So your daughter wants to join Scouts BSA....

 So your daughter wants to join Scouts BSA...

    When my daughter was 9 years old, she came home from school very excited. A representative from Scouts BSA, New Birth of Freedom Council came to her school and told her the most amazing news, Pack 233 will be accepting girls for the first time ever. While she was excited, I was a bit more apprehensive. 

    My daughter, Abby, has watched both of her cousins enjoying numerous outdoor activities, using pocket knives, and their overall joy of hanging out every Tuesday with their friends. Abby wanted that in her life. I on the other hand being from the smaller town that I am from saw this as a chance for my daughter to learn a little about the potentially ugly side of adults. What I did not expect was that my 9-year-old was fully aware of this, and wanted to take on this challenge. She also had a lot of faith in the better side of humanity and knew there were a lot of others that would think it was amazing. She also was aware even at the age of nine, that she was blazing a trail for girls behind her.  Abby, from the day she joined, wanted to become the "First Eagle Scout Girl" from our town. She knew that when she reached a milestone in scouting that she would be the first girl to do so.  I was inspired by her passion to lead a new path for girls in our town, and I was ready to help her.  While this is partially my journey, the truth is Scouting is about the youth. This journey is Abby's and I am simply a guide to help her. 

The following are the lessons learned at the start of our journey. I am sharing this because when your daughter makes the decision to join, there are some things you want to look for and understand even before the application is submitted to join. 

I will use the term -Unit - This is a reference to the scouting organization you will be joining. There are a lot of different Packs, Troops, and Crews.  While we were involved in a Pack and Den, and now a Troop the term unit simply refers to where you are joining. 

1. You are making a choice on where to start your child's journey. 

    This is an organization you are choosing, and much like many other things we do for our kids, you don't have to choose the closest or most convenient unit. Go to the scout sign-up night for a Pack. Talk to the leaders, talk to other parents that are there. This is a chance to get a feel for their philosophy on scouting and be sure that this is where you want to send your child. Most often you will choose the Pack or Troop that the scout's friends are in, but not all packs accept females, and not all packs have female components. Most times there will be a few packs that you can choose from in an area, some might be a few more minutes to drive, but it might be worth it in the long run. 

2. What is the history, and plan for the unit to include girls. 

    When we first joined our pack, they were not ready to take in females. They were open to the idea and agreed to allow girls to join, but they did not have a plan for how that would look, or what to do once the first girls signed up. The rules for females joining BSA are murky at best. The current rules for Scouts state that the program is not Co-ed. The current rules actually make girls joining problematic. Technically your daughter will be required to join a separate Den. In practice, the Packs that are making it work are using a method that will have your child work with the appropriate aged Den while being officially in a den of all girls. What makes scouts fun for the kids is working with their peers. My daughter's Den was a group of girls from 1st-4th grade. When they would come to Pack meetings, however, they would work with the boys that are the same age. My daughter joined as a Webelo and worked with the other 4th grade boys. Because of the visiting status, a parent, or female leader was required to be with her at all times. This realistically meant that I was committing to being at Scouts with her every week. Be prepared to make that commitment. 

    Why such a long explanation, well the first month of Scouts, we were simply put in the basement of the church because the Pack did not have a plan to implement family scouting. Ask what their plan is and how they run their Pack. If they are unsure, then you may want to ask some more questions and get guidance from your Cubmaster, Committee Chair, and Charter Organization Rep. Nothing can be more difficult than feeling excluded. Honestly, I was ready to throw in the towel and walk away but my child did not want to quit before she even started. It finally got worked out, and she loved it. 

3. What is the plan once your daughter crosses over Arrow of Light. 

    While there are a lot of co-ed Packs, and BSA is a little more flexible for younger scouts, Once your child completes Arrow of Light, and crosses over to a Troop, the rules are considered black and white. Troops are 100% same-sex, no exceptions, no grey area. The number of female troops compared to male troops is about 10%. This means that for every 10 Scout Troops 1 will be for females. This is vitally important to realize as your daughter starts to enter the upper ranks of Cub Scouts. Most Cub packs have a Troop that the boys seamlessly flow into. This is often not the case for female cubs. This is often a hard realization for kids, as they come to terms with the fact that these boys, brothers really, will not be a part of their next step. I know in my case this was met with a lot of sadness, and grief. 

    However, not all is despair. 4th grade will be a vital year to your daughter's scouting experience. On, or before, your daughter enters their first year of Webelos (4th Grade) you need to figure out what the next step is. You should ask your leaders, "Where do girls go once they complete Arrow of Light?" Hopefully, they know, if they do not, then this is where you will need to get in contact with your district or council. You will need to find your local girl troops. To visualize this, I would suggest you go to beascout.org and enter your zip code and choose Troops.  For example, when I enter mine, I have 17 Scout Units within a 10-mile drive from my house, only 1 is a Girls Troop. You may have to drive to keep your child involved, but that is not the reason I am telling you this. 

    Once your child is a Webelo, they can start to visit and attend outings with a Troop as a guest.  This will be important because your child can start to build a relationship with their future Troop and the transition will be easier. For Boys crossing over is just a continuation of what they already know. For girls, this is often not the case. They will be finding a new home and new people. If your daughter knows the other kids and has a relationship with her new Troop this will make the transition very easy. In our case, we got in contact with Troop 1019 in October of Abby's 4th-grade year. By April of 5th grade, she was excited to join her new friends. She knew where she was going, and when the Scoutmaster of 1019, and the SPL came to her crossing over, she was excited to see them and get welcomed to her new Troop. 

As an Assistant Scoutmaster, I make it a point to know every female scout that is currently a Webelo or Arrow of Light Scout, and we as a Troop actively engage their families, and the scouts themselves. 

I am proud of my child. She has really put her full self into her commitment. She wants to be a leader and role model. She wants to give back and be a Den Chief, and I am glad she made me want to come on this journey with her.