EmberMike

My point was that picking 2 organizations that make up about 2% of scouts worldwide doesn't tell us much. Are they following the same model? I thought Scouts Canada was fully co-ed. No separate dens/patrols/troops/packs. And their organizational structure is kind of different from the BSA already. More traditional BP Scouts model than BSA's program.

You're right, these are very real issues. And we all know there would be challenges associated with this. I didn't petition the BSA to make this change without acknowledging that there would be a lot of work to be done, and that it wouldn't be easy. But I'm ready and willing to do the work. I know not everyone is, but I suspect enough people are willing to try and make it happen. I don't care what's going on up in Canada or anywhere else. I believe in the BSA and what this organization can do if enough people dig in and do what needs to be done to make this work.

Anyone can cherry-pick any scout organization they like to make their point. There are over 50 million scouts around the world in various organizations. We're talking about 3 organizations in particular here, which collectively make up less than 3 million scouts. The scouting world is pretty big, and a lot of it is co-ed. I have no idea how co-ed affects overall membership, and I doubt anyone here knows either. Although I'd be highly impressed if anyone could compile info from numerous scouting orgs and draw some scientific conclusions.

Scouts UK has seen numbers go up. Neither case is enough data to point to co-ed being good or bad for business.

If you see a suspicious pile of cookie crumbs in the car seat, run, and immediately call the Do Si Do Squad.

I wouldn't have an issue with unique items for girls in the long-term. My issue with it is that this seems entirely counter to what we heard throughout the years of the effort to get girls into Cub Scouts, including from people like me. I believed what I was told and heard, that girls just wanted the chance to be in the BSA, as-is. We were told that the program didn't need to change, that girls could do exactly what the boys were doing, they could sign up and put on the same uniform and go out and be scouts just like the boys. We went out and pushed that message, and I believe it still. And th

Connecting the "me too" movement to a fringe outlier case that would never even be possible today (do you know how much security and monitoring goes on in most modern daycare centers?) is stretching way beyond reason to make a point.

I want to say I'm overthinking this, but sadly I'm probably not... It is more than a tad bit suspicious to me that every girl in the group pictured on the original post is wearing the new skirt, and they're out doing outdoorsy stuff in front of BSA banners. Because we know how easy it is to get every kid to show up in identical uniform and we all make sure to take our regulation BSA banners with us on all outings, right? Why do so many of these media pieces reference some girl being the first to register in their area/council/region? What is going on here? I wanted to be optimi

Agreed. There should been a freeze on any girl uniform items for at least a couple of years. They don't need them, at the cub level the clothing is universal enough to fit a boy or a girl. If they wanted to roll out girl-specific products later, fine. But at the launch of the program, it just sends the wrong message. The opposite message of what we've been trying to express, really, that girls want the boy program as-is, and we're giving them that same program and experience. Except we're not, if you're a girl, you should wear this impractical gender-specific uniform item.

For occasional wear, that would work. But long-term? Medals aren't all that practical for frequent wear on the uniform. Especially if you're wearing your uniform during some sort of activity, having that medal clanging around on your shirt can be annoying. Medals to me always seemed like formal wear. In the field, they generally aren't worn as much or at all. Square knots are a practical alternative to medals to show award but in a more everyday-wear sort of way.

I can't believe what I'm reading here. From Scouters no less. We're an organization that suppressed abuse claims for decades, and now we've got people here suggesting that the current openness and dialogue around very real sexual abuse cases is a bad thing? Just when I think this forum can't possibly shock me anymore...

Since the majority of my Pack's committee is Den Leaders, the committee meetings would be pretty quiet if we weren't there.

I'm really not following you here. You quoted me saying exactly what I've been saying all along. Where's the "changing the tone"?

The changing face of the Boy Scouts https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-changing-face-of-the-boy-scouts-of-america/ Interesting piece. No new info, but always interesting to see this new policy in action.

How many innocent men have been caught up in this? Anyone know? I have yet to hear of one. I just wear a body camera at work to protect myself. Kidding of course. But on a serious note, if it's a concern for anyone in their workplace, maybe ask your employer to install cameras if they haven't already. Technology could pretty easily put an end to this, at a cost to employers that would surely be less than any possible lawsuit that arrises. Not hiring women is not a good solution. That will land you with a different kind of lawsuit.

There were questions about how to keep masculinity in the BSA. And answers that said to just stick with the program to achieve that. I don't believe masculinity is a program goal. If you inferred that from something I posted, that was not my intent.

I don't get it. So many folks here are always voicing concerns about the weakening of the program, how things will change when girls arrive, losing the masculinity of the BSA, etc. And yet the consensus here now seems to be that delivery of the program is what drives delivery of the masculine aspect of Scouting. Assuming that the Boy Scout program doesn't change because of the girls' program, and if program is the means by which we deliver the whole "turning boys into men" component, then what's the problem?

There's a nearby troop here that has had a sponsored campsite at the council summer camp for probably 30 years. Looking at their website, it seems they still have that site today. I think part of it is so that they have a guaranteed same site at camp every summer, in a prime location. Troops that don't get a say in where they camp end up way down the road and have to do the long walk to the dining hall for each meal.

That did stand out in the article. The primary reason given for forming this pack was the Family Scouting aspect, and yet this is an all-girl pack. Kind of counter-productive if you're going with the "family" program as the leading reason to do it. I'm encouraged by these stories of new packs forming and lots of girls getting into Cub Scouts, but I have to admit that I'm a little skeptical about motivations. I hope people aren't doing this just to make a statement or for self-serving publicity.

Yeah, poor move by that council. Maybe they felt it better for marketing purposes to go with older girls, but I just don't see the logic in that. If it was a marketing move, showing off some girls in Cub uniforms doing fun Cub Scout stuff would have looked better.

I think it's the presentation of the story that makes it seem odd. They make it look like these girls are already in the BSA, doing scout stuff and all. But the real story with these particular girls and this leader is that they are going to sign up when they can, which may be later this year or 2019. A better story would have been to go meet some girls who are actually in a Cub Scout pack right now.

Terminology seems to be tripping up the media pretty frequently. I kind of wish the BSA addressed some of the branding considerations before going ahead with this. I didn't think it would matter much, but apparently it does.

Here's the piece at a Sacramento CBS affiliate: http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2018/01/30/boy-scouts-girls-northern-california/ Seems like a more legit source. And with video. I couldn't get the video to play on the CBS site, so here's a YouTube link for anyone else having trouble with it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQxiQwZ4kDE

Is that also the mission of STEM Scouts? I ask because while I don't know a whole lot about it, my impression of it is that it is separate from the BSA program.