New girls in Scouting

[Thunderbird]

11 hours ago, Treflienne said:

I see that there is a certain amount of consolidation, especially for kids who are close enough in age to be in cubs at the same time.  

 The kids will occasionally do things together:  both dens at the same pack meetings and whole-pack activities,  rather than the boy cub den doing pack-wide activities with the pack and the girl Brownie Troop doing service-unit-wide activites with the girl scout service unit.

The adults only need to learn one set of program materials,  one set of safety standards, do  only need one registration,  and one background check,  and somewhat overlapping trainings,  to help with more than one kid.   

(By the way, the camp director of our local Girl Scout camp,  who was a trainer of archery instructors (USA Archery),  used to complain that she could not help her sons' boy scout troop with archery unless she did more training, because she had not completed the BSA archery training.)

 

USA Archery Level 1 instructor level training is all you need (minimum) in order to be an Archery merit badge counselor:

"Archery. Archery activities must be supervised by a BSA National Camping School–trained shooting sports director or USA Archery or National Field Archery Association instructor, or by someone who has been trained by one of the three; or alternatively, the activities may be supervised by someone with at least Level 1 training in the operation of an archery range from USA Archery, NFAA, or an equivalent."

 

 

[Treflienne]

21 hours ago, Tired_Eagle_Feathers said:

I've been reading up on this "Family Scouting" stuff.

 

20 hours ago, Tired_Eagle_Feathers said:

as a Girl Scout Troop they were very gung-ho about getting certified trained people since my daughter started around kindergarten and they do way more stuff than Cub Scouts even dream about. 

 

12 hours ago, Tired_Eagle_Feathers said:

She is very hard core.  The funny thing is (well, not so funny) that we do more activities when we go on Girl Scout trips (my son and myself also) than when we go on most Cub Scout activities.

Sounds to me like you are already doing "Family Scouting" -- just unofficially in a GSUSA context.

It also sounds like both the girls and the boy are having a good experience on these trips.   Does this mean that there is hope that some units within BSA might make a good thing out of "Family Scouting"?

[Eagle94-A1]

11 hours ago, Chadamus said:

Slight correction for those just tuning in. 😉

With all due respect @Chadamus, I stated BSA is going coed and I stand by that statement. What else do you call a boys den and a girls den that have "joint meetings" but a coed den? What else are "Linked Troops" that share everything: committee, equipment, meeting times and locations, activities,, camp outs, and assistant Scoutmasters, but a coed troop?

Officially BSA may not be fully coed, but in reality Cub Scouts is, and Scouts BSA will be.

[Eagledad]

1 hour ago, Treflienne said:

Sounds to me like you are already doing "Family Scouting" -- just unofficially in a GSUSA context.

It also sounds like both the girls and the boy are having a good experience on these trips.   Does this mean that there is hope that some units within BSA might make a good thing out of "Family Scouting"?

Is that a camels nose I just tripped over?

Barry

[Tired_Eagle_Feathers]

Yes, by one child going to a GS troop and another going to a CS troop we are basically doing what BSA considers "Family Scouting" right now, I suppose.

But, I am also a registered Girl Scout, as is, I think, my son.  Evidently it's up to the leader whether or not males can come on outings - they simply have to sign up for the additional insurance.  I taught lashing at the last campout I went to.  It was amazing - they did kayaking, canoeing, archery, fire building, cooking, and more, and they camp out both Friday and Saturday nights.

Like I said, I'm not sure what advantage the BSA idea of "Family Scouting" provides over just going to your local GS troop, unless, of course, your local GS troop is a dud.

I suspect, as others have said, that this is just a stepping stone to full-blown co-ed Scouting.  I'm OK with that.  As an Eagle Scout, I liked the way it was when I came up through Scouting.  I think there is merit in having a boys-only environment.  When you through girls into the mix, now you've inevitably got this "I've got to be "cool"" vibe going on. 

But, this is the world we live in.  We have now finally entered into an era where girls and women are expected and expecting, rightfully so, to be fully equal with boys and men on whatever terms they can muster.  I want my son and my daughter to have a full outdoors and woodcraft Scouting experience just like I had.  While I think there is merit and value to the boys-only environment, there is also merit and value to the co-ed environment.  Boys and girls can learn how to interact with each other in the upstanding social environment that Scouting provides.

It does seem rather silly, and inconvenient to me for BSA to run separate but equal boy and girl troops.  Even if they are "linked" they are still equally inconvenient to participate in if you have both a boy and girl child.  To me at this point we may as well simply adopt "Family Scouting" to simply mean the actual, entire family.  I think that is inevitable.  Of course, I also think it's inevitable that we will see "Girl sexually assaulted by fellow Scouts on camping trip", or "Boy and girl caught in same tent on Scout campout", at some point thereafter, also.  Brave new world.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Tired_Eagle_Feathers

[Treflienne]

8 minutes ago, Tired_Eagle_Feathers said:

But, I am also a registered Girl Scout, as is, I think, my son.  Evidently it's up to the leader whether or not males can come on outings - they simply have to sign up for the additional insurance.

Your son is not a registered girl scout if he is under age 18.   (The only boys who are allowed to register are those who call themselves girls!)

But I believe it is possible (though I never learned how to do it) to sign up for extra insurance for non-registered participants.

[Tired_Eagle_Feathers]

Just talked to my wife.  Yes, I am a Girl Scout, but our son is not.  But, he can (and does) go if the Troop Leader fills out the paperwork.

[packsaddle]

2 hours ago, Tired_Eagle_Feathers said:

Just talked to my wife.  Yes, I am a Girl Scout, but our son is not.  But, he can (and does) go if the Troop Leader fills out the paperwork.

Nevermind, I just figured it out.

Edited October 18, 2018 by packsaddle

[Cambridgeskip]

8 hours ago, Tired_Eagle_Feathers said:

Just talked to my wife.  Yes, I am a Girl Scout, but our son is not.  But, he can (and does) go if the Troop Leader fills out the paperwork.

For some reason reading this exchange I've found myself humming a certain Monty Python song. All together now "I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok...."

[LVAllen]

9 hours ago, Cambridgeskip said:

For some reason reading this exchange I've found myself humming a certain Monty Python song. All together now "I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok...."

I love being a Boy Scout, there's nothing I'd rather be- 

But if I wasn't a Boy Scout - A Girl Scout I would be!

Ding-dong, Hi there! Wanna buy some cookies?

[Eagle94-A1]

7 minutes ago, LVAllen said:

I love being a Boy Scout, there's nothing I'd rather be- 

But if I wasn't a Boy Scout - A Girl Scout I would be!

Ding-dong, Hi there! Wanna buy some cookies?

I always sang  " Try a cookie,. buy a cookie get one for free."

[Pale Horse]

On 10/14/2018 at 8:13 AM, Eagle94-A1 said:

Considering that none of the ceremonies at NOAC had  Arrowman in Native American regalia...

I didn't attend, but I've seen many videos of this year's event with Arrowmen in regalia.

https://www.faceclips.net/video/y-2lWd5mUY8/top-10-grass.html

From my understanding, OA will continue to use regalia, just not for audiences external to OA.

[Pale Horse]

On 10/16/2018 at 12:13 PM, ianwilkins said:

I believe you. But it doesn't matter really. I just treat all my Explorer Scouts as individuals, and I seem to get by with that, so the more mature get treated in a more mature way, and those that haven't matured yet don't. I treat the exuberant ones different to the quiet ones, etc etc. Much as I assume most of you do with your boys at the moment.

Novel concept.  If I'm understanding this correctly, each Scout is an individual and should be treated as such?  I like it!

[Setonfan]

I did attend NOAC, and saw a lot of regalia on display, as well as dance competitions, ceremonies, etc.  Very visible.

[Ranman328]

So my wife and I are at the Scout Store Friday buying supplies for our Court of Honor on Tuesday and at the register there is this lady buying a pile of girl Cub Scout uniform items to include leggings.  She is giving this poor kid behind the counter who couldn't be more than 18 or 19 years old a hard time about how it is so unfair that there has to be a female leader at all events if there are any girls in the Pack.  She wants this kid to explain to her why this is fair.  She goes on to tell him that she is going to file a discrimination lawsuit against BSA and that she already has her letter ready.  I look at my wife and she is doing all she can to bite her lip and not go off on this lady.  First off, this lady appears to be new to scouting as she is buying all new uniforms for girls and she is already complaining and threatening lawsuits.  If you are already this turned off by the BSA rules, why are you joining?  I can see now that is all we are going to see is a bunch of lawsuits complaining of discrimination and wanting the rules and requirements changed to suit girls.  Sad times in BSA