Local Boy Scout leaders react to news that girls will soon be allowed to join

In this Feb. 4, 2013 file photo, shows a close up detail of a Boy Scout uniform worn during a news conference in front of the Boy Scouts of America headquarters in Irving, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

Earlier this week, the Boys Scouts of America announced that girls will soon be admitted into the Cub Scouts — a landmark move in the organization’s 107-year history.

Now, local scouting parents are chiming in, and they say the move isn’t all that surprising. Melissa Jakmouj, a former cubmaster who is now the committee chair for Lawrence’s Pack 3370, said the national Boy Scouts of America organization had been looking into the issue for several years now.

Still, when asked about the news shortly after it broke Wednesday afternoon, Jakmouj called the change “wonderful.”

“I have a daughter and two boys, and I just think it makes sense,” said Jakmouj, whose two sons are proud Boy Scouts, and whose college-aged daughter participated in Girl Scouts as a kid. “If you’re already planning all this programming and activities for girls, and the girls are tagging along as siblings, why not have them participate, too?”

Those outside of scouting circles may not realize, Jakmouj clarified, that the Boy Scouts already offer programs for girls, such as Venturing and Sea Scouts. The BSA began opening special-interest Explorer posts to girls in 1969, and Venturing remains a popular option for young people (boys and girls alike) aged 14 to 21.

Wednesday’s historic announcement means Boy Scouts have simply expanded their programming to younger girls who have previously been turned away from Cub Scouts.

Under the plan, Cub Scout dens — the smallest units — will remain single-gender, with the choice of all-boys or all-girls beginning next year. Larger Cub Scout packs will have the option to stay single-gender or become co-ed starting in 2019.

Jakmouj said she’s not yet sure which direction her pack, which serves the neighborhood surrounding Deerfield Elementary School, will go. But, because hers is registered through a secular school scouting organization and the Deerfield PTO, Jakmouj guesses her pack will probably become co-ed.

She’s certainly seen interest over the years from young girls and their families, she said. It’s not much fun telling girls to “just wait” until they’re older, Jakmouj said.

“A lot of times younger girls will express an interest in joining Boy Scouts, and we always have to tell them, ‘You have to wait until you’re old enough, either out of eighth grade or 14 years old.’ And now, we don’t have to do that,” said Peter Houston, who serves as commissioner of Lawrence’s Venturing Crew 2052 and also as a committee member of Douglas County’s Pelathe scouting district.

Houston, admittedly, wasn’t the most dedicated Cub Scout as a kid. But his own children, starting with his son, inspired him to get involved several years ago. His girls — especially Mariah, now a freshman in college — enjoyed their experience with their local Girl Scout troop, which Houston said boasted the kind of adventurous and outdoorsy programming more often associated with Boy Scouts.

But as the girls graduated to middle school and aged out of their old troop, it became clear that it was time for a change — for Mariah, at least. Her experiences in her more rough-and-tumble Girl Scout troop “primed” her for joining the Venturing scouts at age 13.

Houston still oversees his daughter’s old Venturing crew here in Lawrence, which he said boasts “by far the largest and most active” membership in the area. About 15 girls (the crew is all-female) are active members, which Houston sees as an indication that girls have been interested in full participation in the Boy Scouts for several years now.

His Venturing girls have done rock climbing, dog sledding, ice fishing, scuba diving, canoeing and fencing. They’ve also learned how to properly handle and shoot firearms, as well as black powder shooting.

One highlight for his daughter, Mariah, was participating in a Heart of America Council contingent (the council serves Boy Scouts of Kansas and Missouri) that traveled to Switzerland’s Kandersteg International Scout Centre a few years ago.

She spent a week there with scouts — boys and girls — from all over the world.

“What Mariah discovered right away when she got there is that scouting just about everywhere else is co-ed. It’s the Boy Scouts with the girls and the Girl Scouts with the boys,” Houston said. “From little scouts all the way to older scouts, it’s just something they grow up with.

“And she thought that was pretty neat,” he added. “It’s great to watch what a natural thing it is.”

Though he didn’t mention any pushback around Lawrence, Houston said he knows not everyone, especially men who grew up in the Boys Scouts, will be comfortable with the idea of expanding programming to girls.

But kids, he said, don’t seem to mind. It’s the parents who do.

“Every kid who goes through scouting has their own unique experience,” Houston said. “If you keep the youth — the kids we’re trying to serve — in mind, I think it helps, because you realize the benefits of character and leadership development that you instill in boys are just as important to instill in girls.”

Jakmouj agrees. She sees this week’s news as a practical move by the Boy Scouts of America, and for today’s busy families.

“It’s probably more cost-effective,” Jakmouj said. “If they’re running all these huge camps and programming already, then it only makes sense to offer it to more kids and make it cheaper, I guess, in the long run.”

The Heart of America Council expressed similar sentiments in its official statement regarding the change last Wednesday, saying the Boy Scouts’ new approach “allows the organization to maintain the integrity of the single gender model while also meeting the needs of today’s families.”

“Locally, the Heart of America Council will adhere to all policies and procedures set forth by the National Council of the Boys Scouts of America,” the statement, issued last Wednesday, said. “Today’s decision will allow us to serve more youth in the Kansas City Metro area and help us deliver the character development and values-based leadership programs that Scouting provides to prepare young people for future success.”