Here is an article from the Chicago Tribune relevant to this topic:
By Lisa W. Foderaro
New York Times News Service
Published January 1, 2003
LARCHMONT, N.Y. -- In a chilly cabin here, the ambitious young
suburbanites brainstormed a few weeks back on ways to relieve stress.
The solutions were the usual: bubble baths by candlelight, yoga,
relaxing music, setting limits.
"There's nothing wrong with being busy," said Vickie Hage, an
architect in Mamaroneck, N.Y., helping the 4th-graders in Girl Scout
Troop 1839 work on their "stress less" merit badge. "It's much better
to be busy than to not be busy. But you don't want to be so busy that
it makes you cry or it makes you nervous or it makes you mean to your
mom."
Being a child in these high-stress, full-scheduled times is not what
it used to be, and, as the stress less badge introduced a year ago
indicates, neither are the Girl Scouts. In fact, while the Boy Scouts
have stumbled from one controversy to another, Girl Scouts locally
and nationally are prospering. National membership in the Girl Scouts
of the USA has hit a 20-year high of 2.8 million, with 11 percent of
all available girls signed on as scouts.
The organization is increasingly retaining girls as they enter their
teenage years, a traditional dropout point. It has done so, in part,
by offering rugged adventures like mountain climbing, as well as
internships and travel opportunities. One troop here in Westchester
County recently went to Kenya.
But the Girl Scouts have also steered clear of the controversies
surrounding sexual orientation and religion that have dogged the Boy
Scouts of America in recent years. The Boy Scouts' position on
homosexuality--that gay members are not welcome--has cost that
organization funding and members. And Troop leaders say the Girl
Scouts, traditionally known for the three C's of crafts, cookies and
camping, have evolved into a thoroughly modern organization. It has
formed an implicitly feminist message by plugging into contemporary
issues and trends, while maintaining its traditional values.
In Westchester and Putnam Counties, for instance, the number of Boy
Scouts has fallen to 9,500 from 13,000 in the last 10 years, a 27
percent decline. During the same period, membership in the
Westchester-Putnam chapter of the Girl Scouts has risen by 24
percent, to 16,500 from 13,300. The chapter also outshines the
national Girl Scouts in terms of market share, with 20 percent of
available girls involved in scouting.
Even the Brownies, who are in the 1st through the 3rd grades, are
exposed to a range of subjects. Yes, there are still badges in
puppets and dolls, as well as in manners. But in the last several
years, badges have been added in careers, penny power, computer
smarts, space exploration and math fun.
Years ago, there was a badge for 10- to 17-year-olds called matron
housekeeper, which instructed girls in using a vacuum cleaner and
identifying cuts of meat. Its counterpart today is a Ms. Fix-It
badge, for junior Girl Scouts, ages 9 to 11. To earn the badge, girls
need to be able to repair a leaky toilet and replace a broken window
pane, among other things.
"If you define feminism as a girl being strong-minded and independent
and making decisions for herself, then yes, it's feminism," said Mary
T. Stroock, chief executive for Girl Scouts of Westchester Putnam
Inc. "But I don't think that's necessarily feminism. I think it's
just life now."
Staying current
An example of how the organization has tried to stay current was the
creation of a Girl Scout Research Institute three years ago at its
headquarters in Manhattan. The institute conducts its own research
and pulls together existing studies to help Girl Scouts of the USA
plan for the future. One study, Teens Before Their Time, looked at
the pressures on girls to act and look older than they are.
Other research has shown the extent to which the older girls in
scouting are particularly interested in career development. Harriet
Fier, a filmmaker who leads a Girl Scout troop in Chappaqua, N.Y.,
says that as the girls reach middle school and high school, there is
a career component to almost everything they do.
Fier's own family illustrates the shifting fortunes of the Girl
Scouts and Boy Scouts in Westchester and Putnam. Her 12-year-old
daughter, Laura Mantell, has been active in Girl Scouts since
kindergarten. Her son, Will, on the other hand, left the Boy Scouts
two years ago, at age 8, when the Boy Scouts' decision to exclude
gays was making front-page headlines.
Jack L. Sears, scout executive of the Westchester-Putnam Council of
Boy Scouts of America, attributes the decline in membership less to
any opposition over the group's policies than to a loss of funding.
Responding to the Boy Scouts' position on homosexuality, the United
Way of Westchester and Putnam stopped its annual contribution of
$150,000; corporate support has also eroded.
"If we had the financial resources to get the message out, we would
have a lot more members joining," Sears said. "If we want to embrace
diversity, we have to embrace the right to associate."
For its part, the Girl Scouts do not prohibit lesbians from becoming
members or leaders. Whether heterosexual or homosexual, members and
leaders may not promote a particular sexual orientation or display
any sexual behavior.
As for religion, a member can substitute her own word for God in the
Girl Scout promise. If a girl were an atheist but was still
comfortable reciting the Girl Scout promise, the organization "would
not conduct an inquisition about what was behind that," said Sharon
Woods Hussey, senior vice president of membership, program and
research for Girls Scouts of the USA.
In November, the Boy Scouts ejected an Eagle Scout after he had
proclaimed himself an atheist. Even some Boy Scout leaders in
Westchester wish their organization acted more like the Girl Scouts
with regard to a scout's sexual orientation or religion.
"Both of those issues were poorly handled and the Girl Scouts, to
their credit, took a very different view and very different
position," said William H. Flank, a professor of chemistry and
environmental science at Pace University and a scoutmaster in
Chappaqua. "They don't discriminate, period, and I wish the BSA would
do the same."
The Girl Scouts' national organization has analyzed ZIP codes to make
sure they are attracting girls from all socioeconomic backgrounds and
has studied its existing membership rolls with an eye toward racial
and ethnic diversity.
There is a new push to attract Hispanic girls, who are not
participating at the same rate as white and black girls. Similarly,
the Girl Scouts have just started an initiative, with a grant from
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, to introduce
scouting to girls living in housing projects.
The Girl Scouts reached their peak of popularity during the Baby Boom
years of 1947 to 1955, when 12.5 percent of American girls were
involved. Through the 1970s and mid-1980s, the "market share," as
Girl Scout officials put it, dipped to 10 percent. But it has since
picked up and has hovered around 11 percent in recent years.
Fresh air and service
The organization was founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low, who
believed all girls should be given the opportunity to develop
physically, mentally and spiritually. From the start, the Girl Scouts
sought to get girls out of their isolated home environments and into
community service and the open air.
Community service and the great outdoors still figure prominently in
Girl Scouts. Recently, a troop in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., was
frantically looking for a way to pay a $1,500 shipping charge for a
wheelchair and holiday gifts for a 6-year-old girl in Ecuador who can
neither walk nor talk. The girl is related to the housekeeper of the
troop leader, Diane Newman Kahn. The troop decided to use the money
they had raised selling cookies to buy a high-tech, collapsible
wheelchair for the Ecuadorian girl, whose family cannot afford one.
Troop 1366, in Putnam County, was getting ready for the annual
Klondike Derby, a winter survival exercise set to take place this
month at the Girl Scouts' own 100-acre Rock Hill Camp.
At a recent troop meeting, the girls practiced building fires
outdoors and erecting a shelter, using only a tarp and trees. They
will also have to demonstrate their knowledge of first aid, as well
as their ability to signal for help using SOS flags.
With two daughters in Girls Scouts, Liz Rau leads two troops: 1366
and 2177. Both are preparing for the Klondike. Rau was a Girl Scout
herself; she left at the start of 9th grade. "I quit because of the
stigma of being in Girl Scouts," she said.
Her own daughters, Theresa, 13, and Patricia, 15, have no plans to
leave. Patricia is admittedly a bit self-conscious about being a Girl
Scout now that she is 15. But she is determined to remain in scouting
through the end of high school, and she has set two goals: to take an
overseas trip with her troop, and to earn the Gold Award, the
equivalent of the boys' Eagle Scout honor.
As for the lingering social stigma, Patricia said she doesn't
broadcast her participation. But the Girl Scouts' main fundraising
vehicle--the cookies--have made her popular in school, at least among
the boys.
"It's not cool," she said of the Girl Scouts, "but it's accepted.
Guys know you have cookies, and guys like food."
Copyright 2002, Chicago Tribune
