The Boy Scouts of America program isn’t just for boys anymore. Beginning this year, girls can also join the ranks of the more than a century-old organization.

However, the program is still maintaining the single-gender nature of the original Boy Scouts, because all troops will be either all girls or all boys. The organization’s name will remain Boy Scouts of America, but the program historically known as Boy Scouts will now be called Scouts BSA. 

According to Butch Walker, development director for the Boy Scouts of America Quapaw Area Council, no girls will be added to existing Boy Scout troops.

“Neither program is going to be a truly co-ed program and the reason I say that is that, at the most fundamental levels, each den will either be all boys or all girls,” Walker said. “In the Scouts BSA, all troops will either be all boys or all girls. They are still single gender programs, but now there are options for both boys and girls.”

One of the primary purposes of the change is to make Scouting easier on busy families. By providing one program that sons and daughters can both join, Walker said the goal is to serve as many individuals as possible.

“The reality is that families are busier than they’ve ever been,” Walker said. “Many families, we have found through research and surveys, are looking for a program that can meet the needs of all their kids.”

In fact, in a recent survey of parents not involved in scouting, they found that 90 percent of parents are interested in a program like Cub Scouts for their daughters and 87 percent were interested in a program like Boy Scouts for their daughters.

Cub Scouting continues to serve youth ages 5-10 while the Scouts BSA program will serve ages 11-17.

The Scouts BSA program is not scheduled to launch until February 2019, but the Cub Scouts change is going into effect this summer, with first meetings scheduled across the state on Aug. 23 at local elementary schools.

So how does a family know if Cub Scouts or Scouts BSA is a good fit for their daughter?

“It really just comes down to the preference of a family or girl,” Walker said. “There have always been girls who have wanted to be part of the Cub Scouting programs they’ve seen their brothers doing. This is great for the families who are looking for a single program that meets all of their kids’ needs.”

Walker also pointed out that Girl Scouts is a completely separate organization from Boy Scouts of Amercica, but said they hope to continue to support each other and the different curriculums they each offer.

He said that some of the core purposes of the BSA programs are to teach leadership, challenge kids, adventure in the outdoors and to learn responsibility.

“The programs still maintain all of the same values of citizenship, of leadership, of service that scouting has always been known for. The BSA has always been associated with those kinds of ideas and still is,” Walker said. “Nothing has changed from that standpoint. It’s just making the same great program available to girls, which for us is exciting.”

For more information on Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA and how to get involved, visit the Quapaw Area Council's website or call 501-664-4780.