(Sc)out of sorts over co-ed plan
Girls’ org. slams BSA
It’s a battle of the Scouts. The Girl Scouts of the USA on Thursday blasted the Boy Scouts of America’s decision to begin allowing girls to join their ranks. anks.
“The Boy Scouts’ houseuse is on fire,” the Girl Scoutss told ABC News in a stateement.
“Instead of addressing systemic issues of continuing sexual assault, financial mis- management and defificient programming, BSA’sSA’s se-senior management wantsntsnnts to add an accelerant to the houseouse fire by recruiting girls.”
The criticism comess a day after the Boy Scouts an-announced its board’s unanimous decision to allow girls to join the Cub Scouts start- ing next year, and to esstablish a program forfor older girls in 2019.
The Girl Scouts saidd they were not made aware of the pol-policy change prior to itsts announce-announcement, a media representative said.
Discord between the organizations has been brewing since August, when Girl Scouts President Kathy Hopinkah Hannan sent a scathing letter to the Boy Scouts for- mally requesting that they stop their “covert campaign to recruit girls,” calling it “reckless” and “unsettling.” “We are confused as to why, rather than working to appeal to the 90 percent of boys who are not involvedvolved in BSA programs, you would cchoose to target girls,” HannaHannan wrote. BBoy Scout membersship has plummeted by a third since 2000 to just more than 2 million as of 2016, and the lletter suggested the grgroup was using proposedposed ggirls’ programs to bolsterster “decdeclining membership.” On WednWednesday, the Girl Scouts seemed to rrespond to the BSA decisioncision witwith a blog post citing the powpower of the “single-gender environment.” “Girl Scouts is the best girl leadership orgganization in the world, crcreated with and for girlsgirls,” the organization wrotewrote. “We are the girl experts,perts, and for more than a century wwe have provided millionslions of girls opportunities for adventure, inspiration and valuable mentoring.” The Girl Scouts organization has a membership of 1.8 million, according to its Web site.