Brownie/Jr Girl Scout Troops and Cub Scout Packs

[Cheerful Eagle]

There is an active thread in the Cub Scout Forum (Girls in Cub Scouts) that has been very interesting. I am posting my last contribution here, as I'd like as much input on the topic as I can get! Please put your "Thinking Day" cap on, and contribute to the conversation!

[posted in Forums:cub scouting:girls in cub scouts]

Thank you, Den3702 for starting this thread.

 

And, thank you to all the scouters who have responded; your feedback truly is a gift.

 

On the one hand, we dont want to make the girls second class cub scouts. Much of your feedback is a challenge not to shirk my responsibility as a Girl Scout Leader, and it is well taken. As we all know, developing a youth led troop sounds easier than it actually is. As my girls are maturing, I need to constantly be willing to step up to the challenge of handing them the reins and enabling them to lead. In fact, the differences between girls and boys developmentally at this stage I think would increase the difficulties of running such a unit. I have no interest in trying to get them to pull in the same yoke, as it were.

 

On the other hand, girls with serious interest in outdoor skills, science and technology, are often in the minority in their troop. The Junior program is loaded on the social sciences and light on the natural sciences. So it can be difficult to steer a troop in the direction of outdoor adventure. In addition, whether sanctioned by National or not, many men feel unwelcome, even strongly discouraged from being involved in their daughters troop. Family involvement is not a value stressed in leadership training, nor is it facilitated by traditional GS troop structure. This makes it difficult to attract scouts whose Mom may not be interested in camping, but Dad would really like to help out. I suppose this is where I have the most dissonance with GS culture/mission: I do not believe that girls need to be hothoused in order to grow to their full potential. Also, interaction between troops (usually around 8-15 girls) is not facilitated, so theres little cross-pollination between leaders or interaction between girls in different program levels.

 

As for girls being bored by the pack meeting. Funny, theyre already there with their brothers. Everybody gets to play. But they do wish their brothers and Moms and Dads could see them get their advancement awards and recognition patches, too.