It was recently announced that Boy Scouts of America would accept girls into the Cub Scout program starting with the 2018 program year (essentially the beginning of the school year). Additionally, for older girls, they will now have an opportunity to earn the highest achievement in Boy Scouts – attaining the rank of Eagle Scout.
When the news broke, like many others involved in the scouting program, I wasn’t surprised. This has been a discussion for a while. You may not realize it, but young women have been part of Boy Scouts since 1971 when the decision was made to open up the Explorer program, a division of Boy Scouts that would eventually become Venture Scouts.
Did you even know that there is more to scouting than Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts?
The history and evolution of Explorers and Venturing is a little murky, and I don’t claim to know a lot of it, I know enough that girls or young women have been part of the Boy Scouts of America organization for quite a while.
So what’s the big deal?
Let me start off by saying that “girl” is the term I am going to go with for the rest of this post, rather than “young woman” because this is Boy Scouts and I am not meaning to degrade anybody, simply streamline my text.
If having girls in Boy Scouts is nothing new why is this an issue? Why hasn’t this happened already? Where does Girl Scouts fit in?
Rather than post some initial reaction, I wanted to let the news digest a little and offer up my thoughts in less “rushed” manner. I wanted to think things through a little.
Cub Scouts has been, operationally, a “family” organization for some time, at least as long as I have been involved. And maybe it is just the local council I am part of. While girls are not eligible to attend overnight camp or register for day camp, siblings have been welcome to various scouting events such as “day at camp” or pack outings.
Because many families have more constraints on their time making the organization more family friendly has been a priority for some time, and it has largely been a success. The move to include girls in Cub Scouts is a natural one, and frankly I am all for it.
My initial enthusiasm with regards to the news, however, was almost immediately tempered with trepidation as to how it will be implemented. If done poorly it could turn a lot of people away from scouting.
There is still the obstacle of integration with regards to summer camp. The camps we have gone to have female facilities. During winter camp some of the boys have had their mothers attend for the weekend. Summer resident camp and winter camp have been staffed by female Venture Scouts. It is not unprecedented to have some mixed gender, but as a program there is going to need to be a bit of overhauling of the facilities and operations.
Incorporating girls into Cub Scouts is one thing. Another very crucial part of the announcement was there would be a way for girls to attain the rank of Eagle Scout.
I’m sure there are people who are not happy with this decision to include girls, and the Girl Scouts are mad, but I can certainly see why many girls want to join. There are benefits to the Girl Scouts, and my older daughter participated for a few years but ultimately felt that it was lacking the goals and purpose her brother was enjoying in Cub Scouts.
Opening up the rank advancement to Eagle Scout to girls is a big deal. It should be noted the announcement did not say that Boy Scouts would become Boy & Girl Scouts. Instead it says there will be a program for girls using the same curriculum the Boy Scouts use.
Heck, the announcement even says that Cub Scout dens would be segregated by gender. Don’t expect that to last too long.
There has been girls involved in the Boy Scout program for decades. This move is a natural extension of the program to fully include everybody who wishes to participate.
Are you against this move? Tell me why you think this is a bad move on the part of Boy Scouts of America (and keep in mind they did try to work with Girl Scouts to incorporate the program but were snubbed). Are you worried about integration? Do you think Girl Scouts is good enough? Do you think this waters down the Boy Scout program and the rank of Eagle Scout?
I would really like to hear from you.