Girl Scouts Suing the Boy Scouts

[dkurtenbach]

40 minutes ago, Eagle1993 said:

They want us to say “Scouts BSA”.  Where do you see BSA staying “We are Scouts....”? 

It is how to refer to individual members in the Scouts BSA program.  From page 10 of "Family Scouting Questions and Answers," the FAQ under "Scouts BSA Program Resources" on the BSA Family Scouting web page, https://www.scouting.org/familyscouting/  :

          Q: What will the members of the program be called?

          [A:] Just as today, they will be called Scouts. For example, “I’m in Scouts BSA, so I am a Scout.”

[Eagle1993]

I was wondering where they would define what to call members of Scouts BSA... thanks for the link.  I’ve only remembered seeing  references to the program name.   I expect if 5-10 years, perhaps 50 based upon our UK friends’ experience, scouts will clearly mean Scouts BSA and Girl Scouts will be GSUSA.      That is unless GSUSA changes to Girl Guides.  So, if a girl is in Scouts BSA she would say... I’m a scout.  If she is in Girl Scouts she would state I’m a Girl Scout.  Boys will probably either call themselves scouts or Boy Scouts.... either should work.  

Just had a thought.... I see a new take on Romeo and Juliette (see what I did there). Romeo is an Eagle Scout and Juliette is a Gold Scout.... you know the rest...”what’s in a name.”

I’m surprised how quickly my area is already switching over to saying Scouts BSA.   I hear it from parents (those with kids in BSA) who correct me when I say Boy Scouts.  

[an_old_DC]

36 minutes ago, Eagle1993 said:

I’m surprised how quickly my area is already switching over to saying Scouts BSA.   I hear it from parents (those with kids in BSA) who correct me when I say Boy Scouts.  

Well it hasn't happened yet.

I was at a Council event last night and said something about "Boy Scouts" and somebody snottily said "You mean Scouts BSA." So I replied "No, I mean Boy Scouts. On February 1, this will be Scouts BSA, but right now this is still Boy Scouts."

They weren't happy about it but admitted it is premature to call the program Scouts BSA.

[Treflienne]

2 hours ago, Eagle1993 said:

Just had a thought.... I see a new take on Romeo and Juliette (see what I did there). Romeo is an Eagle Scout and Juliette is a Gold Scout.... you know the rest...”what’s in a name.”

I don't quite get it.   A Juliette is Girl Scout who is not a member of a troop -- what you might call a lone scout.   But what is the connection between the name Romeo and being a boy scout?

[SSScout]

" "Twas in the restaurant where they first met.... Romeo and Juliette.  Twas where they first went into debt, for Rome owed, what Juli  et ! ""

[Eagle1993]

3 hours ago, an_old_DC said:

Well it hasn't happened yet.

I was at a Council event last night and said something about "Boy Scouts" and somebody snottily said "You mean Scouts BSA." So I replied "No, I mean Boy Scouts. On February 1, this will be Scouts BSA, but right now this is still Boy Scouts."

They weren't happy about it but admitted it is premature to call the program Scouts BSA.

Usually it is about cub scouts crossing over this spring... so in that case the parents are right (correcting me when I say Boy Scouts).  That said, I have also had the snarky response from a few like you mention. 

[Eagle1993]

1 hour ago, Treflienne said:

I don't quite get it.   A Juliette is Girl Scout who is not a member of a troop -- what you might call a lone scout.   But what is the connection between the name Romeo and being a boy scout?

So much discussion about the names got me thinking about the famous Romeo and Juliet line that fits this discussion .... “What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."  

That got me thinking that someone could rewrite Romeo and Juliet to be a tragic story of two lovers... one from the house of BSA and the other GSUSA.   I then switched Juliet to Juliette given the GSUSA reference.

[scoutldr]

Forgive me for injecting some trivia.  In my senior year of high school in 1971-72, I was blessed with Mrs. Comstock, an English Lit teacher who brought Shakespeare to life for us.  That famous line in Romeo and Juliet was actually a not-so-veiled dig at Will's arch rival to the Globe Theater across the Avon River, the Rose Theater...notorious in its time for the foul and fetid condition of its public "facilities" which one could smell wafting across the river when the wind was right.  

[hiker67]

GSUSA seems to have officially distanced itself from outdoorsmanship.

Quote: “Instead of focusing on past notions of ‘outdoorsmanship,’ ” the organization tries to help girls develop leadership skills in a way that suits them — for example learning to advocate for environmental protection, Girl Scouts Vice President Jennifer Allebach said in an email to The Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/recruitment-war-raises-questions-about-what-it-means-to-be-a-girl-or-a-boy/2018/12/08/c3cac538-f700-11e8-8d64-4e79db33382f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6942ba359a07

[walk in the woods]

12 hours ago, hiker67 said:

GSUSA seems to have officially distanced itself from outdoorsmanship.

Quote: “Instead of focusing on past notions of ‘outdoorsmanship,’ ” the organization tries to help girls develop leadership skills in a way that suits them — for example learning to advocate for environmental protection, Girl Scouts Vice President Jennifer Allebach said in an email to The Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/recruitment-war-raises-questions-about-what-it-means-to-be-a-girl-or-a-boy/2018/12/08/c3cac538-f700-11e8-8d64-4e79db33382f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6942ba359a07

Interesting that this was also in the article.  "The Council is working on recruiting more fathers and college students as volunteers in the hopes that they might be more motivated to lead girls on camping trips and teach them survival skills."

[dkurtenbach]

12 hours ago, hiker67 said:

GSUSA seems to have officially distanced itself from outdoorsmanship.

Quote: “Instead of focusing on past notions of ‘outdoorsmanship,’ ” the organization tries to help girls develop leadership skills in a way that suits them — for example learning to advocate for environmental protection, Girl Scouts Vice President Jennifer Allebach said in an email to The Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/recruitment-war-raises-questions-about-what-it-means-to-be-a-girl-or-a-boy/2018/12/08/c3cac538-f700-11e8-8d64-4e79db33382f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6942ba359a07

Interesting article.  It does sound like the national level leadership has given up on "past notions of 'outdoorsmanship,'" but that the question of outdoorsmanship in Girl Scouts is still a matter of internal hand-wringing at the local level.  The article also includes the following:

"Local Girl Scout leaders also complain that implicit in the Boy Scouts' recruitment promises of high outdoor adventure is the suggestion that their program lacks access to those activities.

"[Lidia Soto-Harmon, chief executive of the Girl Scouts Council of the Nations's Capital] points out that [her council], the largest council in the country, owns eight camping facilities in the area, spanning more than a thousand acres of land, where girls can practice archery, canoeing, kayaking, climbing and more.

"Yet the extent to which girls take advantage of all of those outdoor opportunities depends a lot on the troop, leaders admit."

Edited December 9, 2018 by dkurtenbach

[ParkMan]

34 minutes ago, dkurtenbach said:

Interesting article.  It does sound like the national level leadership has given up on "past notions of 'outdoorsmanship,'" but that the question of outdoorsmanship in Girl Scouts is still a matter of internal hand-wringing at the local level.  The article also includes the following:

"Local Girl Scout leaders also complain that implicit in the Boy Scouts' recruitment promises of high outdoor adventure is the suggestion that their program lacks access to those activities.

"[Lidia Soto-Harmon, chief executive of the Girl Scouts Council of the Nations's Capital] points out that [her council], the largest council in the country, owns eight camping facilities in the area, spanning more than a thousand acres of land, where girls can practice archery, canoeing, kayaking, climbing and more.

"Yet the extent to which girls take advantage of all of those outdoor opportunities depends a lot on the troop, leaders admit."

I was quite surprised to see that quote. 

I can definitely see the struggle here.  I do know that in our local GSUSA has several very good outdoor camps.  Some of our local Girl Scout troops are as outdoor focused as Boy Scout troops. 

My daughters both started attending an outdoor focused week long away summer camp before my son did.  In fact, I think my daughters have continue along in Scouting longer than my son because the have both had very good summer camp experiences.

 

[Eagle94-A1]

2 hours ago, walk in the woods said:

Interesting that this was also in the article.  "The Council is working on recruiting more fathers and college students as volunteers in the hopes that they might be more motivated to lead girls on camping trips and teach them survival skills."

I wonder if the fathers will continue to be treated as second class leaders like they are today? I've heard the stories of how friends with daughters have been treated by GSUSA, and do not like it one bit. If ladies in the BSA were treated like my friends were, there would be lawsuits.

[Jameson76]

3 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

I wonder if the fathers will continue to be treated as second class leaders like they are today? I've heard the stories of how friends with daughters have been treated by GSUSA, and do not like it one bit. If ladies in the BSA were treated like my friends were, there would be lawsuits.

I'm gonna bet nope

One of our ASM's had a daughter in GS.  She was about 12 or 13 at the time, he was getting her at an event and to say he was not welcomed would be an understatement.  Now he is an Eagle Scout from back in the day, long term leader, nicest guy, just there to get his kid and say hey.  Other leaders / dads with daughters have also said they were not welcome at all at GSUSA functions.  God forbid they try to camp with them

[ParkMan]

I like the GSUSA, but I've never understood this.  In the BSA we bend over backwards to have female leaders.  

Yet, in my daughter's troop - all women.  Never even once have they even suggested that fathers could help.  It's really a shame that they overlook the fathers who would love to help out.