Surprised

[mashmaster]

Not sure if this is the right forum or not.  But today I was asked by a scoutmaster of a Troop with girls in it to help a couple scouts with a merit badge since I am a counselor for it.  Of course I said yes.  The Scoutmaster told me after my response that a majority of counselors are saying no to her because they don't want to work with girls.  I don't understand why a scouter wouldn't want to help any youth out.

 

[mrkstvns]

2 minutes ago, mashmaster said:

Not sure if this is the right forum or not.  But today I was asked by a scoutmaster of a Troop with girls in it to help a couple scouts with a merit badge since I am a counselor for it.  Of course I said yes.  The Scoutmaster told me after my response that a majority of counselors are saying no to her because they don't want to work with girls.  I don't understand why a scouter wouldn't want to help any youth out.

 

I don't understand that either.  I know some scouters say they will only work with kids in their own unit, which might be the issue, but if it really is a case of a scouter discriminating against girls, it is most inappropriate.

[fred8033]

Sad.  Give it time.  People will come around after realizing it's mostly a non-issue.

Most scouters in my area are glad to support scouts who are girls.  I don't see the issue at all. 

[Jameson76]

7 minutes ago, mashmaster said:

Not sure if this is the right forum or not.  But today I was asked by a scoutmaster of a Troop with girls in it to help a couple scouts with a merit badge since I am a counselor for it.  Of course I said yes.  The Scoutmaster told me after my response that a majority of counselors are saying no to her because they don't want to work with girls.  I don't understand why a scouter wouldn't want to help any youth out.

 

They may not want to with the girls due to the somewhat onerous YPT requirements for girls.  If I as a MB counselor wanted to work with the boys in my troop, we would get together prior to the meeting, there are leaders and other scouts, etc. arriving.  I usually work with my unit only, but have had some from other units, again same times, so no YPT issues.

Now, being very literal with YPT (any Scout meeting) if some girls wanted to meet I have to make sure there is a YPT trained female leader over 21 also around for the duration of the session.  Many MB counselors may not want to try to overcome or arrange that hurdle.

If it was just two YPT leaders, they could come by prior to our meetings, but that extra requirement National has put in may put a damper (fear??) on folks wanting to do it.  Not saying it's right, but sometimes rules have end results not fully intended.

[MikeS72]

51 minutes ago, mrkstvns said:

I know some scouters say they will only work with kids in their own unit, which might be the issue

The merit badge counselor list provided to the SM should show the names of people who have registered to work with all scouts.  It should not make any difference whether that scout is male or female.  I think this is something that I would make my district chair aware of, so he can find out why these counselors are not willing to work with girls.  It may be that they are not aware of the fact that for merit badge counselor 2 deep leadership, the parent counts.  If the scout is a girl, mom would be the preferred parent.  In our district, there are also many female MB counselors for most MB's.  

Edited March 7, 2019 by MikeS72

[1tree]

I am with MikeS72 on the issue. While there could be issues with arranging meetings with girls, outright refusal is counter to the values of the organization.

[qwazse]

You do you, @mashmaster, and be prepared to give an honest testimony to scouters in your district about how you enjoyed (or didn't, if that's the case) working with these particular youth.

[mashmaster]

1 hour ago, qwazse said:

You do you, @mashmaster, and be prepared to give an honest testimony to scouters in your district about how you enjoyed (or didn't, if that's the case) working with these particular youth.

I shall.

[SSF]

4 hours ago, mrkstvns said:

I don't understand that either.  I know some scouters say they will only work with kids in their own unit, which might be the issue, but if it really is a case of a scouter discriminating against girls, it is most inappropriate.

Would you argue that chartered organizations that choose not to support girl packs or troops are also guilty of discrimination? 

Would you argue that the BSA "discriminated" against girls for the first 100 plus years of its existence? Was that also inappropriate?

Would you accuse Baden Powell of being a misogynist for not allowing girls to join?

Edited March 8, 2019 by SSF

[Treflienne]

1 hour ago, SSF said:

Would you accuse Baden Powell of being a misogynist for not allowing girls to join?

Give credit where credit is due.  Baden-Powell talked his sister into setting up a parallel organization for girls.  Then for decades Baden-Powell's wife worked with said organization.