There are no girls in our Beaver Colony

[OddSockMonster]

...and I kind of wish there were. The one we had recently moved up to Cubs, so we now have twenty-odd boys, and no girls on the waiting list.

To be fair there are about one quarter girls in Cubs and a third in Scouts, most of whom I think joined after Brownies.

It made me wonder though, is it the norm for girls to go to Rainbows/Brownies and boys to go to Beavers/Cubs?

Does it make much difference having girls and boys separate or mixed?

(p.s. I tend to only lurk occasionally over here but this is something that's been on my mind a bit so I thought I'd post)

When I was young girls always went to Brownies and boys always went to Cubs. It was only through MNing I realised that had changed (or maybe it had always been possible and it had simply never happened in my childhood).

AFAIK boys still aren't allowed to join Guides and Brownies though. Generally on MN you see posts from mothers of girls saying Guides are too 'girlie' - there was one thread recently about a Guiding pamper party which made me shudder - and often the suggested solution is to send the girl to Scouts instead.

But I'm not really answering your question, am I? I think mixed groups are great, but I also see the point of Guides being a 'female only space' and would be loathe to criticise any girls or young women who preferred that environment.

OTOH maybe a lot of girls in your area just don't think Scouts are for them, maybe you should do some publicity or something? If I'd had a girl I would automatically think 'Guides'...

My daughter is a Beaver she moves up to Cubs next week though. About 60% of our colony are girls which personally I think is great.

Scouts rule

We have about a third girls in our colony of Beavers

Sorry never answered your question either!
Mixing boys and girls works well in our colony, though the majority of the girls are more keen on the traditional scout activities, hiking canoeing etc. My friends daughter is a brownie and they seem to do more sedate things, crafts, Home making etc.

I'm sure at guide's age many girls prefer single sex company, wonder what the boys at cubs think about it?!

There are no girls in our Beaver colony and I hope it stays that way.

There are small numbers of girls in other Beaver colonies locally because I've seen them at district events.

I'm really pleased my ds can enjoy a boy only environment. He is not sporty so I don't know where else he can enjoy that. When I dropped him off for the first time I was quite shocked at how testosterone filled the environment was, they bounce off the walls with endless energy. It makes me realise how difficult school must be for some. I want him to learn how to bond with other boys as friendship does not come naturally to him. I know that at school eventually the girls will not want him to play with him.

I do know 3 people that send their girls to beavers, their reasons are:
-To be able to leave both their children at the same activity so they get some peace.

• Their dd was bullied and mum wanted the refuge of a no girl environment (her dd was the only girl).
• The dd likes doing more traditionally boy activities.

Ours bounce off the walls too so we try to get outdoors as many nights, as we can, come rain, snow or the dark, which they love. Definitely different to school!

I guess I found guides just too girly (also found the pamper party thread cringeable) and would have loved to join the scouts if it had been an option when I was younger, and I'm surprised that we don't have more (any at present) girls in our group. Nice to hear it's different elsewhere, maybe we just need to put the word out a bit.

FWIW I think the boys mixing with girls doing the same adventurous activities is a good thing. I don't think the boys in Cubs & Scouts have any issue with mixing with the girls, especially when they're all treated the same and can build a den / climb a tree / float a raft as good as any of the boys, if not better.

I didn't know until the other day that boys could go to rainbows.

I wonder if generally there is quite a strong idea, based on how it always was, that girls go to brownies etc and boys do cubs stuff? certainly mine are in rainbows and it didn't cross my mind to check out cubs.

There are other organisations - the woodcraft folk is one that is quite big around here and they are all mixed and always have been.

No girls in our Beavers, and I undestand the organisers like to keep it that way.

I think that the larger numbers of girls going into Beavers and Cubs shows that rainbows and brownies need to change and do more varied activites.

Why do Brownies do hostess badge? And why don't Cubs? Why has my ds never done sewing badges on in Cubs? There needs to be more crossover of activites, and less of the traditional.

what on earth is a hostess badge?
i am at a bit of a loss as i never did any of this stuff as a child and DD goes with a friend from school
if i looked into it i'd probably disapprove

i liked the badge DD came home with a little while after she'd started, "National Thinking Day"

moderately

Boys can't go to rainbows???

It does annoy me when people say guides are girly -my guides will be building shelters next week come rain or shine and the week after we are doing piratey stuff

I think beavers is still mainly boys though as at 6 activities are directed by the parents -girls in scouting is relatively new and if people think back to their own childhood then they will probably lean towards rainbows/ brownies for girls

As the dcs get older they are more swayed by their peers so the numbers of girls in scouting go up

Can't they? That's what I thought but the rainbows at my school has a boy attend.

Might be the son of a leader

Boys can go to Rainbows?!

I don't agree with the new co-ed nature of the Guiding and Scouting movements. At all. All kids can benefit from a single sex space.

I remember the hostess badge, but even 25 years ago the Brownie and Guide activities that we did were pretty varied. It wasn't all sewing and baking (although I think those are important for both sexes as well), there was a lot of physical activity involved. Nothing wrong with having an Orienteering badge AND a Host/Hostess badge.

I think I must be wrong about that Bue, sorry!

I think that if we are saying that girls should be allowed a girl only space, then boys should also be allowed a boy only space.

My perception is that in mixed groups, at school and elsewhere, that boys are often considered naughty and a handful because comparisons are drawn with the girls. Obviously that is a big generalisation, but the sexes do develop very differently and at age 5-8 boys find it much harder to sit still as a general rule.

I think scouting and guiding is very varied from group to group. Our guiding leader was great, we were always outside building fires and orienteering. Her second in command was much more girly, and the weeks that she was in charge we would do more sewing and other boring stuff!

It is up to the leaders- they are volunteers and run it their way.
It maybe depends on how long they have become mixed e.g. When ours took in girls there was a waiting list- you certainly had to have their name down by the age of 2yrs and it wouldn't have been fair if girls had jumped the list- therefore, in theory, they had girls but it would take some years to actually have any. Cubs and Scouts are more likely to have vacancies because the child has more say, Beavers tend to be there because their parents decided for them. If you put their name down as babies you can't know if they are suited.

I can't imaging trying to get our bunch to sew, there'd be injuries for sure! We did baking though - made soda bread for St Patrick's Day, which was really popular.

I'm never sure about the idea that boys are naughtier, maybe they are, but certainly we've got a real mixed bag of personalities and traits in out lot, some are as quiet as mice and some need considerably more rules and routine. I would have thought it would be the same with any large group of girls, so a mix wouldn't be that much different, would it?