Girls in the Boy Scouts? I'm All for It.

I know I will hear lots of arguments against the Boy Scouts of America’s Oct. 11 decision allowing girls to join Cub Scouting and, eventually, earn the Eagle Scout award via traditional Scouting organizations beginning in 2019.

I’m going to offer one argument in favor of the decision: My daughter.

This past summer, she worked as a counselor-in-training at Treasure Mountain Scout Camp, part of the Idaho Falls, Idaho-based Grand Teton Council. She worked alongside her older brother, who worked as a counselor in the commissary, and their mother, commissary director. There too was our youngest son, a CIT in all but name. Where was I? I was at home, working full-time and volunteering as Scoutmaster for our chartered organization.

We’re a Scouting family. So it’s families like us the BSA talks about when they say things like this:

“This decision is true to the BSA’s mission and core values outlined in the Scout Oath and Law. The values of Scouting – trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, brave and reverent, for example – are important for both young men and women,” said Michael Surbaugh, the BSA’s Chief Scout Executive. “We believe it is critical to evolve how our programs meet the needs of families interested in positive and lifelong experiences for their children. We strive to bring what our organization does best – developing character and leadership for young people – to as many families and youth as possible as we help shape the next generation of leaders.”

We’re not alone in this.

I can think of at least two other families served by our chartered org that are also “Scouting families,” where everyone is involved in one way or the other – even the girls.

I’ve seen girls at pack meetings participating in games and activities with gusto, right alongside their brothers.

And I’ve seen their disappointment when the time for awards comes around, and only the boys get them.

I was thrilled when our daughter went to Cedar Badge – along with two good girlfriends – and then joined an all-female Venturing crew. I’ve seen – from Cub Scouts through Boy Scouts to things like summer camp and Wood Badge and Cedar Badge the great advantages families can garner when everyone who wants to is participating, and being recognized.

Our kids participate in many such activities. Two are dancers. All three are musicians. But it’s in Scouting where we get to see them function together, as a team (and I should say that’s at Scout camp). I love what I see.

And none of what I see detracts from the core of the Boy Scouts of America. Not even the “Boy” part.

Boys and girls get to work together, whether it’s building a fire or hiking to a mountain lake. They learn to respect each others’ differences, each others’ talents. And they all have to cook and wash the dishes.

Robert Baden-Powell saw the impact Scouting could have on girls, and founded the Girl Guides in 1910. Yes, it was and is a separate organization – expected in society at the time. But Baden-Powell worked hard to advise both Scouting and Girl Guiding organizations until he retired in 1937. He saw the importance and value of offering such a program to girls.

This is all the BSA is doing – mirroring an impactful program the Baden-Powell would not find alien even in his own time.