I’ve been a Girl Scout leader for 6 years. I started out with teeny five year-old Daisies in kindergarten and now have fifth-grade pre-teens. Our troop is at the top of the heap, 5th graders, big kids, heading to middle school next Fall. So my question is, will they still want to be Girl Scouts? Are Girl Scouts uncool in middle school? Is it dorky to be in Girl Scouts?
I can see where Girl Scouts might seem a little dorky. All those green vests and badges and The Promise and all. I’ve heard tell that leaders with older girls (middle school and up) say that their girl scouts refuse to wear a vest, or admit they are in scouting. God forbid if anyone at school knew they were in Girl Scouts. It’s just too …. dorky.
But the thing to remember is … they still show up.
So I say go ahead and say what you want! Make fun of us! Deny that you’re a Scout. No matter what you say, and no matter how the girls won’t admit it, Girl Scouts remains a safe, all-girl place where once every other week our young girls get to put down the “too-cool-for-school” masks, hang out, laugh, talk, do crafts, go horseback riding, camping, star-gazing. And, dare I say it – be dorky!
I’ll take that over MTV, Wii or the Disney Channel any day of the week.
Go girls! As a fellow G.S. leader of 4th graders, I wonder the same thing all the time. My troop of 22 has grown over the years; but will they drop off in middle school? Maybe the key is to balance the experiences between traditional G.S. and cool, new activities like rock-climbing and horseback riding. And I bet a key is to let the troop help decide what it wants to be. I think once they feel comfortable and accepted within a troop, it IS a safe place to be dorky!