There has been heated controversy after The Boy Scouts Of America announced that they will now be accepting girls into their organization. They claim that there are many benefits that’ll stem from their decision. One being that their program can help all genders, and additionally assisting parents with transportation.
What can the Boy Scouts of America provide the girls that wasn’t offered with the Girl Scouts?
Randall Stephenson, the organizations national board chairman stated that he hasn’t seen another organization that builds “leadership skills and discipline” like the Boy Scouts, and that its time for these programs to be available to girls.
The news of the program opening its doors to girls raised many issues with the Girl Scouts of America. Lisa Margosian, the chief customer officer for the Girl Scouts told the New York Times that they have done extensive research to prove that “girls really thrive in an environment where they can experiment, take risks and stretch themselves in the company of other girls.”
After this year, the Cub Scout program will be accepting all genders.
By 2019, older girls will be allowed to earn the title of an Eagle Scout. The Eagle Scout title is an honor which is awarded to a young man who has gone through a lengthy review process and completed certain tasks. This is the highest recognition a scout can receive and only a small number of scouts have earned the name of an Eagle Scout.
I asked an Eagle Scout Rev. Ruben Velasco, what he thought of this news. “I believe that this is a slap in the face to the Girl Scouts of America who have been an incredible organization to many girls for a long time. In a way it says that the Boy Scouts are a more prestigious organization than the Girl Scouts, which is very false. There are benefits to having a boys organization and a girls organization. That being said, I will support BSA in whatever decision they choose.”     Â
Some say that this is an opportunity for girls to be viewed the same as boys. Although, there have been some inquires of whether or not this is a tactic by the Boy Scouts to gain more membership, seeing as though their numbers have significantly dropped throughout the years.
Others say its part of the change in our society and that this is a sign of the organization being open to everyone. This past January, they announced that they will accept transgender members, in 2013 openly gay members were allowed to join, and in 2015 the Boy Scouts were open to gay scout leaders.
So what do you think? Is this a way for the Boy Scouts Of America to gain more recruits? Can the girls really benefit from this decision? How will this affect the boys?