To think boys should be able to do Brownies?

[PrinceCharming7]

I'm a bit confused why they don't? Girls are allowed to do Scouts/Cubs/Beavers, so why can't boys do brownies?

Bombadier I presume that there will be boys only groups within some all boys schools, they probably are equally not open to boys who don't attend the school. so in that the website will be correct.

It's probably also correct in allowing all boys for religious or cultural reasons, however that will be a bit of a fall back position in case it ever actually occurs. I'm not sure I can think of any justifiable position in the UK where you could argue that point successfully in order to say that an all boy scouts was culturally appropriate. Scouting is international though so I guess it may apply somewhere.

Our local grammar has an boys only scouts

Is it a boys school, or co-ed? If it's a boys school, and closed scout group, then they are allowed to be boys only

I have 5 children. Oldest is 22. Youngest is 10. My boys all went to Cubs/Scouts and the girls went to Brownies/Guides. They all enjoyed being with same sex groups - two still do. I can't see the problem tbh. One of my boys was very into crafts, acting and "The Arts" but he still enjoyed the Cub/Scout experience. BTW he came out as gay last year. I still love him as much as I ever did :D He has just secured a place in a Performing Arts College. He has said his childhood has set him up for the future. That's great to hear :) He was a boy who, secretly, would have preferred Brownies to Scouts but he got on with what was available to him. He hasn't suffered - honestly!

but don't pretend that they aren't being unfair to the boys on the list if there is a corresponding girls group available

Thing is, my DD didn't consider brownies to be a corresponding girls group to cubs. She tried brownies and didn't really like it. When she got to 8, she went to cubs. Which she loved. Should she have stayed at brownies, her second choice, so another child could have the cub place she wanted?

There's nothing wrong with Guides staying as a girls only organisation. Just because Scouts have decided to run a co-ed organisation, doesn't mean that Guides should follow the same decision.

I'm under the impression that being in a single sex environment is generally more beneficial to girls than to boys.

Like another poster my dd was in a boy dominated class through primary school (5 girls 19 boys) so brownies was the all girl space she needed and mixing with girls from different schools gave her the confidence to take the lead sometimes.Shes at High school now,agsin heavily outnumbered by boys and has again begun to hang back and the boys take the lead.

Many girls would actually love boys to be at Brownies

I very much doubt it! The Girl Guiding movement involved the girls when it reviewed its policy on being girls only vs including boys. And they voted to keep it girls only. I suspect if the Scouts had done the same, they would probably have chosen to stay single sex too.

Ok I've read the whole thread.
I'll lay out that I'm a Brownie Leader.
If the membership of GG wanted to include boys it would happen. We are a girl-led organisation. Every few years the question is asked and the response is negative. At the time Scouts went mixed-sex there were spaces in the organisation and enough adults to cover. This is not currently the case and many Scout units are oversubscribed.
OP I understand that your son likes crafts, and is shy, but as others have said the distinction in programme between Brownies and Cubs isn't so marked that one would suit particularly: it really is down to the unit. As volunteers we all play to our strengths and fulfil the programme with some bias towards what we enjoy. Find a cub unit that does more crafts. The shyness is something he would have whichever organisation he went into. Our local cubs does quite a lot of indoor games and craft activities compared to us where we do more cooking and lots more outdoorsy stuff.