Thoughts on Studio2b, Girl Scouts Org.

[CMinor]

I'm a gung-ho ex-Girl Scout and Scouting

mom looking to get back into Girl Scouts

after 4 years as a Cub Scout leader. Unfortunately, I now don't have any Girl Scouts to get back into as my Brownie's troop (as well as its Junior affiliate) has just jumped ship en masse and gone over to a splinter organization. The culprit (or last straw?) was apparently

the policy changes that accompany the new

older Junior/Cadette/Senior program, Studio2b. The main complaint is that the program effectively abolishes the practice of working to earn awards. Others object to the topics (c'mon-a dating interest project?)and the glitzy "Seventeen magazine-y" resources.

My Senior Scout has declared the whole enterprise "stupid," along with the rest of her troop, fortunately; her leaders refuse to work with it.

 

Why, you may ask, are the younger girls bailing now when this doesn't affect them?

Well, there's always the trickle-down effect, for one thing. Moreover, in addition to complaints about Studio2b I have been picking up (for some time now, in fact) an increasing frustration with GSA's brass, their attitudes, policies, political correctness, and apparent lack of respect for the views of a large portion of their membership and volunteers. I've periodically had encounters with these myself, though I'll spare you the litany at this time. I'm just about fed up.

 

Studio2b was dreamed up (presumably after big bucks were spent on) a marketing research project in which focus groups of girls who were not Girl Scouts were asked what it would take to get them into Girl Scouting. If anybody consulted girls in the organization, or their parents, or their leaders, it wasn't stated in anything I've read, but it can't have been on a very large scale.

It certainly wasn't trumpeted from the rooftops.

 

I've decided to try to re-form the Brownie troop and keep it going at least one more year, but I'm also feeling like I'm performing a huge favor to a bunch of ungrateful, undeserving jerks (the GSA national and council brass, not the Brownies) who didn't respect us foot soldiers out here in the trenches enough to consult with us before gutting the program. I'm not entirely certain I won't end up jumping ship too (if I can't get this troop going again it will be a likelihood) though it's a heartbreaking thought. Even if I stick around, I figure it's only a matter of time before National comes up with some bit of policy that puts me up against some moral wall. I don't want to leave the Girl Scouts, but I feel like the Girl Scout organization is leaving the Girl Scouts and me.

 

I'd be interested to hear more views on this subject provided you spare me the standard Council-rep assurances about how much we'll love things when we get used to them, and how numbers fluctuate and things will pick up again. I've already heard 'em, and the exodus, almost in its entirety, of the largest Group in this Council, should tell you something is VERY wrong.

 

 

[gsmom]

Hi CMinor,

 

I don't know where your council got this information, but they are seriously misinformed. Studio 2b is IN ADDITION TO and does NOT REPLACE the GS program currently in place. You can choose to ignore Studio 2b altogether if that is what your girls want.

 

I have mixed feelings about Studio 2B. Some of it looks interesting, like the stuff about careers. Some of it looks so far afield from Girl Scouts you wonder why it was included. As long as it is only an option, which the girls can accept or reject, I'm not too worried.

 

I've been a Brownie leader for 1 year now overseas. My girls bridge to Juniors this year. Studio 2b is not even close to being on their radar, in fact they are excited about being able to do badges for activities they have been involved in. I really don't see this disappearing any time soon.

 

gsmom

[CMinor]

Hi, thanks for the response. We Scouted at an overseas post for several years ourselves--in some ways it's a different world!

 

I realize that Studio2b is optional, at this point, anyway. My personal suspicion is that there are some at the higher levels who would like to see it and perhaps other equally nutsy innovations as the standard. Problem is, they'd have to drag the rest of us along with them, and I just don't see many of your average Girl Scouters (certainly not in this area) going along with them.

 

What perturbs me is the tendency at the upper levels to make decisions like this one seemingly without much thought to the people who have to live with them. This, unfortunately, is commonplace. In the case of my daughter's Group, Studio2b may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Although we at the troop level generally run things according to our lights regardless of what's going on upstairs, the constant trickle of the offensive, the ridiculous, and the cowardly from that direction gets to be an irritant. I've been told, for example, that we shouldn't sing "Father Abraham" because it might be offensive to those with neurological conditions (If anyone out there is aware of a neurological condition that resembles the callisthenics that accompany "Father Abraham," please let me know!) A friend's daughter won an award for her Earth Day poster, but before it could be put on display she was informed that her reference to "God's World" needed to be altered. Some Christians I know feel that the much-touted pluralism embraced by Girl Scouts applies to anyone but Christians. And then we can go from the absurd and annoying to the downright dangerous institutionalized (reference the previous series of postings titled "dangerous counselors.")

 

They haven't adopted a policy yet of micromanaging troop meetings, so I'd like to hang in there if only to hold out against the organization's becoming some loony leftist monolith. Still, it's rattling when you see a good half-dozen leaders you know to be competent, dedicated and dependable (several, like myself, were Girl Scouts growning up)declare, "that's enough" and leave. Plus, it creates a problem for my daughter, who will have to adjust to a completely new group if we stay. Also for me, since I'm going to have to start from scratch.

 

Years ago, when the Girl Scout pin was changed, they actually went out into units and took shows of hands (albeit without much discussion and debate beforehand.) Though the new "silhouette" model won the day (being popular with the girls)there must have been a lot of complaints from old fogies (like yours truly-- at 18)who favored the "eagle" pin and what it stood for, because it has been retained. What I don't see is why they can't seem to do as much when they start fooling with the program. The leaders and girls in Girl Scouting could teach them a thing or two about why girls stay and why they leave--and the answers to those questions are a little more complex than what the ad men and focus groups have come up with.

Thanx for the ear.

[SagerScout]

What splinter organization did they join? what does it have that GS doesn't?

 

My girls like the 2B bracelet but haven't looked at what they need to do to earn charms at all.

 

julia

[ScoutNut]

It sounds like your council has some unique ways of doing things, but having entire troops quit because of S2B is rather a radical response. You can't let yourself, or the program you give the girls, be bogged down with the politics.

 

If you are singing "Father Abraham" in a troop meeting and the girls all agree on the song then there is no problem. If it is for a wider council/SU function and many different types of girls (& their parents) will be there, then I can kind of see where they are comming from, even if I personally do not agree. The addage "don't sweat the small stuff" applies here. Remember, you are there for the girls, not the politics.

 

I think that it is too early to be leaving GSUSA because of S2B. Yes, they did research, with both GS and non-GS. I believe they concentrated on the non-GS segment because those are the girls they are trying to reach. No, I am not fond of the program and neither is my Senior troop. My daughter finds it insulting to Girl Scouts to encourage girls to join based on the premise that they can pretend that it is NOT Girl Scouts. The thing that you have to remember here is that S2B is NOT written in stone! It is NOT a done deal! It is still in the evaluation stage. The leaders and the girls still have a chance to have an impact on this program. If they do not get people buying or using the program materials they will re-think them. Not all councils are even implementing the program heavily. My council is one of the largest in the country and so far I have not seen a lot of change in what they are offering the older girls (which is actually VERY little!)

 

Scouting, both GSUSA and BSA, has it's problems and it's crazies, but IMHO it is still the best program around!

 

[gsmom]

What is "Father Abraham"? Why is it controversial?

[CMinor]

Ooookaayyy...

To SagerScout:

From what I'm told, you can purchase charms after completing the book, but they're apparently pretty casual about it so you could theoretically get them whether or not you did anything. This has been defended to me in that in some troops, it already happens. The splinter group is

American Heritage Girls, which as I understand it was founded after a big schism in an Ohio council several years ago and promotes a "back-to-basics" approach and Judeo-Christian principles (although I think it is non-sectarian.)

To ScoutNut:

No, I'm afraid we're not very unique. Maybe a bit on the conservative side. But, as I said, Studio2b was just the last in a series of irritants that ran from the niggling to the serious.

And I know it's not mandatory. However, if I read my Leader magazine right, the old program will continue until this one is phased in. What alternatives will we have in five years? I think we need to start asking that now. Especially those of us with girls young enough that it will be an issue.

 

Perhaps I should clarify that I mentioned the "Father Abraham" thing as perhaps the most ridiculous example of political correctness I have experienced in Girl Scouting (by the way, it was a trainer that warned me off it.)

I personally am hard pressed to think of an occasion in which it might be considered offensive as it is utterly meaningless. I don't see handicapped girls getting into a sweat about it; they'd probably have fun doing the silly movements. I can't imagine anyone drawing a serious analogy between Father Abraham's sons and someone with, say, cerebral palsy.

 

To gsmom:

Since you asked...

 

Father Abraham had many sons,

Many sons had Father Abraham.

They never laughed.

They never cried.

All they did was go like this.

(Move left arm as if making and

releasing a muscle.)

(Repeat verse, do same with right arm while continuing with left arm.)

(Repeat verse, move left leg. Keep moving arms.)

(Repeat verse, move right leg. keep moving other limbs--alternate legs so you don't fall over.)

(Repeat verse, nod head while moving all limbs.)

Some versions add a wiggle and a jiggle or other stuff, to be continued until everyone is tired of the song. For more details on the contoversy, please refer to my second post and comments to ScoutNut. Actually I can think of a number of songs modeled on the

same theme commonly used in Girl Scouts. I suppose the one you have

to sing with your tongue hanging out is offensive to people with speech impediments.

 

[KoreaScouter]

I, too, thought the S2B was odd when I looked at the materials, but since my daughter's a Junior with a ways to go, it wasn't on my scope.

 

Call me strange, but I don't see a GS hidden agenda or anything. I'm as involved as I can be with my daughter without being a registered GS leader. While many of their policies are different, I don't see them as inferior. Cumbersome, sure; confusing, you bet; inefficient, sometimes. But, I do like the way the program reinforces self image, esteem, positive values, and so on. Interwoven with a solid family and religious background, I think it's a good thing.

 

My daughter's almost finished with her Bronze Award project, and I think it's neat that they have opportunities for that kind of recognition at the Juniro, Cadet, and Senior levels...

 

KS

[CMinor]

Conspiracy theories not being in my line, I wouldn't call it a hidden agenda. If I believed that I'd have voted with my feet a while ago.

 

I do feel that respect for the volunteer is lacking at the management levels, and that a world view that prizes political correctness over good sense and a false pluralism over genuine respect for spirituality seems to be commonplace at those levels. Then again, maybe it's just fear of bad PR and lost funding if the wrong people get the idea we're not PC enough or secular enough.

 

I really did have a friend (not in my current counil) who was unsubtly pressured to allow an alteration of the slogan "Take Care of God's World" on her daughter's Earth Day poster before the council would display it. That's not pluralism, it's barring free religious expression. And this is from officers in an organization whose constitution expresses a belief in God, and that "the motivating force in Girl Scouting is a spiritual one." The organization is sound, it's some of the folks making the decisions that are out of touch.

 

My teenager's leader, on raising objections to the S2b program in a service unit meeting, had her remarks pooh-poohed and patronized to an infuriating degree. Oh, it was in the guise of compliments, of course: "If all leaders were like you, we wouldn't need this program,""You probably are already doing S2b in your troop without knowing it!" Nobody was interested in hearing a reasoned argument against the program, or offering one for it. The Girl Scout Constitution states, "we maintain that the strength of the Girl Scout movement rests in the voluntary leadership of its adult members..." Okay, so let's make use of that strength and consult the volunteers about what works in the program.

 

I care deeply about this organization. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here griping. I'd have left. And no, I'm not anti-change. What I am anti- is this tendency to twist in the wind, to go for the fad that looks good right now, to chase the short-term gain seemingly without much thought to the long-term sacrifice.

 

There is much of value in Girl Scouting that we will ultimately lose if we start to slack off. Honor, for instance. Service. Responsibility. Respect. Pride in Scouting. Not things that are high on your average preteen's behavioral gamut--but if we dispense with them in order to rope in a few more girls, will those girls really "grow strong?" Is it really "for every girl, everywhere," if girls have to check their religious faith at the door? I don't believe that's what Girl Scouting is about. Furthermore, I think it's about time the heirarchy (herarchy?) got the message.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AnneinMpls]

Just wanted to share my experiences so far with the Studio2B program.

 

(Let me preface this by saying that I'm a green-blooded long-time Gold Award Girl Scout active on 2 continents during parts of 4 decades....(there's a scary thought!!))

 

Currently, I'm my daughter's Brownie troop leader - we are a multi-age troop - meaning that I actively seek girls from 1st 2nd and 3rd grades so that they have all those great opportunities to learn from each other. Now I have 3 3rd graders ready to start Junior GSing and can't find a good troop to take them in - though I've been putting bugs in peoples' ears all year, so I'll be starting a Junior patrol for them - hoping it will grow into a full troop. (But that's a whole nother topic!)

 

My co-leader is a foster mom to a super-terrific 15 year old who we went ahead and registered with our troop so she can help out. Last week I asked her if she wanted to hop over to the GS store with me to look over some of the supplementary resources for Juniors, and at the same time she could look over the materials available for girls her age.

 

She *really liked* some of the Studio2B stuff - it was....neat to see that there was an appealing way for her to come onboard with scouting. She *also* really *really* liked the Interest Projects...so, we picked up the main Studio2B book and the IP book...(The senior handbook held no appeal at all - and...I kinda agree...it's been a long time since they've done a good job with the cadette and senior handbooks)

 

So, we now have one girl with no previous GSing who is overcoming a lot of the junk in her life (s'why she's a foster kid) who is connecting with GS resources that speak her language. For now she's soloing (peer relationships are difficult for her). So, after my initial feeling of "oh ick" I can see these materials just might have a place.

 

My biggest complaint is the glitzy perfect hair/makeup airbrushed look...I really miss American Girl magazine with its features of *real girls and young women* but I cant dismiss the resources as a whole.

 

Anne in Mpls