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OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE: Girls as Youth Members, All Programs


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I'm glad the board made this decision. It is the right one, for our youth and for the future of Scouting. If some COs and leaders can't adjust to modern life, so be it. The Scouts will be just fine, r

I became Eagle shortly after you (1978).  When I joined, the old requirements were still in place, and I earned Second Class under them.  I had about half the requirements for First Class done when th

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Nope, this argument is the straw man. Boy Scouts is for boys. So a member of an organization for boys -- that has been for boys only for over 100 years -- has a very valid argument aski

I am sure there PR consultants who could have advised them on better ways to handle it. Not my area of expertise. There seem like there are plenty of folks (including those who agree with the decision) who did not like the way it was announced. It seems like you are saying there was no way National could have improved upon the exercise. I don't bu that.

We discussed this today in one of my business classes. One of the suggestions made by an Eagle Scout was to have. The program in place, complete with training, books, uniforms and everything else a new scout or leader needs to get started and answer questions. We debated other options but the class settled on this as the best option.

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I agree; I am sure there are ways it could have been done better. I think it is a fact of life that there are always better ways to do something (yet not my area of expertise and I don't know how they could have done it better).

 

That being stated, many have complained that they were not told in advance that this change was coming. I just don't see how that would be a reasonable request as any leaking to members would also be leaking to the media.

 

My guess is that BSA has a PR person on payroll and that they applied whatever expertise they have in crafting this message. Doesn't mean it was perfect but there may not have been a much better way either.

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Back Pack, good points. As we can see from our UK colleagues it would not have been that hard to have put together some draft guidelines and a FAQ to common questions.  

 

There is a FAQ out there. I was reading it earlier today - but that being stated, I had to hunt for it. I can't find it again as I type this.

 

Sure would be nice if this was all on the front page of www.scouting.org

 

Found it:

 

https://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Family-Scouting-FAQ.pdf

 

https://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BSA_Family-Entry-Fact-Sheet.pdf

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I am a District Commissioner and have already heard from two Scoutmasters that they will do "everything" they can {wink, wink} to help girls earn the rank of Eagle Scout ASAP. My fear is that in the rush to be the first girl to earn Eagle Scout (or be the first unit, district, council to have a girl earn Eagle Scout) many shortcuts will be taken during sign-offs and BoRs. We all know it will be a race to see who is first.

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Well, admittedly character (or the lack thereof) is usually a difficult thing to identify in a photo or video.  What I have seen in those posted by @@Cambridgeskip are mixed-gender groups of kids having fun and, more importantly, not being afraid of being made to look like a fool in front of the opposite gender.  It is a limited "data set", but it is what we've got.

 

There is a big difference between the scouting programs in England and those in the United States. We have Chartered Organizations, they don't. 

 

A Chartered Organization in the United States can run an in-house co-ed youth program all by themselves. Many CO's already do have other co-ed youth programs. Mine does.

 

Boy Scouting was a unique program. The Boy Scout program was attractive to the CO's because it was unique. It wasn't something the CO's could easily duplicate on their own.

 

My CO already has a co-ed youth group. We don't need co-ed scouting. My CO already has a family ministry. We don't need family camping through scouting.

 

Scouting is becoming a less unique organization with little to offer the CO's except a duplication of the in-house programs many of them already have.

 

Yes, I have seen the photos of co-ed scout groups in England having fun in their activities. They look just like the photos I have of our youth group and family ministry having fun in their activities. I don't need scouting to duplicate that.

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@Tampa Turtle Regarding how they announced this, I am not sure how they could have done it much differently. There is virtually no way they could have shared this news with scouts prior without it having been leaked to the media.

 

Any pre-announcement made to anyone other than everyone at the same time would have resulted in BSA losing the narrative. Someone else, perhaps someone opposed to the change, would have been the first to scoop the story and BSA would have lost whatever advantage they have in controlling the message.

No pre- announcement needed, but a news announcement sent out at the same time registered leadership gets sent an announcement on exactly how this plan is going to work sure would have helped the situation greatly so there wouldn't be all this speculation.

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There is a FAQ out there. I was reading it earlier today - but that being stated, I had to hunt for it. I can't find it again as I type this.

 

Sure would be nice if this was all on the front page of www.scouting.org

 

Found it:

 

https://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Family-Scouting-FAQ.pdf

 

https://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BSA_Family-Entry-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Sure would be nice if cubs in 2018 meant January or June or September...Make a big difference to folks on the front lines who may already be fielding questions about when their daughter can join

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I am a District Commissioner and have already heard from two Scoutmasters that they will do "everything" they can {wink, wink} to help girls earn the rank of Eagle Scout ASAP. My fear is that in the rush to be the first girl to earn Eagle Scout (or be the first unit, district, council to have a girl earn Eagle Scout) many shortcuts will be taken during sign-offs and BoRs. We all know it will be a race to see who is first.

I don't see that as different from a lot of Eagle Scouts I have seen.  Boys get passed through and moved along to get their Eagle at 13.5-14 age.  I have sat of Eagle BOR where the boy has done the bare minimum to pass.  It breaks my heart when I see that but it already happens.  

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I don't see that as different from a lot of Eagle Scouts I have seen.  Boys get passed through and moved along to get their Eagle at 13.5-14 age.  I have sat of Eagle BOR where the boy has done the bare minimum to pass.  It breaks my heart when I see that but it already happens.  

 

Sure it already happens, but is it widespread? And intentional? In the rush to award girls the rank of Eagle Scout, there's going to be a taint of "her dad's the SM, her mom's the CC, and mom and dad were MBCs for most of the Eagle-required MBs."

 

I am already hearing from long-time district advancement chairs who are worried.

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