Eagle1993

Anyone who thinks boy’s act “freely” around other boys is delusional. Other boys influence boys actions. Not all boys are the same. Go Troop by Troop at a Summer Camp. I still remember the dirty Troop (they never showered), the “Ninja” Troop who would cause mischief, the military Troop who’s leaders felt BSA was pre Army... I can go on. Case by case you would see boys act within each of these Troops differently. They are influenced by the other boys and their leaders. I love my Troop and had a great time with fellow scouts. I would never claim my actions were not influenced by my fellow scouts. So sure, girls will also influence scouts as well. I don’t see that as a bad thing as long as they follow the scout oath, law experience leadership and have fun. That can occur in a coed or single gender Troop.

As an early adopter pack I do not see the segregation lasting. I do see it lasting for overnights (YPT aspects) but it will die quickly for regular den meetings. - In our packs experience, there is limited to no support from parents to keep the dens separate. (Our pack families are typically professional upper middle class, moderates politically that have their kids go to a coed public school.) - The added stress of finding that many more volunteers is an issue Given this combination and the fact it will be impossible to police I see it slowly going away. It starts with a few co den meetings with breakout sections then a few dens will merge then the rest of the pack’s dens. Early on compliance may be high, but in 2-3 years it will decline. This is just a guess based on what I’ve seen. If you really want single gender you’ll need completely separate units or a CO/COR that mandates it.

Just as some schools change mascots my guess is that some people will keep with the past name and call themselves Boy Scouts. Girls and the most of the next generation boys “scouts” will probably go with “Scouts”. That is what I have seen after mascot changes at schools that have flaired similar passions (older and current students stay with the previous version but the vast majority of new students move on). I was a Boy Scout and I expect many current and past members will continue to use that name. That said, it doesn’t mean the name can’t change going forward and I tend to agree having one program name for 11-17 YOs makes sense (just like Cub Scouts and Venturing).

New marketing material and info on the Family Scouting site. https://www.scouting.org/familyscouting/

“Surbaugh predicted that both boys and girls in Scouts BSA would refer to themselves simply as scouts, rather than adding “boy” or “girl” as a modifier.” - From USA Today Long term I tend to agree and my guess is that “BSA” was added for Trademark vs GSUSA. If not then I’m not sure why one wouldn’t have simply used Scouts. Scout Me In is fine ... but I’m really curious about the advertising and what they emphasize in the program going forward.

Moderators... there are now three threads that could start this discussion. It deserves its own thread so I’d recommend deleting my comment and moving @qwazse comment to @John-in-KC new thread. Otherwise chaos will consume this forum.... Time for some coffee....

It’s official. “Scouts BSA” https://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/press-releases/scout-me-in/

More info from another FB site... This information just in: This evening, councils received word that communication about two items will be shared tomorrow, 5/2/18: 1) The new name for the current Boy Scout program to be effective in February 2019 when girls are welcomed. 2) The new marketing campaign featuring Family Scouting in the Cub Scout program. Please monitor Scouting Newsroom, Scouting Magazine's "Bryan on Scouting" blog, the BSA social channels, and the Family Scouting page at scouting.org tomorrow (Wednesday).

6. BSA color nail polish.

We have to get our remaining speculation in quickly... they didn’t give us much time!

A bit more info “What we're talking about is what we're going to call those members in a Troop -- male and female -- which will be announced tomororw at midday.”

Just confirmed NOT “Scouting USA”...🙄 They are only talking about the BSA4G program name. The organization remains Boy Scouts of America

From that FB post it isn’t clear; however, some of the comments seem to allude to a new name. Also, it appears thy have a commercial that is ready to go out.

Additional updates (from various FB groups). Nothing too exciting, but the various volunteers are indicating much more info should be available over the next few weeks (after NEXT connect meetings & BSA nationals in May). New clothing for BSA4G will be available in December (that date has varied a bit but it is the latest info I have heard of...) NEXT Connect conference displayed some new clothing options, none are official. They included the return of the red stripe BSA socks. Blue Cub Scout shorts and capris/roll up pants options for girls. I have seen pictures on a FB post but the admin has asked that they not be shared (concern is that unofficial clothing pictures is distributed causing confusion). No early adopter program for BSA4G ... that seems to be fairly consistent. Holding the date to Feb 2019. The female CM/ACM requirement was stated but there has been no follow up.... so still waiting to see if that is a requirement for Cub Scout packs with girls. The name for the older girls program will be announced soon and no later than the May National BSA meeting. Some Venturing girls have written to BSA as they now realize that they will be too old for Eagle Scout. As of now, some parents/leaders have indicated BSA is pushing back on any exemption. (I agree with BSA on this). Minimum number of youth to start a unit remains 5 ... so far no indication that will change. Someone in a FB post wrote the word "Weblow" ... *slaps head* Again, nothing earth shattering. Looking forward to learning more official news.

@Jameson76 There is a Lion book as well, but I haven't seen a picture of the printed one yet. Cover art below. I've seen 1 picture of the inside of 1 book and it did show a girl cub scout. I'm sure the language has been modified to be gender neutral. Not sure if the ratio is the same (boys vs girls).

It’s getting ugly. This pic was from a recent GSUSA/BSA working meeting.

Books have been printed. Should hit shelves in June.

If I could up vote this 1000 times I would!

Based on the what I have heard I would be careful of holding any joint meetings/events without GSUSA local council approval. We had discussed this has a Pack but now I do not plan to pursue. I have no desire to have our school GSUSA leaders grilled by council (parent only meetings, treasurer record review, etc.).

G2SS BSA insurance policy recommended PPE for wiffle ball in 2018.

I have asked about dens meeting together and that would not be considered breaking rules. My father who is a volunteer at a council out of state and my DE had the same response. A girl den should be treated the same as a boy den. If you have dens that meet together for joint projects you can continue doing that with boy and girl dens. Yes... this could clearly be a paper den, but there has been no clear rule I have seen that states boy and girl dens cannot work on projects together. Now.... if every meeting is coed and they do everything together and have the same leaders it would be a violation. I do expect this is and will happen, I’m just not sure that is the case in this article.

Girls planning to join Troops next year can apply to be part of the WSJ 2019. See article below. https://wsj2019.us/2018/04/16/women-at-the-world-scout-jamboree/ What if the girl is not old enough to join Scouts right now? If you or a friend wants to join Scouting for the 2019 WSJ, she can join the WSJ contingent now! Anyone who was born between July 22, 2001 and July 21, 2005 may attend WSJ as a participant. If you are too young to register for Venturing (12 or 13 years of age right now), but are eligible to attend, you can still come to WSJ. A potential female participant must contact their council first and have a council staff member contact the contingent.

There have been some Packs that actually generated recruiting material that showed a Girl Scout and a Girl Cub Scout on the same flyer emphasizing you can be both. I also know of some Packs that have combined GSUSA and BSA meetings for their new members. ... That was a disaster as GSUSA investigated them for financial reasons (was GSUSA Troop $$ spent on BSA activities). I think all of this comes from well intentioned volunteers but GSUSA clearly has a right to their brand and sees this as a threat. The other area is media confusion. I remember one newscast that showed the GSUSA logo when talking about BSA. GSUSA is defending their copyright and BSA is reminding their volunteers to comply.

Good reminder for those of us recruiting girls going forward. This letter was sent out earlier today. CSE Letter on Infringements.pdf

Comments sections under articles bring out some of the worst in people and skew based upon the audience. Go ahead and read deadspin.com articles and you would believe 99% of this country wants fully run National healthcare and that NFL players should be honored for kneeling. Then go to Fox News and read comments under their article... a bit different. The real question is what do parents and their youth in our target age range want and need to have fun and grow into strong leaders. I don’t think a comment section under an article (regardless of position) represents an accurate answer to that question. Polling of parents in the 30-50 year range over the next 5-10 years will be the best indication if the target audience is happy with the change. IMHO