Turning Girl Scouts Into Women

TURNING GIRL SCOUTS INTO WOMEN LEADERS - the Legacy and Promise of Girl Scouting

This paper uses the normative-descriptive method of research in recording, describing, interpreting, analyzing, and comparing information gathered from recent and authoritative sources.

The Girl Scouts Movement is an organization, which endeavors to build girls of courage, confidence and character (Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. 2006). It does this by defying gender stereotypes, the ordinary, and peer pressure. And it empowers girls to be true to their individuality so as to eventually become confident, courageous women leaders in all walks of life. It was founded and formed by American reformer Juliette Gordon Low in 1915. Its enduring mission has been to provide healthy activities for girls while infusing into them a sense of good citizenship. It now has millions of members in troops throughout the country (Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.).

Juliette Gordon Low was a rich socialite from the United States and Great Britain who belonged to the privileged upper social class (UXL Newsmakers 2005). After a meeting with Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts movement, in 1915, the idea of forming a similar organization for girls hit her strongly and thereon occupied the rest of her life (UXL Newsmakers).

Juliette Magil Kinzie Gordon was born in Savannah, Georgia on October 31, 1860 to William Washington Gordon II, a successful cotton trader and Confederate officer, and Eleanor Lytle Gordon (UXL Newsmakers 2005). She possessed the good traits of both parents. She had her mother's charm and wit of her mother and her father's leadership and organizing instincts. In their estate in northern Georgia, she led and organized camping and hunting trips. She also wrote and acted in plays and studied painting. She went to Europe where she met the English millionaire William Mackay Low, whom her father disapproved of. They were eventually married in Savannah in December 1886. She was incorporated into the highest levels of British society, including Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales. But their marriage headed for ruin when William often traveled and later had an affair. They were about to divorce when he died and his fortune was turned over to his mistress. However, the courts awarded her an amount enough to proceed with her high standard of living (UXL Newsmakers).

Juliette derived the concept of her movement from the sister of Sir Robert Baden-Powell, who had set up the Girl Guides (UXL Newsmakers 2005). Drafting prominent Americans into a board of directors, she created a national headquarters and used her own money to launch and officially incorporate the Girl Scouts of America in 1915. She was also the first president. In a year's time, there were 7,000 girl scouts in the list. The movement continued to grow beyond Juliette's death in 1927 (UXL Newsmakers).

Having grown into an American institution, the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. was chartered by Congress on March 16, 1950 (Girl Scouts of America 2007, Laulainen-Schein 2007). At present, there are almost 4 million girl scouts, 2.7 million girl members and 928,000 adult members as volunteers. Its mission is to build girls of courage, confidence and character who will make the world a better place to live in. At the start, girls who join have fun, form friendships and experience power together. They develop courage and strength through many such enriching experiences together, like field trips, sports clinics, community service projects, cultural exchanges and care of the environment. These activities provide them with the opportunity to develop their full individual potential. In dealing with and relating with others, they increase understanding, skills and respect. They also acquire and transmit values for their actions, which improve the basis for sound decision-making. They are thus better able to contribute to the improvement of society by increasing and improving their own abilities, leadership skills and cooperation. Whether at home or abroad, girl scouts participate in the activities of more than 236,000 troops and groups in over 90 countries through the U.S.A. Girl Scouts Overseas. More than 300 local councils provide the girls the opportunity for membership throughout the U.S. The Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. is a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts or WAGGGS. Together, they form a global family, consisting of 10 million girls and women in 145 countries. This immense status of Juliette Low's dream has become a critical and pivotal part of women's history. In the U.S.A. alone, more than 50 million women become girl scouts and enjoy girl scouting in their childhood. Their number continues to increase and to inspire, challenge and empower more and more girls in the country and throughout the world (Girl Scouts of America 2007).

With headquarters in New York City, the Movement has more than 400 dedicated employees (Girl Scouts of America 2007). It has more than 300 local girl scouts councils or offices as partners, 236,000 troops and 986,000 adult volunteers. It has a National Board of Directors and unnumbered corporate, government and individual supporters everywhere. It is a 501 organization, which is dedicated to shaping girls into women leaders of the future (Girl Scouts of America, Laulainen-Schein).

In its 95th year anniversary this year, the movement is going through a historic transforming in adjusting its organization structure to the demands of the 21st century and strengthening its focus on leadership for girls (Business Wire 2006). Its new direction is to revitalize the Girl Scout brand, form new fund-raising models, improve volunteer systems, and rationalize the infrastructure of the national Girl Scout council. These huge changes all address and aim at building the core strength of leadership development. At the same time, it wants to offer measurable benefits for girls, families and communities. In line with the magnitude of these massive objectives, the Girl Scout of the U.S.A.'s National Board of Directors, in August last year, decided on a plan to realign 312 councils into 100 high-performance, community-based councils. The Board believes that this new structure will more effectively utilize resources in better serving local communities. This way, it can extend superior Girl Scout leadership programs to more girls. To illustrate, the Girl Scouts of Palm Glades Council currently serves over 9,500 girls in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, Okeechobee, Glades, and Hendry Counties. The alignment of resources is expected to combine two high-performing councils to produce the highest capacity in a particular State. In the case of Palm Glades, the merger can cover up to 288,000 girls, according to Denise Valz, chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts of Palm Glades Council (Business Wire).

To complement the mergers, the National Board of Directors set up a more responsive and time leadership philosophy of commitment to develop skills, according to the values set forth by the traditional Girl Scout Promise and Law (Business Wire 2006). That philosophy is the Girl Scout mission of building girls of courage, confidence and character to help make this world a better place to live in. Patricia Diaz Dennis, chairman of the National Board of Directors, said that this should be the direction to take in the currently culturally diverse nature of American society. Girl Scout's philosophy of leadership should be inclusive and responsive to the needs of girls in different communities and cultures. These new moves, she said, will enhance what girl scouting does best, revitalize the organization and remain relevant and compelling to girls of today. She emphasized that girl scouting is meant to listen to girls and positively and meaningfully respond to their individual needs (Business Wire).

This transformation was the result of a two-year survey among girls, adult women and the staff throughout the Girl Scout community on their needs and aspirations from the movement and its future direction (Business Wire 2006). These needs, aspiration and future direction were blended with the Movement's biggest and fundamental strength of developing leadership skills among girls. Its current leaders are optimistic that this new thrust will not only fortify the quality of its program on a national scale. It will also open leadership development opportunities to those in the community. Girl scouting is the only such movement that aims at the healthy development of girls and the cultivation of the traits of courage, confidence and character. It serves girls throughout America, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (Business Wire).

Girl scouting realizes its mission by serving and helping one girl at a time (Hooper 2000). Cathleen Carothers Hull joined the Movement as a Brownie Girl Scout. As a Senior Girl Scout, she worked for two years with the board of directors of the Kaw Valley Girl Scout Council. Later, she was elected to the standing committee of the national Girl Scout of the U.S.A. board of directors. Cathleen said she learned a lot from working on complex financial information, fund raising, policy making and spreadsheets even as a high school student. She developed confidence in public speaking and assuming leadership roles. Girl scouting helped her know herself better and thus gain confidence. She found a place where she could grow and succeed as herself. Diane Oakes, executive director of the Kaw Valley Council, saw girl scouting as a tool in bringing out the leader from every girl of any age. It is one of the few service organizations, which gives full voting power to its young representatives to choose council board of directors. These elected and hardworking representatives become an important voice in the council. The respect they earn from the adult members of the board boosts their self-esteem. That self-esteem, productivity and sense of achievement contribute to their total personality development into adulthood. And Amanda Atwood, a senior high school student, relished a sense of fulfillment when her opinions benefit younger girl scouts. Amanda and three other Senior Girl Scouts organized a safety program for students in the elementary level. As a result, 2,000 children received identification cards with their photos and fingerprints. Amanda and her co-organizers were given the Gold Award, the highest honors in girl scouting. Two things make girl scouting unique in developing a girl's leadership potential, according to Diane Oakes. One is its single-sex orientation. The other consists of the outdoor experience the girls gain through camping, hiking and canoeing. Single-sex orientation makes it possible for programs to identify and then meet the needs peculiar to girls and women. Creators of girl scouts programs insure that these are educationally sound, appropriate for a particular age level, focused on community service, and involve caring adult leaders. Outdoor experiences, on the other hand, provide them with excellent opportunities to learn about themselves and their environment as well as to cooperate with and depend on others. Oates describes the set of experiences as fostering a sense of sisterhood and cultivating "girl power (Hooper)."

Girl Scouts leadership model consists in informal mentoring between the older and the younger members (Hooper 2000). In all its programs, the younger ones have the opportunity of receiving help from older girl scouts. The younger ones foresee what they can accomplish in the future and, at the same time, envision a future for themselves in girl scouting. They can almost feel and touch that future. Cathleen and Amanda are very strong and successful examples for younger girl scouts. But Oakes said that these two models only represent the level of excellence girls in the movement are capable of attaining on their own (Hooper).

US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said that Girl Scouts taught her a lot about serving others (the Achiever 2006). She also expressed pride in continuing the tradition by working for a President who believes that every child can learn and deserves to succeed. She emphasized the value and relevance of the department's primary federal education policy, which is No Child Left Behind. The policy provides high-quality education to every child, regardless of race, residence and background. She noted the increase in the number of fourth-graders in the country in the last three years. She recalled that she was herself a girl scout in the late 60s when the most popular badge was Social Dancer. But today, she stressed, girls need more advanced skills in order to succeed than dancing. She reported that throughout the United States, girls comprise only a third of advanced placement physics classes and only 15% of AP computer science classes. She also remarked that women accounted for only 20% of enrollees in engineering in the college level. She emphasized on the importance of math and science for girls to learn. Problem solving is learned in math and science teaches the nature and operations of nature. In this direction, the department of education hosted the first-ever national summit on math and science for girls. It would serve as a forum and meeting point for the best and brightest women leaders on how to help more girls and their parents to learn math and science. Educators who coalesce with girl scouts enhance their chances of achieving (the Achiever).

Nakeya Bell, an outreach assistant for the Tierra Del Oro Girl Scout Council in Sacramento, California introduced a revolutionary idea to the 26,000 members of the council (Jewett 2006). Girl scouting is not about looking thin or remaining in the kitchen any longer. Girl scouting is involved in current-day and relevant issues, extreme sports and career search. To illustrate, Girl Scout executives in Manhattan are all agog about recovering from a "crisis of relevance." The crisis response consists in cutting bureaucracy and creating appropriate programs for girls who tend to abandon the organization. Some of these girls feel trapped and do not know where to seek answers. An institution known for its nurturing image should also be a real place for girls to find their future. This council studied the preoccupations of girls. These were body image, eating disorders and self-cutting. In response to the findings of the study, Girl Scouts would train troop leaders to choose the experts to bring in to talk about the topics (Jewett).

When Girl Scouts joined the Digital Living Project, an educational program for families, it elicited resistance (Jewett 2006). Conservative Christian groups criticized the Girl Scouts movement as yielding to peer pressure instead of remaining steadfast, abstaining and avoiding leaders in same-sex relationships. These groups also deplored that the movement had sidestepped the typical and traditional vocations of motherhood and wifehood as no longer desirable and preferring career. The critics were mainly concerned women in the United States. They asserted that if the movement says that men, marriage and motherhood are no longer necessary, then sex becomes only a recreation (Jewett).

Develop leaders is what the Girl Scout movement does best (Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. 2006). This is the foundation of the Girl Scout Award. It is given to young women who excel in their locality for their passion and commitment in solving relevant community, national or global issues in order to improve lives. The Gold Award, the highest honor given to a girl scout, encourages a member to discover, connect and take action. In discovering, they understand their stated values, use their knowledge and skills and explore the world. In connecting, they show care for others, inspire and team up with others. And in taking action, they perform what is needed to actually make the world a better place to live in. These are the three keys to leadership in the Girl Scouts Program. It forms the basis on which the movement will evolve the world's best leadership program. Participating girls will be classified according to age from kindergarten to high school (Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.).

According to its Leadership Development Model, girls first join the movement to have fun and friends and to develop a sense of belonging (Girls of the U.S.A. 2006). They engage in activities, which allow them to discover, connect and then take action. The short-term or intermediate outcomes for discovering are assumed to be a strong sense of self, positive values, practical and healthy life skills, challenges and critical thinking skills. For connecting, the expected outcomes are healthy relationships, cooperation and team-building, resolution of conflicts, diversity in a multicultural world or setting, and connectedness. And in taking action, the expected outcomes are the identification of community needs, resourceful problem-solving, advocacy, inspiration for others to act and empowerment in the world. Long-term outcomes are girls who lead with courage, confidence and character. And the overall impact is that girl scouts make the world a better place to live in (Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.).