Should Girls be allowed to join the Boy Scouts?

Should Girls be allowed to join the Boy Scouts? This week the Boy Scouts of America announced that they are opening up membership to girls.  This announcement has caused much controversy between Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of America.  Instead of being proactive many are reactive to this announcement.  There are so many opinions on this and people are writing about it and reporting on it.  After reading and listening to a lot of the reports on this I'm still very torn.  I know that Boy Scouts of America did not go into this lightly.  Watch this video of the Chief Scout Executive at a National Council Town Hall Meeting. They have done a lot of research on this, and I hear what they are saying, I still believe that they did this wrong. Top 6 Things you need to know about girls joining Boy Scouts. 

This has been a heated conversation in my house and in my circles of friends and family.  I have a son and 2 daughters, all of them are in Scouts.  My son is an Eagle Scout and my daughters are Girl Scouts.  As a supporter of both organizations and a parent of a Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, I don't believe that girls should be able to join Boy Scouts.  I do believe that girls can do the same things that boys do, but I don't believe that means they should become Boy Scouts.  I think that Girl Scouts of America should be listening and creating more challenging things for girls to do.  Girl Scouts has been introducing new badges, keep them coming.  I believe that there are some things that need to remain same and unaltered by societal changes. Here is another video link from Fox News. There are many reasons why girls and boys should have their own organizations. I believe that single-gender organizations create a safe comfortable environment for both girls and boys.  Boy Scouts opening up membership should not be a sexist issue as some are making it out to be.

Girls are a distraction for boys as boys are a distraction for girls, not just when they become teenagers but even as younger children.  Their maturity levels are different.  When talking to men who were Boy Scouts as children and young men who never made it to Eagle, their reason why is "girls and cars."
Puberty is another reason why girls and boys need their own groups.  When a girl is starting her period she doesn't want to be around boys camping in tents with no running water for the weekend.  It's bad enough being uncomfortable about getting your period with other girls who are going through it also.  And boys don't want to be grossed out by that either.  It's a fact that girls and boys develop differently.  It is just as important for both boys and girls to feel like they can do anything without the help of the other sex as it is for them to be able to work together.


The Mission and Vision of the Boy Scouts of America 2017, are to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.  The Boy Scouts of America will prepare every eligible youth in America to become a responsible, participating citizen and leader who is guided by the Scout Oath and Law. The Boy Scout Motto is "Be prepared."  The Mission and Vision of the Girl Scouts of America to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.  The Girl Scout Motto is "Be prepared."  As you can see both organizations want to teach boys and girls to be prepared for what lies ahead of them and to succeed in life by giving them the tools to help guide them.

Above all, we need to remember that our founders Robert Baden-Powell and Juliette Gordon Low were friends.  Baden-Powell started the Boy Scouts around 1907 in England and his sister and wife followed soon after with Girl Guides.  Boy Scouts of America was founded February 8, 1910.  After seeing how great the scouting movement was in England, Juliette stared a group of Girl Guides in Scotland in 1911.   The following year Juliette brought it home to the girls of Savannah Georgia and started the first Girl Guide Troop on March 12, 1912.  The name changed to Girl Scouts in 1915.   I don't know when or why the rivalry between the two organizations began but I think it's time that it ended.   Both organizations have things that they struggle with and things that are successful.  I think we should work together to better both organizations.  We can both learn from each other.

The question still remains, Should Girls be allowed to join the Boy Scouts? I still say no, even after everything I have seen and heard. I think that both organizations could benefit from each other if we joined forces and became friends, not enemies.

(If you read both of my blog you will see this on both.  I know not everyone reads both of my posts but I want to share this with both.)