3 PR lessons from scouting groups’ war of words
The Boy Scouts will start accepting girls as members, the group has decided, much to the chagrin of the Girl Scouts. The subsequent biting rhetoric offers takeaways for communicators.
It’s “he said, she said” on a national scale.
News broke Wednesday that the Boy Scouts of America would open their ranks to girls, allowing female scouts to achieve the group’s highest honor: Eagle Scout.
The Boy Scouts say they’re working to better serve families.
The Girl Scouts say its male counterparts are making a desperate play to bolster membership.
“We believe it is critical to evolve how our programs meet the needs of families interested in positive and lifelong experiences for their children,” said Michael Surbaugh, chief executive of the Boy Scouts.
Starting next year, young girls can join Cub Scout units, known as dens. Local scouting organizations can choose to have dens for girls and dens for boys. “Cub Scout dens will be single-gender — all boys or all girls,” the organization said in a statement.
The Boy Scouts say the move was motivated by requests from families and parents who wanted to enroll their daughters in scouting programs.
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