May 4, 2007 Chautauqua

From the Editor's Computer

I have been a member of the Guiding movement since I was seven years old, starting as a Brownie and progressing through the various levels. The other day I was looking at some old Brownie badges from approximately 10 years ago, or less.

The Guiding program has gone through many changes in the past few years. The changes are intended to make the program more fun and appealing to girls of all ages.

What I have found in recent years though is that they have taken all the growth, learning and challenge out of the movement. There is nothing to encourage the girls to step out and explore new territory.

When I was a girl, we learnt skills that were important but not necessarily part of our daily lives at that age such as no-impact camping (where you left no trace that you’d even been at that site), proper meeting procedures and investigating local politics, and we were part of the vast volunteer network of the community, providing service in a host of different areas and settings.

Now it seems that there is nothing in the programs to make girls better citizens and prepare them to handle the challenges that life has a tendency to throw at us all when we least expect it.

It is only when we are challenged to go beyond what we know that we learn anything. And then we want to learn more. It is in learning those skills that we are prepared for the next challenge, and the next challenge.

Beth

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