Girls in Boy Scouts? Hmm...

Yesterday, Boy Scouts of America announced that beginning next year, girls will be allowed into Cub Scouts with a path to Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts in 2019. This change in scouting is HUGE and will have an incredible impact on the program and all the "players". I can't imagine The Boy Scouts of America will be able to keep its name. As a former CubMaster for six years, an Assistant Scoutmaster for five years, a Mom of one Eagle Scout and two Life Scouts, and a girl, I have mixed emotions about this decision.

As a girl, I am excited for the opportunity young girls will have to learn lifelong, active skills. Cub Scouts is a quality program and I believe the material is appropriate for both girls and boys. I engaged in Girl Scouting for a couple years, and did not feel the program met my needs. The "girly" activities were mostly boring to me and not very fun or exciting. I wasn't excited to go back and eventually quit. I have had very few friends whose girls have loved Girl Scouts and have stayed with it. I believe this move will be the end for Girl Scouts, since the Boy Scout program seems more exciting.

For Cub Scouts, the press release says the girls and boys will have separate dens and siblings are already allowed on campouts, so that is not an issue. Pack meetings, however, are the whole Pack, which would mean the boys and girls would be together for these meetings, which take place once a month. These Pack meetings are pretty chaotic as it is with so many boys for large troops. The Pack at my boys' school that we built is already maxed out. The meetings would most likely have to be separate times or nights for the girls to meet due to facility restrictions.

Do girls want to be part of a boy's organization? Some do. I had one girl in my six years as a CubMaster whose father asked if she could join. She had a sibling in the Pack and wanted to be part of the fun. I didn't say, "No", but I did tell him the boys would probably not be nice about it, which I felt was the truth. As it stood, siblings are able to attend meetings and campouts, so she could still participate for the most part. However, she did not end up joining.

So now we move into Boy Scouts. Here is where I think the issues will really peak. The Boy Scout program starts at eleven years old or when a Cub Scout earns their Arrow of Light by essentially completing the Cub Scout program and is ready to move on in their scouting pursuits. Scouts who start around this time are in the 5th and 6th grades, which is the beginning of puberty for many boys (and girls). With Boy Scouts being just boys, they don't have to worry about how they look when they get there or what they will say to the opposite sex.

The part I worry about the most is that part of the Boy Scout program is the boys left to work things out. This "learning to be a leader" part is critical and works, but many rough things can be said and I cannot imagine the tears that will flow if the girls and boys are put together in these situations (yes, the boys have cried too). As a parent in talking to other "girl moms", I have found that in general boys and girls have different ways of reacting to things, although there definitely are exceptions to this rule. In general based on my experience, two out of three boys don't make decisions based on emotions, so they handle things differently. Whereas with girls, two out of three DO make decisions based on emotions and simply can't put emotions aside in their decision making. This is just based on my observations, so it's not scientific. The emotional reactions can lead to the "drama" we hear about in young girls and beyond, so this could become introduced into a group where this is not much of an issue to begin with.

Then we get into the "dating game", which most certainly will be affected if you put girls and boys together in scouting. There are many parents who think it is SO cute to have their middle schoolers "dating". I really think it is innocent and they don't realize the consequences. Although it may be cute, it can produce extreme pressure for those children who are not dating, whose parents are telling them there will be time for that later. All it takes is one parent promoting this and the rest of the kids will feel the pressure. Take this into a coed camping situation for middle schoolers and you will get kids sneaking out to meet kids of the opposite sex. I imagine distraction will become a big issue, when many middle school boys are distracted enough without introducing the opposite sex. When boys are free to explore and become independent, there will have to be much more oversight from adults to be sure there are not sexual activities going on during scouts. As with Cub Scouts, large, successful Troops could have an issue with small facilities that cannot hold much more than they already do, so separate meetings for girls may still be necessary.

I asked my 15-year-old Eagle Scout what he thinks about it and his answer was just "No." He was very perplexed by this decision and felt confused. I tried to get him to articulate and all he could do is shake his head and say, "don't take away our stuff". He thought is was a joke. And he didn't think he would attend meetings more often because girls his age might be there.

So overall, I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I think I like it for Cub Scouts, but don't for Boy Scouts. With that being said, it would not be fair for girls to go through the Cub Scout program and not be able to move forward when boys can. It's too bad Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts couldn't work together to merge into a scouting program for everyone with the same programming, but not meeting at the same time. There is something special about having a group of just one sex (think about the last time you hung out with just your girl friends or boy friends). With my twins being so close to Eagle, we will roll with the program whatever they choose, but I am a little saddened that it has to change.

http://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/press-releases/bsa-expands-programs-welcome-girls-cub-scouts-highest-rank-eagle-scout/