Samuel Martin - The Girl Scouts Have Sued the Boy Scouts

The Girl Scouts Have Sued the Boy Scouts. Now What?

Summary

This year, the Boy Scouts of America organization changed its model to accept girls in the scouting program because there was anger that girls couldn't achieve the same heights as boys in terms of scouting. The change was heavily debated and doesn't allow for co-ed troops, but satisfies the original request: that girls have the ability to reach the revered 'Eagle Scout.' Now that the Boy Scouts have changed their model, they changed their name as well, enraging the Girl Scouts organization. The Girl Scouts have sued because they feel as though their 'territory' is being encroached upon, while in reality the entire reason that the Boy Scouts are accepting girls is because they can't fill the same role. Many Girl Scout leaders are annoyed at their organization because the volunteers were never surveyed and many of the leaders speaking up don't think it is necessary to sue. Some like Lucrecer Braxton even say that “If the Girl Scouts are feeling threatened by the Boy Scouts, then maybe you need to step up what you’re doing in the Girl Scouts."

Analysis

The article was written in New York on November 9th, 2018 so it is very close to Manhattan, which is where the lawsuit was filed by the Girl Scouts. Before reading this, I already knew about the Boy Scouts accepting girls into the organization but I didn't think that the Girl Scouts would have much of a reaction, especially with the decline in membership in both programs. This relates to U.S. history when many times in the past, people have used lawsuits to make money off of other people or companies. For example, in Stacy Pincus v. Starbucks, Pincus sued for $5 million because her iced coffee had "too much ice in it." People use the flaws in the government system for their own greed. The audience of this article is the general public, but has more of an effect on those involved in the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts organizations. This article was written by Niraj Chokshi who is a general assignment reported at the NY Times express desk. This article was written to inform people about the new developments in the battle between scouting programs and the lawsuit that was filed recently. This article is important, because to me, the Girl Scouts are trying to make money off of this change in the Boy Scouts that whether we agree with it or not, is filling a role for a number of girls throughout the country, all in an effort to make up for the lack of revenue from the decreasing number of girl scouters.

Source

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/09/us/girl-scouts-sue-boy-scouts.html