Breeding soldiers & servants

Agreed, Rickie. I did not go the military route, and being an Eagle Scout has certainly helped my in a number of other pursuits including employment. I just know how disappointed the recruiters were when I made that decision. I was even offered automatic promotion in rank just for joining as an Eagle Scout. I don't believe I was bred to be a soldier, but they definitely seemed to think so.

steamboat28 wrote:

Rickie The Grey wrote: I'm a Boy Scout leader and we teach boys self relience, leadership and values. We don't make soldiers.

But aren't those great qualities in soldiers? Aren't they easily adapted to the life of the military?

I would think that they are adaptable to almost any career or walk of life where interaction with others is going to happen. They are good things to have learned in my opinion and anyone with those skills/traits should be coveted in most any job I would think.

Wescli Wardest wrote: I would think that they are adaptable to almost any career or walk of life where interaction with others is going to happen. They are good things to have learned in my opinion and anyone with those skills/traits should be coveted in most any job I would think.

That begs another question: why are they, then, primarily taught in male-dominated micro-societies, such as the BSA and the military?

I have four sisters and each of them will tell you that these same skills and abilities are taught to them as well. I think that a lot of the problem is that most of the people commenting happen to be guys. (as I suspect most of the attendance at TotJO is male)

My daughter is a Girl Scout and I have volunteered at their summer camps. They are highly resourceful, organized and motivated! They get along better then the boys do from what I have observed and I was thoroughly impressed!!! In all honesty, I feel that the end product of the Girl Scouts produces better leaders than the Boy Scouts. So I have found several aspects of this entire argument to be circumstantial and generally argumentative with little empirical supporting data. Mostly speculation (mine included) based off limited observations.

Wescli Wardest wrote: My daughter is a Girl Scout and I have volunteered at their summer camps. They are highly resourceful, organized and motivated! They get along better then the boys do from what I have observed and I was thoroughly impressed!!! In all honesty, I feel that the end product of the Girl Scouts produces better leaders than the Boy Scouts.

I'm excited to hear that your daughter is having a great experience as a Girl Scout. As with any large scale organization, there will always be some groups that do it better than others. I've been a part of some very organized Boy Scout groups and some pretty bad ones.

As it pertains to the sexes being raised differently, I have often wondered why the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are not just the "Scouts". Clearly there would be personal safety and responsibility issues to address when merging the two, but the combined history, experience and fundraising ability would make for an awesome program in which anybody could participate.

Wishful thinking? Probably...