Girl Scouts Argumentative Essay

Starting in 2018, the Boy Scouts of America organization will be accepting girls as members for the first time since it’s foundation in February of 1910. The reasoning behind this is said to be an attempt to bridge the gap between genders and to shape the next generation of youth in America. This recent change has caused quite a bit of controversy and for some leads to the question: “If young girls can now join Boy Scouts of America, should boys be able to participate in Girl Scouts?”. A recent news article in the New York Times says yes (Miller, 2017). The article points out the many benefits of boys joining the Girl Scouts and the new variety of tasks in which they would be participating in and the useful skills they could learn from being

In this scenario, although the boys are not physically harmed, it could have many lasting mental effects. Limiting one gender to only certain activities does not allow them to fully develop many skills which may be necessary for a successful future. For example, Boy Scouts of America focuses on participating in activities of a competitive nature as opposed to collaboration, therefore depriving the members of the necessary social skills to work in environments where cooperation is key. So, although the Boy Scouts of America teaches boys a variety of skills, by not allowing these boys to also participate in Girl Scouts, the boys could be missing out on many important developmental opportunities that could potentially affect the success of their future

There would appear to be only two logical solutions: 1. The leaders of the Girl Scouts would have to recognize their bias, either by intervention of an outside party or possibly by completing an IAT test. 2. The leaders of the Girl Scouts organization could undergo some bias elimination training, teaching them how to advocate skills and activities which do not promote gender roles or inequality among its members. With the conclusion being the acceptance of boys into the Girl Scouts organization, thereby eliminating gender bias, inequality and advocation of the social role