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mtn
mtn MegaDork
5/3/18 8:46 a.m.

I support this. And BTW, the "boys will be boys and girls shouldn't be around" item that you're looking for is peeing outside. That is it. Do they do that in scouts? I assume they do. They should do it, especially if you want to teach a boy to be a man. That is the true joy and point of manliness, to mark  your territory. Seeing as the dens/units/whatever will be separate, no worries there.

 

As an aside, I'll point out that in my suburban area (born in 1990) the only people who really advanced with scouts were all *weird*. Like Sheldon Cooper without the kindness and understanding. My brother was in scouts for awhile--and this is a kid who was friends with almost everyone, from the girls to the jocks to the dweebs--he bounced in about 2 years. Looking back now at the folks I know who were in it: 

-1 on the National Sex Offender list

-1 who would wear his uniform to school and pester other scouts why they didn't (because you look like a dork bro)--a bunch left because of him

-1 of them dropped, even though his (6 year older) brother was Eagle, dad was Eagle, parents were involved... Something had to have happened with the organization in those 6 years that wasn't good.

SVreX
SVreX MegaDork
5/3/18 8:53 a.m.
Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to SVreX :

Why shouldn’t the Girl Scouts accept boys?  The campfire girls are just campfire now and accept everyone. 

I don't have an issue with it. But a lot of people would. 

Girl Scouts spend a lot of time discussing "women's issues" like menstrual cycles, sexual harassment  and teen pregnancy. Pretty sure if boys were invited in, this pendulum would swing the other way. "Girls need a safe place to talk about girl stuff". 

dculberson
dculberson UltimaDork
5/3/18 9:26 a.m.

I have little experience with the Boy Scouts, but it really seems to me that an organization as old and steeped in tradition as the Boy Scouts would not have made this change if they weren't facing major issues. I believe they're making this change because without it and the (hopeful) influx of new members they would be going bankrupt or otherwise facing existential problems. So the question maybe isn't "co-ed or not co-ed scouting," but rather "co-ed or no scouting?"

Also, if the dens are segregated by gender then I fail to see how 99% of the issues brought up in this thread are issues at all. Do separate dens camp together? It sounds like it will be primarily boys with boys and girls with girls.

SVreX
SVreX MegaDork
5/3/18 9:29 a.m.

I agree. It's a money thing. 

Dens are not Boy Scouts. That's Cub Scouts. Boy Scouts are Troops, and yes they camp together (although the releases pretty clearly seem to be saying they will not). 

 

RX Reven'
RX Reven' GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
5/4/18 11:00 a.m.

My wife runs two Girl Scout Troops and based on attendance, turnover, and personal subjective observation, it seems to be well appreciated by the kids and parents alike. My wife schedules a lot of camping and nature related activities so the experience she creates really isn’t too different than what the boys get.

I’m not a hardcore traditionalist and I don’t find going co-ed somehow offensive or anything like that but I do know that if boys came into our group(s), it’d be over immediately…at that point, why not just join any one of the many youth clubs that are around and avoid the effort of having to manage a separate group?

Here’s what’s really going on…girls can be vicious, catty little things and my wife is inoculating our troop members by driving a cohesive, inclusive network. The number one lesson my wife instills is “stick together” and the probability of her succeeding in her objective if boys were around would approach zero so again, it’d immediately be lights out.

I think pragmatism will ultimately prevail here so given that one group has gone co-ed, both ultimately will and the end game will be a fizzling out of both groups because there just won’t be any point to having them.

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