Recently there have been steps taken by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) allowing girls into their program Cub Scouts. Cub Scouts is like Boy Scouts, but for elementary school kids and is more parent led to prepare kids for the tougher and more scout led experiences that they’ll go through later.

That’s right I said girls in Boy Scouts. Seems kind of odd because of the name, right? I thought Girl Scouts was for girls and Boy Scouts was for boys.

The Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) have Brownie and Daisy levels too for younger girls. I don’t see the point of having to set up something like this if it is already there.

The reasons behind the change are that girls will be able to achieve Eagle Scout and to shape the new generation of leaders.

Previously, only boys could get the rank of Eagle Scout; the highest achievement one can get in scouts by doing service work, earning merit badges, and demonstrating leadership. I think that if girls had the opportunity to get the award, they definitely could, but again there is already something in girl scouts.

The Gold Award is an award similar to Eagle Scout, but only achievable in Girls Scouts and it’s “only available for girls” according to http://www.girlscouts.org/.

“I think that society should honor the Gold Award and the prestige and hard work that these young ladies put into the Gold Award,” Paraeducator and Girl Scout Leader Renee White said.

If girls can already get the Gold Award– which is said to be just as prestigious and sought after as Eagle Scout then why would they want to get Eagle.

So why is it fair for a girl to have the option to get both, but I can’t.

What we should do is try to promote the Gold Award and Girl Scouts more.

Instead of making a whole new program, why don’t we just improve one that already exists? Instead of spending the time arguing about why girls should and shouldn’t be in boy scouts and why boys should and shouldn’t be in girl scouts, let’s just improve the two.

“[The Gold Award] is a female recognition that colleges and businesses tend to overlook,” White said.

Everyone should try and make the Gold Award seem more important, because it is. There needs to be an effort put forward to make the Gold Award seem very important and prestigious. It might be hard to show the CEOs of companies and the deans of schools what the Gold Award really is and what it means, but just because it’s hard doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

“The need for female leadership has never been clearer or more urgent than it is today—and only Girl Scouts has the expertise to give girls and young women the tools they need for success,” the Girl Scouts stated.

Both should try to increase the percentage of minority and LGBT population instead of recruiting the opposite gender.

Both organizations have been running for over 100 years each, BSA for 107 and GSUSA for 105. Stick to what works. There’s no need in changing a system that has functioned for so long.