"Boy" Scouts

We hear today that the Boy Scouts are now going to admit girls to their ranks.  This will be true for Cub Scouts all the way to Eagle Scout.   There are a lot of crazy, upside down things happening in society today, but this is, at least for me, pretty close to the top of the list.  Um...to me Boy Scouts are by definition Boys.  And the ranks of Girl Scouts are made up of Girls.

The Boy Scouts have just come through a turbulent time while they grappled with their ban on homosexuals.  They were vilified for a few years until they decided to acquiesce to the pressure and agree to admit gay kids and leaders.  As they were going through it, I always thought that they would at some point to change their tune.  Because here's the deal.  In the last 20 or 30 years we've gone through what is perhaps the most rapid cultural shift in human history.  Across our culture, and this is only true in the Western world (and not even all of that), populations have come to accept gay people as just people who deserve equal rights.  Many, many organizations, including the Boy Scouts, came to the acceptance of that new paradigm at different times and in different ways.  They definitely studied the issue, had a conversation with their members and families, and came down on the side of equal rights.  Good for them.  

But I wonder what they are thinking here?  I checked their website and you can read the news release here

Personally, I thought it was sorta lame.  Upon reading their justification it comes down to there were a lot of requests, they studied the issue, recognized that families (especially minority families) are different and want to do things together, and they thought they could bring all the great qualities of Scouting to more people by doing this.  No mention of the dramatic changes and impacts this will have.

I wasn't a Boy Scout but my son was (and my daughter was a Girl Scout).  He started as a Cub, progressed to Webelo (where I was Den Leader), and went a few years into the Boy Scout world before giving it up for other things.  This seemed to be a natural progression as very few kids make it all the way to Eagle Scout, which is the pinnacle of Scouting.  But here's the thing about the Boy Scouts, no matter where you are in your progression through the program.  It provides a place for boys to come together and develop all the traits that boys need to become productive members of our society as men.  They see role models.  They interact with each other.  They learn life skills.  They can be goofy little boys.  They undergo (whether they know it or not) a metamorphosis in an environment that doesn't have the distractions or pressures of a mixed gender environment.   

And of course, the Girl Scouts are pissed.  They see this as poaching on their territory and I can't say that I blame them.  The Girl Scouts are a wonderful program for girls and, in a similar manner to the Boy Scouts, they get to learn and develop and grow in a safe environment that doesn't include boys.  Because the problem is that when boys and girls are mixed at a certain age, the boys will tend to dominate.  I don't say that as remotely any sort of discrimination against girls.  And in truth there would be some areas where the girls would be better.  But kids (and really all of us) can use places where they can be themselves, where they can be safe and silly and comfortable.   

So this decision isn't going to alter the global balance.  Life will go on.  But I don't think this is similar to the issue with homosexuality.  In that issue they were dealing with a difference among members.  In this one they are fundamentally changing the nature of the organization.   They say change is difficult and it is.  But in any change there is a fundamental question that must be asked.  Why?  I just don't think there's a good answer here and it's hard to see how this change is going to be positive.  The Scout's are a very entrenched part of our society and it's difficult to imagine them disappearing.  But...never say never.