OT: Boy Scouts of America changing name, dropping "Boy"
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/05/02/boy-scouts-sc…
And your generalized statement is an inaccurate statement.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Organization_of_the_Scout_M…
Facts are a strange thing. But, hey, you're the expert around here.
First, the "strict Islamic countries" you are presumably talking about don't have scout programs.
In fact, there's only one Middle Eastern country with a Scout program, Egypt. They have a single organization but a separate sub-organization for girls, which is modeled after the GSA.
Indonesia, which is the largest majority-Muslim country in the world, has gender-integrated scouts. So does Malaysia.
None of these countries likely fits your use of "strict." Indonesia is an officially pluralist state; like the US, there are many ways in which the majority religion is unofficially privileged, but not under the law. Scouts there are, essentially, a nationalistic organization. (I know this from having lived there, btw.)
Egypt and Malaysia are more conservative, but they're also not Saudi Arabia either. So I think your argument is a bit of a strawman. Of the scouting organizations within the world federation, most are gender integrated.
And interesting how he rolled back on his "Catholic countries" comment, too. True to form.
As the father of a son on his way to Eagle shortly, boys need some time by themselves to just be boys, without being around girls. It's healthy.
This is true for my daughter too. In your teenage years, a little bit of an oasis where you can just be yourself for a bit is a good thing.
Mgoblog will now be know as just Blog.
Sparties are invited too.
We don't discriminate.
Both the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are experiencing declining membership. Kids just aren't as interested in this kind of thing as they used to be, and neither are their parents. A different version of the same changing preferences that are killing chain restaurants, macrobreweries, book stores, etc.
(Note: I'm not saying these changing preferences are good or bad. They are both, as are the previous set of generational preferences. You gain some things and lose some others.)
As far as the BSA are concerned, I saw figures that said their membership peaked at 4 million members, which declined to 2.6 million in 2014--and is now down an additional 15% or so since. Clearly the BSA decided that they could stem the losses by bringing girls in, who I understand would be organized into separate troops. I doubt they made this decision lightly, as it both breaks with 100+ years of tradition and involves cannabilizing the GSA. I suspect they saw that only one of the major scout organizations would survive the contraction, and figured they had the position to be the one that does.
(Also worth noting that Canada has had gender-integrated scouts since 1976, and it works great there.)
As a father of two girls who sees a lot of value in Scouts, I do appreciate having options. Not sure whether we'd choose BSA or GSA. I suspect my older daughter would prefer BSA, as she likes a lot of "boy stuff" (or "stuff" as we prefer to call it). But we'll see.
can join up? I'd like to give it a second chance; as a teen I quit as they didn't offer a merit badge for partying or skipping school, and I apparently had better things to do with my time then earn Eagle Scout...
Maybe the time is right for mixed gender scouts. As a middle school teacher I've noticed how much more boys and girls play together now than they did even 10 years ago. Understanding and being able to work with the opposite gender can only be a positive thing for their work and personal lives.
What could go wrong?
Fascinating thread here with good arguments on both sides. Count me in the camp of those who think there's real value in boys and girls having single-sex spaces and activities while growing up. It's a shame that male-only spaces seem to be under assault from a variety of angles these days. You can say all you want that in this new dispensation "things will work out, and you can still have an all-boy troop!" -- but let's face it, that's not how this sort of thing works. Something distinctive will inevitably be lost.
For those who'd like to explore an alternative to Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, I highly recommend you check out Trail Life USA (for boys) and American Heritage Girls. (I have a child in each.) From what I can see, AHG does a much better job of providing more of the well-rounded scout-type experiences and programming that many people seem to believe Girl Scouts fails to provide. Trail Life is still a young organization, but they seem to be well run and my son enjoys it.