I've let this news about the Boy Scouts letting girls join their ranks next year stew a bit because I didn't want to treat the subject without appropriate consideration.
Boys are under attack by a culture that doesn't like masculinity. At least, that's how I see it. If boys aren't left alone to be boys they will never grow up to be respectable men. Manly skills are being lost. Our schools and institutions have forgotten that every child is different.
I'm not talking about bad behavior. Discipline is essential to a boys upbringing.
And really, all of that aside, why aren't the Girl Scouts providing programming that attracts those girls that want more experiences like the Boy Scouts provide?
I read online that there are reasons why girls join the Girl Scouts and one of them is that it is a place for girls to discuss things they wouldn't want to share in the presence of boys. Here's a newsflash, the boys have those same issues.
Nobody is served by destroying traditional programs except those who seek to blur the line of appropriate behavior.
Should there be more interaction between the scouting organizations? I think there would be some benefit to such an arrangement. Should there be a scouting organization the isn't gender based? There have been such programs and they haven't flourished, at least not in my lifetime.
Parents of girls who want in the Boy Scouts ought to be more involved in the Girl Scouts programming. There is no reason why the Girl Scouts can't adapt to fit the needs of the modern girl.
