To be a teeny bit shocked at GirlGuide Camp Activities?

[Babyroobs]

Ten year old DD is going on a week long Girl Guiding camp this summer. Amongst the activities we need to choose / consent to are Axe throwing and Pidgeon gutting !! Is this usual ?

Many 10-14 year olds are interested in fashion...should we just ignore that?

Can they earn badges for watching TV, too? Playing video games?

Unless fashion consisted of making clothes from things you find in a wood...

Would that be fashion, though? It seems more like a neat survival skill.

It's not that I oppose stereotypically "feminine" things out of principle. Learning how to spin and weave? Fine!
But "fashion" isn't outdoorsy or survivalist. It is specifically referring to superfluous variety in clothes.

RedToothBrush, do you mind me asking what activity that is? I know that Guiding is sometimes more stringent in the qualifications required for instructors (I believe climbing is one of them), but they are mostly the same (archery for instance).

Vestal, Girlguiding isn't an outdoorsy and survivalist organisation, and it has never claimed to be. This is from the About Us part of the website:
"Girlguiding is the leading charity for girls and young women in the UK. Thanks to the dedication and support of 100,000 amazing volunteers, we are active in every part of the UK, giving girls and young women a space where they can be themselves, have fun, build brilliant friendships, gain valuable life skills and make a positive difference to their lives and their communities. We build girls’ confidence and raise their aspirations. We give them the chance to discover their full potential and encourage them to be a powerful force for good."

The Passion for Fashion Go For It teaches girls organisation, team work, and planning skills as they have to work together in their patrol to choose, plan and carry out their chosen activities with very little input from Leaders. Yes, it has a Fashion theme, but many 10-14 year old girls are into that. For all you know, that could spark an interest in the fashion industry and then mean they go on to be a fashion designer/photographer/artist/dressmaker. The skills I mentioned are all really important to develop and are really beneficial for them in their future. I'm leading a long-haul international trip for Senior Section (14-17 year olds) this summer, and they've planned a LOT of our trip.

Absolutely. It's about catching their interest- it's a umbrella badge involving all sorts of skills.

Can I clarify the 'badge for fashion' thing... 'Passion for Fashion' and 'glamourama' are not interest badges- and are not awarded for achievements. They are both activity packs called 'go for its!' The girls can choose to do them as a patrol over 4-5 weeks and then they do get a badge at the end- but it's about participation not achievements. Guides still has interest badges and also 'challenge' badges that are different.

Fwiw they can also choose 'go for it survival' 'football' and other more outdoorsy things- guides offers a balanced programme and isn't all about one type of activity.

Not sure I'd enjoy gutting. Pigeon, would take ages to wash off all that gore.

Axe throwing however, sounds a whole lot of fun!

But "fashion" isn't outdoorsy or survivalist

Whoever said that every activity had to be 'outdoorsy'. Its about providing a balance of activities, covering a wide range of subjects and interests.

I'm a cub leader, and cubs work towards a wide range of badges. Of course there are the 'outdoorsy' ones, including backwoods cooking, hiking, watersports etc. But there are also 'indoor' ones, including chef, book reader, craft etc.

It's great that the girls at Guides get access to activities such as gutting a pigeon, if that's what they want to do. But it's also great that there are lots of other activities too.

Axe throwing however, sounds a whole lot of fun!

Depends who they are thrown at....

VestalVirgin - I'm pretty sure PP didn't mean her daughter was doing Passion for Fashion at a Guide camp.

It seems like there's an underlying tendency to regard the 'fashion' type activities as encouraging a load of airheads who can't see beyond the end of a lipstick. Girls might be interested in fashion and make up as well as climbing, camping, science, reading, knife skills, whatever.

I'm back! I'm the one who mentioned the Passion for Fashion. Unfortunately my dd goes to a guide group who don't get a say in what is on the programme. All of the girls do the activities - no choosing in patrols, team work etc etc mentioned above. Dd is still there but only just and because it's the only chance she gets to see a friend who goes to a different school. She almost sees it as a challenge - trying to change it from within. Unfortunately they also did Glamourama and chocolate last term! The leaders do know dds opinion but girly stuff seems to be what they are comfortable with. We have had discos, craft, baking, etc.They rarely leave the hut If scouts had space dd would be off...

Pidgeon gutting? Preparing an animal to eat is a useful skill I guess.. Are these animals going to be killed for the sake of an exercise or are they going to eat them? Because if it's the former I'd be really angry. If they're going to kill them humanely, gut them and then roast them for dinner, I'd say that's great.

Yes, looks like Axe Throwing was only recently banned (in March 2016):

guidingmanual.guk.org.uk/supporting_info/recent_manual_updates.aspx

Glee that sounds like a terrible unit and is absolutely not being run how it is supposed to. We are regularly told as leaders that the girls should be choosing what they do and there is currently a big push in Guiding to be more adventurous. You should have been given details of the District Commissioner who is in charge of all the leaders in your area. You could try talking to her to see if changes can be suggested from higher up.

*brain The leaders were mainly retired special forces personnel...

This is conjuring up fantastic images. I'm imagining a unit of small children marching around to orders from tough, battle scarred men. They look innocent - little girls with pigtails etc - but can kill a man with a touch of the finger, hit a target half a mile away, and their coordinated attack is something to be feared*

Pretty accurate picture really

They were pretty mental. Abseiling off towers, rock climbing up overhangs and there was an absolute expectation on the girls to get stuck in.