Female Adult Female Webelos Leaders or Parents on Troop Campout?

[Scoutfish]

In my opinion, having a female leader in scouting in a troop that also has male leaders would not take away from the experience any more than having a mom in the house, a female school teacher, coach, etc....

 

Not as long as there are other male leaders.

 

Now, if it was an all female leadership troop..that could be different.

[moosetracker]

Scoutfish point is mine when I stated "So are you saying a father cannot be a positive role model to his son, if he stay married to the mother?"

 

I DO see a problem with a troop that has an all female Leadership, or even a majority female leadership.. That would hurt the reason divorced mothers would place a son into a troop for a good Male Role model.

 

But, a sprinkling to half of female Leadership will not. The men can still portray good male role models, including being a good role model of how men interact with women without yelling, beating them up or what ever else their fathers may have done that was negative interaction with the mother, that the boy may have witnessed.

 

The presence of a women does not negate the ability for the men to be good role models, and you do not need 100% male leaders for a boy to benifit and pick up on the influence of the male leaders.(This message has been edited by moosetracker)

[Scoutfish]

I agree. WE are supposed to be preparing thee boys for handling themselves in the real world.

 

WEll. the real world has women in it!

[JMHawkins]

Thanks for clarifying the BALOO/OWLS stuff.

[SM_Travis]

A couple of points:

 

1. If you become the COR, that pretty much makes this a moot point, doesn't it? Because if I became COR of a Troop with that rule, one of my first items of business would be to question the reason for the rule and then to eliminate it. Assuming that your CO will back you. (I'm male, by the way, in case anyone thinks that matters)

 

2. If that doesn't happen, I think that you can simply decline the invitation when it officially comes, once they make it clear that you are not welcome to attend. I think your obligation to the Webelos is to simply make them aware that there is another pack, and if they want to visit here is the SM's phone number. Your obligation is not to assist this Troop with their recruiting.

 

3. I would encourage you to become an ASM with the Troop that your son does join. The majority of the ASM's in our troop are male. However, we have a female ASM who is one of the people I can rely on most. She is Wood Badge trained, and goes on probably more than 1/2 the campouts. I think if she was the only leader that wouldn't be good for the boys, but as usually one of 3-5 adults, it frankly gives them a good impression that women are capable of doing things.

 

3.

[ScoutMomTex]

We do share a CO, but we have separate COR's for the Troop and Pack, so not really a moot issue in that regard. Although any interaction I do might be a chance to learn more about the CO's position (I think they are basically pretty hands off) and the Troop in general.

 

I do have some time to work out these issues, it just came to mind when all the discussion about female leaders in general was re=opened at the same time I was mentally preparing for the transition to Webelos.

[EagerLeader]

J,

 

When I was a Webelos leader I did not take my den to visit one troop in our town for that same reason... they do not allow female leaders except as committee members, and do not allow females to camp with them. I told the parents separately that they should take their sons to see the other troop and explained why I myself would not be doing it. One of my Webelos crossed over to that troop and is doing very well... with his father. Their troop runs a great program and it was a very good fit for their family.

 

The "dinosaur" mentality of Scouting is for men is still pervasive. It doesn't make men any less competent as leaders nor poor role models to think this way but it sure does irritate others :-)

 

Enjoy Webelos, I had a ton of fun with my Cubs for that 18 months.

 

EL

[Eagledad]

>>I agree. WE are supposed to be preparing thee boys for handling themselves in the real world.

 

WEll. the real world has women in it!

[qwazse]

Well established SMs do not take kindly to COR's meddling, so unless it is an issue that is at the core of the CO's mission, using that position to push change in leader philosophy is a very very bad idea IMHO.

 

Better for a COR to spend time seeing if the 14 - 20 year old youth in the congregation could benefit from adult leadership from both sexes ( be it via Venturing or some other program).