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Part of the Girl Scout mission seems to be reaching out to the less fortunate. It is an affordable afterschool activity for girls who don't have a lot of afterschool activity options.
I was a Girl Scout leader for a year. There was very little involvement from the other parents, most seemed to be struggling just to keep their heads above water. Just picking up their daughters on time seemed to be a challenge. I usually ended up dropping off several. Otherwise, I would have been there all night.
The badge activities were okay, but not all that engaging for the girls. Most seemed to be of the do-gooder type activities. Be a sister to others. Be honest and fair. That sort of stuff.
As a Cub Scout den mother, I found the badge activities more engaging for the boys, particularly the fire starting badge.
Also, more involvement from other parents. I didn't have to drive the boys home. Many of the BS activities involved parents. Pinewood Derby, hiking, camping, ...
Do some research into both programs, and come back and tell us which you honestly think is a better program for preparing young people for life. A program where your rank is determined by your age/grade level (GSA), or a program where you enter at the bottom ("Scout") rank and you only advance once you meet the set criteria for advancement to the next rank (BSA)?? I have a father, two brothers, and two nephews who are, or have been, active members in BSA over the past 42 years. I know exactly which program I would have my kids in, if I had kids.
Our family tried both and found the Girl Scout program was just not as engaging as the Boy Scouts.
you are correct about no rank requirements. there are achievements from what I have seen within each rank. so there is that.
you are correct in BSA, it is Merit based. boys have to work to achieve rank advancement. 16 seems to be the general age most get eagle here. there are those that don't achieve Eagle until almost their 18th birthday! lol.
My brother just squeaked his Eagle rank in at the last minute, right as he turned 18. he was involved in so many extra-curriculars I am still surprised he never burned out, and still hasn't at 50 years old. He seems to thrive on keeping very busy. His Eagle COH was actually also his graduation from the Adirondack branch of the National Camp School.
The GSA "achievements" don't determine rank. For example, I got the Bridge to Juniors patch and the 1st Brownie B patch (not sure if they still award those), because I joined Brownies in 3rd grade, which was the last year you could be at that rank (I see they have tweaked the rankings and added an Ambassador rank for girls in 11th-12th grades; in my day Senior rank would be 10-12 grade). I was in Juniors the full 3 years, but since we never worked on the activities for it, I never got the Bridge to Cadettes patch, but I still joined a Cadette troop, because I had aged out of Juniors. I left after only a few meetings, because it was nothing but game-playing. I never even got to wear the uniform for Cadette.
On news this AM it was claimed cookie sales generate $500,000,000.00 for the Girl Scouts. Anyone think it'll be long until there's Boys & Girls Cookies on the market?
The BSA does popcorn sales. When my nephews were both in (they both quit after a few years), I used to get the gift cans for Christmas presents.
Numbers are declining and no signs this will turn around.
Not only are there more competing activities these days, but Evangelicals and Mormons are creating their own scouting programs and pulling their kids out.
Non-Republican parents were appalled by the political rally at the Jamboree. They did not sign their kids up to be Republicans.
I suspect many didn't sign them up at all this fall. Once the enrollment numbers were in, the BS board decided they needed to do something.
Our Pack is bursting at the seams. And we are in a very liberal area. Now we will have girls too. Gonna need a bigger boat.
Still you raise some good points. As a Den Leader, I sometimes find the CS curriculum to a bit old fashioned. I try to tweak it to make it more interesting. But it is hard to compete with Xbox and the like.
No mention of that speech in our Pack and we ignore politics. When the "Duty to God" lesson comes up, I punt and tell the parents to discuss it with their kids as they see fit.
Then have the girls scouts advance so they do. Or disband both the girl and boy scouts and and create a new organization.
Maybe that's the idea. Both organizations are losing membership, to the point where councils are closing camps and consolidating membership. Ex. - my dad lives in the Albany NY area (Schenectady to be exact), and my oldest brother lives in Saranac Lake, 150 miles north. They are both part of the same council, Twin Rivers. 30+ years ago you wouldn't see BSA councils with so wide a geographic spread. Twin Rivers covers 13 counties, yet only has roughly 9,000 youth members according to its website.
There is the problem, right there. A troop of Girl Scouts is only as good as the volunteers who lead it. A lot of nice moms are willing to give a lot of time to do it, but let’s face it, not as many women are knowledgeable or eager to rappel off a cliff, or kayak down a river or pitch a lean to in the woods. If girls want to do these things, which they do, then they need male leadership to show them how.
Wow... I know a few national Camp School grads who are women who would be only too glad to correct your misconceptions.
Maybe that's the idea. Both organizations are losing membership, to the point where councils are closing camps and consolidating membership. Ex. - my dad lives in the Albany NY area (Schenectady to be exact), and my oldest brother lives in Saranac Lake, 150 miles north. They are both part of the same council, Twin Rivers. 30+ years ago you wouldn't see BSA councils with so wide a geographic spread. Twin Rivers covers 13 counties, yet only has roughly 9,000 youth members according to its website.
Interesting. I would think places like that would see little in the way of declines.
Woman I work with is from rural Maine and says Scouting is so popular that they have waiting lists.
Then why don't the girls and their parents get involved and make the Girl Scouts a better organization that does those things?
I gave it my best shot 30 years ago - even then, so many 'rules' and so resistant to change.
So much of the Girl Scouts is wrapped up in the girl clique mentality.
As others have said -- it's all about the cookies and a few crafts - more a "play group" than Scouting.
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