Boy Scouts of America dropping "Boy" from it's flagship program - Sensationalist Headlines

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/05/02/boy-scouts-scouts-bsa-girls-joining-cub-scouts/572036002/ The title is a little sensationalist, the whole organization will still be called Boy Scouts of America, but it's "Boy Scout" program is being renamed Scout BSA. With the change they are already accepting girls in the cub scout and boy scouts, as they have with the venture scouts for years. I think this is a good step in the right direction. Now if they can quell all the religious fundamentalsists within the organization we might actually see a progressive youth scouting program.

Can boys join girlscouts too?

Now I have experience with neither, but according to people on Reddit, the reason is this: Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are similar in name only. Girl Scouts focus on arts and crafts and selling cookies, while Boy Scouts do all the cool wilderness stuff. Some more adventurous young girls would rather do that stuff, so the BSA is starting to accept both genders.

Seems like a good move, the Scouts over here in the UK have always been referred to as just "Scouts", and have accepted girls for a long time iirc.

And some boys wouldn't like to do the arts, crafts, and cookie selling? They should both be rolled into one.

The boy scouts kind of already does that. It's broad focus is on outdoor activities, but each troop has the autonimy to do other activities as they see fit. Most summer camps offer arts and crafts activities. Really the only thing they don't do is sell cookies, which instead they sell popcorn.

so then join venture scouts?

Blame conservative Christian's (Mormons).

Scouts BSA Scouts Boy Scouts of America?

Scouts Bethesda Softworks Archive

Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts are completely separate organizations entirely, it's a common misconception that they're in league or are apart of the same group. I work at a Boy Scout store and they've been slowly phasing in the girls' program stuff, with girl dens in Cub Scouts starting this year and girl patrols in Boy Scouts starting next year. Boy Scouts have actually had 3 separate co-ed programs for many years now: Venturing, Sea Scouts, and Explorers, with the new STEM Scouts program also included among them. And it sounds to me like this rebranding is just for the Boy Scouts and won't affect the apparel, which is nice cause that means our store doesn't have to get overstocked on any new, rebranded uniforms and stuff we have little space for.

Really that's the interesting thing Traditionally it's the girl scouts who have been the progressive ones, such as by accepting transgender girls and even refusing donations from people saying not to spend it on any disgusting trannies. But news off of google seems to suggest that they actually vocally oppose what the BSA are doing. Maybe we'll eventually see the BSA expand their activities.

They're wholly separate entities that have almost no structural overlap. It'd be more effective to just disassemble the GSA entirely rather than merge the two. Not that I think they should disappear, but don't be fooled into thinking they're even remotely similar programs.

Pretty much this, the goal of Scouts is to help develop well balanced individuals towards developing good civil, personal and adult skills. In order to get Eagle rank you have to have the core set of adult skills merit badges and then a few ancillary badges that align with your interests and potential career interests. The BSA has really ramped up the variety of different badges, there's some pretty cool badges like Space Exploration going over the history of rocketry, fundamental physics and actually building model rockets. Electronics was another fun one too, learning the basics and then building a small little electronics project of your choice and explain how it works.

I talked about this in the past when they announced wider coed adoption, but there's also a strong point in the fact that attaining the Eagle status in the BSA is a governmentally recognized honor and opens the doors for Scholarships + job opportunities you otherwise wouldn't have access to. Being an Eagle scout means you have exceptional drive and leadership ability, and odds are on your path there you'll have gone to nationally accredited leadership training camps that really do put you at a big advantage. It's very similar to the idea of being a military officer (on a smaller scale of course), there is a huge focus on the development of moral fortitude and discipline that sets you apart from the pack. I only went so far as Life scout, which is a step down from eagle, but even 5 or so years later I'm still applying a lot of the lessons and skills I've learned through the program and my old troop will always be family to me. It's hard to explain if you didn't go through it, but there are huge distinctions between the GSAs club mentality vs the BSAs militaristic structure

the girls scouts are actually pretty expanded now. they are getting a bigger stem section.

I generally like the idea of the Boy Scouts, but this is just nonsense. It may have been true at some point, but not anymore. All the Eagle Scouts I've known were unmotivated and immature kids who were forced by their parents to complete the program. They're all in their late 20s to early 30s, and none of them are doing very well in life.

Then you're from an area with a shitty program I hate to say. If your scoutmasters just let you scoot through then obviously you're not going to get anything from it. I've been involved in scouting all my life and I only know highly successful eagles.

there are some troops that are strictly mills to get eaglescout, one guy I knew in HS his dad ran a troop where everybody was eaglescout by like 14 because he had set everything up to where they could do all the badges and activities themselves and had lots of connections for projects, was it in the spirit of the organization? hard to say because they weren't just bashing through stuff, they were quite active, but it just wasn't what I wanted out of scouts either

I'm definitely not trying to say that every eagle scout is as I described, more that it just doesn't mean much anymore because the standards are often exceptionally low.

Eagle mills are a huge issue in my area now. When I was in, we were just starting to see the beginnings of this. Now, You can sign up for a program that will almost guarantee you a merit badge every weekend. Essentially you show up, fill in the blanks on a "worksheet" and they hand you everything at the end. Feels bad knowing that people were getting it so easily and for almost nothing, but at the same time, they are getting nothing out of the program.

ya its hurry up to get eaglescout then enjoy scouts basically.

The rage on facebook about this is ridiculous. They're different programs that offer different experiences, why is it such a big deal if girls want to do outdoorsy stuff too?

So why is one program only available to one gender?

They're not run by the same people. Its childish to bitch and moan that its "not fair" that boys can't join the girl scouts when it has nothing to do with what the Boy Scouts of America are trying to do.

Never knew wanting gender equality and inclusivity was "childish". I guess I'll have to re-think my position on that then. Thanks for the eye-opener.

It's been explained like 3 times already, the boy and girl scouts are seperate organisations, so just because the boy scouts now accept girls doesn't mean the girl scouts are obligated to accept boys. If some of the boys wanted to do what the girl scouts do that's for the BSA to consider, not the girl scouts problem.

Like I said, I was going to rethink my position on it because of the eye opener. But thanks for saying the same thing as the poster above my last reply as if I didn't see it.

My bad. In context with the first sentence it came across as sarcasm, but that's probably just me :v

One hand I'm cool with this and think camping/scouting with both boys and girls is a-ok. But at the same time if I had a kid that wanted to be in the scouts with just other boys his age it feels weird knowing that can't be a thing anymore (that I'm aware of?) I mean, it's a pretty out there thing to get hung up on and I don't want to make it sound bigger then it actually is- I just know that when I was a lil kid I liked having other boys to talk to without worry about hurting Sallies feelings.