Girls Scouts
Girl Scouts is a parallel movement to the Scout Movement. It grew out of the Scout Movement in the early 20th Century. Girls were attracted to its founding in 1907 scouting.
In various places around the world, the movement developed in many ways. In some places tried girl scouting organizations and it was decided that single-sex organizations was a better way to join. In other places, girls have started groups to open some of them later to merge with boys or boys’ organizations. In other cases, mixed groups were formed, sometimes later split. In the same way, the name of Girl Guide or Girl Scout groups at different times and places used, with some groups moving from one to another. In the past, boys, the Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts had but in recent years to join Guides is open to boys and girls join in some countries.
In 1909 Robert Baden-Powell decided, the founder of Scouting that girls were not in the same organization as the boys, and the Girl Guides founded in Britain in 1910. Many means, but not all, Girl Guide and Girl Scout groups around the world trace their roots to this point. Agnes Baden-Powell was for Girl Guiding in the UK in the early years. Other influential people were Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA, Olga Drahonowska-Malkowska in Poland and Antoinette Butte in France.
The name guide was taken from a famous frontier regiment of the British Indian Army, the Corps of Guides, which could be found for their skills in tracking and survival.
Two central issues were present from the earliest days of the movement: domestic skills and “a kind of practical feminism, physical fitness, survival training, camping, citizenship embodies education and vocational preparation.” These two themes were emphasized at different times and differently by different groups, have remained central to guiding girls and Girl Scouting.
There was much discussion about how similar Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting boys should have been scouting programs. While many girls saw what the boys did, and do it also wanted to have girls organizations sought to avoid simply imitate or copy the guys.
Although most organizations Scout was coeducational, Guiding remained separate in many countries, a female-centered program. International is governed by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts with member organizations in 144 countries.
