Eagle1993

This is my first year as a parent of a Girl Scout, my daughter is a daisy. We just received the Girl Scout summer camp guide and to be perfectly honest it blows away the BSA. The Girl Scouts have weekly camps from early June through MID August. They have a great collection of both day camps and overnights. They have various speciality camps. They don’t require parents or leaders of local units to attend. If adult partners do attend, they are not charged and their daughter receives a discount. The Girl Scouts offer bussing to all their day camps. Their guide is in color with pictures and h

In the last district committee meeting I attended I asked if girls could attend the Cub Scout camps the summer of 2018. The individual responsible for the camp stated she asked and it was made clear that girls in Cub Scouts would start in September of 2018. The only official documents I have seen is fall of 2018 so September seems reasonable as the start.

The whole charter argument came up before with the boys club. The Boys Club allowed girls to join since the 1800s but only updated their charter in 1990 when they asked congress to officially update their name and extend the club to girls. Interesting that there was already a Girls Club and they sued to stop the Boys club name change in 1988. After the injunction they Boys Club paid the Girls Club to change their name to Girls Inc http://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/25/garden/when-boys-clubs-meet-girls-clubs.html I wonder if in 5 years we will update our name

Several years ago our Pack leaders silently went about ensuring only male leadership. We didn’t have an ACM, Treasurer or two deep leadership in all but one den. Our Pack dropped its enrollment by nearly 70% and went from a $3k surplus to a $500 deficit. Last year we only crossed over 5 and most of them have already dropped out. When I and a few other leaders took over we quickly identified the gaps in leadership and sent out requests to parents. A couple of moms asked me if I was open to having female leaders and I answered yes. It only took 3 moms added to the leadership ranks (all de

I’m working our Cub Scout Pack recharter right now (for January 1). “Moose/Rocco ... help the parents find their wallets.†But I digress. No mention of designating Boy, Girl or Coed. Just your standard process, but now required to be online. It was made clear to me that girls won’t start until September. I’m also concerned a bit about having AoL girl(s) with no Troop to partner with. Our AOL typical does one overnight (minimum) and a few other activities with the Troop. If we have any AOL girls they will be left out of these activities.

Brian ... it’s your call. That said a few quick things I think back to in high school: 1) I have more regrets on opportunities I passed on vs took. The girl I didn’t ask out because I was afraid she would say no (it happens, who cares and move on) or the time I could have been on the field during a World Cup match and passed (once in a life time opportunity). 2) Everybody thinks that their actions are the center of all gossip at school. Yep, you may get a hard time for a week. But the half life on high school gossip is much shorter than you think. They’ll find something else soon

We had a discussion regarding girls in Packs and Troops during our District Meeting. I brought up concerns of possible small den sizes and lack of volunteers. It was made clear that how we run the Pack will be up to the CO and Committee. If we want to have both boy and girl dens meet at the same time/place with two separate leaders that would be allowed. We also talked about Boy Scouts and the expectation based upon early CO and Troop feedback is that there will be some that run it as Troop XXXA (all boys) and Troop XXXB (all girls) that would have the same leadership. Clearly this won’t be

Do you have two strong den leaders? You may be better with a larger den under one good leader than 2 dens with one weak leader. We used to always split larger dens but we found the group that gets stuck with the weaker leader has higher attrition. We now have a den of 24 Tigers with four dens leaders. One is a great leader and the other three help with the breakout groups.

@@backpack. I think he used “ ...did just..†which is a bit different than “just didâ€. I believe 47 years is a long time even for the old guys on this forum (I’m not sure if I’m counting myself as an old guy just yet). As far as the great survey debate... I am 100% sure the organization that spent $400m+ to clear a mountain top to make a camp could have figured out how to survey all of its members (youth and or adult). They didn’t want to. They said so in the various videos that they only wanted input from those that attended their meetings. I’m generally in favor of

@@Gwaihir.... Years ago nearly all interstate highways had a speed limit of 55 mph. It was set during the gas crisis to save fuel. Nearly everyone ignored the speed limit where it seemed ridiculous. Sure, that meant breaking the law but when a law is created that is completely inconsistent with what the constituents desire it won’t be followed without strict and heavy enforcement. Eventually that law was changed and speed limits increased. If large numbers of scouts are jumping through hoops to get around some of the really questionable rules shouldn’t nationals reconsider them?

Head to a state where it is legal (or add the green/red and white lights). Find a non motorized small lake. Pick an evening with a full moon and no wind. Cast away with a few friends. Stay sober. I tell you there are few memories as great as canoeing at night under a full moon.

I believe the Boys club had their charter modified by congress when they added girls. “To recognize the fact that girls are a part of our cause, the national organization's name was changed to Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 1990. Accordingly, Congress amended and renewed our charter.â€

@@David CO ... or they are more aware of the financial situation we are in which could trump their concern on the social issue. As they did not launch coed Troops I’m not so sure they are fully in the Democratic camp. Even on the gay and transgender issue they only moved when they started loosing $$$ (that was under Gates... a Republican). GSUSA was way ahead of them on that change. Last time I checked Randall Stephenson donated heavily to Republicans and nothing to Democrats.

Given this survey, does that mean 77% of Republicans would want girls kicked out of Venturing? It would be interesting to get the questions asked and I wonder if it was clear what the proposal was and the current status that girls are already in the BSA. if it is simply should girls be in Boy Scouts (that is not the proposal and girls are already in the BSA). @Col Flag ... to be clear “good†isn’t necessarily great and the BSA has a lot of work on their left, their announcement and roll out was terrible. Note that the margin of error on the cross tabs would be even greater than th

The only good aspect of this poll is that the next generation of BSA parents are in favor (if you believe the cross tabs). I think the BSA should reconsider their decision on branding and will need to work on an ad campaign. While the 18-34 are the next parents the 65+ probably donate the most $.

Looking at the 2016 annual report it seems clear the BSA is in some financial trouble. The Summit continues to suck cash, our net insurance is costing $70m a year (vs $40m in 2015), we lost $28m in net cash from operations (vs $6m loss in 2015) and then read Note 9.... the lawsuits being filed could cause “ ...operational impact on our program.†Just 1 lawsuit filed in Oregon is suing BSA for $21m. It appears we are selling assets and continuing to bond with the hope that Summit will take off and the we won’t lose these upcoming massive lawsuits. Our assets (think selling camps)

The few times I came close to death was on an Snowmobiles, ATV and Jet Ski. Each time I yelled something along the line of “watch this...â€. Rule #1 in G2SS should be to stop any activity as soon as that phase is mentioned. Overall, I tend to agree with TAHAWK that there are plenty of fun activities available that can be conducted within the confines of G2SS. My nephews’ Webelos friend died at a Boy Scout outing as the kids were climbing rocks near a waterfall (he slipped and hit his head during the fall). Rules are in place for more than just lawyers. That said, I don’t agr

Absolutely agree. Note that volunteers already pay for uniforms, training and their time. As a show of appreciation of their time and guidance, we include adult fees as part of our pack fees charged to every scout (about $5). I have volunteered for many other youth programs/sports and BSA is one of the only that charges me to volunteer. $33 is not that much money and most adults would pay without objection, our Pack just thinks it sends the wrong message.

It was definitely for canoeing at night. It was a Troop (not Pack) during summer camp. The canoes were open to use outside of the merit badge times (at least that is how they were used during the day). The lake was small, you could easily paddle back in 5 mins from any point so no need to check them out. Plus, the waterfront director was yelling as we paddled in... that we are not allowed to canoe at night because "it is dark and unsafe!" I have no idea if the waterfront director made up the rule, if was a BSA rule at summer camps or if it is still in place there. That was the only year I

I still remember getting blasted at summer camp when a few members of my pack and our leaders went out to canoe at night. Full moon, no wind, we were all in life jackets and all passed the swim test. It was an awesome experience and when we canoed in the waterfront director wanted to kick us out of camp and worse for our leaders. At the same time, I know a Webelos scout who was a friend of my nephews who died on a scout outing because all the scouts were climbing up rocks that were wet from a waterfall. Accidents happen but if the Scouts obeyed the sign that said do not climb that Webelo

I think the media and GSUSA also spread some false information that is causing confusion. The other issue is that their policy is more "inside baseball" and is difficult to communicate in. 30 second news update. People simply hear Boy Scouts now include girls... and then react. At the Cub Scout level the feedback has been mixed. In general, I have heard only one person who objected in principle of adding girls to Cub Scouts. Most of the conversations have been around answering why the BSA wants to do this and why would they keep dens single gender. The single gender dens has bee

Our CO had a board meeting and passed s resolution that essentially states they support our Pack's decision to either include or not include girls. It seems like a common theme from several COs. I do appreciate that they are leaving it up to us as their involvement has been minimal over the last several years.

@@backpack. I was a Boy Scout starting in 1988 until 1995. During that time we had girl summer camp counselors around our same age and our Troop had a couple of girls that would go with us on trips to BWCA. I think the interactions were mixed. As a SPL I had to go into a tent and pull out two of my Scouts who were " just talking" with the girl counselors and not attending their merit badge clinics. That said, it occurred infrequently and when it did happen I made it clear it wasn't acceptable. On our trips to BWCA we were focused on fishing, canoeing and hiking. The girls were just additio

Nope. I'm just stating the this is one benefit that boys could have by adding girls to the program. @@prof stated he saw nothing great for boys. One could argue that helping to change boy's and men's views of girls and woman could be great for them. Now, I'm not stating that this is a guaranteed outcome nor is is definitely a net benefit for boys.

I was in band, church youth group and sports. I can say without a doubt that my experience in BSA provided an impact on my life that was an order of magnitude greater than any other club or sport. The leadership challenges and experiences far outweighed any single hike, game or concert I was part of. I could absolutely imagine adding girls could have challenged my internal biases. I'm just not sure if it would have taken other aspects of the program away to be a net negative