Since last fall, when the Boy Scouts of America announced they would welcome girls into their clubs, more than 3,000 girls have taken the organization up on that offer, multiple outlets reported.
Over 170 groups — or about two-thirds of councils nationwide — participated in an early adopter program ahead of the official launch set for later this year, WBZ 4 reported.
“This may make the virtue signalers feel good, but at what cost?” Fox News host Laura Ingraham said to Eagle Scout and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on Wednesday night’s segment of “The Ingraham Angle.”
“The politically correct, virtue-signaling Left — they like to destroy things that work. They want to destroy core cultural intuitions,” Kirk replied.
He said social psychologists have demonstrated the developmental importance of young boys’ interacting exclusively with other young boys, in clubs like the Boy Scouts, for example. When girls move into a formerly male-exclusive group, the boys’ behavior changes in ways that defeat the purpose of the groups — they may show off to try to impress the girls, for example.
“The Boy Scouts have been unbelievably successful over the last 100 years of turning boys into men and creating some of America’s greatest leaders, whether it be Neil Armstrong or U.S. presidents or U.S. senators,” Kirk said.
Some girls have set their goals high on joining the Boy Scouts. Ten-year-old Tatum Weir of Durham, New Hampshire, for example, aims to achieve the organization’s highest rank, Eagle Scout, alongside her twin brother, Ian, WBZ 4 reported.
Public response to all of this, predictably, has been mixed. Some laud the move, noting that girls are enjoying the activities offered in the formerly boys-only clubs. Others are concerned that girls’ unique needs won’t be met, and that it is important for both boys and girls to be able to spend time and form strong bonds in clubs that are gender-exclusive.
Related: Shock: Boys Scouts Will Now Admit Girls
The Girl Scouts of America are among those expressing concern. Officials have indicated that the Boy Scouts’ change doesn’t have girls’ best interests in mind; and while there is certainly nothing wrong with becoming an Eagle Scout, they say the program simply wasn’t designed for girls, KCTV 5 reported.
Kirk worried about the detrimental impact the Boy Scouts’ move could have on membership in the Girl Scouts, which he said already struggles with recruiting young women. He predicted these developments may ultimately destroy the Girl Scouts of America.
A one-size-fits-all experience in children’s organized clubs and activities isn’t right for every child. Some prefer — and may ultimately fare better in — clubs that cater to and specialize in programming for a single gender.
Joy Wheeler, CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri, told KCTV that her organization will remain focused on what is best for girls — rather than what is convenient.
“Post-modernists want to redefine truth, and they want to destroy things that work.”
Wheeler and others suggest that offering busy parents the option to have both their sons and their daughters involved in a single club is tempting due, in part, to its convenience. Pressed for time and money, parents can make a single drop-off for meetings and shared fundraising activities — or they can even pass down club-related attire or equipment.
But is all of this the best answer?
“Post-modernists want to redefine truth, and they want to destroy things that work … And now we are severely jeopardizing that by inserting young ladies into the Boy Scouts,” Kirk said.
To be sure, a sizable social experiment is underway, as the “boy” in “Boy Scouts” ceases to define the organization. Whether this will ultimately serve the best interests of all the children involved remains to be seen.
3K girls have joined boy scouts since new rule was implemented OCT.2k17, this is disgraceful! , the war on men starts when they're boys , emasculating them early to make weenies who will be good little debt slaves in the futurehttps://t.co/loVsspiWbp
— Gymstatuz (@gymstatuz) April 23, 2018
On the way home from the doctors office today my 11 year old son, who has been involved in scouts since first grade said, "I'm glad they decided to let girls into Boy Scouts. Boy Scouts do more than Girl Scouts, and girls deserve the opertunity to do those things too."
— Phern Lee (@phernlee) April 21, 2018
Girls have been in the Boy Scouts Venturing program since 1976; girls are joining Boy Scouts because it’s a great organization that teaches values; the Girl Scouts are a broken organization taken over by feminist! Now they can become Eagle Scouts! Please learn before you Tweet. https://t.co/cYzo69cdr9
— Branch Howard (@BranchHoward1) April 23, 2018
As an Eagle Scout I hate that this is happening I love working for the boy scouts of America. But girls shouldn’t be in the Boy Scouts. Here’s a perfect example girls mature faster then males.
— Desmond K. Harper (@DesmondKHarper2) April 23, 2018
Thousands of girls are now becoming Boy Scouts
Remember when masculinity was celebrated in western society?
Yet another progressive "success" story….. pic.twitter.com/7KuF8GYtBK
— Kat #ISTANDWITHGENFLYNN (@KatTheHammer1) April 23, 2018
Michele Blood is a Flemington, New Jersey-based freelance writer and a regular contributor to LifeZette.
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