Boy ? Scouts

[DirtyDan]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/boy-scouts-will-admit-girls-allow-them-earn-eagle-scout-n809836

I think it's fair to say "Elvis has left the building"

Dan

[scooperhsd]

Actually - the story I saw was that girls would be allowed into CUB Scouts(4th-6th graders) - the scouts would be coming up with programs for older girls.

[Patrick]

I heard, or, the way I heard it, was girls could now join all the 'boys' scouts.

Can boys now join the Girl Scouts ?

[Jess from VA]

Both cubs and reg scouts will be created for girls, but girls and boys troops will be kept .... gender segregated (ooo that word).

So what happened to the brownies and reg girl scouts (which essentially mirrored the cubs and reg scouts)?  

And I cannot wait to hear the uproar for the transgender scouts?  And I suppose they will need to create troops for kids who haven't made up their minds what they want to be.

I (sadly) remember working at a USAF base legal office when the scout troop we sponsored got kicked off base, after BS HQ said there couldn't be any gay scoutmasters.  As part of the Fed, we weren't allowed to be part of that.  Didn't matter we gave them no money, just a place to meet and play sports, and use the pool, and maybe some old pup tents.  But NOOO, you can't do that.

I'm glad they get to keep their name... BOY scouts.  I see trouble coming for that too.

I credit the Boy Scouts with a big (positive) part of my growing to adulthood.  I wish them well.

Be Prepared (you know, that never goes out of style)  
  

[The emperor has no clothes]

Both cubs and reg scouts will be created for girls, but girls and boys troops will be kept .... gender segregated (ooo that word).

So what happened to the brownies and reg girl scouts (which essentially mirrored the cubs and reg scouts)?  

And I cannot wait to hear the uproar for the transgender scouts?  And I suppose they will need to create troops for kids who haven't made up their minds what they want to be.

I (sadly) remember working at a USAF base legal office when the scout troop we sponsored got kicked off base, after BS HQ said there couldn't be any gay scoutmasters.  As part of the Fed, we weren't allowed to be part of that.  Didn't matter we gave them no money, just a place to meet and play sports, and use the pool, and maybe some old pup tents.  But NOOO, you can't do that.

I'm glad they get to keep their name... BOY scouts.  I see trouble coming for that too.

I credit the Boy Scouts with a big (positive) part of my growing to adulthood.  I wish them well.

Be Prepared (you know, that never goes out of style)  
  

I only made it thru Webelos. Then got interested in motorcycles and girls. But it's a great program for young men. I don't know if girls would like it or not. 

[scooperhsd]

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are both fine programs for developing our young people, and I'm sure there are many others as well. I was a Cub scout - Boy scouts, and while I didn't do much on Boy scout rank ( only 1st class) - I did make Senior Patrol leader and was elected to the Order of the Arrow before  I left. I like to think it had some impact on who I am today.

[Alpha Dog]

The top brass of the Girl Scouts are pretty upset over this and I can certainly see their point.  Perhaps both organizations should just merge and call themselves the Scouts.

[scooperhsd]

The top brass of the Girl Scouts are pretty upset over this and I can certainly see their point.  Perhaps both organizations should just merge and call themselves the Scouts.

I had the same thought - but the usuals will conspire against it.... (read MONEY and Organizational influence)

[Gavin_Sons]

My son wanted to join this year and I said no way. Not after the queer leaders taking advantage of kids scandal. I told him he already knows more about survival and being in the woods than a lifetime in the scouts would teach him. I have known a few leaders and all of them would be better fit in a dress in LA. Their idea of camping was in a back yard in town  I don't need my boys being all sissyfied by some guy in shorty shorts. No thanks.

[Black Dog]

I'm an Eagle Scout, and Order of the Arrow... 

20 or so years ago, thought about having my oldest son join...  What a disappointment.  No rules, no order, just a buncha kids running around like wild animals, while the parents stood around in another room, drinking coffee...

Decided to teach both my boys the skills I got from scouts, on my own.  Glad I did 

Black Dog

[Ramie]

I predict it won't be long and they will be sued to change their name from Boy Scouts to just Scouts to make it more inclusive.

[Jess Tolbirt]

man when i was a boy scout i would have been in heaven if we had girls with us...how in the world would you keep the girls and boys separated on camp outs?

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

I loved the scouts although I was only in it a few years. Our scout master was former military (maybe Ranger, not sure). He would sometimes give us one compass and one flashlight for the troop. Then drop us off along a wooded road and tell us what direction we were to go and how long we had to get to the next road. Then it was jogging through the woods at night following the guy with the light and compass. If we didn't come out in the right place or if we took too long we'd do it again.

If we severely broke a rule then it was the "paddle line". The paddle line consisted of the troop divided into two lines facing each other. The offender had to crawl between the lines while each scout was able to give him as many open handed slaps on the ass as they had time to give. Obviously, the slower you crawled, the more wacks you got.

There was also trap and target shooting, fishing and frog gigging which included cleaning and cooking what we caught. We had a dinner for our folks once or twice a year where the scouts would gather wild plants from the woods and fields and cook them for our families.

New scouts also learned the art of "snipe hunting". In this you were led out into the woods at night with a burlap bag and told to stand in place quietly and wait while the other scouts scared the snipes towards you. When you heard a "snipe" running towards you, you were to catch it in the bag. Then the other scouts would quietly head back to camp and giggle about how long it took you to give up and find your way back in the dark.  I'm not sure how well these activities would go over with the fairer sex.

And of course, at the scout camp, some would sneak over to the girls side at night or at least claim they did.

Somehow I doubt that many/any of these activities are still going on in the scouts and that is a damn shame. Ah, also our assistant leader taught us how to draw pictures of naked women at camp one year. That probably doesn't happen much now either. 

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

Years later one of my sons wanted to join, and I was very happy about it. But when I took him I discovered they were learning nothing about wilderness survival, knots, plants that kill you or feed you or sheltering outside.

It actually appeared to be just a church service for kids. After two or three meetings like this he dropped out much to his relief and ours.

[MarkT]

My exposure was in the Cub Scouts.  No survival or woods experiences.  We had a Den Mother who had us making crafts things for our mothers, like a carry bag made of a Clorox bottle and a drawstring cloth top.  Useless BS.  I dropped out as fast as I could w/o hurting my Mom's feelings.  My Dad was nowhere in my life in those years.  This and other learning / teaching opportunities - he missed the boat.  Too bad.  There was opportunity there; I was a blank slate. And I missed the same opportunities with my son after the divorce and being out of state. No proper fathering example to emulate and too stupid to seek that out on my own. I did take him hunting and outdoor experiences / survival stuff / camping prior to the divorce however. To this day we can both survive in the woods with minimal equipment.  My daughter - not so much.  Gender roles were still defined then; she wasn't interested; neither was I in teaching her how to be a woman.

[John Schmidt]

SNIP: "New scouts also learned the art of "snipe hunting". In this you were led out into the woods at night with a burlap bag and told to stand in place quietly and wait while the other scouts scared the snipes towards you."
==============================================================
As a kid I always got to go to "church" camp every summer, girls in one area, boys in another. One year I hooked up with this little cutie from another town, we had met the year before and she had really blossomed in the ensuing year since....wow, had she ever! I was about 14 at the time and really started noticing such things. At one gathering all the "older" attendees and some counselors asked who wanted to go snipe hunting so the little cutie sought me out and suggested we take part....claiming to know a good spot for catching them. I knew what the snipe hunting was all about so went along with it. She knew a good spot alright, not near anyone else, obviously didn't catch any snipes but once we were in place it became apparent why she wanted to go snipe hunting. Aaahh....the memories of my youth. 

[Valkorado]

Similar experience to Frye's, and some similar activities. I was a Cub, skipped Webelos then went on to a couple years in the Boy Scouts with Colonel Jack Doerty our Troop Scoutmaster.  Smiling Jack expected discipline, but was by no means a military hard ass.  He knew scouting was about boys having fun.

https://www.gunnisontimes.com/obituaries/wl-jack-doerty

I do remember freezing our young butts off learning some winter survival techniques in below zero temperatures!

Years later, as the only non ROTC student I took a ROTC Land Navigation and Survival course at OSU.  Great fun, and lots of ribbing.  Still managed to earn an A from the instructor, Seargeant Carter (not kidding) who was a military hard ass!

[Jess from VA]

In a new split-off BS Troop (1262, from the older and bigger Troop of 1261, on the other end of the island I grew up on), I rose from Tenderfoot to Senior Patrol Leader.  Only 30-35 guys.  I made Star scout, and had enough merit badges to be a Life scout, but never completed all the public/community service requirements for the rank (which I didn't care about). 

I stayed in some 18 months after most boys my age quit because they felt too old to stay, but for me it was all about camping, pioneering, archery, hiking, lashing, canoeing, swimming, all out in the woods.  That was why I stayed, not the stupid meetings.  Though we were sponsored by a small Naval Air Station (prop planes only, so it later closed).  Every summer, we got to stay on base for a week in an old open bay barracks and eat in the enlisted chow hall and taught close order drill by a real DI (without the bad language).  Man I had a great time.  Even got my aviation merit badge and sit in some old two seat observation and patrol prop planes.  No flying though. 

Here's info on the old NAS Grosse Ile MI:

http://www.nasgi.net/index.html

http://detroit1701.org/Grosse%20Ile%20Naval%20Air%20Station.html

I grew up on the tip of the second little island over to the right (Hickory Island), and the NAS was a couple miles down the road; I would bicycle up there.



 

   

[ridingron]

My son went through the Cub and Boy Scouts and ended up an Eagle. He was 1 of 4 that started and finished. All the rest plus some that came and went along the way. I would not allow him to join now. I have not supported the Boy Scouts for several years. I have told the adult leaders why I won't buy their products and/or goods. Nothing personal at them but the organization. I protest or demonstrate with my money.

[cookiedough]

I think the main reason why the boy scouts will now accept girsl (and homosexuals) is because the enrollment is down and they want to keep it going.  I do not see the need to allow girls in but in declining enrollment, I guess something had to be done to maybe get 1-2 girls to join?  Around me the girl scouts only go thru younger generations only like 3-5th grade is all where as boy scouts can go much older, but not many join.  Most kids nowadays have other things to do or want to do.

My co-worker is a big time boy scouts parent having all 4 of her boys in scouts oldest age 15 going for eagle scout and another one close as well.  She said if her boys were not so close to achieving eagle scouts,  she would have them drop out entirely since she totally disapproves of girls and homosexuals in boy scouts entirely.   I guess a couple girls would like to join her boy scouts in her town and she is NOT happy about it one bit threatening to pull her kids out.

I can see both sides of the story, but really have no stake in the matter so not taking sides.