Reaction: Scouts Doing a Disservice to Boys, Girls

The Boy Scouts’ latest pronouncement, which blurs gender distinctions, should convince parents to exercise more care in choosing youth groups for their children.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced on Wednesday that starting next year they will allow girls to join Cub Scout dens, and in 2019 older girls to join the Boy Scouts.

Patti Garibay is founder of American Heritage Girls, a Christ-centered organization for girls ages 5 to 18 (see image). She notes there’s quite a difference now in the Boy Scouts since it was founded in the early 1900s by Lord Robert Baden-Powell.

“I don’t believe that they are aligned with [his] vision for the organization,” she tells OneNewsNow. “It’s not just political correctness – but is it the almighty dollar, the drop of membership? And have they ever considered that perhaps that drop in membership is due to their no longer [having] an obligation to biblical values and the way that God made this earth, male and female?”

In making yesterday’s announcement, BSA spokesman Michael Surbaugh alluded to the separate genders, stating that “the values of Scouting – trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, brave and reverent, for example – are important for both young men and women.”

While not disagreeing with that, Garibay emphasizes it’s important to acknowledge there’s a difference between the two – not just biologically, but psychologically as well. Girls, she says, must be raised with that knowledge – and they must be raised in Christ.

“To mix in with the boys just doesn’t make a lot of sense because studies have shown that girls are best off during their developmental years to be amongst peers and to be able to really spread their wings. Same thing with boys,” she adds.

While the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts organizations have been losing membership – arguably for abandoning biblical values – American Heritage Girls continues to grow rapidly. Trail Life USA, a biblically based organization for boys under the age of 18, is also growing by leaps and bounds. That group’s leader says ignoring the essential differences between boys and girls “does both sexes a disservice.”

 www.onenewsnow.com/culture/2017/10/12/reaction-scouts-doing-a-disservice-to-boys-girls