scoutldr Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/20/us/girl-scouts-debate-their-place-in-a-changing-world.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpHeadline&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st0ut717 Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 After reading the article and the reference data of more than smores report it looks like girl scouts is realizing that scouting without the outing is failing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeCastor Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Yes, I think GSUSA is realizing this, @st0ut717. And as much as I like the idea of incorporating STEM into the BSA, my youngest Scouts are just not that into camping or being outdoors. Just this weekend I took TWO Scouts to a camporee, the PL and his APL. He couldn't talk the rest of his patrol into going...At the annual planning meeting in August, the PLs game me their list of activities for the year and I'd guess 1/3 where camping/outdoors events. I asked them to include more outing but they want to do STEM merit badges indoors...Makes me so frustrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st0ut717 Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 1 had 6 scouts at camporee. :But why cant youo incorporate the STEM into camping they are not exclusive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutldr Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 Camping involves heat, sweat, bugs and dirt. Not many of today's youth nor their parents are interested in being uncomfortable. And I would remind LeCastor's troop that Merit Badges are supposed to be an individual effort (with a buddy), not spoon fed at troop meetings by the parents.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeCastor Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 @st0ut717, the camporee in question was STEM-based, actually, and was a great success! I loved it and I know most of the Scouts there loved it, too. @scoutldr, LeCastor's Troop does know how merit badges work. That's why their Scoutmaster asked them to revise their activities and make an extra effort. As for the weather, it was cold this weekend. I don't want to hijack the thread so let's bring it back to GSUSA....From what I heard previously, there was little outdoors activities in Girl Scouts. So this article was enlightening to me in that regard. I hope that GSUSA can also incorporate STEM with the outdoors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwazse Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 It starts with the moms. They need to believe that it's good for their girls if they pick up the outdoor skills that their baby boomer moms neglected to teach them. Mrs. Q believed that our daughter was right to be bored with her brownie troop learning homemaking, that time with dad in the wild lands was a good thing, that forgoing some school dances was not antisocial. Every depression era campfire girl and girl scout I've talked to said "Of course." It was a darn shame that the one Troop with any sort of outdoor "roughing it" attitude had full membership. Because the GS do hone those leadership skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st0ut717 Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 My daughter is a jounior and loves the outdoor part of G S. Not as much as her brother and the crazy Boy Scouts and would prefer a cabin in the woods vs a tent. But even at 9 she gets why that doing a sleep over at a museum isn't camping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st0ut717 Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Hopefully with these new outdoor badges the moms won't have a choice. GS to moms. Get your girls inthe wild asap 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadenP Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Girl Scouts were never really into the outdoor skills like the BSA was. The GSA is in trouble because of a lack of direction from the National and council leadership. The BSA with STEM is trying to replace the outdoor emphasis of the BSA to attract more of the ever growing pool of sedentary boys and adults who would rather sit on their butts then go backpacking or kayaking, and that is why the BSA is and will continue to lose members at an ever increasing rate. As the saying goes, "It's time to get back to the Basics". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwazse Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 ... The BSA with STEM is trying to replace the outdoor emphasis of the BSA to attract more of the ever growing pool of sedentary boys and adults who would rather sit on their butts then go backpacking or kayaking' date=' ... [/quote'] That's real noble of you BP, thinking that BSA's just in it for the boys. Make no mistake, there's grant money in it for whoever cranks out the best STEM program ... be it in outdoor education or through connecting our youth with tech math/sci business. Fact is, the BSA's requirements already meshed tightly with science education, and at every level, its members are inspired to see themselves as leaders in the sciences. The GSUSA on the other hand, well hopefully the image I'm posting (from a local science center) will make my point ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadenP Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Qwasze You make my point. Science in scouting was more directly related to what they would find in the outdoor environment than in a school lab. Now we have merit badges for video games, building robot cars, playing chess, and other such nonsense, a perfect haven for those overweight sedentary boys who are afraid of the outdoors and getting a boo- boo. That is why the numbers will continue to drop in numbers, until National realizes there is a real need to go back to the original basics that made scouting popular with most boys instead of the couch potato's it now is catering to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Science with a Sparkle for the gals? That's got to be the most sexist thing I've seen in a long time. Chemistry, engineering, robotics for the boys, sparkle for the gals? Somebody would scream to high heaven if it was Chemistry, engineering, robotics for the gals and sparkle for the boys. Doesn't anyone proof read these things anymore? Stosh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st0ut717 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Qwasze You make my point. Science in scouting was more directly related to what they would find in the outdoor environment than in a school lab. Now we have merit badges for video games' date=' building robot cars, playing chess, and other such nonsense, a perfect haven for those overweight sedentary boys who are afraid of the outdoors and getting a boo- boo. That is why the numbers will continue to drop in numbers, until National realizes there is a real need to go back to the original basics that made scouting popular with most boys instead of the couch potato's it now is catering to.[/quote'] Science has always been a part of scouting!! BP how are robots not outdoors? Chess is a skill that teaches strategy and critical thinking. An SPL can learn a GREAT deal about resource management from a good game of chess. you say STEM as nonsence and here you are clattering away at a keyboard leveraging the internet to complain. Make sure the boys in your troop have no understanding of how information travels because that is a waste of time. Ohhh yeah try to get a ROTC scholarship with an Eagle rank and no understanding of STEM. let see how that goes for your troop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st0ut717 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Science with a Sparkle for the gals? That's got to be the most sexist thing I've seen in a long time. Chemistry, engineering, robotics for the boys, sparkle for the gals? Somebody would scream to high heaven if it was Chemistry, engineering, robotics for the gals and sparkle for the boys. Doesn't anyone proof read these things anymore? Stosh totally agree but the girl scouts use this a marketing to girls. this age group brownie - junior. Girl scout Digital Arts / Science and technology badges: Brownie - Computer expert / Home scientist Junior - Entertainment Technology / digital photography Cadette - digital movie maker / science of happiness Senior - science of style / website designer science of style is at least real science Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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