Pack18Alex 92 Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 Small Pack. We actually organized our sibling dens into a Girl Scout Troop. We meet same night. We couldn't get leadership organized on Girl Scout side, ended up opening a few flag ceremonies jointly with Girl Scouts, everyone loved it. Right now, we are "one room" school house. Sometimes the girls go to another room and do their thing, sometimes the activity is mixed and we figure out how to apply everyone's requirements. We hate the GSUSA programming. My girls are transferring to my Pack the DAY Council will accept an application (one will need tenure for AOL). Parents all seem on board. If anyone wants the GS Troop, they can have it. We're going to run GS Cadettes (Grades 6-8) for a year while BSA rolls out their new Program. COR is on board, which SHOCKED me, very conservative CO, but he's a Queen's Scout and it was Co-ed over there for years. I'm excited if only to reduce my paperwork. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
qwazse 4342 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 @@Pack18Alex, good to know that there's one leader out there ready to receive at least one girls' den. In other news, Son #1 was at the wedding of one of the young women responsible for reactivation our crew. (Needless to say half the party were my 1st gen of venturers.) The bride asked him what I thought about the new policy. There was excitement and enthusiasm about the change. Not clear if that would translate into anything practical. I would like to think one or two of them would make great pack leaders. Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle1993 2160 Posted November 15, 2017 Author Share Posted November 15, 2017 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 all cases but as of now it sounds like they will be allowing us some flexibility. I think the Troop statements were pure speculation but the Pack side sounded a bit more baked. Not sure yet how we will run or interest level (based on sibling interest alone we are thinking 10-15% of our Pack will be girls). Our recent Pack meeting had 8 girls (siblings) attend and some were in GSUSA. One of the GSUSA leaders were also at our meeting (she is also a den leader) and they all remarked how different Cub Scouts was vs GSUSA (a lot more energy and excitement). No recruiting plans yet... Link to post Share on other sites
qwazse 4342 Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 Talked to a 9 year old great niece, and mentioned that she and her friends could be a cub scouts next year. She said she was having fun in Girl Scouts. If she'd be interested at all she, wouldn't want to give up her GS troop. The to groups do a few activities together, and she already camps with her family enough to suit her. Her oldest brother would like to keep the space between himself and his siblings. So, there's no interest in big changes there. Link to post Share on other sites
WisconsinMomma 217 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 (edited) I mentioned girls in Boy Cub Scouting to a few moms of daughters in Girl Scouts and received a very muted reaction. Right now I am not sure we will have any interest in girls' dens. But if there is interest, then we can start to figure it out. Edited November 20, 2017 by WisconsinMomma Link to post Share on other sites
NJCubScouter 1389 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 I mentioned girls in Boy Cub Scouting to a few moms of daughters in Girl Scouts and received a very muted reaction. Right now I am not sure we will have any interest in girls' dens. But if there is interest, then we can start to figure it out. My guess is that current Girl Scouts are not necessarily the most likely "market" for this. I think that girls who have quit the Girl Scouts, or never joined, are much more likely to join the Cub Scouts. That's just a guess, of course. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
RememberSchiff 3661 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 (edited) What if the YMCA, who spun off the BSA in 1910, hosts a "coed" or "family" scouting group? I believe Sweden's YMCA does this and yes I am available for a non-virtual, fact-finding mission. Edited November 20, 2017 by RememberSchiff Link to post Share on other sites
NJCubScouter 1389 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 What if the YMCA, who spun off the BSA in 1910, hosts a "coed" or "family" scouting group? Well, they do have at least a "family camping" program, which is coed, don't they? Formerly known as Indian Guides, now known (I believe) as Adventure Guides, though I am not sure if that is the correct name for their "older youth" program. I don't really know much about it. Link to post Share on other sites
ianwilkins 366 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 My guess is that current Girl Scouts are not necessarily the most likely "market" for this. I think that girls who have quit the Girl Scouts, or never joined, are much more likely to join the Cub Scouts. That's just a guess, of course. Your guess would concur with my anecdotal experience. In the UK we get a not insignificant number of girls joining scouts that were in girl guiding but it didn't offer them what they wanted, i.e. more outdoor adventure. Interestingly, looking at the numbers, there is a higher proportion of girls as you go through the age ranges. I can't drill down into any details to know if it's that more girls stay the course, once they're in, they're in for "life", or if when kids are small gender stereotyping by parents occurs (guides is for girls, scouts is for boys), but as they grow older girls decide for themselves they want scouting and join. What if the YMCA, who spun off the BSA in 1910, hosts a "coed" or "family" scouting group? I believe Sweden's YMCA does this and yes I am available for a non-virtual, fact-finding mission. A fellow leader used to do exchange trips with Swedish scouts, they were co-ed and had no qualms (and were mystified by UK leaders qualms) about mixed gender tentage. If I say he had a great time, don't get all hot under the collar, I don't mean it like *that*. It's just he had a good time, it was fun, he met some very nice people etc. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Cambridgeskip 658 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 I'd reiterate Ian's comments. I have had plenty of girls join scouts having previously been brownies or girl guides but not lost anyone the other way. When I ran cub I had girls move up from beavers, I had girls join straight in but I don't recall anyone jumping ship from brownies. Link to post Share on other sites
OwaTaguSiam 6 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 My biggest concern is, what the heck do we do with fifth grade girls who join for the 2018-2019 school year? The Webelos year+ (especially fifth grade) is all about getting scouts ready for the-yet-to-be-[re]named-separate-but-equal-program-for-boys-and-girls-aged-11-through-17. If troops comprised of girls will not exist during the 2018-2019 school year, how are the fifth grade girls supposed to complete the Scouting Adventure adventure, namely the activities that are to be done with a troop? Are we supposed to just have them visit all-boy troops and say "there will be a similar but separate program for girls starting next year"? Also, for fifth grade girls earning the Arrow of Light award in February of 2019, to where do they cross over, if there is no 11-17 program for girls? Just curious what other packs are doing to plan and prepare for this. Thanks! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
NJCubScouter 1389 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 My biggest concern is, what the heck do we do with fifth grade girls who join for the 2018-2019 school year? The Webelos year+ (especially fifth grade) is all about getting scouts ready for the-yet-to-be-[re]named-separate-but-equal-program-for-boys-and-girls-aged-11-through-17. If troops comprised of girls will not exist during the 2018-2019 school year, how are the fifth grade girls supposed to complete the Scouting Adventure adventure, namely the activities that are to be done with a troop? Are we supposed to just have them visit all-boy troops and say "there will be a similar but separate program for girls starting next year"? Also, for fifth grade girls earning the Arrow of Light award in February of 2019, to where do they cross over, if there is no 11-17 program for girls? Just curious what other packs are doing to plan and prepare for this. Thanks! Those are good questions. I think BSA National has given an answer to the last question. Somewhere there is an FAQ from National that says that the new age-11-ish-to-17 program for girls will be ready to accept crossovers who are in fifth grade in the 2018-19 school year. I am a little skeptical about that, because previously they said the 11-17 girls program is "projected" to be available sometime in 2019. Now all of a sudden the program is going to be ready at crossover time in 2019, meaning somewhere between January and April 2019 depending on the pack. I'll believe that one when I see it. Not to mention the fact that this is all a matter of local option, and it is a lot easier to accept girls into an already-existing pack than to create a whole new troop - even if it is only on paper. There may be many places where there is no "girls' troop" within a reasonable distance, and therefore in practical terms, no place for the girl-Webelos to cross over to. I do not think National has answered your first question or group of questions, which concern how a girl-Webelos is supposed to do the preparatory work with a troop in order to get the Arrow of Light. Hopefully they are working on that. Link to post Share on other sites
WisconsinMomma 217 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 My guess is that current Girl Scouts are not necessarily the most likely "market" for this. I think that girls who have quit the Girl Scouts, or never joined, are much more likely to join the Cub Scouts. That's just a guess, of course. I'm not sure, there are only so many girls in elementary school, and right now, there's a lot of Girl scouts, and here's what it looks like, a family with a boy and a girl will have Dad in the Pack with his son and Mom in the Girl Scouts with the daughter, and that's the current pattern. I asked a mom of one of my former Cub Scouts about girls in Cubs, sort of hinting that she could come over to the Pack, but why would she? Only if she has enough frustration with GSUSA and only if her group wants to come with her. I can't see this very nice lady rocking the boat and switching teams. We'll have to see if an organic interest in girls in Cubs develops. I'm very curious to see how it unfolds, but because I have no daughters, we don't have any kind of choice to make in the matter. Link to post Share on other sites
NJCubScouter 1389 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 It's kind of funny, all of these discussions eventually get around to some version of "We'll see what happens." That's all we can really know for certain. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
RememberSchiff 3661 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 (edited) I think these links were posted before Oct 11, The BSA Expands Programs to Welcome Girls from Cub Scouts to Highest Rank of Eagle Scout Starting in 2018, families can choose to sign up their sons and daughters for Cub Scouts. Existing packs may choose to establish a new girl pack, establish a pack that consists of girl dens and boy dens or remain an all-boy pack. Cub Scout dens will be single-gender — all boys or all girls. Using the same curriculum as the Boy Scouts program, the organization will also deliver a program for older girls, which will be announced in 2018 and projected to be available in 2019, that will enable them to earn the Eagle Scout rank. This unique approach allows the organization to maintain the integrity of the single gender model while also meeting the needs of today’s families. http://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/press-releases/bsa-expands-programs-welcome-girls-cub-scouts-highest-rank-eagle-scout/ Family Scouting http://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/family-scouting/ updated FAQ (including OA ,Arrow of LIfe) https://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Updated-Family-Program-FAQ-10-26-17-547pm.pdf Edited November 20, 2017 by RememberSchiff Link to post Share on other sites
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