Girls in Scouts BSA in the News (and in recruiting numbers)...

[Setonfan]

This is really puzzling.  I’ve seen a lot of girl troops at events the last two months and have only seen very positive welcoming attitudes.  I talked at length to a troop who now has over 40 girls and has seen the linked boy troop also increase in membership.  50+ all new kids getting Scouting.  They really don’t seem confused or unclear about the program, they have handbooks, they don’t seem to be desperately needing things from “National”.  

[swilliams]

Well, this thread has put a bit of a damper on my feelings about having posted a link to a girls' troop taking 2nd place at Klondike. 

I'm hoping it was a true win.  I do know the older scouts were practicing for the event even before the troop was fully formed.  I think they were worried about having a poor showing, and that can be quite a motivator.  They were competing in the 11-13 year old group, so it's not like they were up against senior scouts and still came away with a second-place win.

I see how there is certainly a lot of hype right now, and see how it can be viewed in a slightly negative light, but it should also be seen as the positive tool that it is for creating interest for girls who may be on the fence about joining.  One can only guess that this will all have died down in another year.

[qwazse]

5 hours ago, swilliams said:

Well, this thread has put a bit of a damper on my feelings about having posted a link to a girls' troop taking 2nd place at Klondike. ...

Don't let adults' behavior steal your joy.

If you've personally met girls who have given their all, cherish those smiles. That's your paycheck.

If you've seen the folks running the event be fair and open in their judging of patrols, now you know to send them a thank-you. They've set themselves apart from other adults who worry about image over substance.

But at least now you can be on the look-out for adults who feed into hype rather than actually motivate youth to excel.

[MikeS72]

On 3/29/2019 at 12:05 PM, AltadenaCraig said:

Bottom Line:  Has anyone seen "Best Practices" for Camporees published by any Area, or National?  Seems like all of us on this thread, including me, are winging it. 

A quick google search brought this camporee guide:

https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/Outdoor Program/pdf/430-001.pdf

[AltadenaCraig]

1 hour ago, MikeS72 said:

A quick google search brought this camporee guide:

https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/Outdoor Program/pdf/430-001.pdf

Very impressive, @MikeS72; thanks!  I've googled dozens of Camporee Guides, but they've all been District- or Council-produced documents and only underscore the disparity among programs.  Your link is to an apparently official BSA guide - dated 2009 so relatively recent. For me the most valuable blurb is "The camporee involves the type of equipment that can be carried in a pack by [scouts] and can be set up entirely by [scouts], allowing them to be completely self-sufficient for a self-reliant experience over a period of two or three days."

Our district's Camporees have featured nothing like that, so this guide is valuable on that basis, alone.  I'm less affected, however, with the document's program details - particularly types of competition and methods of scoring - on which the document only says "Camporee programs may include contests and demonstrations of outdoor Scouting skills as well as campfires, games, and field events."  For that I'll keep trying, but this is very helpful.  Thanks again.

[mrkstvns]

Yet another feature news article about girls joining BSA, this time in the Houston TX area:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Boy-Scouts-new-recruits-234-Houston-area-girls-13683424.php

[Treflienne]

https://sippican.theweektoday.com/article/rochester-girl-scouts-try-boy-scout-ranks/40541

has a great picture of Girl Scouts, wearing Girl Scout uniforms, holding their newly acquired Scouts BSA handbooks for girls.

If I understand it correctly (and the article is a little confusing) a whole troop of girl scouts has joined the boy scouts.  They plan to finish up their GSUSA gold awards, and also work on Boy Scout ranks.

 

 

Edited April 9, 2019 by John-in-KC
Activating hyperlink

[John-in-KC]

I hope someone (commissioner, DE) tells them they do have a time extension front loaded by National. 

Edited April 9, 2019 by John-in-KC

[Eagle1993]

7 hours ago, Treflienne said:

https://sippican.theweektoday.com/article/rochester-girl-scouts-try-boy-scout-ranks/40541

has a great picture of Girl Scouts, wearing Girl Scout uniforms, holding their newly acquired Scouts BSA handbooks for girls.

If I understand it correctly (and the article is a little confusing) a whole troop of girl scouts has joined the boy scouts.  They plan to finish up their GSUSA gold awards, and also work on Boy Scout ranks.

 

 

Add this one to the lawsuit.  Their Scoutmaster should know better.  

[qwazse]

6 hours ago, John-in-KC said:

I hope someone (commissioner, DE) tells them they do have a time extension front loaded by National. 

If it's one thing GS know how to do, it's parse time reqs.k

50 minutes ago, Eagle1993 said:

Add this one to the lawsuit.  Their Scoutmaster should know better.  

I don't think this is a marketing piece, the brands aren't conflated, so it's fair use. It's a century late for GS/USA to castigate its troops for using BSA materials.

The more interesting thing about this group of Rochester girls: they all seem old enough to be venturers, but they opted for Scouts BSA instead.

Edited April 9, 2019 by qwazse

[Cburkhardt]

I agree with Qwazse.  The GSUSA effectively capitulated to the old ""green shirt" Exploring program of the 80's (which morphed into Venturing) because GSUSA was unable to hold those older youth.  I'm going to make a reasoned estimate based on personal observation that about 15-20% of our Scouts BSA girl members are either dual-registrants in GSUSA or girls who have fully-migrated to the BSA.  We might see the current GSUSA-to-Venturing tendency around age 14 convert to GSA-to-Scouts BSA.  And because some girls prioritize making Eagle, the migration to Scouts BSA might take place earlier and become larger.  I say this with the understanding that a girl can work on Eagle in Venturing -- but the advancement emphasis and support network to make Eagle will be better in Scouts BSA Troops.    

[Eagle1993]

The GSUSA is claiming that their brand will be negatively impacted and there will be confusion in the marketplace.  There is now a picture in an article that shows GSUSA members, in their uniform, holding Scouts BSA books.  We should be walking on egg shells around any discussion of GSUSA and be 100% clear that the programs are separate.  In addition, we should never compare the programs and simply emphasize the benefits of BSA.  The article is a mess in terms of the lawsuit.   I don’t blame the girls, the adult leaders should have been more careful.  BSA guidance has been clear and they violated multiple aspects of that document.

[Jameson76]

11 hours ago, Treflienne said:

https://sippican.theweektoday.com/article/rochester-girl-scouts-try-boy-scout-ranks/40541

has a great picture of Girl Scouts, wearing Girl Scout uniforms, holding their newly acquired Scouts BSA handbooks for girls.

If I understand it correctly (and the article is a little confusing) a whole troop of girl scouts has joined the boy scouts.  They plan to finish up their GSUSA gold awards, and also work on Boy Scout ranks.

Other than the co-branding issues that GSUSA will not doubt have conniptions over, the one phrase in the article was interesting:

The group decided to merge with a Freetown boys because several girls had siblings in the group. 

Not the units issue as this was written by the reporters.  If you were not familiar with BSA then your assumption would be that Boy Scouts is in fact now coed.  Merge would certainly imply one coed unit (and that may in fact be what they are doing in reality if separate on paper).

 

[malraux]

On the flip side, if the girls were in a GSUSA troop, its hard to argue that they didn't understand the difference between the two programs.

[walk in the woods]

3 minutes ago, malraux said:

On the flip side, if the girls were in a GSUSA troop, its hard to argue that they didn't understand the difference between the two programs.

I think the GSUSA case doesn't hinge on whether the girls understand the difference, rather, whether the public (and potential new members) understand the difference.