American Heritage Girls troop (chart, husband, learning, school)
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I don't know about the history of Boy Scouts, but Girl Scouts was founded by Juliette Gordon Low who was deaf. So it becomes interesting when GS troops want to exclude girls with disabilities, since the organization was founded by a woman who had a disability. Some parents do not understand the purpose of Scouts. They want to form cliques and exclude.
I think kids should learn to get along with others from different backgrounds and who are different from them.
Perhaps, we have been fortunate. When my own dd was in scouts we lived in a diverse community. Our troop included - girl scouts from the Phillipines, girl scouts from Japan, one girl scout whose mother was a Russian immigrant, several Jewish girls, various Christians and Catholics, several African Americans and several other ethnicities. All of them got along and worked together well. They had a sister troop that was older and mostly African American.
My granddaughter's troop here in Texas is similar. We have Hindus, Christians, Atheists, etc. We have African Americans, East Indians, kids of various ethnicities. Again they get along and work together.
Most of this depends on the leader. My granddaughter's troop has been together since they were Daisies (6 years old) and are now sophomores in high school. We had some drop out and some come in over the years. They are now looking at the Gold Award (GS equivalent of the Eagle Scout). My dd never did her gold - she got her gold leadership pin, but never found the time to do a project for the award.
Perhaps, we have been fortunate. When my own dd was in scouts we lived in a diverse community. Our troop included - girl scouts from the Phillipines, girl scouts from Japan, one girl scout whose mother was a Russian immigrant, several Jewish girls, various Christians and Catholics, several African Americans and several other ethnicities. All of them got along and worked together well. They had a sister troop that was older and mostly African American.
My granddaughter's troop here in Texas is similar. We have Hindus, Christians, Atheists, etc. We have African Americans, East Indians, kids of various ethnicities. Again they get along and work together.
Most of this depends on the leader. My granddaughter's troop has been together since they were Daisies (6 years old) and are now sophomores in high school. We had some drop out and some come in over the years. They are now looking at the Gold Award (GS equivalent of the Eagle Scout). My dd never did her gold - she got her gold leadership pin, but never found the time to do a project for the award.
Since the OP's issue was the cookie sale fundraiser, the boy scouts wouldn't be a good alternative. They also have fundraising sales such as popcorn, chocolate bars, snf2 Christmas trees/wreaths. They also often fundraise at local fairs and festivals with a food booth. I see Boy Scouts constantly doing fundraisers year round. At least with the girl scouts, its only during cookie season.
And yes, I know it varies by troop. But its doubtful that there is a troop out there that doesnt do any fundraising.
Pretty much any youth group is going to need fund raising unless all the parents are financially well off. All the activities, everything costs. We have so many kids whose parents can't afford anything so the fund raiser gives them the chance to earn their way. I suspect a lot of folks don't realize how much the leaders pay out of their pockets to ensure all kids get a chance to participate.
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Originally Posted by PriscillaVanilla
My experience in GS was that some of the moms didn't welcome dads showing up at functions, even if they were just standing on the sidelines. And these were dads who had passed background checks and were registered volunteers. I'm all for empowering girls - but not at the expense of negativity towards boys/men. We all have to learn to get along. I had to explain to them that men could register as volunteers, they didn't know that. They were surprised to find out that dads could be involved. The only thing I'm aware of that GS doesn't allow dads to get involved in, is the overnight campouts.
Can't speak for other places, but around here dads are heavily involved in GS leadership positions, as moms are in BSA leadership. If anything, we're more concerned with getting willing volunteers and not what their gender is.
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Originally Posted by HighFlyingBird
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Some BSA troops *really* don't seem to want moms involved. So who really knows. One whole group (like the thing above the troops) refused entry to a boy with mild and easily accommodate disabilities. It was just the top leaders bias. But if you go to the website, it is all about inclusion.
Anyways...Maybe art classes?
If a troop is not being inclusive, seek out the District Executive. That's unacceptable for a troop to do that.
Pretty much any youth group is going to need fund raising unless all the parents are financially well off. All the activities, everything costs. We have so many kids whose parents can't afford anything so the fund raiser gives them the chance to earn their way. I suspect a lot of folks don't realize how much the leaders pay out of their pockets to ensure all kids get a chance to participate.
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This. I was a troop leader and ran across the occasional parent who thought or assumed I would pay for their child's activities, badges, etc. Not all troop leaders can afford to pay for kids in the troop and it's not their responsibility to, either.
Have you looked at different girl scout troops? They're all run differently based on the troop leader, parents, and girls in the troop. My girl scout troop was never big into cookie sales. We did the door to door/family/friends sales for about 2 weeks in January, but then that was it. We were asked each year if we wanted to do a cookie booth, but no one ever wanted to. There was never any pressure to sell a certain amount of cookies, and we still did a lot of fun things throughout the year.
That's how it was when I was a troop leader. The official cookie sale is only a couple of weeks each year (January for us also). Booth sales can only be done after completing paperwork and it is supposed to be for a particular goal, not just a random sale to make money.
We did lots of things that didn't involve selling cookies.
Its hard to sell those boxes at four dollars a box.
I don't know. People always wanted to buy them in my experience. Unless they've grown up under a rock, people know that the price of a box of GS cookies was never meant to represent a good value but rather a fundraising activity. You want cheap cookies, hit the sales at your local supermarket.
I don't know about the history of Boy Scouts, but Girl Scouts was founded by Juliette Gordon Low who was deaf. So it becomes interesting when GS troops want to exclude girls with disabilities, since the organization was founded by a woman who had a disability. Some parents do not understand the purpose of Scouts. They want to form cliques and exclude.
I think kids should learn to get along with others from different backgrounds and who are different from them.
Excluding girls with disabilities is NOT a GS thing. Because my daughter's school had the HIP kids for the surrounding area mainstreamed in with hearing children, all the kids learned ASL and we had several deaf girls in our troop. We also had a girl who walked with a limp because she'd suffered a stroke in utero. There was never any question of excluding any girl because of a disability.
I am the daughter of a double amputee and had an aunt who had CP and was also mentally retarded. (Yes, I realize that's no longer a popular term, but she died in 1995 before mentally retarded was prettied up to "developmentally disabled") and I would not have participated in an organization that excludes disabled children. If disabled children are excluded, it is the individuals themselves who are doing so.
Pretty much any youth group is going to need fund raising unless all the parents are financially well off. All the activities, everything costs. We have so many kids whose parents can't afford anything so the fund raiser gives them the chance to earn their way. I suspect a lot of folks don't realize how much the leaders pay out of their pockets to ensure all kids get a chance to participate.
We had two girls whose moms could not even afford the basic dues. My co-leader and I covered them until another Mom, who was a successful professional and very well off overheard us talking one day about covering the girls for an upcoming trip and offered to pay for anything they needed for the year. Said she had lost $40K on the stock market the day before that she could afford to lose and that hearing that put the loss into perspective for her.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tnff
If a troop is not being inclusive, seek out the District Executive. That's unacceptable for a troop to do that.
Excluding girls with disabilities is NOT a GS thing. Because my daughter's school had the HIP kids for the surrounding area mainstreamed in with hearing children, all the kids learned ASL and we had several deaf girls in our troop. We also had a girl who walked with a limp because she'd suffered a stroke in utero. There was never any question of excluding any girl because of a disability.
I've heard a few stories about children with disabilities being left out of troops. Girl Scouts is supposed to be inclusive of children with disabilities. The problem arises with parents who don't understand the rules of the organization. Many parents are unaware of the goals and purpose of Scouts. Some of them see it just as place to drop their child off for playtime. I think all parents and volunteers in GS should be given a list of the goals and rules of the organization as soon as they enroll their child. They should be told that it's an inclusive organization and if they have a problem with it, to not get involved and find a different group.
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