This article makes me sad for girls today. http://www.lifenews.com/2013/05/31/...d-parenthood-at-huge-pro-abortion-conference/
Honestly, the article is written from a biased standpoint. It was written by someone who has a beef with Girl Scouts and picked out from a huge list of speakers/participators in the Women Deliver conference who would most make Girl Scouts look bad. It's all picking and choosing your information to try to make your point look right.
It is coming from a biased source but the information is still accurate. It makes me really sad that GSA would team up with this kind of agenda.
This is no surprise. The Girl Scouts has long betrayed its ideals on empowering girls to a very feminist agenda. Abortion is very much a part of this, so Planned Parenthood was a natural. While I know that much of Girl Scouts depend on the individual troop leaders, there is no way I would put my girls in an organization that is actually against everything I believe is part of being a woman. That is my personal opinion. I know wonderful Christian ladies who are troop leaders, and that's great for them. This is the first year I have intentionally NOT bought cookies!
Our daughter stopped attending Girl Scouts because, in several ways, they were becoming quite militant in their opinions. She enjoyed the get-togethers, and the mom who ran the local group is very nice, but the organization itself appears to have a clear agenda. My wife is, on the whole, a very laid-back and easy-going person, but even she was none too happy about it.
I just had no idea!! I was a Girl Scout as a kid and we made crafts, baked cake and sold cookies along with the occasional camping trip. I was a troop leader sveral years ago for a year and we did some crafts and such but it was too much of a headache for me. I guess I never got involved enough to realize what was behind it all. My girls are now Missionettes through our church and they love that. So I guess I'll be glad that we are free of Girl Scouts in our family. There is no way I could support that organization after reading that article!
I at one time wrote programming that was used by a GS council in Florida. I used their materials and wrote/designed "meetings" wherein a girl could get a badge after attending two 90 minute sessions. We were contracted by the councel to provide these sessions and I ran many of the sessions as well. I selected badges that had objectives that correleted with the science lessons we taught in the schools and other workshops we performed. In reading through the materials, I picked up on a definite feminist agenda in the materials.
As an alternative, check out American Heritage Girls. I have four sons, so I haven't exactly investigated it for myself, lol, but several friends have switched to AHG from GS in the last few months.
We have been part of an American Heritage Girl troop for the past 2 years. I am afraid it will not continue next year though because some of the leadership needed to step down for a variety of reasons. We did Brownies with dd and the more I looked into how GS was moving and the whole Journey plan I felt that it was moving further away from scouting and even more towards empowerment and feminism which is not what I was looking for. AHG has a focus on scouting and as a bonus is Christ centered. I know that does not work for some folks but it is nice for us.
We stepped out of GS after one year because the organization as a whole does not align with my values.
Reason we never even tried in the first place. So wish there was an AHG here...but alas, there's not.
Krista If there is not an AHG troop by you maybe you could join as an individual. If your dd's have friends who are also interested maybe they could join and you just get together to work on badges. I know they will probably push for a troop if you tell them that is what you are doing but they might approve it on individual basis.
I've known this about GS for some time now. We knew early on that our girl would not be doing Scouts.
No AHG troops here either. We were briefly part of a troop in TX, until it disbanded due to poor leadership. (We found out later the mom/daughter duo had been asked to leave another AHG troop.). It's a fantastic program if it's available in your area.
Just did a year of GS with my DD and discovered that even at age 6, it seemed completely focused on running a business (i.e., cookie sales) rather than on developing girls. The number of meetings and training sessions dedicated to preparing for cookie sales was ridiculous, as was the 100+ boxes each girl was expected to sell. I kept wondering when there would be some emphasis on, well, THE GIRLS rather than generating money for the organization, but it never arrived. Moms would sit on the sidelines of the meetings and grumble about the cookie selling responsibilities, completely soured on the organization. I did not get a positive vibe at all. We just found an American Heritage Girls troop near us, and I'm really impressed. The values seem right in line with what I'd like my daughter to be exposed to, and they emphasis on service projects and such seems wonderful. I'm excited to get involved in the fall when they start up again.
