Boy Scouts Will Admit Girls, Allow Them to Earn Eagle Scout Rank

The Boy Scouts of America announced Wednesday that girls will soon be allowed to become Cub Scouts and to earn the coveted rank of Eagle Scout, the organization’s highest honor.

"We believe it is critical to evolve how our programs meet the needs of families interested in positive and lifelong experiences for their children," said Michael Surbaugh, chief executive of the Boy Scouts.

The scouting board of directors voted unanimously to make the historic change in an organization that has been primarily for boys since its founding more than 100 years ago.

Starting next year, young girls can join Cub Scout units, known as dens. Local scouting organizations can choose to have dens for girls and dens for boys. "Cub Scout dens will be single-gender — all boys or all girls," the organization said in a statement.

A separate program for older girls will be available in 2019, BSA said, enabling them to earn the rank of Eagle Scout.
The Boy Scouts said the moves reflect the changing nature of American life, adding to the appeal of a scouting program that can serve the entire family.

BSA said it commissioned two nationwide surveys that showed parents not involved in scouting had high interest in getting their daughters signed up for both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.

Girls are now part of four scouting programs — Venturing and Sea Scouting, geared toward outdoor activities; Exploring, a career-oriented mentoring program; and STEM, focusing on science and math. But those programs have not offered a path to Eagle Scout for girls.

Earlier this year, the National Organization for Women urged the Boy Scouts to admit girls to the entire program, supporting the efforts of a New York teenager, Sydney Ireland, to attain the rank of Eagle Scout, as her older brother did.

"I just want to do what the Boy Scouts do — earn the merit badges and earn the Eagle Award," she told NBC News. "The Girl Scouts is a great organization, but it's just not the program that I want to be part of. I think girls should just have the opportunity to be a member of any organization they want regardless of gender."

In the past, the Girl Scouts have been cool to the idea of admitting girls into the Boy Scouts, citing research which showed that many girls learn best in an all-female environment.

"We are unparalleled in our ability to build great female leaders who contribute to society at every level," said Andrea Bastiani Archibald, a psychologist who helps guide the Girl Scouts.

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ha...-death-n809806

So will they change the name from Boy Scouts to something a little more gender neutral? UniScouts?

How sad, but hardly surprising...

Sent from my SM-J727V using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by rockgremlin

So will they change the name from Boy Scouts to something a little more gender neutral? UniScouts?

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Probably just Scouts.

I was wondering if this would happen. It may be the only way to keep some of the programs and camps going now that the Boy Scouts lost most of the LDS members.

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Originally Posted by Scott P

Probably just Scouts.

I was wondering if this would happen. It may be the only way to keep some of the programs and camps going now that the Boy Scouts lost most of the LDS members.

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That's my thoughts exactly. The LDS Church moving away from the BSA has got to be hurting them money-wise and membership big time.

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Originally Posted by Scott P

now that the Boy Scouts lost most of the LDS members.

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So, did the LDS members pick up and leave, or were they lightly encouraged? What was the primary motivation there? :ne_nau:

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Originally Posted by rockgremlin

So, did the LDS members pick up and leave, or were they lightly encouraged? What was the primary motivation there? :ne_nau:

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It was a church wide decision:

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...der-teens.html

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Originally Posted by Scott P

It was a church wide decision:

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...der-teens.html

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Methinks they saw the writing on the wall as the BSA announced just three months later that they would allow gay men to be leaders within the scouting program...

The Boy Scouts was founded on principles and was driven by those principles. It was volunteer based and principle oriented. It appears to me that the founding principles are being abandoned in favor of political correctness and that money appears to be the primary driving force with this decision. As an Eagle Scout and an adult leader of many, many scouts currently and in the past, the direction of the National leaders is very disappointing to me.

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Originally Posted by Scott Card

The Boy Scouts was founded on principles and was driven by those principles. It was volunteer based and principle oriented. It appears to me that the founding principles are being abandoned in favor of political correctness and that money appears to be the primary driving force with this decision. As an Eagle Scout and an adult leader of many, many scouts currently and in the past, the direction of the National leaders is very disappointing to me.

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And what principle is that? That homosexuality is immoral and wrong?

I'll just go ahead and say it and you can go ahead and throw your rocks. Those 'principles' are draconian, and homosexuality isn't and shouldn't be shamed and considered immoral and evil. I applaud BSA for taking a progressive step forward.

Baden-Powell founded Scouting in England around 1905. Here is what he had to say about God and Religion in Scouting.

"When asked where religion came into Scouting and Guiding, Baden-Powell replied, It does not come in at all. It is already there. It is a fundamental factor underlying Scouting and Guiding."

So now the girls can get an Eagle Scout and put it on their portfolio and resume just like I did!

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Originally Posted by rockgremlin

And what principle is that? That homosexuality is immoral and wrong?

I'll just go ahead and say it and you can go ahead and throw your rocks. Those 'principles' are draconian, and homosexuality isn't and shouldn't be shamed and considered immoral and evil. I applaud BSA for taking a progressive step forward.

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:roll: Reel in your claws there, Rock. When you eliminate "Boy" and water-down "God" and many other points of the scout law it seems that the "Boy" Scouts that I knew and loved is becoming unrecognizable. Camping and merit badges and awards were tools to connect boys with God, connect them to country and assist them in choosing an ethical life of service to God, country and community. It seems to me that nowadays, a few loud people question the definition of "boy", state that a belief in God is a sign of ignorance and weakness, and being "morally straight" is philosophically wrong. It also appears that in the world today that "Reverent" towards anything is now all but extinct, "friendly, courteous and kind" are no where to be found in the current political dialogue and rarely found on internet forums, "honest" is now based on the law not on higher ethics and morality, being "trustworthy, loyal, true" to many is a self serving principle based upon moral relativism, etc.etc. It also seems to me that the founding principles of the Scout Oath and Law are exactly what this world needs, not watering down those principles to moral unrecognizable mush.

Preach it Brother Card. [emoji108]

We don’t need no stinking watered down Scout program.

It's a polarizing topic for sure.

The beef I have is that all of that stuff you said about values and principles is also tarnished by the rust of discrimination and intolerance -- and it's been like that for decades. Basically, you may claim that the BSA was attempting to protect their values, but in reality that was a thin veil thrown over mass bigotry.

This is a discussion very near and dear to my heart because I have more than a few very near and dear friends and close family members who are gay, and I've witnessed the bigotry and intolerance first hand -- and some of it comes from folks that are in very high LDS leadership positions. It's sickening and it needs to stop.

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The Boy Scouts was founded on principles and was driven by those principles. It was volunteer based and principle oriented. It appears to me that the founding principles are being abandoned

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I agree that the founding principles have been being abandoned, but this has been happening long before political correctness. One only needs to look at the list of merit badges now days to notice that there is a video game merit badge. :facepalm1:

The primary purpose of Scouting at the time of foundation was to teach boys wilderness survival and outdoor skills in a primitive setting. Woodcraft, exploration, self reliance, fieldcraft, and love of nature were paramount. Youth were supposed to be drilled in those aspects in military fashion. This was meant to teach them life skills and responsibility.

Everything else was to be secondary.

Only leaders who were to be skilled and experienced in the outdoors and who could teach these principles were to be accepted to be Scout leaders. The biggest flaw in the LDS scouting program was the fact that scout leader was made a calling and that people were called that were neither skilled or experienced in the outdoors and a lot of them didn't know what they were doing (though many others did). This goes completely against Scouting principles.

Here is the original Scout Law, copied and pasted from the 1908 Scouting for Boys:

1.	A SCOUT'S HONOUR IS TO BE TRUSTED. If a scout says "On my honour it is so," that means it is so, just as if he had taken a most solemn oath. Similarly, if a scout officer says to a scout, "I trust you on your honour to do this," the Scout is bound to carry out the order to the very best of his ability, and to let nothing interfere with his doing so. If a scout were to break his honour by telling a lie, or by not carrying out an order exactly when trusted on his honour to do so, he would cease to be a scout, and must hand over his scout badge and never be allowed to wear it again.
2.	A SCOUT IS LOYAL to the King, and to his officers, and to his country, and to his employers. He must stick to them through thick and thin against anyone who is their enemy, or who even talks badly of them.
3.	A SCOUT'S DUTY IS TO BE USEFUL AND TO HELP OTHERS. And he is to do his duty before anything else, even though he gives up his own pleasure, or comfort, or safety to do it. When in difficulty to know which of two things to do, he must ask himself, "Which is my duty?" that is, "Which is best for other people?"---and do that one. He must Be Prepared at any time to save life, or to help injured persons. And he must do a good turn to somebody every day.
4.	A SCOUT IS A FRIEND TO ALL, AND A BROTHER TO EVERY OTHER SCOUT, NO MATTER TO WHAT SOCIAL CLASS THE OTHER BELONGS. If a scout meets another scout, even though a stranger to him, he must speak to him, and help him in any way that he can, either to carry out the duty he is then doing, or by giving him food, or, as far as possible, anything that he may be in want of. A scout must never be a SNOB. A snob is one who looks down upon another because he is poorer, or who is poor and resents another because he is rich. A scout accepts the other man as he finds him, and makes the best of him -- "Kim," the boy scout, was called by the Indians "Little friend of all the world," and that is the name which every scout should earn for himself.
5.	A SCOUT IS COURTEOUS: That is, he is polite to all—but especially to women and children and old people and invalids, cripples, etc. And he must not take any reward for being helpful or courteous.
6.	A SCOUT IS A FRIEND TO ANIMALS. He should save them as far as possible from pain, and should not kill any animal unnecessarily, even if it is only a fly---for it is one of God's creatures.
7.	A SCOUT OBEYS ORDERS of his patrol-leader, or scout master without question. Even if he gets an order he does not like, he must do as soldiers and sailors do, he must carry it out all the same because it is his duty; and after he has done it he can come and state any reasons against it: but he must carry out the order at once. That is discipline.
8.	A SCOUT SMILES AND WHISTLES under all circumstances. When he gets an order he should obey it cheerily and readily, not in a slow, hang-dog sort of way. Scouts never grouse at hardships, nor whine at each other, nor swear when put out. When you just miss a train, or some one treads on your favourite corn---not that a scout ought to have such things as corns--- or under any annoying circumstances, you should force yourself to smile at once, and then whistle a tune, and you will be all right. A scout goes about with a smile on and whistling. It cheers him and cheers other people, especially in time of danger, for he keeps it up then all the same. The punishment for swearing or bad language is for each offence a mug of cold water to be poured down the offender's sleeve by the other scouts.
9.	A SCOUT IS THRIFTY, that is, he saves every penny he can, and puts it in the bank, so that he may have money to keep himself when out of work, and thus not make himself a burden to others; or that he may have money to give away to others when they need it.

10.	A SCOUT IS CLEAN IN THOUGHT, WORD AND DEED. Decent Scouts look down upon silly youths who talk dirt, and they do not let themselves give way to temptation, either to talk it or to do anything dirty. A Scout is pure, and clean-minded, and manly.

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Here is the original scout promise:

On my honour I promise that---

1. I will do my duty to God and the King.
2. I will do my best to help others, whatever it costs me.
3. I know the scout law, and will obey it.

Yes, God is mentioned.

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"morally straight" is philosophically wrong. It also appears that in the world today that "Reverent" towards anything is now all but extinct,

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Morally straight and reverent were never in the original scout laws and promises, though it may be argued that some of it is implied under rule #10. Since Rock mentioned homosexuals, accepting them actually could be under rule #4 in the Scout Law, but others may argue that it might violate rule #10.

It's also extremely sad that a lot of scout leaders and scouts I have come in contact with completely ignore Rule #6. In fact, leaders or scouts that violate this rule were supposed to be court martialed.

I’m waiting for the day they let boys on the girls dance team. What if a boy wants to play on the girls softball or volleyball team? Or how about girls on the boys football or baseball team? Why not? When will it end?

Everything doesn’t have to be the same. Why not celebrate our differences. Instead, some feel like everything should be the same and somehow this makes things equal.

This move by BSA is all about money and unfortunately an attempt to save a dying organization.

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Originally Posted by accadacca

Or how about girls on the boys football or baseball team? Why not? When will it end

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http://people.com/sports/girl-on-hig...orida-history/

This article was last year's news. And if you google "girls on high school football team" there are many more just like it, all over the country.

There were two girls on my son's little league football team last year. And they were pretty good too. Nobody batted an eye at it. Pretty normal now.

Times are a changin. May as well embrace and accept.

I still see this as the exception, not the norm. Far, far, far from it. I don’t see any girls in men’s professional sports. Are there any on college football or basketball teams? I don’t see this changing anytime soon. The BSA decision will have very little influence on this.

There is no question that some girls would be great players on a boys team. Again, why not celebrate our differences. Different is good in my book and the spice of life.

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