On February 8, 2025, the Boy Scouts changed their name to Scouting America to acknowledge the acceptance of girls as members.
Sophomore scout Josephine Sims shares what she wants to be recognized for.
“I frequently have experiences where I’ll say “I’m a Scout” and am then assumed to be a Girl Scout. I have no issue with Girl Scouts, but their legacy isn’t the one I’ve earned through my years in scouts, and I would prefer to have the work I’ve done be what I’m recognized for.” Sims said.
Jenny Haigler, Josephine Sims’ mother, shares why the decision to join Scouting felt right.
“Scouting America offered more emphasis on outdoorsy activities and survival skills than what she was doing in Girl Scouts.” Says Haigler. “Her own interests were just much more aligned with what her brother was doing in Boy Scouts so it was a no-brainer.”
The name change causes a variety of mixed emotions for the girls in boy scouts.
“I have mixed feelings about the name shift. I, of course, am glad that the name no longer implies an intended gender. However, Boy Scouts of America is more widely known than Scouting America.” Said Sims.
Sanjit Ram Kotu shares his thoughts on what girls bring to Scouts.
“[There] more organized than other people that I know. It helped a lot.” Said Kotu “You can just put all your ideas on [the spreadsheet]. Most of the leaders there so they could, you know, collaborate and make plans for either duty roster, seating charts, or mirror badge.”
Haigler is happy Josephine is gaining life experience.
“I absolutely think scouting will help her in life, primarily because of the challenges she’s learned to deal with.” said Haigler. “Most everything we want to accomplish in life involves other people , learning how to give voice to our own ideas/opinions effectively, and perseverance.”
Kotu thinks letting girls into Boy Scouts was a good idea.
“And having one gender just makes it sound closed off. So if it has a bunch of other people, it would be helpful and you know more incited.“ says Kotu.
Mixing genders in Boy Scouts comes with its own set of challenges and rules.
“I think there is a lot of rules that are set in place in order to protect the scouts. And I think that those are absolutely there for good reason. But it can also make it very difficult to form and start a troop. I think well its not beyond joking, no like it hasn’t prevented me from doing anything” said Sims.
The future is bright for Scouting in the eyes of Sims.
“I think that scouts has the potential to remain as a fairly neutral and stable point as society grows and evolves. I think there is a possibility that it could end up very political at the national scale, but I genuinely believe that troop operations will remain as a positive light in many youths lives either way.” says Sims.
