(no subject)

[rivka]

Alex has really been looking forward to becoming a Girl Scout when she hits kindergarten age. (They've redone the age levels since I was a kid - it used to be that you didn't start until first grade, when you were a Brownie. Now they have Daisy Girl Scouts for grades K-1 and Brownies for grades 2-3.)

We recently joined a local homeschooling group, and they have an all-ages Girl Scout troop with clusters of girls at each level (and a "tag-along club" for boys, which is nice). I e-mailed the leader to ask if we could visit a troop meeting even though Alex isn't technically of age yet. She wrote back immediately to say that the troop is really only just getting started, and in fact they're having their Investiture ceremony on Thursday, and did Alex want to just visit or would she like to join now?

I just got another e-mail from her with information about preparing for Investiture. We'll need to go out and buy Alex a uniform and insignia. But here's the part that brought tears to my eyes:

The girls are working on their Promise and Law Patch. Girl Scouts are an all inclusive organization, meaning that there are many ways to say the 3 fold promise. It is a very personal thing. I have introduced the promise, omitting part of it to include all the girls, regardless of beliefs. Now it's upto you the parent to help your daughter to personalize it.

I will include the promise in the entirety. Please go over it with your daughter and decide which version works best for your family. Thanks

On My Honor I will Try
To Serve ________ And My Country ( Option: To Serve My Country)
To Help Other People At All Times
And to Live By the Girl Scout Law

The Blank could be: Science, God, Mother Earth, Allah, Hashem, My Ancestors, Buddha, etc.

I was a Girl Scout when I was a kid, and then I was a Girl Scout Camp counselor. They were an awesome organization then, committed to feminism and inclusion, but I have to say it looks like they're even more awesome now.

Comments

[geminigirl]

One of the things that having all girls so far has made me grateful for is that I don't have to navigate the slippery slope of "why we're uncomfortable with Boy Scouts as an organization but fine with Girl Scouts"

I'm excited for Alex. Girl Scouts was a wonderful opportunity when I was a kid and I'm looking forward to my own girls being old enough to participate.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

I freaking love the Girl Scouts! As geminigirl just stated above, this is Reasons #482398 why I am glad I had a girl. :)

I can't wait for Girl Scouting to be a part of Elena's life - she'll be a third generation Girl Scout!!! (Hmmm, I will have to investigate about local options for us. Yay!)

[ailbhe]

Oh, that would be a lovely amendment! Here it's still God and Queen and Country, as far as I have been able to determine.

[puzzlement.livejournal.com]

In Australia also I believe the Girl Guides (and Scouts, who are now co-ed) are still very closely tied to the original vision of Baden-Powell's scouting movement, so yeah. God and Queen and Country also. And there's this kind of thing (http://hoydenabouttown.com/20091005.6842/imaginary-what-now-terra-nullius-and-the-scouting-movement/). As per that post, it's a shame, because there aren't a lot of other groups that offer the mix of teamwork, exposure to new skills and outdoorsy adventures.

[chapstickqueen.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a great troop!
They had Daisies when I was a girl scout, I joined at the Brownie level in 2nd grade and stayed all the way through Cadettes ending in 8th grade. My troop was REALLY great at most things — not a lot of focus on chatting/crafts, more of a focus on life skills — we learned about fixing cars, minor home repairs, tons of careers, etc but somehow half the girls went to the same Catholic school…so we DID every faith-based activity. I was the token Jewish person, which actually was interesting because my mom MADE SURE they were inclusive, ha!

[ex-serenejo.livejournal.com]

Fabulous!

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is so much damn cooler than the BSA. It's also much cooler than the Oath I recited (which I can still remember!)

On my honor I will try
to do my duty to God and my Country
To help other people every day
Especially those at home.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

When I was a Girl Scout we said:

On my honor I will try
To serve God, my country, and mankind
And to live by the Girl Scout law.

By the time I was a camp counselor, it had changed to the current version. That was before the Girl Scouts officially decided to be welcoming of non-monotheistic girls.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

I was back in the "indoctrinate them into American femininity" days.

Our "campout" was going to a cottage in the town park and baking Chef-Boy-R-D pizza. I felt thoroughly cheated.

[densaer.livejournal.com]

This is really cool. As a (boy) scout, I really did struggle with the oath and my own sensibilities.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

That does sound awesome. How much is the wider organisation and how much is this troop, maybe doesn't matter.

When I was a Brownie and a Guide, it was "Godthequeenandmycountry". When Martha was a Brownie, it was "myself, my faith, and Canada". I loved that - especially the order.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Girl Scouts USA explicitly declared that the "God" in the promise was optional and could be replaced by another word Scouts were more comfortable with, back in 1993. (Sadly, some troops schism-ed and formed something called "American Heritage Girls," where they could be assured of the right to exclude.)

I am sure that there are many local troops in which the right to not say "God" is never brought up - much less an open discussion of the personal nature of the oath, and an explicit invitation to choose the right words for you. This troop seems cool.

[moobabe.livejournal.com]

That is really wonderful. I was a Brownie as a kid, and my oath involved God. I had no problem with that, as I had no strong opinions faith either way, but Hannah would object very strenuously to saying that she would serve God.

That said, our particular area is religious enough that I don't think we would get that kind of flexibility.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, on a message board someone told me that her husband had been barred from being a Girl Scout leader because he wouldn't sign a statement of faith. I can only assume that GSUSA leadership has no idea that some councils, etc. are adding requirements like that. The family had no idea it wasn't official Girl Scout policy. Sad.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Z refused to be a Cub because he wasn't going to promise to God and he was fiercely anti-monotheist at six.

Go your Daisies.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

In Canada, the Scouts national organization was moving away from the assumption of religion, but some local officious officials still insisted that the kids and leaders fill in some registration form with their religious affiliation. Our J was a Cub, more sure of his rights to dissent than of his spelling, and he came home and told us proudly that he'd filled in the form all by himself and put PEGAN.

[aendr.livejournal.com]

Welcome Alex to the big worldwide family of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. I'm a Girl Guide (Leader) in the UK and have been in Guiding since I was 7 (though we now have 5-6 year olds too, they didn't exist when I was little, we call them Rainbows over here rather than Daisies). Alex, you're extra special, as you are joining in the year that Guiding/Girl Scouting is 100 years old - the very first Guides anywhere in the world official started 100 years ago, though I believe it took a few years to spread to the USA.

Rivka: if Alex does international stuff, particularly likely around World Thinking Day (22 Feb), please feel free to contact me and I'll drop some UK badges or things in the post for her and her troop.

[redbird23.livejournal.com]

That totally made me well up with tears and get sniffly. I should have paid more attention, I had no idea the Girl Scouts had changed the rules like that. How amazing. I'm even more glad I bought cookies this year. I always have admired their logical stance on homosexuality, not I can be equally impressed with their religious stance.

I loved being a Girl Scout. One of the first things I said to Jon when we found out we were having a boy was "What are we going to do about Boy Scouts?" It's a real issue - I am NOT ok with their current stance on religion and lifestyle tolerance.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

How fantastic that she gets to start now! My daughter, who is about a month younger, will start when she gets to kindergarten in the fall and given that we (a) don't have boy scouts in our schools as they have been banned because of their bigotry and (b) even if they were allowed in the school our boys would not have been permitted to join (or wanted to) because of same, I cannot wait to get the scouting experience for Catie.

I still have the vest I got as a junior when I had too many patches for the sash, and my Guidebook circa the late 70s. I don't know what the pledge language used here is, but given the multiculturalness of our neighborhood and school, I'm sure it's as broad as possible. I think they do the investitures on the beach - or that's the graduation to the next level. Not sure...

Now to go see if there is an LJ comm for parents of Girl Scouts....