UK Girl Scouts want to be prepared for real life July 30, 2007 Jill Good for these girls. Guides, which are the British equivalent of Girl Scouts, are asking for information on sex, money management, environmentally-friendly living, and assembling flat-pack furniture. Awesome. Thanks to Thomas for the link.
Cool! It should also be noted that Girl Guides are not just in the UK, they are in Canada as well. I was a Brownie and a Guide, and didn’t even hear about Girl Scouts until I was well into high school.
My biggest complaint with Girl Scouting is that it has gotten too career-oriented and not practical enough. How can you have a food badge and never have to prepare any food? I am 100% behind scouting teaching useful life skills. And safe sex, money management and furniture assembly (as well as tent pitching, meal cooking, button sewing and orienteering) are very useful.
Holy crap, where were these Girl Guides when I was a kid? They cover topics like bullying, eating disorders, standing up to boys, binge drinking … this is brilliant. Every girl should join.
I love it. Too bad I’m too old (and American) to join. I don’t think I’ve ever managed to assemble furniture properly. (“It’s supposed to be lopsided. They Photoshop the pictures on the box for marketing purposes.”) The youngest ones wanting to learn how to cross the road is a bit weird, though. Doesn’t ‘look both ways’ pretty much cover it?