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Today is the Girl Scouts’ 107th birthday. The Girl Scouts of America was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912 with 18 girls in Savannah, Georgia. Low was a visionary, creating a group of girls from different ethnicities, and of differing abilities. Her goal was to create an organization which empowered girls, and helped them grow into self-sufficient women. Even before women had the right to vote, Low envisioned a place for girls to learn how to serve, lead and advocate for their values.
Scouting has always been about serving others in community and developing leaders. Low met with the creator of the wildly successful Boy Scouts, Robert Baden-Powell, to create a similar program for girls. The Girl Scouts were founded with the arts, nature, athletics and animals as their chief passions, all of which mirrored Low’s interests.
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I was a Girl Scout from second grade through my junior year of high school, when I earned my Gold Award. Scouting was a source of adventure for me; hiking, tent camping, horseback riding, rafting, learning the history of my hometown and interacting with military color guards. Every month held a new adventure. I was introduced to archery, agriculture, public speaking and everything in between. I learned basic car maintenance. I learned how to call and leave a proper telephone message. Yes, by selling cookies every year, I did learn to set goals. Heck, I had my first experience setting “business goals” by selling cookies.
Recent news that the Boys Scouts of America (BSA) were welcoming girls into their scouting programs made many headlines, despite BSA having allowed girls into their Venturing programs for decades. However, it seems this choice was made in part, out of growing dissatisfaction with the Girl Scouts’ programs. It also appears that BSA will keep girls and boys in separate groups, not co-ed groups, as many were expecting. In the wake of BSA’s announcement, many former girl scouts shared their underwhelming experiences in the program, with hopes the Boy Scouts would serve their families better. I was shocked and saddened to see that my experiences were, at least according to online posts and comments, quite the rarity. No outdoor skills or adventures and very little community service. I’ve heard from many women that their scouting experience amounted to a glorified craft-time!
We crafted plenty; but crafts were never the point. The tradition of Swaps goes back to the beginning of scouting; girls create a little token representative of their culture or community and introduce themselves to new girls at events, swapping crafts. The tradition connects scouts across time and instills confidence and ease with new people. The proverb “to have a friend one must be a friend” was learned first-hand at these events.
I am grateful for my experiences with the Girl Scouts. I learned the complexities of coordinating events for several hundred people and the basics of how to deal with all sorts of people. I was exposed to the truth that girls around the world were not afforded all the same opportunities I had, not even close. I learned that education is a gift, and not guaranteed. I learned to sew, yes, and my Gold Award project entailed hours upon hours of it. I also learned how to work in a group setting, developing leadership skills and a deep love for my community. All of these have helped me become the successful person I am today.
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Truly, the Girl Scouts provides a wealth of opportunities girls are unlikely to come across through other development programs. There are simply not many programs which allow you do community service projects, go learn in nature, meet with men and women serving in the armed forces, and put on a community event for hundreds of girls all in the same month.
Perhaps the issue is simply that scouting needs to change a bit in light of increased homework and school obligations, coupled with the fact that parents have less time and disposable income. With so many demands, maybe scouting programs need to become more streamlined, and easily accommodated into a hectic American schedule. It also sounds like outdoor activities are what girls want, but somewhere along the line there is a lack of willingness or ability to meet this request. Perhaps the Girl Scouts can find more effective ways of pairing families’ interests with scout group interests, and have happier membership across the board?
My hope is for these enriching programs to stay around for generations to come. I want the girls of today to have the same opportunity, or more, that I did to learn in a safe environment and develop leadership skills. It would be a shame to lose a program which was founded on service to community and training youths to be self-sufficient.
