should they teach shooting in girl scouts

[jeremy]

I think that Girl Scout should be taught to cook...

 

[The Bubba Effect]

Yes they should.
Marksmanship is a fine skill to teach young ladies. It has been my personal experience that young ladies excel at marksmanship. It is good for their self esteem, is a practical skill and builds/teaches mental focus and responsibility.

 

[Rey B]

As a former Girl Scout Co-Leader (Dads can't be leaders without female supervision) I agree that gun safety and shooting should be available to the girls. I got a bit of flack for teaching them how to sharpen a knife and basic fire starting. I did love the fact that we were Troop 357. Not many of the other leaders understood but it was fun. My daughter got bored after about 3 years. She still loves to shoot though.

 

[youngda9]

...She asked her scout leader about it and her reply was that girls didn't need to learn to shoot...

They why aren't they teaching them to cook?

 

[actaeon277]

I think the decision should be left to their parents.

The decision could still be left to the parent. That's what we do in boy scouts. Parental permission required.

There is no decision for the girl scouts though. There is NO choice.

 

[DRob]

Check this

Thanks to a hint from a INGO member, I have sent 3 grandsons to the Karl Kelley Memorial Camp. I'd have sent my granddaughters as well but they were too old when I found out about it.

If she's the appropriate age, look into it.

http://www.in.gov/dnr/lawenfor/5812.htm

 

[BE Mike]

My youngest daughter was a Girl Scout from brownies to silver. My wife was a leader for many years. Like others have said, the national org. has become more left-wing over the years. That being said, we got our daughter involved in the 4H shooting program in addition to GS. We just about had to beat my daughter to keep her in scouts in high school, because it wasn't cool. She got a lot out of both programs and fondly reminisces about her experiences to this day (she's 30).

 

[Bunnykid68]

YES

 

[Mike H]

Thanks to a hint from a INGO member, I have sent 3 grandsons to the Karl Kelley Memorial Camp. I'd have sent my granddaughters as well but they were too old when I found out about it.

If she's the appropriate age, look into it.

[URL="http://www.in.gov/dnr/lawenfor/5812.htm"]http://www.in.gov/dnr/lawenfor/5812.htm[/URL]

^^this^^
I did the same things for my twins. Awesome 1 week camp.
They earn their hunter and boater ed. cards also.

 

[stryguy]

In November my daughter's girl scout troop did archery and baking.

She liked baking more.

Dad gained 5 lbs by December.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

In November my daughter's girl scout troop did archery and baking.

She liked baking more.

Dad gained 5 lbs by December.

I suppose that's better than being shot with an arrow!

 

[J_Wales]

Should they?

Of course.

To not do so teaches them instead to shift the responsibility for their self to others. To not do so teaches irresponsibility. To not do so teaches dependency.

Thank God we didnt wait for GSA to teach our girls!

 

[dpbstevens]

My.daughter is in girl scouts as well and I do think that its bs that girls don't get to do it but I have seen my daughters scout leader and not trying to be rude but talk about out in left field I would never want her to teach any child about a weapon so its a hard thing to say yes and no too. Consider who may be teaching your child

 

[Pami]

I got a bit of flack for teaching them how to sharpen a knife and basic fire starting.

Stunned about that. We were taught fire building in third grade when we went tent camping for the first time.

Do-dads rock btw. My dad used to go camping with us, but because men can't stay in the tents with the girls (duh), he would stay in the shelter house (if we had one) and keep the fire going all night. Made it easy to make tea/cocoa/coffee in the mornings when you were up three hours before everyone else. We had some really great other do-dads in our Service Unit, though. Whenever we had our unit-wide camporees (every two years), the dads would come out and cook breakfast for us on Sundays!

I would never want her to teach any child about a weapon so its a hard thing to say yes and no too. Consider who may be teaching your child

Also consider that GS tends to find people appropriate to the topic, too, especially in larger groups. The women teaching us archery at camp were well-versed in archery. They didn't just learn it that weekend. I would expect the same for something like firearms instruction.

GS also has an excellent training foundation. Every year, I get a catalog that is over 100 pages thick with the trainings our Council is offering that year, ranging from age-level trainings to CPR/First Aid to more specific trainings like backpacking skills.



But to answer the OP's question - I highly doubt GSUSA would ever support firearms training for girls, and all the responses with "the organization is too far left" is relatively correct - an issue in Colorado made that overwhelmingly clear to me this year (enough that I almost cancelled my lifetime membership).

It really boils down to the individual troop, and what the parents want along with what girls want along with what the leader is willing to do. I was blessed with troop leaders who focused a lot on basic survival skills (including cooking and sewing, boys), but when I helped with an older troop back in 2002-2006, they were all girls from a Catholic school, so their previous troop leaders focused more on the religious awards the girls could earn rather than on GS history and camping and such.

 

[Rey B]

The flack came from some moms that while they didn't have time to help the troop had time to complain about what was being taught to their little angels. My co-leader was excellent and most of the other troop leaders were top notch. Our first year to go camping I pitched a small tent away from the cabins, got up the next morning and stoked up the campfire to start coffee. Not one of the other leaders had a coffee pot. My poor little percolator was the hit of camp. The next year I brought my big one. Can't throw stones they were city girls. I enjoyed my time but there were a lot of politics that I refused to get pulled into. I am sure that there were some relieved to see me go.