Boston Boy Scouts pushed for inclusion of girls

MILTON, Mass. -- A group of young girls at the New England Base Camp say they’re excited about the newly announced opportunity for them to join Boy Scouts of America.

The decision to break down the gender gap was announced by BSA Wednesday, and was immediately me with strong feelings on both sides.

“I think it’s giving not just boys but girls an opportunity to do what Boy Scouts have been doing,” one little girl told Boston 25 News.

Starting next year, girls between 7 and 11 years old will be able to join Cub Scouts. Dens, made up of fewer than a dozen scouts, will be gender-specific, but packs, the larger organization made up of multiple dens, can be coed.

“It’s actually not very fair for girls to not be a scout and then they’re like ‘I want to do this like the boy scouts,’ and you’re like ‘nope, you’re not allowed because you can’t be involved in it.’ That’s kind of being rude,” another girl said.

Eaton said the conversation has been ongoing for months, starting when leaders of New England Base Camp realized 40 percent of their traffic was girls in various programs.

“The Boy Scouts had been really approached for a long time, years really, by different girls and families who had boys in the program and understood the character value, the character education of the program and wanted their daughters to be involved as well,” Chuck Eaton, Executive Director of the Spirit of America Council, said.

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But that got them thinking about what the program stands for. Eaton says the council pushed the national organization forward in the change.

“Over the course of 110 years those attributes have become very gender-neutral, being a good citizen, being a provider, those are things that are appropriate for women as much as they are for men, so there’s no reason for it to be a gender exclusive program anymore,” Eaton said.

Girl Scouts released a statement saying there is disappointment in the way Boy Scouts handled this and said it was prompted by fewer boys joining.

“This is a direct response to boost their declining membership,” Chief Customer Officer for Girl Scouts Lisa Margosian said.

Eaton disagrees, saying the two programs are different enough that gender shouldn’t be the defining factor.

“It’s just like anything else, it is its own curriculum and has its own outcomes which are very similar but not the same,” he said.

Further down the road, older girls will be allowed to join Boy Scout troops and even earn the rank of Eagle Scout.

As for whether the name will change, Boy Scouts of America says that’s up for debate.

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