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news Boy Scouts Of America No Longer Just For Boys


Denim&Venöm

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It's a stupid idea. Both are the same really, teach the same skills and if you get offended over that you need to grow up. Both genders aren't the same, get over it.

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I don't really have an opinion about the situation itself, I'm just amused about all the complaining. :icwudt:

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(edited)

I think this is great. I never really saw the need for the scouts to be gender segregated in the first place.

11 hours ago, Sliding Bolt said:

I dont like it. They are ruining the boy scouts. Now I'm not or ever have been a scout but I know some and they think that doing this would really destroy it's tradition and some of it's values. 

What values will be destroyed by including girls? And how? 

Edited by Yamet
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I don't see a problem at all with having sex-segregated scout organizations nor having both together as well. I am fine with kids having options. 
Here in Iceland, the scouts are just the scouts, there is no sex-segregation (small population might be a factor though). 

But it seems that the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are two entirely separate organizations. I've been trying to see if they interlink in some way, whether they are both under some same bigger organization/association, but I have not been able to find that link. 

Considering the Girl Scout organization for the US has come out saying they won't be taking part in this and will remain the Girl Scouts, I think it is pretty pointless. I think the better alternative would be to just create a whole new Scout organization that allows for both sexes. Kids could choose if they want to be with both or if they would rather be with their own sex. 

I don't really see much of a problem, but that is because I have not really been paying much attention to this nor am I that interested in it. But to echo what @Twiggy said, if the motivation for this change was politicized or was done so because of pressure from some PC crowd in any way, I would call the change dubious at best and cowardly at worst. If it was motivated by inspiration from other scout organizations that already allow both sexes or it was done with efficiency in mind, I would not call their intentions bad. I would see what they are trying to do and I would be fine with it. The factor in my reluctance to call the positive motivation great is based on the Girl Scouts not taking part in this. If they would also take part in this, I would say great. 

Otherwise, meh.  "Once a scout, always a scout" - motto here in Iceland (and maybe elsewhere?) 

Spoiler

Image result for scout salute

 

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2 hours ago, Yamet said:

I think this is great. I never really saw the need for the scouts to be gender segregated in the first place.

What values will be destroyed by including girls? And how? 

It was a program for boys to bond and learn with other boys while doing boyish things. That’s what my scout friends said they liked about it and the same goes for the Girl Scouts. And now what happens with the Girl Scouts? Why not just create a separate Scouts group that includes both boys and girls? Why destroy the whole tradition? I guess I’m just sad to see the end of the tradition.

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(edited)
2 minutes ago, Sliding Bolt said:

was a program for boys to bond and learn with other boys while doing boyish things.

And now they can bond and learn with both boys and girls while doing boyish thing, so I don't really see the problem. 

Edited by Yamet
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2 minutes ago, Sliding Bolt said:

I guess I’m just sad to see the end of the tradition.

First of. How sad can you really be for a change to an organization that you yourself have never been a member of? 

Secondly, just because it's a tradition doesn't mean that it's good to keep it.

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2 minutes ago, Yamet said:

And now they can bond and learn with both boys and girls while doing boyish thing, so I don't really see the problem. 

If they still end up doing the boyish things then I can see it still being dominated by boys. I mean how many girls out there want to do boy stuff when they still get the Girl Scouts? I’m sure there are some but not enough to even get near a 50:50 ratio.

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1 minute ago, Sliding Bolt said:

If they still end up doing the boyish things then I can see it still being dominated by boys. I mean how many girls out there want to do boy stuff when they still get the Girl Scouts? I’m sure there are some but not enough to even get near a 50:50 ratio.

What's your point? I mean, who cares if the ratio is 50:50?

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1 minute ago, Gestum said:

First of. How sad can you really be for a change to an organization that you yourself have never been a member of? 

Secondly, just because it's a tradition doesn't mean that it's good to keep it.

Ugh are we really doing this? :scoots: No I’m not getting tied into this again I’m gonna go do something productive and you should too. I respect your opinion. Respect mine. I’m not about to write a damn newspaper article on how I feel about this. :okiedokieloki:

2 minutes ago, Yamet said:

What's your point? I mean, who cares if the ratio is 50:50?

I have a feeling the ratio is gonna be around 80:20 at least for a while. Maybe even less. 

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(edited)
14 minutes ago, Sliding Bolt said:

 No I’m not getting tied into this again I’m gonna go do something productive and you should too.

You can take 3 minutes to write a post to internet forum and do something productive. Those two aren't mutually exclusive

14 minutes ago, Sliding Bolt said:

I respect your opinion. Respect mine. 

I respect your opinion. I'm just curious as to why you have it.

14 minutes ago, Sliding Bolt said:

I’m not about to write a damn newspaper article on how I feel about this. :okiedokieloki:

I'm fine with a short paragraph.

Edited by Gestum
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They Have Boy Scouts and Girl Guides.,.

So  bunch of gender changers whine and demand change..

Why not just keep Boy Scouts Keep Girl Guide leave them both be..

And create a 3 called Gender Changer Guide Scouts 

 

That way

those who are happy with Boy Scouts keep Boy Scouts

Those who are happy with Girl  Guides keep Girl Guides

And the ones complaining, instead of spoiling it for the rest, make  3rd new summer program thy can even call  it 

Gender Changer Guide Scouts

 

This way everyone it content and no one is spoiling it for anyone else..  

However common sense is so hard for those why when and complain to spoil it for everyone else...

 

 

 

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15 minutes ago, Sliding Bolt said:

I have a feeling the ratio is gonna be around 80:20 at least for a while. Maybe even less. 

Alright, but how is that relevant to what I said at all?

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1 hour ago, Slipstream95 said:

I don't understand why the Girl Scouts don't just incorporate what the Boy Scouts have that they want in their program instead of invading another organization that is just for boys.

Just to point out that the girl scouts that might want to take part in the same activities as the boy scouts aren't necessarily the ones in charge. Let's say a bunch of little girls want to go do all the things boy scouts do, but the grown adults actually in charge of the girls scouts don't agree? Then the girls are kind of out of luck, aren't they?

 Which is why I'd say for the most part, allowing girls into the boy scouts would be a good thing. If the girl scouts in their area won't offer anything to match the boy scouts programs, then they can try out the "Boys" scouts instead to get what they want. The downside of this of course is that a place specifically for boys is lost, which I do think is unfortunate, because if girls are allowed to have spaces away from boys, then boys should be allowed the same, it's an unfair double standard otherwise.

 Ideally, I think you should have 3 programs, one for boys, one for girls, and one for both, and all 3 programs should offer the same variety of activities, so nobody has to miss out on something they want to do.

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One other problem I have with this is the response to concerns. In a country that has historically segregated their Scouts programs the response to concerned parents from the BSA's leadership has simply been 'Deal with it.'. That's rather idiotic. While I think it could potentially be very beneficial to young girls to be able to join an organization that actually does something for their development as young leaders, when a parent sees this decision made public in 2018 they can only assume it's done due to progressive sociopolitical pressure and I say that as a parent. BSA leadership has demonstrated the worst possible response to those concerns and it doesn't make me feel much like endorsing it. Parents 'dealing with it' will be pulling their children from your program and having nothing nice to say about it. 

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Personally; I very much like the idea! As someone who grew-up where males are considered the leaders of the house-hold and with mentalities like "only girls can cry; men who do are weak sissies" I find the idea of a joint-scout program to be very appealing. As much as I can sympathize with the notion that boys should be boys and girls should be girls, having a joint program, I would hope, should allow for the sexes to get a better understanding and respect for each other than they would have if separate. That, to me, is the main benefit of inclusion.

That said...there a few issues; first amongst them is this "deal with it" attitude from the BSA. As supportive of this idea as I am, it's on the BSA to be more open about explaining. You don't uproot tradition without explaining yourself, so some diplomacy from the BSA would be most appreciated. Additionally, with the Girl Scouts remaining as they are, that creates another issue. While girls have a choice, boys do not. Maybe a third "General Scout" program should've been created instead of gutting the Boy Scouts? Or maybe the two should've merged? In the end; we're left with two choices, and one side is left out. Kinda unfair.

As much as I support the idea, we're still left with issues that could've and should've been avoided. :/

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I wish they did this when I was a kid instead of being forced into joining the girl scouts since my brother was in the boy scouts.  I always liked what the boy scouts did, my local girl scout group didn't do much.  The group leader made selling cookies into a cut-throat business with the girls competing against each other for how many sales they could churn out, I remember this one girl started crying at the awards ceremony when we were done selling cookies because she didn't sell that many.  The most exciting thing they did was go to a ranch to ride horses for a weekend or something.  The boy scouts were always going camping or learning important life skills and I was jealous that I couldn't join them.  It's nice to hear that they're adapting to suit a changing world, now if only the girl scouts changed their policy and let boys join, I'm sure some boys would enjoy that.

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Oh so it's wrong to have a boy scout but it's not wrong to have a girl scout? People, where's the logic in that? I think I'm going to avoid making an argument with this idiocy.

 

Not that I'm against it but...if they're planning to do the same for the girl scout, then by all mean go for it. 

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It sounds like a reasonable change - all the orgnisations I've been involved in have been open to boys and girls, and even if afterwards the membership still only has a small proportion from the non-traditional demographic*, I'd still say it's worth it. 

I'd observe that complaints about it being unfair on boys should be directed at the Girl Scouts rather than at the Boy Scouts.

 

*such as myself in the girl-dominated Pony Club, or girls in the boy-dominated Cadets

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This is what happens when you have a loud minority and a quiet majority, the minority will get to change things and the majority sit around and complain about it to themselves.  I don't think I really need to point out that there has always been gender neutral alternatives to boy/girl scouts but I suppose that this is where things will be headed towards from now on so long as the minority continue to be louder than the majority.

I do remember when I went camping with our troop, there was this one troop that was gender neutral at the camp we went to and I was actually kind of jealous and wanted to be apart of something like that.  I do know now that there is gender neutral groups that I could of joined but my parents didn't know about them since they weren't from the area I was in, or so I think, and that they weren't very well advertised compared to girl/boy scouts.

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It's alright, I guess.

There are girls who are very masculine who would enjoy the Boy Scouts more I'd imagine, so this is an up for what I think. Though there was a radio show I was listening to today that made a good point: the Girl Scouts have to be mad that the Boy Scouts are cutting into their market! (insert Rainbow Dash laughing here)

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