Posted on 07/07/2004 5:25:21 AM PDT by Nasty McPhilthy
"Be Prepared" is a motto I know well. It is the Girl Scout motto and for eight years I was a Girl Scout -- from 1993 to 2001. During this period, I learned many things, including first aid, the discipline to plan and implement long-term projects and, of course, cookie marketing.
However, at the national level, that motto means something quite different from what it meant to me and the other girls in my troop. For us it meant be prepared for whatever life had to offer. For the national organization -- Girl Scouts USA (GSUSA) -- it seems to mean be prepared to become political activists, be prepared for premarital sex, be prepared to promote a highly selective multiculturalism.
I remained in the organization long enough to earn the Silver and Gold Award -- Girl Scouting's highest honor and the equivalent of the Boy Scouts' Eagle Scout award. And I will always look back on those years with fondness. Having more recently discovered what GSUSA is doing, I am particularly grateful to my troop leaders for not using their positions to impose their political and social values on a group of girls who wanted nothing more than to make friends, learn new skills and have a good time.
Needless to say, as a Girl Scout I had very little contact with GSUSA. I have since learned that the national organization receives its marching orders from such liberal pressure groups as Planned Parenthood and that it is preparing girls for a life of sexual self-indulgence and liberal activism.
Organizations such as Planned Parenthood provide Scout workshops and programs to teach girls about birth control, which, by the way, GSUSA officially supports. GSUSA Chief Executive Officer Kathy Cloninger told NBC News, "We have relationships ... with Planned Parenthood organizations across the country, to bring information-based sex-education programs to girls."
In Waco, Texas, the Bluebonnet Council allowed Planned Parenthood to use the national Girl Scout logo on posters advertising an annual "sex-education seminar" for fifth to ninth graders and gave a "woman of distinction award" to the executive director of Planned Parenthood of Central Texas.
The Nevada Frontier Council's Website advertised a "feminist conference" starring Planned Parenthood President Gloria Feldt and a workshop on "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered issues."
The Girl Scout leadership manual recommends visits to Planned Parenthood abortion clinics for Brownie troops. The Brownies program is for girls 6 to 8 years old.
Planned Parenthood's sex-education programs tend to be highly explicit and go beyond merely explaining the mechanics of pills and other devices. They encourage girls to believe they have a right to engage in premarital sex if they so choose -- a teaching that contradicts the advice of responsible parents.
GSUSA also prides itself on promoting a particular brand of "diversity." When I was a Girl Scout in Colorado and California, our troops welcomed girls of all ethnic, religious and economic backgrounds. This openness was implicit in everything we believed and did. No one had to make an issue of it.
Today the organization trumpets its commitment to a different kind of diversity, an obsession with the recruitment of certain ethic and religious groups and the open de-emphasis of others. Hence this section from the GSUSA Webpage entitled "Girl Scout Beliefs and Values":
"Even if your troop is all of one faith, the Girl Scout meeting is not an appropriate place for prayers and hymns. Girl Scouts is not a religious organization.
"Help girls to be sensitive to all spiritual beliefs when picking readings for ceremonies, or songs for around mealtime. The songs and readings chosen can celebrate similarities as well as differences in beliefs. Avoid references to 'God' as being a specific deity."
This policy means no celebration of Christmas or other religious holidays. No grace before meals or snacks. GSUSA has joined the growing leftist movement to drive Christianity underground. Some troop leaders have even been asked to resign because they are personally "too religious." On the other hand, GSUSA boasts of troops that are composed entirely of certain other-than-Christian religious groups or minorities.
In effect, the organization is segregating and showcasing these groups. For example, the GSUSA Website advertises its Fourth Annual National Latina Conference, which features sessions such as "Today's Teen: Growing Up Female and Latina."
I learned the value of a mixed or "integrated" troop when I became friends with a girl who was a practicing Hindu. From her, I learned about her dietary rules and about her religious and family traditions. No troop leader promoted this interaction. It came naturally because of our inherent curiosity as children. Ethnically pure and religion-specific troops will deny girls the kind of enriching experience I enjoyed.
Why would GSUSA want to focus on race and religion for recruitment and programming? Probably to mobilize these minorities to promote certain social and political causes. Such an approach violates the spirit of the Girl Scout law, which says:
"I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout."
I hope that Girl Scout councils will encourage all girls -- not just certain groups and religions -- to join the organization and form new troops that will engage girls of all backgrounds in healthy pursuits and nonideological projects.
Joy Downey, a summer intern at the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, will be a senior next year at American University in Washington. She was a Girl Scout from fifth to 12th grade. United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International, a sister news organization of Insight..
There are plenty of Church sponsored youth organizations that are able to help parents instruct their children in coping with the pressures of growing up in this highly commercial culture.
: (
when my daughter was in GS she was tasked to do a presentation on a female role model. they gave her several suggestions - almost all were entertainers, singers and sports figures (and lesbians). When she wanted to do MArgaret Thatcher, the leader gave her some grief. When I asked her is Thatcher was a bad role model she declined to answer, and I asked why a tennis player was a better role model than a prime minister, she allowed the presentation to proceed.
kinda tells you the mentality - and it was that mentality thae led the tyke to drop out of the GSA. That and all those cold days hawking cookies at the supermarket.
Is nothing sacred anymore? --why are so many Americans so bent on destroying the culture of this country?
Yet another example why we are out of there by 3rd grade. We pay no attention to the national org and I have despised them from the beginning.
Boy Scouts seem to be standing their ground. But, not without some persecution.
i don't think we are going to do it next year. not that our troop ever paid attention to the national org, but i always resented the SHARE program where they were hitting you up for cash for that stuff.
I don't know much about the "Silver and Gold Award", but "Eagle Scout" is a rank, not an award. To reference it as an award make it sound like a fashion contest and not the multiple years long struggle of pure achievement earning you the title.
Has the GSA devolved that far as to be devoid of rankings so as not to harm the little darlings' ego?
"Is nothing sacred anymore? --why are so many Americans so bent on destroying the culture of this country?"
Because the Left, which dominates the media and the schools, hates America, and want very much to destroy her.
Don't assume that your local Council supports this stuff. If you have any questions, ASK someone before you deny your daughter the chance to take part in some fun and educational opportunities with other girls her age. The major complaints I have about our Council are the restrictive fundraising rules and the condition of the Camps owned by the Council, about which our Unit is actively engaging the Council members.
Our girls will be working on several Interest Projects this year including an American Patriot Patch during which they'll be learning how to fold a flag and the proper way to display, then dispose of it, and have the chance to talk to some veterans about their experiences in the military. They'll also be earning their "Car Sense" patch, during which they'll learn about basic car care; checking fluid levels, checking air pressure in their tires, changing tires, learning to call AAA (which is what I do! LOL!)Part of every Interest Project Award is a Service Activity, so the girls learn the meaning of doing something positive for their commmunity.
In other words, don't write off the Girl Scouts! If you're concerned about what a troop might do, lead one yourself! It takes as much time as you want to put into it, and it is a marvelous opportunity for your daughters.
Don't let the term 'Award' fool you! A Girl Scout has to do plenty of work to get to the point of earning a Silver or Gold Award. A Gold Award represents as much work as an Eagle, and I know this because I'm an Eagle Mom, and our daughter just earned her Silver Award last year and is working toward her Gold.
Thank goodness for people like you. :-)
I'll stand corrected. :-)
SuziQ,
You and your girls might take a look at this.
http://www.americanheritagegirls.org/
They were founded by Girl Scout Leaders disgusted by the national organization.
"Has the GSA devolved that far as to be devoid of rankings so as not to harm the little darlings' ego?"
That's probably a safe assumption.
My daughter is a member of the "Pioneer Club", a church group that instills the values that we feel best suites the needs of today’s youth.
We have to get a handle on the current media and commercial trend of corrupting our children.
Thanks for your efforts, you're a peach!
If the GS would drop any and all ties with PP. I'd consider dropping my beefs with the GS.
"Because the Left, which dominates the media and the schools, hates America, and want very much to destroy her."
It's called 'incrementalism'.
Slow and sure. Deconstruction followed with re-interpretation.
Right before your eyes, before you know it and can make corrections, edicts, laws and PC is already too well established for reversal.
Liberals are masters at this 'process'.
Conservatives want to play fair and nice and liberals are busy with advancing the process. Big difference.
Our girls skipped it, just because both my wife and I felt that it was like "more school" (although we're homeschooling). I didn't get much from Cub Scouts or Webelos when I was a kid. I feel even better about the decision now.
There are plenty of Church sponsored youth organizations that are able to help parents instruct their children in coping with the pressures of growing up in this highly commercial culture.
That's the route that we're taking.
Where does some of the cookie money go?
bttt
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.