Gwaihir

Iran can't "handle" co-ed scouting because they have systems in place specifically designed around the concept of an inferior sex. In the US, Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts being single gendered plays towards being dedicated to the development of boys, which studies show, both genders learn, grow and develop better in same-sex environments. Please stop with straw men. They burn fast and you end up leaving a trace... As far as "Boy Scouts also have no idea how to act around girls"... kind, courteous, cheerful... these seem like pretty good guidelines. They also have plenty of interaction with the opposite sex in their daily walks of life. This is again, a straw man. I was a Cub and Boy Scout, earned AOL and Eagle Scout... I've had several relationships before finding the one, got married to her, and have several children... kind, courteous and cheerful worked well for me.

Same.

A Scout is Trustworthy is probably the most disregarded of the Law. Why bother having a law that one is supposed to live by, when in the very program you're running.... you're blatantly untrustworthy. The "values" of scouting are dead and buried when you have leaders like that. Might as well just let the whole organization burn to the ground in the name of social justice at that point.

Not discrediting your ideas, but why does the BSA have to do anything? With the available tools the internet provides us, I would think industrious and prepared scouts would be able to form up their own unofficial scout alum clubs on their campuses. Also, and I have no idea here, but isn't that what BSA's whole Alumni program push is for, to reconnect scouts who've moved on to adulthood? Or is the Alumni program just another FOS knock-off?

they can be active by just joining local units and working in leadership positions. Most of the scouter veterans here seem to have stuck with the program long after their kids moved on. Conversely, maybe between 18-30 they use that time to, apply the skills learned in scouts to the world outside of scouts for a few years, find the right someone, get their adult lives in order, car, house, career, children, .. so they can rejoin scouting with those kids of theirs. Personally, I don't see the need to have any program to keep "the ideals of scouting" active in an adult's life. If an adult isn't keeping the ideals of scouting at the very heart of all they do in their adult lives, either consciously or subconsciously.... the scout program failed that man as a boy. People have to grow up sometime.

Whatever comes of this, it's blatantly clear BSA's social media outlets are pushing girls in scouting. Almost every photo used for an article feature mostly girls, or an even mix in them. That's not by accident.

Indeed, that was my point as well. The Y is a poor example to use unless your only point to make is "hey, they're still around!"

then the scouter was wrong on that point, but the YMCA is no longer dedicated to young men, and as such, with a focus on "family" it's nothing more than a glorified (and over priced) gym and pool club.

The Strenuous Life.

ok, but now 18-21 is no longer legally youth. So the purpose is already defeated. Conversely, the ACA defines youth as up to age 26 and we've already acknowledged and accepted the age of maturity is now in one's 30's. I could easily see the BSA shifting their alignment to meet this modern family need. Again, the focus here is "modern". We need to accept that times change and 18 years old just isn't the cut off for youth anymore. 37 year old boy scouts seems like a good plan to increase membership and revenue.

a scouter used that as an example to me as to why this is the right move. that there used to be a Young mens and a young women's CA and now theres just a combined YMCA. My thought is, the YMCA is just a glorified gym now. They actually used to have a mission statement and were dedicated to the development of young men, and young women. So if that's the goal here, to change BSA into a glorified camping program, great! otherwise, this argument in defense of co-ed scouting is comparing apples and dump trucks.

now, at least on the street, if you pick up a wallet or purse, you get arrested via abandon wallet sting operations. better to forget doing your good turn.

co-ed simply because they didn't want to bother policing it. They state themselves that it was designed for men. That's irrelevant to my point, which was how long until the BSA removes age discrimination and opens the program to all ages to serve the modern family. But you knew that.

for the most part, that sounds about right. :/ I think instant gratification is a big one in that mix, and the BSA is catering to that problem year in and year out unfortunately.

from the strenuous life post, what is the over/under on how long until the BSA, in the interest of raising membership numbers and funds, opens up Eagle Scout to everyone and no longer discriminating against age. I'd wager it's been discussed already and wouldn't be entirely off the table if this gains any kind of traction. I can't think of a better way to serve today's family than allowing mom and dad, uncle jim, grandma tilly and aunt beth the ability to journey on the trail to eagle along with petey and sally.

[deleted to keep from being I&P]

of all things things you listed... the only thing uniquely "BSA" is Eagle. Everything else can be found in other groups in some form or another. Being a group that was dedicated to a single-gender environment where those things could be learned and applied was what made it unique.

i dont know, but im curious to know that as well.

tunnel vision makes you do foolish things when you're focused on fixing a singular problem without broadening your scope. Never happen? I've heard "never happen" too many times in my life, only to watch that very thing happen. never happen doesn't exist.

If this goes through... I see this playing out as such: new resources, materials get dedicated to facilitating this. you see a brief influx of girls join (but no where near a 100% increase of heads joining as some believe). you see a drop off of families who wish boy and cub scouts to stay single gender girls quit after a while and numbers drop bsa sees bottom line numbers of girls drop, changes program in effort to stem girl departure (ie, become more like girl scouts/reduce camping/hiking/service requirements) more people leave genie is out of bottle, so they can't go boy only again for fear of outrage/outcasting the small % of girls still left in numbers continue to dwindle bsa doa in 10-15 years. Theyve already made earning Eagle far easier than ever before in an attempt to prop up numbers for recruitment. They will continue to modify/chip/change the program till it's no longer recognizable and it'll be far to late to save it. anyway, thats my humble opinion. maybe im proven wrong. we shall see I guess.

technically, the 1st Amendment merely restricts Congress from making any laws that prohibits the exercise of free speech. POTUS blocking someone on a private service (twitter) isn't a constitutional violation (which you ironically state shortly after you claim constitutional violations via twitter), especially since the individual can simply create a new, free account and resume communications. If this is your argument, then the White House restricting anyone from entering, at any time is a constitutional violation... which is simply not true. BSA blocking who or what is said is very much censorship. It's simply not 1st Amendment violating censorship in the constitutional sense of the word.

so true. so sadly true.

Same. at the end of the day, the boys will lose out, when they need a place more than ever. I keep coming back to this BP quote: "There are thousands of boys being wasted daily to our country through being left to become characterless, and, therefore, useless wasters, a misery to themselves and an eyesore and a danger to the nation. They could be saved if only the right surroundings or environment were given to them at the receptive time of their lives." being a boy is under attack like never before in our society and this is one more blow to their character development.

So I just got back from vacation, did BSA officially make Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts co-ed? or did some new news come out over the last 2 weeks that make it seem like it will happen any day now?

this.