scouts has evolved amazingly! Girl Scouts do just as many and just as interesting things as Boy Scouts abd, in fact, I'd say they do more. They camp, rappel, hike, etc. etc. Girl Scouts also has a big STEM program with badges to earn and camps to attend. They constantly seek new ways to promote self esteem and independence among girls and that is just what is needed. I don't see Boy Scouts really being a big draw for most girls.
ReplyDeletePicture taken for both earning the fugly badge?
ReplyDeleteI can hear the evangelical Christians screaming in agony over all the horrible things that might happen.
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess all those white Christian gay-hating girls will now have somewhere to go when they object to the inclusiveness of the Girl Scouts.
ReplyDeleteBoy Scouts must be in really bad shape if they have to shore up their numbers and their bank account by having to admit girls.
How will they feel when some lesbian girls want to make Eagle Scout?
To me, this just screams future headlines of hazing and abuse of these girls. Worse than what is still going on with how women are treated in the military.
"“After reviewing yet another year’s worth of sexual assault case files at four of the biggest military bases in the country, I was appalled to see that sexual assault in our military is still as pervasive as ever: levels of civilian survivors remain high, overall prosecution rates of military sexual assault cases remain flat, and my office received no retaliation cases from the DoD despite six out of 10 survivors reporting that they had been retaliated against last year,”Men2.
Deletehttp://thehill.com/policy/defense/349672-dem-senator-military-sexual-assault-as-pervasive-as-ever
The board agreed unanimously. Next question will be whether to change the name to Scouts of America.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/SgtDakotaMeyer/posts/1654571244582710
1$'T' $trum·pet>
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/ivana-insists-she-is-still-first-lady-trump-i-dont-know-what-is-melanias-problem/
Both of the organizations are strange quasi-religious and overly patriotic bodies, but hey, I guess make it unisexual and perhaps it will become something better?
ReplyDeletegreat cookies. peanut butter yum. nice girls, learning how to become good women. leave the boys out of it until they sell peanut butter yum cookies. my biggest problem is that my church has a boy scout group and it's in the hands of a known child abuser and molester. i hang around the church on those nights. yes, i complained. a lot. they put the meeting in a room next to the office. fine. what about camping?
ReplyDeleteI was in the Girl Scouts. Overall, I think it is a better and more tolerant organization. We don't need to join the Cub Scouts, but perhaps the Girl Scouts would consider allowing boys to join their fine organization in kind. :)
ReplyDeleteMy first thought was that this was just another example of girls buying into the idea that "stuff for girls" is inherently "less" or "not as good" as "stuff for boys."
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who works for the Girl Scout organization though, and she said what this is really about is avoiding the a debate on transgender kids. If both boys and girls can join, then you side step the whole gender issue.
She said they blindsided their leaders though because they didn't inform anyone this was coming. She said she's also tired of getting calls every time the Boy Scouts do something because people don't understand they are completely separate organizations.
Can't we all agree, at least, that anyone, boy or girl, and their parents having them enter these organizations in this day and age, is a bit weird?
ReplyDelete