Why can't there be coed Scouts, BSA units? Answer from lastest Scouts, BSA Office Hour - because 50% of boys will leave

[CynicalScouter]

During the February 2021 Scouts, BSA Office Hours, Scott Berger (a Scouts, BSA National Leader) was asked why no coed Troops.

This was his response video from 28:30-31:00

That [coed troops] is not in the plan. Nobody supports that [coed troops]. And there's good reason for it. The reason that the program is laid out the way it is currently is because we realized that in many respects girls mature quicker than boys. And having a coed program would disadvantage the boys. And we don't want that. I'm making a joke now. Lot of married people out there. You understand. You know why. Females take over sometimes. That was a joke.

But what I really want to say is that we looked at the experience not only in Venturing, where young women will often assume leadership roles, but we also looked at other countries where they went towards coed troops and a coed way of doing things and it really hurt the young men to the point that the young men quit scouting by about 50%. We don't want that to happen here in the BSA.

So there is no plan. Whenever anybody asks about it, we say very firmly, that's not happening. So, take it to the bank as best you can. But that [coed troops] is not happening.

Edited March 16, 2021 by CynicalScouter

[yknot]

23 minutes ago, CynicalScouter said:

During the February 2021 Scouts, BSA Office Hours, Scott Berger (a Scouts, BSA National Leader) was asked why no coed Troops.

This was his response video from 28:30-31:00

That [coed troops] is not in the plan. Nobody supports that [coed troops]. And there's good reason for it. The reason that the program is laid out the way it is currently is because we realized that in many respects girls mature quicker than boys. And having a coed program would disadvantage the boys. And we don't want that. I'm making a joke now. Lot of married people out there. You understand. You know why. Females take over sometimes. That was a joke.

But what I really want to say is that we looked at the experience not only in Venturing, where young women will often assume leadership roles, but we also looked at other countries where they went towards coed troops and a coed way of doing things and it really hurt the young men to the point that the young men quit scouting by about 50%. We don't want that to happen here in the BSA.

So there is no plan. Whenever anybody asks about it, we say very firmly, that's not happening. So, take it to the bank as best you can. But that [coed troops] is not happening.

The message I am getting here is that we want girls for their membership numbers and money but not because they add anything to the program or because we really want to serve them. It's jaw dropping that this person has no idea how insulting these comments are. However, I take hope in this. God is surely looking out for scouts in some way if no one in the mainstream media has yet reported on this. 

[Eagle1993]

16 minutes ago, CynicalScouter said:

Nobody supports that [coed troops]

I can find a few that would disagree with this statement.

I've been in coed activities in high school and college.  I was elected president of NHS in High School.  I was president of my engineering honor society in college.  In my company, I've passed up many of my female colleagues for promotions.  There were girls/women in all of these organizations.   I have never feared competing with girls/women for leadership roles and have managed and reported to women.  I've fired women and hired women.  If boys are to compete in the world, they need to learn this.  The workplace does not look like it did in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s or even early 2000s.

"[coed troops] is not happening." FYI .... coed Troops are happening in the BSA.  He has no clue what is going on in the field.  Go to any camporee, Klondike, summer camp.  Perhaps he needs to be replaced with someone who knows what is actually going on.   

Also ... “Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process.”

[CynicalScouter]

11 minutes ago, yknot said:

God is surely looking out for scouts in some way if no one in the mainstream media has yet reported on this

Scott Berger's day job: Associate Director - CBS News

[yknot]

33 minutes ago, CynicalScouter said:

Scott Berger's day job: Associate Director - CBS News

This is the first time reading something on scouter forum that I have fallen out of my chair. You have got to be kidding me. 

[RememberSchiff]

 

[CynicalScouter]

4 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

EMBEDDED VIDEO

Totally unrelated, I thought there was a "no embedded video" rule?

[CynicalScouter]

16 minutes ago, yknot said:

This is the first time reading something on scouter forum that I have fallen out of my chair. You have got to be kidding me. 

Yep. And this is the same Scott Berger who, earlier in that Zoom meeting, was pushing that the DEI merit badge was being reviewed but was definitely a go.

I guess stereotypical/sexist jokes about overbearing wives remain OK in the new diverse, inclusive, and equitable BSA.

 

[RememberSchiff]

7 minutes ago, CynicalScouter said:

Totally unrelated, I thought there was a "no embedded video" rule?

The rule

Posted videos, images, and links must pertain to the original post and respectfully move the discussion forward. Failure to do so may result in deletion or editing of the post, and in egregious or repeated instances, may result in a warning to the member.

You raised the point that Scott Berger worked for CBS News. The video shows that and discusses Scouting's impact on him, so related to topic and Scouting,

Make sense or do you wish me to delete it?

Edited March 16, 2021 by RememberSchiff

[CynicalScouter]

2 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

The rule

THANKS! I thought it was "no embedded videos". Its "no IRRELEVANT embedded videos".

[yknot]

12 minutes ago, CynicalScouter said:

Yep. And this is the same Scott Berger who, earlier in that Zoom meeting, was pushing that the DEI merit badge was being reviewed but was definitely a go.

I guess stereotypical/sexist jokes about overbearing wives remain OK in the new diverse, inclusive, and equitable BSA.

 

We deserve everything coming our way. Unbelievable. 

[BAJ]

I also came close to falling out of my chair reading that quote.  A number of times on this forum, people have pointed out that BSA’s past actions have “hurt it from the right and left” — from the policies about sexual orientation and perceived prominence of Duty to God/“A Scout as Reverent” alienating more liberal audiences and the subsequent reversal of the policy on sexual orientation, admittance of women, and discussion of diversity alienating more conservative ones.

In the last six months, we have demonstrations that continues.  In the discussions of the Diversity and Inclusion merit badge, we had people point to National’s use of specific words and tagging BLM as evidence supporting a perception that BSA has a liberal agenda/bias.  A National figure making jokes like this in a broad and official forum will give audiences that see diversity and inclusion as important something to point to and argue that recent statements about an inclusive BSA must just have been talk, and support a continuing perception in some other audiences that BSA has a conservative agenda/bias.

Setting aside the other discussions about whether BSA will make it past the bankruptcy proceedings, it cannot be good for long term survivability to potentially have multiple political subsets of its (shrinking) constituency simultaneously arguing that the organization is is really “the other” justifying disengaging from it.  Not good at all.

[skeptic]

Evolution of the program will hopefully soon realize the foolishness of no coed.  As someone pointed out, if young males are to learn to function in the larger society, they need to also learn to deal with competition from their female peers.  The male youth that have the desire and initiative will come to the top, just as in the real world.  We continue to not give enough credit to our young people and their abilities to maneuver in a muddled world.  Meanwhile, many smaller units are missing the boat with their interested female applicants, especially the ones already in the cubs where they can have their separate dens and are otherwise coed.  contradictory, in my view.

 

Edited March 16, 2021 by skeptic

[qwazse]

3 minutes ago, skeptic said:

Evolution of the program will hopefully soon realize the foolishness of no coed. ....

The stats about membership are far more solid than this "denying males leadership" mumbo-jumbo. The largest scouting programs worldwide deploy sex-segregated programs.

BSA simply did not have the stones to drop the marketing doublespeak, retain Boy Scouts of America, and roll-out a parallel BSA4G program for American girls who wanted to work the same Advancement, Outdoors, and Patrol method.

They didn't have the stones to admit that they found the Asian programs more appealing than the European ones.

[CynicalScouter]

7 minutes ago, qwazse said:

The stats about membership are far more solid than this "denying males leadership" mumbo-jumbo. The largest scouting programs worldwide deploy sex-segregated programs.

Really? I was under the impression just the opposite.

Indonesia
India
Philippines
Bangladesh

All coed