Political correctness in the United States has reached new heights. The Boy Scouts of America — an organization for boys — will begin admitting girls.

The BSA board of directors unanimously approved a plan last week to welcome girls into Cub Scouts and create a separate scouting group for older girls. It’s all to bring Boy Scout values to “as many families and youth as possible,” said Michael Surbaugh, BSA’s chief scout executive. The organization will finally afford girls the opportunity to learn “the values of scouting,” Surbaugh said — completely ignoring the fact that girls have their own scouting group already.

Contrary to the Boy Scouts’ pandering, this plan does nothing for gender equality. The Boy Scouts are just taking advantage of what seems progressive to help stop its membership from dwindling further. In the process, it ruins a tradition that has been intact for more than 100 years.

Beyond addressing gender equality, BSA said it created this change to accommodate parents who have difficulties managing their children’s extracurriculars. This logic is problematic because it endangers the existence of all gender-exclusive organizations.

Having children in different scout organizations can be difficult, but it’s like having children on different travel sport teams. If it’s becoming so difficult, perhaps it’s time to eliminate gender constraints for high school sports, too.

“I think it’s awful. Girls have Girl Scouts for a reason,” said Eric Parker, an Eagle Scout and a sophomore mechanical engineering major at Syracuse University.

Parker pointed out that BSA has already created programs for girls so they can get some of the same leadership experiences. But admitting them as full members is unfair. Girl Scouts can already work toward a prestigious Gold Award, but now, they also get the option to work toward becoming an “Eagle Scout.”

Apparently, boys aren’t allowed to have organizations to themselves anymore. The Boy Scouts’ press release cited years of requests from girls and their parents to participate in BSA activities. But instead of leaving it up to Girl Scouts to change their programs, it appears the reasonable thing to do is to allow girls to join an organization with “boy” in its name.

Since this is such a “progressive” reform, one would think the Girl Scouts would fully support the change. But the Girl Scouts have condemned the new policy, saying only its organization provides the leadership to prepare women for success. They firmly believe that an all-girl organization creates the best environment for girls to learn and thrive.

We’re the BEST leadership organization in the world for girls and no one can do what we do. Diversity is our strength. ????? https://t.co/FW8cAkVzct pic.twitter.com/Y5vFc5gzJZ

— Girl Scouts (@girlscouts) October 11, 2017

The Girl Scouts also accused the Boy Scouts of trying to acquire girls to boost membership.

Boy Scout membership has declined significantly in recent decades. Membership peaked at 6.5 million in 1972, according to PBS, but declined to 2.3 million in 2016, according to the BSA. The Boy Scouts is suffering, and this is clearly a misguided attempt at fixing its problems.

Andy Mendes | Digital Design Editor

Parker put the Boy Scouts’ pandering efforts best.

“Everyone is just so soft now,” he said.

That is the bottom line. Today’s world is one where gender-exclusive organizations cannot exist because it is apparently inconvenient for parents. But considering BSA has existed for more than 100 years, it’s unclear why are parents suddenly too busy to handle multiple scouting groups.

This tactic is clearly trying to kill two birds with one stone: The Boy Scouts get more members and appear to be an organization that values gender equality.

Overall, the Boys Scouts have just fallen victim to the culture of political correctness that is plaguing the U.S. The BSA is sacrificing decades of tradition just to satisfy the pressures of society.

Joseph Pucciarelli is a junior public relations and history dual major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at jjpuccia@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @JoeyPucciarelli.

This column takes one side on the debate over whether girls should be allowed in the Boy Scouts. You can read another perspective here.

Published on October 19, 2017 at 12:30 am