HiLo

Hi all I'm an Australian Group Leader who has just joined the forum. Without daring to try to tell you how you should do things, let me just tell you what happens here. Bringing girls into Scouting began here with our Rover Scout Section (18-25 year olds) 35 years ago and has been part of all levels of Scouting now for about 15 years. So far as I can see it has been totally successful. No-one inside Scouting questions the change now. Sometimes I still encounter outsiders who ask with surprise "Oh, you have girls in Scouts now?" but it almost always evokes a positive reaction. If anything, it has helped eliminate the old, unfortunate paedophilia image Scouting had in some circles, and no, there hasn't been an outbreak of unwanted pregnancies. Girl Guides (like Girl Scouts in the USA) still exists, which seems a bit of an anomaly to me. We joke that girls now have a choice but boys don't!

Hello all. Just discovered this site and thought I'd join in too. It's great to see a forum dedicated to Scouting. I'm Group Leader of the Mooroolbark Scout Group on the outer eastern edge of Melbourne, Australia. Are there many other Australians involved in the forum? I've just got home from our aluminium can collection cage which we run as a fund raising activity, and as a promotional billboard in the centre of town because our Scout Hall is tucked away out of sight in the back blocks of our town. Hoping I might get to the snow tomorrow for some cross country skiing. Despite the image of Australia being hot and sunny, I live reasonably close to the area where it snows a bit and skiing has been a traditional Scouting activity in these parts. (Oh, I'm sure most of you realise it's winter here right now.) I have a an additional Scouting leadership qualification to take groups ski touring. It helps keep an old bloke like me fit.