Boys Scouts VS Girls Scouts- 5 Practical Differences
The scouting experience provides confidence, strength, and concentration to the youth of America. Earlier, the boy’s scout did not allow girls to be a part of it, which changed in 2017, where The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced that it would now consider opening more programs for the country’s girls. They took this decision on the “International Day of the Girl”.
Effie Delimarkos, the Boy Scout’s Director of national communications, said in a statement that they now wish to see the results of making scouting available for families.
Many people are unaware of the different kinds of scouting organizations for kids. There is a lot of debate on which organization is better, but this article will explore the differences between boys scouts and girls scouts.
How did people react to this decision?
After the Boy Scouts’ decision was made public, mixed reactions raised eyebrows across the country. Some people took it to the internet to show their happiness, while the Girl Scouts of America issued a strong statement in this regard.
As said by the Girl’s Scout, “Female leadership has never been as urgent as it is today, and only Girl Scouts can generate the best leadership for young girls and women, needed for unhindered success.”
People appreciated the move and believed when girls are given more significant opportunities, they empower everyone around them, irrespective of their gender, race, or class.
Let’s know about the difference between the two!
5 Basic differences between boys scouts and girls scouts. Here are they,
1. Difference in Ranks
Comparing the girl and the Boy Scout, the Boy Scouts have seven phases, these are called;
- Scout
- Tenderfoot
- Second class
- First-Class
- Star
- Life
- Eagle
Reaching from one level to another means moving from lower to upper grade. This upgrading is done after the board reviews the progress report. There are six officials as members of the committee that’ll either approve or deny the advancement.
Whereas, in the Girl Scouts program, the curriculums start from kindergarten to grade 12. The six levels in girl scouts include;
- Daisies (grade-1 kindergarten)
- Brownies (grade 2-3)
- Juniors (grade 4-5)
- Cadettes (grade 6-8)
- Seniors (grades 9-10)
- Ambassadors (grade 10-12)
2. Difference in activities
In the initial level, Boy Scouts pass different levels in physical fitness, personal growth, and citizenship. At later levels, they develop leadership skills and also perform community service.
Girl Scouts can earn badges; join a troop, hike, and camp from kindergarten to fifth grade. Besides this, from sixth grade onwards, girls can explore a career in science and technology.
Furthermore, girls get to travel the world, dig into nature, and work on projects that transform their community.
The difference between the two scouts saw a surge of discontentment when people realized that girls were not encouraged to pursue science and technology as an option as much as boys did, which raised questions among girls.
3. The difference in Badges earned!
Boys earn badges in various subjects, including crafts, sports, science, business, trades, and future careers. They are offered more than 100 merit badges to own in their name by excelling in different subjects.
There’s a procedure to earn a merit badge, where a scout has to pick a subject of their interest, meet the merit badge counselor, and complete the task assigned to them.
After the job is done successfully, they present the final product to the counselor, who allots the merit badge.
On the other hand, the Girl Scouts grab badges in various subjects, including craft, first aid, life skills, etc.
Other topics have progression badges; these include cookie business, skill-building, financial literacy, etc. The scout has to prove it proficient enough to get a badge, the same as the boy scout.
4. The difference in what they sell?
Boy scouts are allowed to sell either fertilizers or popcorns. On the other hand, girl scouts participate in various cookie programs to sell their famous cookies.
Both the scouts are trained to acquire goal-setting capabilities; besides, they are trained and taught decision-making money management while learning business ethics and people skills.
5. The difference is the highest award offered!
The highest rank in boy scouts is different from that of girl scouts, and the highest rank in boy scout is Eagle scout.
To reach the highest scout, the scout must pass through all the previous ranks and earn 21 merit badges. Besides this, the boys shall gain merit in 12 core subjects and spend a minimum of 6 months in a troop leadership position.
Furthermore, the boy scout should meet with a scout leader to plan, develop and lead a service project for a school, community, or religious organization.
Once all these tasks are done and completed, the Boy Scout should appear before the Eagle Scout board for review and get passed.
On the other hand, the highest rank a Girl Scout can grab is Gold Award. Before the Girl Scouts could reach to Gold Award, they had to pass and achieve the Silver Award and Bronze Award.
To achieve the Gold Award, the Girl Scout should be in at least high school and complete a seven-step program to complete a community problem. The several steps involved in this seven-step program include;
- Identifying an issue
- Investigate the issue
- Build a team and get help
- Create a plan
- Present the same
- Gather Feedback
- Take Action
- Educate and inspire
To your surprise, every year, 10 Gold recipient awards are honored for their contribution to raising awareness towards society’s flaws. These women are honored as the National Young Women of Distinction.
The Girl Scouts has been open and inclusive of gay and transgender people, unlike Boy Scouts. Since 1993, the Girl Scouts have declared that they are open to all beliefs and deny rejecting people of different beliefs and backgrounds.
In contrast, Boy Scouts have been found to reject atheist or agnostic members.
Bottomline
Therefore, that’s how the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts differ from each other. Boys Scouts are trained more around life skills and strength training, whereas, Girl Scouts are surrounded with science and life management skills. However, the safety, health, and well-being of girls are given equal importance.
