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

[MisterH]

Also from the Prohibited Activities List:

9. Extreme or action sports and associated activities that involve an unusually high degree of risk and often involve speed, height, a high level of exertion, and specialized gear or equipment. These activities include but are not limited to
• Parkour

Understandable on parkour. My younger brother got into it in college back in the late 2000's. One time when I was visiting him on campus I watched him climb the outside of a building to a height of about 20 feet. Our mother would have had a heart attack had she seen it. Fortunately that was just a "phase" he went through in college, and he managed to avoid both injury and incarceration. 😁

• Tree climbing

This one is curious and a little disappointing. I have a collection of older cub scout books, and demonstrating you can climb a tree to a height of 12 feet was actually a required achievement for the Wolf badge as recently as 1973 (which admittedly is almost 50 years ago now, but still...)

 

 

[InquisitiveScouter]

10 minutes ago, MisterH said:

• Tree climbing

You tell a boy this, and they are like, "Yeah right, where's the exit??"

[RememberSchiff]

37 minutes ago, MisterH said:

• Tree climbing

This one is curious and a little disappointing. I have a collection of older cub scout books, and demonstrating you can climb a tree to a height of 12 feet was actually a required achievement for the Wolf badge as recently as 1973 (which admittedly is almost 50 years ago now, but still...)

Back in the day, this was just what boys did. Usually we went to top, if we stopped short of that, it was to build a tree house. No Tell, Show, Do involved. Boys climbed trees, dogs wagged their tails...

[InquisitiveScouter]

4 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

Back in the day, this was just what boys did. Usually we went to top, if we stopped short of that, it was to build a tree house. No Tell, Show, Do involved. Boys climbed trees, dogs wagged their tails...

Snakes and snails...

[qwazse]

20 minutes ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

Snakes and snails...

Or, as we’d say, gumbo and escargot.

[Cambridgeskip]

On 3/16/2021 at 4:42 PM, SilverPalm said:

 

It wasn't about fear of competing with women - I think the leadership missed the mark when they said that.  But having a male-only space allowed a more relaxed atmosphere, I think - it's hard to articulate - because I wasn't worried about being judged by the opposite sex.  At that age, I was very much interested in what the girls in my class thought of me, but that constant worry wasn't present at Scout camp.  Being surrounded only by boys my age or a little older or a little younger resulted in a culture that was much more teamwork oriented than I remember school or sports being, where the guys are constantly trying to outdo their buddies to impress the girls.  

.

I haven't read the full thread (work conference call in a few minutes) but an observation from here in the UK.

I run a coed troop and a few years ago we had a joint meeting with the Girl Guide troop who use our building. And sure enough some of my boys started acting up in just the way you describe. And this was inspite of them all already having girls in their patrols and the troop more widely. In addition the both in scouts and guides were girls they went to school with.

My observation is the problem isn't girls as such. The problem is girls in an unfamiliar situation. Put the girls in the troop or patrol with the boys and they behave perfectly normally.

[MattR]

1 hour ago, Cambridgeskip said:

My observation is the problem isn't girls as such. The problem is girls in an unfamiliar situation. Put the girls in the troop or patrol with the boys and they behave perfectly normally.

Especially if the girls want to climb trees. 

[skeptic]

5 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

Snakes and snails...

So did girls much of the time, sometimes faster than the boys.  But, once they reached a certain age most were too demure, or simply told by parents that girls did not do that.

 

[Eagledad]

19 minutes ago, skeptic said:

So did girls much of the time, sometimes faster than the boys.  But, once they reached a certain age most were too demure, or simply told by parents that girls did not do that.

 

Don't forget the nails. 

Barry

[swilliams]

Agree with those who have said let the individual units decide whether to be girl, boy, or co-ed.  My daughter had two Venture Crews to choose from; one co-ed and the other all-girl.  She chose the all-girl crew.  Apparently it's not only boys who feel less pressure or more comfortable in a same-sex group.  🙂 

[Eagledad]

22 minutes ago, swilliams said:

Agree with those who have said let the individual units decide whether to be girl, boy, or co-ed.  My daughter had two Venture Crews to choose from; one co-ed and the other all-girl.  She chose the all-girl crew.  Apparently it's not only boys who feel less pressure or more comfortable in a same-sex group.  🙂 

Yes, well this could be a Pandora's box. What if the unit choses to only recruit one gender? One member on this forum adamantly pushed letting units choose as long as they include both genders. His point was that since the BSA membership now includes both genders, they must recruit both genders. I think that is called bait and switch.

Barry

[yknot]

35 minutes ago, swilliams said:

Agree with those who have said let the individual units decide whether to be girl, boy, or co-ed.  My daughter had two Venture Crews to choose from; one co-ed and the other all-girl.  She chose the all-girl crew.  Apparently it's not only boys who feel less pressure or more comfortable in a same-sex group.  🙂 

I think that's what most people are suggesting and it makes sense. I think volunteer issues and parental bandwidth are really going to drive the issue. In youth sports, you can drive your daughter to one game or practice and your son to another and you don't have to be in the same place.