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A major shift from the Boy Scouts of America:
Irving, Texas – October 11, 2017 – Today, the Boy Scouts of America Board of Directors unanimously approved to welcome girls into its iconic Cub Scout program and to deliver a Scouting program for older girls that will enable them to advance and earn the highest rank of Eagle Scout. The historic decision comes after years of receiving requests from families and girls, the organization evaluated the results of numerous research efforts, gaining input from current members and leaders, as well as parents and girls who've never been involved in Scouting – to understand how to offer families an important additional choice in meeting the character development needs of all their children.
"This decision is true to the BSA's mission and core values outlined in the Scout Oath and Law. The values of Scouting – trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, brave and reverent, for example – are important for both young men and women," said Michael Surbaugh, the BSA's Chief Scout Executive. "We believe it is critical to evolve how our programs meet the needs of families interested in positive and lifelong experiences for their children. We strive to bring what our organization does best – developing character and leadership for young people – to as many families and youth as possible as we help shape the next generation of leaders."
[...] Starting in the 2018 program year, families can choose to sign up their sons and daughters for Cub Scouts. Existing packs may choose to establish a new girl pack, establish a pack that consists of girl dens and boy dens or remain an all-boy pack. Cub Scout dens will be single-gender — all boys or all girls. Using the same curriculum as the Boy Scouts program, the organization will also deliver a program for older girls, which will be announced in 2018 and projected to be available in 2019, that will enable them to earn the Eagle Scout rank. This unique approach allows the organization to maintain the integrity of the single gender model while also meeting the needs of today's families.
I'll admit it, I was a little surprised by the announcement. As a longtime member of the BSA and an Eagle Scout, I find this extremely interesting. I know some who are dead set against it, and others who are totally for it. My personal opinion is that it will be a good thing, both for the BSA and for the young men and women who become part of the organization.
The biggest loser in all of this will probably be the Girl Scouts. I can see their membership numbers dwindling rapidly if/when this takes off.
As a side note, Scouting has been co-ed in many countries for decades.
Both the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts have seen decreasing membership in recent years, and both have been trying to find ways to increase their membership. In this context, they now seem to be butting heads:
The Boy Scouts will soon include girls, and not everyone's happy about it.
The 107-year-old organization announced Wednesday that younger girls will be allowed to join Cub Scouts and that older girls will be eligible to earn the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout.
[...] For months, Girl Scouts USA had a notion BSA would try to start recruiting girls. In August, Buzzfeed News obtained a strongly worded letter in which GSUSA President Kathy Hopinkah Hannan accused the BSA of courting girls to boost falling enrollment numbers.
From the letter:
We are confused as to why, rather than working to appeal to the 90 percent of boys who are not involved in BSA programs, you would choose to target girls.
What are your thoughts? Were you ever a boy scout, or a girl scout, or did they ever affect you in any way? And do you think the BSA should be praised for opening their doors to girls or should they be castigated for 'targeting' girls who would be better off staying with their own kind?
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 13 2017, @06:18AM (6 children)
The scout masters weren't gay, they were pedophiles and child molesters. The organization cracked down hard on it and requires all sorts of training and background checks that other organizations don't in order to ensures that it isn't ever common.
The thing that's really killing them are thesame cultural changes that are destroying so many other conservative institutions.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday October 13 2017, @04:53PM (5 children)
Incorrect. They were all of the above. The first may be largely irrelevant but facts don't get negated due to irrelevancy; they get dismissed as irrelevant.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 13 2017, @09:59PM (4 children)
It's intellectually dishonest to imply a correlation. Whether pedophiles molest boys or girls has little to do with sexual orientation. Most male pedophiles that molest boys are involved exclusively with the opposite sex when not molesting children.
Theonly reason why it was men on boys is because females are pretty much non-existent in the organization. They'll show up for some camp jobs and in the office, but rarely, if ever in day to day work with scouts.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday October 13 2017, @11:16PM (3 children)
It's more dishonest to state an outright falsehood though.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 14 2017, @12:09AM (2 children)
I agree and yet you continued to anyways. You made the unsubstantiated claim and are doubling down by shifting the burden of proof. It's your responsibility to prove it.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday October 14 2017, @12:33AM (1 child)
What part of male on male sex says "straight" to you? I'm genuinely interested.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 14 2017, @01:19AM
Assuming the boy can't consent, it is rape. According to the leftist narrative, rape is not about sex, it is about abuse of power. Hence, it may not be straight, but it is not gay.
Personally, I think that the feminist pushed nonsense that rape is always about power, and never about sex, is one of their more damaging ideas.
( Not the same AC )