Activities that work

[LovetoCamp]

Taking my daughter camping this weekend!!! We have a new tent!(This message has been edited by Trail Pounder)

[OutdoorThinker]

OGE sounds like you have quite a crew. Have the girls always been in leadership positions in the council? How do the other crew members and crew adults in the council dealt with the girls in leadership positions? I know that I have had my uphill battles with the higher ups in council when I was beginning to emerge as a youth leader in my council.

 

As an inquiry and to see how things worked out, have you advisors had experience working with teenage girls prior to having your crews become coed (ie working with the Girl Scouts or having daughters of your own)? If not, how are things working with your girls? Perhaps those of you who do have females in your crew have some insight for those advisors who havent done a lot of dealing with female crew members.

 

We, the females of our crew, were the first interaction with teenage girls for all but one of our advisors since they themselves were teenage boys. After nearly four years of being a crew, they've gotten pretty good at interacting with us and have become very paternal. A+ to them.

[Campaholic]

Well, the girls in my crew have been in many of the leadership positions, which has always kind of been okay with the boys. Not necessarily a battle for possitions, but I feel that in general there really have not been any awkward times between the teenage girls and teenage guys even though none of us really knew each other before we joined. I know that I expected that there would be some bits of awkwardness before everyone started to get to know each other, but everyone is pretty much there for a common reason, and in our crew that is high adventure.

As for council wide leadership. Run with what works and if the ladies seem to be making it work in the crew, it seems as if the other crew members will more eagerly vote them in to positions on a higher level.

[OldGreyEagle]

Well, the two most active advisors are fathers of only child boys, so I think there may have been a culture shock when the crew started with almost a 50/50 split of males and females. And since we started with a mixed group out of the box, it was difficult. It may be a bit intimidating for a 15 year old boy to talk with, let alone express disagreement with a 19 year old woman. And while I may be wrong, I think the females may have structred the by laws to keep themsleves in power as well.

 

I do remember a couple of times the difference between the boy and girls were made quite clear. During one of the initial meetings a date was set for a campout, instantly calenders and date books came flying out of the girls purses to check that date, the boys just sat there and said OK we will go. Another time a potential activity was postponed because it was the weekend before finals and the girls said they had to study. Well, in my history with the troop I had never heard anything like that so all I could do is express my thought that if the girls were as prepared as the boys, and not wait till the last minute to study there wouldnt be a problem. Well those bandages just came off and the scars arent near as bad as the ones I have from the powerpuff sleeping bag comment.

 

All in all I think we have all learned, one member, a girl was almost afraid of the little boys as she put it, last summer she was scout craft director at our camp, as some one once said, the times they are a changing