Re: Why female adult on all o...
Alan Wolfson (awolfson@MSI.COM)
Mon, 27 Mar 1995 09:32:20 -0500
Barbara Van Dyke (BarbaraVD@AOL.COM) wrote ...
> Men are not prevented from becoming leaders in GSUSA. GSUSA's
> safety standards require at least one female adult to be a member of
> the leadership team.
That statement is not entirely correct - men are prohibited from
being the primary leader of a GSUSA troop. Like many other parents, I
got involved in Scouting as an adult to help provide a Scouting
program for my children. I'm currently in my second year as a GSUSA
Junior Troop co-leader (both of my daughters are in my troop) and was
troop cookie "mom" for three years before becoming a troop leader. I
am also a member of the local service team. However, I am not allowed
to be the primary leader of any GSUSA troop regardless of how many
female assistant leaders are present.
On paper I am not the troop "leader", but for all practical
purposes I do lead the troop. I plan most of the activities and
meetings. My co-leader, a Girl Scout for 30 years, does most of the
paperwork (for which I will be eternally thankful - GSUSA has _a lot_
of paperwork to fill out :-))
I am also in my eighth year as a BSA leader. There are absolutely
no restrictions on which positions a woman (or man for that matter)
may hold in the BSA. I know of several female Scoutmasters and
Cubmasters who are excellent role models for the boys in their units.
I think there was a posting on this list a month or two ago that the
first female Council Executive was hired.
Mary "Hoot" Nodulman (MNodulman@AOL.COM) wrote:
> I also don't think GSUSA has any problem with double standards.
I'm sorry, but GSUSA is promoting a double standard by refusing to
allow men to be leaders of Girl Scout units. The vast majority of men
do not molest children of either sex. Both the BSA and GSUSA are
doing their best to minimize the number of abusive adults within their
organizations. Of course there is always room for improvement, but a
blanket ban on male leaders is discriminatory.
Mary Beth Hunt (HunTel@AOL.COM) wrote
> I would not allow my daughter to go on a camping experience with a man.
Why not? Have you allowed your daughter to go on family outings
with male relatives? How about church or school or sports activities?
As long as there was at least two-deep leadership and the outing was
conducted in a safe manner, I wouldn't have any problems letting my
daughters go camping with male scout leaders.
I'm sorry for the long posting on this subject, but I'm concerned
about the direction that this discussion was heading. As Scout
leaders we should lead by example. If we say that women should not
lead boys, or that men should not lead girls, IMHBCO then we're not
setting a very good example. We live in a society where men and women
are in positions of authority. We must teach our children that part
of the growing up process is learning to treat members of both sexes
with respect. It's not such a bad thing....
Yours in Scouting,
Alan
Alan Wolfson Assistant District Commissioner
Molecular Simulations Incorporated Arrowhead Dist. Daniel Webster Council(NH)
(617) 229-9800 I used to be a Bear (NE-CS-36)
awolfson@msi.com Co-leader Junior Troop #307 GSUSA
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
