Petition to change the National Program Portfolio

April 2, 2015: We have launched a petition calling for changes to the National Program Portfolio. Do you want to see less emphasis on Journeys and a return to more badges? Do you want to see more focus on outdoor programming? Do you want to see a renewed focus on GS traditions? If so, please check out the petition, sign, and pass on!
Click HERE to view and sign the petition.

Petition Progress

Total signatures: 3,172 as of 4-14-17.

Comments from petition signers:
Comments are presented "as is" from the petition. They have not been edited for spelling or grammar.

COMMENTS FROM 1-1-17 TO 4-14-17

I am a 65 year old Life member.
We have Brownies. They get bored and restless with the journeys but two of them want to reach the summit. These are tedious and GS should go back to the skills that were emphasized in the late 80s. Also, girls should be able to work on badges at home and have parents sign off like they once were able to.
I was never a girl scout, but always wanted to be. I was very excited to have my daughter join the Daisy's. As a mother of a cub scout, the daisy activities seemed frivolous, but I thought that it was just the beginning and it would get better. After more research, it doesn't seem that way. I thought the girl scouts were going to be more about the outdoors, activity and skill focused. So disappointing. The boy scouts have been more fun. I am so happy my daughter gets to join the cub scout pack meeting and events.
My daughter received an old brownie handbook. I would rather work with her on the skills listed there than focus on the current badge work. We have been supplementing in our troop with various patch program because our troop lacks enthusiasm to dive into a journey. I am glad these have worked for some girls. But I miss the self-motivated opportunities afforded in the GS handbooks of old. As a Junior in the early 90s I remember earning several badges at home on my own because I would read thought my book and learn and practice the skills. The current badges are confusing for girls and must be lead for them. They do not emphasize autonomy and independence. They also each he breath and depth of material that was covered in previous programs.
I do not like the Journeys and do not do them with my troop. Instead we work on the individual badges and councils own and retired badges. The girls are bored with the Journeys and feel they are too much like school work. In a world fast paced world so focused on technology it is nice to have a place to unplug and get back to basics! Girls who are in touch with themselves, the world around them, the planet, other cultures and the arts are better citizens. Isn't that the dream for all of our girls.
I loved being a Girl Scout and want my daughter's generation to enjoy the program and opportunities as I did. As a second-year leader, I am finding the Journeys cumbersome and less-than-exciting for our Brownies. More outdoor challenges and opportunities and skill-building, please!

COMMENTS FROM 9-29-16 TO 12-31-16

I have been a leader for almost ten years. When the transition occurred, my girls were Juniors. As we moved into Cadettes, we embraced the new format with high hopes, though admittedly, some reluctance. As second year Seniors, I am STILL struggling with this dry, cookie-cutter, and dare I say limiting and sexist approach to scouting. What happened the the functional skills of scouting that I learned when I was a Girl Scout? No longer are the girls encouraged to break the glass ceiling; quite the opposite with this format - we are limiting the girls to fluff and superficial "skills" that will never be applicable in the real world. I am very disappointed in GSUSA, and frankly, the only reason we continue is because my daughter and the few scouts I have left really want their Gold Awards because they know that it is a valuable addition to their resumes and college applications. However, as a REAL person, living in the REAL world, I refuse to limit my girls and their experiences to what the Journey guidelines dictate. My girls are learning functional life skills, like my leaders taught me. Please, GSUSA - listen to your leaders. You will find very quickly that with the rise in cookie prices, the restructuring of the sales timing (example - moving cookie sales in a region that is cold and wintery from November - April to JANUARY?), and the increase in registration, coupled with the asinine "curriculum" that Leaders are supposed to embrace - this will fall apart.
Why are there no badges? Why are there no adventures? Why is there this assumption that all girls want to do is sit around and talk about their feelings? Why can we not copy the Boy Scout program, give the girls the ability to achieve success through doing projects and learning skills and less through marketing Cookie Amway?
I am no longer technically in Girl Scouts since my troop dissolved, but during my later years in the program, the one thing that made me continue being a member was the discount on camps. Girl Scout camp has been one of the most formative and precious experiences of my life, and the outdoors needs to be a much higher priority in this organization. The Journeys weren't at all memorable for me, and I think Girl Scouts needs to consider returning to their roots a little. It's possible to be modern and relevant without letting go of all the things that have made Girl Scouts worthwhile for over 100 years.
After putting two daughters through scouts, they both received their Gold Award, I'm back with my granddaughter. I am so disappointed with the program. The girl has been taken out of scouting, it's money, money, money , numbers numbers numbers. Well your not going to get the numbers or the money if we can't keep girls in. After a long day at school, they come to scouts for Journeys??? I'm lucky in the fact that I remember what scouts should be like, but new leaders....I feel sorry for them. The fun and the opportunity for the girls to choose what they want to do is so limited. Bring back the array of badges, give them things to choose. And if anyone cares, $25.00 for National Dues??? The rural community where we live, girl scouting will be hurt drastically, specially if you want parents registered. There is no way that will be accomplished. It's a hardship for many families to come up with the $15. Who is really thinking about the girls whose parents can't afford ball, dance, gymnastics, many of our girls scouting is their only activity and you want it to cost more? I feel that no one is listening not on council level, nor national.
I have been a girl scout since I was in the 4th grade and completed my Gold Award. I would not be the leader I am today without the skills I learned in scouting. I have been a GS leader for my daughter for 8 years. I will honestly say that her experience is NOT the same as mine was. The Journey program is by far the WORST thing that has happened to girl scouting. Girl Scouting needs to take a lesson from the Boy Scouting program. My son is getting the exact same experience that my brother did - and my dad. Their strength is in the continuation of traditions - and not constantly trying to reinvent themselves.
I'm more interested in outdoor activities and as a new troop leader, more grade level training. Also, more localized activities would be nice, instead of driving to greenville, Spartanburg, or Columbia. Thank you
I understand the need to retain the girls and recruit mew girls. But we are failing the girls. Just the pin a a membership "uniform" does not teach the girls to respect the uniform or take the organization seriously. It does not encourage being something part of something larger than themselves.They are not required to do badge work so what new skills are they learning? The journeys are boring the girls and leaders to tears. Just paying dues and showing up to camp or a unit function does not make a strong Girl Scout.
My daughter who is a Senior Girl Scout agrees that the Journeys are boring. She refers to them as the "My Little Pony Friendship is Magic" books. She too wishes Girl Scouts would offer more badges similar to Boy Scouts. There should be more focus on life skills. Badges used to introduce girls to a variety of interests i.e. wilderness skills, art or archery. I realize that there is a Make Your Own Badge activity but what girl wants to create her own badge...really.... I wish the leadership would accept the fact that most of the girls tolerate the Journeys.
My daughter absolutely hates the journeys. Please go back to the try its and the like.
The journeys take so long to complete that it works against taking new kids into a Trop. There is just no way to catch them up. Additionally, while I respect the work that went into creating the journey books, overall I would have to rate them as well illustrated, but not well designed in terms of content. (e.g. Amaze: why would anyone suggest that a game be played where girls are snubbed during the game for reasons unknown to the girls. Did not social science research demonstrate to use that such games (experiments) are harmful. Why ever would I suggest that excluding others is a "game", even if the lesson is supposed to be not to do this.)

COMMENTS FROM 6-28-16 TO 9-28-16

Girl Scouts are getting away from the basics. The programs are always changing. What similarities are there from the GS in Juillete Low's days and those of today? Back then they developed traditions that have been lost. The main one is camping. Camping provides peace and hope that this world is desperate for. Camping gives girls confidence, friendships, a place to just be themselves, and so much more.
Less reading, less book time, less classroom time! To teach our girls to be leaders they first need to learn real life skills they will not otherwise get! Sewing, fishing, forging! We need to teach them to make real connections by giving them the tools to scout! Not just friendship dances and cutting and paste! Girls scouts needs to reduce the paper work, the book reading and encourage more outdoor activities like the Boy Scouts! A more family oriented meeting! Less fluff more gruff!
I am a second year leader and mom of a new brownie. I was not a Girl Scout as a child, but had an idea of what being a Girl Scout entailed. The reality does not live up to the expectation. My daughter loved summer camp and troop camping and the activities we planned for her group as a Daisy. However, wading through the Journeys and Petals was quite tedious. A step-by-step method for introducing new skills and activities (especially concentrating on the outdoors) would be far preferable to all of the busywork and reading involved with the Journeys and Petals. Girls read and do workbooks all day at school. Girl Scouts is for getting outside and experiencing new things. Rather than saying that this or that activity teaches self reliance or self confidence, the girls should be allowed to learn actual skills. This will translate into the desired outcomes without all the book work.
My daughter loves the Girl Scout program. She loves being with her friends, getting outdoors, and learning new skills either with her friends or independently. For the most part, she does not enjoy Journeys. They don't like reading (or weekly storytime as Daisies). The topics are usually repetitive and boring. The best have been when we completed a journey in a weekend or even in a (long) day because they were with friends and got it done in much less time. We wouldn't have time to complete badges together and journeys without Journey in a Day type events. If Girl Scouts would drop the journey program and focus more on outdoor skills and fun skills for badges, the girls would enjoy it even more. I'm looking forward to my Brownies earning the Outdoor Art Creator badge this year. I enjoyed Girl Scouts in the 80s and when my daughter looks through my old badge book, she is very interested and asks why we don't have more badges like those. Even the handbook from my days was better. It taught how to make a buddy burner, how to tie knots, and many outdoor skills. It's a great resource. I wish our girls had a similar guidebook. Our council offers an outdoor day that we can attend once a year and my troop looks forward to it each year. The girls and leaders have spoken, let the program as a whole be girl-led by listening to what they really want to do.
All the girls in our troop hate the journeys. My daughter wanted to quit Girl Scouts because she hated them so much. They are artificial and contrived, part of the Girl Scouts politically correct model which has undermined the true spirit of what scouting should be. Our troop has also struggled to find enough badges that will interest the girls. My daughter did some of the old badges on her own, as they were much more interesting.
All the fun badges are gone! I have been out of the girl scout loop since at least college so almost 10 years. I just jumped back in to help with my niece's troop and i was appalled that all the fun outdoor badges are gone! Swimming and Weather and Science? This is appalling! I went in to this to help with my few areas of expertise all of which have nothing to do with badges anymore.
I would like to see more badges and less Journey. Girls want to do more hands on and not sit down and listen to a story that has no meaning to them.
I am a lifetime member of Girl Scouts. My mother was in Girl Scouting much of her life (from 1921), and then brought her 3 girls into scouting. And then I led scout troops for my daughter. Camping was the most important thing and one of the best experiences of my life. Please, please rethink the closing of our Girl Scout camps. Camping can change a girl's life!

COMMENTS FROM 5-19-16 TO 6-27-16

In short: the Journeys are deadly boring and require too much time and effort from both girls and leaders. The girls already spend most of their day in school. Scouting is losing girls because Journeys and many of the new badge requirements are equivalent to schoolwork. The focus on "leadership" is another problem, since it's unreasonable to expect that every (or even most) girls are or want to be leaders. Girl Scouting needs to return to traditional badgework with its emphasis on a wide variety of skill-sets and interests in fun, easy to complete packages. Local Council resources should focus on programs that complement badgework and on camping support. Nationals needs to reduce their spending on "branding" and "curricula"--they are failing pretty miserably to meet membership goals with both, and wasting our girls' money. As for this increase in national dues from $15 to $25 . . . .well, I look forward to comparing national membership numbers for before and after the increase.
I have been a leader for six years and I dislike the Journeys. I dread that I have to do them in order for my Cadettes to do a silver award. I dread that my Cadettes have to help Brownies with a journey to get an LiA. I like the legacy badges the best. My Juniors also enjoyed the Go Outside with GSNorCal this year.
As someone who comes from a scouting family (5 kids all in scouts for entire youth) and a silver and gold award recipient (late 1980s), as leader today for my daughter's troop I am really disappointed with the direction that GSUSA has taken. These Journeys are frivolous and insipid. Please give the girls more credit and return the badge and outdoor learning emphasis.
I compared the new badges to the badges from 1980. I'm also seriously disappointed in the direction that the badges have gone, taking away nearly all activity badges that I loved as a girl (sewing, swimming, horseback riding, history & lore, etc.) and replacing them with sales, marketing, and budgeting...just what every 2nd grader loves to learn. The ones that remain have been so dumbed down that the Junior first aid badge teaches little more than how to dial 911 and provides little or no hands-on learning opportunities or direction. Most of them suggest getting a panel of experts together or looking things up online. If we want to work towards equality, why not model it more like the Boy Scouts' stringent expectations of boys of the same age? My daughter is now in the Cadettes and the badges are still geared toward much younger girls instead of challenging them to accomplish bigger things. And so far, not a single badge on fiber arts--sewing, knitting, quilting, etc. Not even "learn how to sew on a button or mend your clothes to make them last longer and keep them out of a landfill." I was a leader a couple years ago when the new books first came out. We did several badges during the year and by the end, half the girls dropped out because they said it was boring. That's a sad statement.
Keep outdoor education the focus and priority.
Journey's are so tedious, especially to new leaders. I have tried for several years to be neutral as a SUM. I've tried to encourage the Journey but most of our troops will only do what is required if they are earning Bronze, Silver or Gold. Another put off was finding out that a little girl in a Journey was named Campbell and then realizing that the national marketing staff had someone from Campbells soup - not nice! Additional comment: The White Paper describes how I have been feeling the past decade. SAVE OUR CAMPS and Bring Back the outdoor support and badge books. I formed a troop of Cadette whose prior troops had folded. We did a Journey a few years back - almost did us in - until I threw it out the window - looked at them and said - WHY are you here? What do you want to do! We canoe, do archery, camp and don't usually care what we earn. Service projects of their choosing.
As a teacher and a leader who has waded through all 3 Brownie, all 3 Junior and 1 Cadette Journey I find them repetitive, boring and poorly structured. Clearly they did not enlist the help of a teacher to plan them as they jump around, are not age appropriate in reading and deal with themes and concepts not on grade level. The girls dread them and all you need to know as feedback is the number of sites out there that tout "Journey in a Day" materials and ideas. No one wants to do these. One outdoor badge for each grade level isn't enough. Stop doing the very thing you are preaching against- pigeonholing them and stereotyping them as house scouts who don't want to get dirty outside!
I've been a leader for ten years. I cannot think of a single fellow leader who likes the Journeys. The girls who have done "old fashioned badges" prefer them to the Journeys. It's difficult, as a leader, to determine when/if a Journey is complete. I even know of entire workshops devoted to teaching leaders how to lead Journeys. This seems to be a little counter intuitive. I recently heard another leader saying that the Journeys might be phased out. I would definitely vote for this. Also, given that a leader can make a Journey completion easy, and not systematic, it seems strange to me that the Journeys are the prerequisites for the "metal awards." It seems as though there should be a more stringent pre-requisite requirement. When I earned the Gold Award in 1990, there were several badges required, as well as a Senior Leadership Pin and Career Exploration pin...and also Girl Scout challenge award.
Completing the journeys in a way that engages the girls and keeps them interested requires stripping the written material down to the bare bones and rebuilding with more enjoyable and age appropriate activities. While I think the core ideas of the journeys have merit (self-image, team work, environmental concerns, stereotypes, anti-bullying, etc), the material, as offered, is far too school like and below grade-level.

More badges should be offered at every level - in particular Daisies (something OTHER than petals and leaves and journeys) and Ambassadors (something other than the legacies and financial/cookie badges). I understand that upper high school girls have a lot of things on their plates and they SHOULD be
focused on their Gold and their college applications and so on but that doesn't mean the badges can't be available to the girls who have the time or
   complete their Gold award early and so on.
Outdoor, outdoor, outdoor! I like the new badges coming out but adding only one a year will take a long time to supplement the current program and fill
       in the gaps for all the badges that were stripped away after the change. Many leaders, myself included, still actively hunt for retired badges and council's
   owns to fill in the gaps that were left by GSUSA with the current program. Aside from important skill badges (such as sewing, outdoor cooking, etc) - the
   retired badges and council's own are often more interesting and allow the girls to explore areas of focus they may not have considered before.

Get rid of those Journeys. way too much push to do them. Go back to badges and IP's. Get some more outdoor activities going.
I was a scout as a child and loved learning the traditions and thumbing through the badge work books and deciding which skills I wanted to learn to fill my vest or sash with badges and now I lead a troop for my daughter and while she eat sleeps and breathes Girl Scouts she wants to learn the skills and do more adventuring. The Journeys are of little to no interest to her or her peers but in order to earn their awards they have to do them. It is so much like school work and many times the content is exactly what they are working on in school which I understand is great that it is geared towards their age level but scouting is supposed to be a fun learning activity for girls to bond and learn by doing. With the educational redundancy we are going to lose all interest by this generation of scouts due to poor literature based guidelines. We need to bring back the skills based learning that will excite them and bring the interest back.

COMMENTS FROM 4-16-16 TO 5-18-16

The Daisy Journeys aren't written with thematic cohesion. There are too many characters and multiple plots co-occurring. There isn't logical progression in the story. The quality of the story is so poor that the girls don't understand how it is tested from one meeting to the next. Was any market testing completed? What contribution came from age appropriate educators?
There is very little that I can add that hasn't already been said in one form or another.
The journey books are not suited for Daisies. Most of our Daisies want to read, but are on a lower level so trying to let them read is painstaking and can take a half hour of our meetings just to read one chapter. The girls would have much more fun doing outdoor things and earning badges for them. I believe Girl Scouts needs to move away from these journey books, or seriously reformat them, and lean toward more skill building badges.
I have girls who think the current Journeys and handbooks are to "babyish " for them. I have had a few girls bring in their moms old hand books and say why can't we do these instead. I think the journeys are part of the reason my girls don't want to step up to earn the highest awards. they just don't care to do them they want something other than financials, something that they can use in life and it doesn't seem so much like school. We are competing today against sports and other groups so we need to find something that works in all areas of the country not in a select few areas.
Journeys comes across like college thesis work done by single women who never babysat in their lives. Breaking them down into modules has me expecting a price increase to receive the same crusty info that we get now in one book. The should keep the titles and flush the words. These should not be vague self improvement books but hands on activities with true life examples of applications. Bronze, Silver & Gold awards should return to a leadership awards. The Gold being a leadership experience, organizing, demonstrating practical applications to Bronze applicants and instructing Silver applicants on leading younger less experienced girls. The Gold should not be about the hours of work but how many girl scouts recruited to a good cause. That way the torch can be passed to the next generation and the project will become self-sustaining. The hours should apply to the Silver so that the concept of instant gratification can be transformed into pride for a job well done.
My daughter has been in scouting since Kindergarten and has had a BLAST.....UNTIL the Journeys came into play. .....Each journey is like doing a mini "award" and the girls can do nothing else. The award looses its meaning. High School girls just don't have the time to do this ridiculous prep work and so many community service projects. Bring back badges and make the Gold more like an Eagle award. The Bronze and Silver should not have the complexity of the Gold. They all take so much time that the girls are burnt out by the time they get to it. My daughter dropped in her senior year because she had to pick which was more important....she just did not have the time. So sad.
The girls in our troop do not enjoy the journeys. There is a lot of book work and reading. They do that all day at school. The badges could be greatly improved. Five requirements with options are great, but not if those options are do research, conduct an interview, poll an audience, etc. The badges should be something to be able to be completed during meetings or camps. Younger girls are not self-sufficient enough to complete things at home on their own and older girls have to many other things (homework, sports, plays, etc.) to do more work outside of a meeting to earn a badge. The girls and mothers alike enjoy getting badges. It shows what you accomplished during the year. Please bring back the badges and make them more fun. Something like the car care badge should explain to the girl how to care for her car (check the oil, understand what the lights on your dashboard mean, things to pack in a car emergency kit - things girls really should know if they're alone in a car), not how to compare gas mileage between different car brands - that's not car care, that's comparison shopping. Maybe find a way to talk to some girls and leaders to find what interests them and get suggestions for better ways to learn those skills.
As a lifetime member and Gold Award winner, I am appalled at the directions GS is heading. As a girl, I loved all the activities we did - as a troop, as a Juliette and at camp. I loved GS camp as a girl and volunteered at many day camps as a PA. My love for traveling increased with a trip to Our Cabana. As a single lady in my 20s, I was a co-leader for a troop of Brownies for 3 years. I was happy to see the same program that I remembered. I also became a Master trainer - Daisies, Brownies, Juniors and Outdoor. Then the changes hit. The councils merged, life-long GS paid staff left and the new people weren't interested in us old-timers. I left GS because I was no longer wanted. Now my daughter is a Daisy and I am her troop leader. I got out my old songbooks and crafts. We use the old school programs. It makes me sad that the books are like school and the outdoors is de-emphasized. GS Colorado has sold off my favorite camp and I'm upset that my daughter will never go on those hikes, learn those old tales and have the adventures I did. I want the old program back with badges and emphasis on the outdoors. Kids need that. Adults need that. Please listen and return to what Juliette Lowe wanted. Thank you.
Put ALL of the badges in the book. Don't make them buy 5 at a time separately. Build an app for it so they can use their technology when they are away from their books. Add more badges, and badges that truly teach proficiency skills. Ditch the Journeys. Give the badge books a place where a leader can sign off on requirements completed. Back to the future!
I have been a leader for over 20 years. The current program is too much like school for both the girls and the leaders. Gone are the skill building and outdoor badges that made Girl Scouts different from all other organizations. I have seen new leaders that have absolutely no idea how to complete a journey without making it like school. And i have seen experienced leaders so frustrated that they scour facebook and ebay and spend tons of money on retired badges, because those are the ones the girls would rather do. The best program was the Worlds! You could balance activities, do progressive activities to build skills (the signs), and the outdoors was a major focus. Leaders were supported by publications (leader guides and the Girl Scout magazine). Today there is no progression, no skill check, and no real leader guidance past initial training. Journey Express days are the norm (wasn't the journey program designed to be a longer experience?). Girls no longer buy the handbooks that used to be filled with chapters on life skills that they read and cherished. Seniors and Ambassadors can no longer work together on badges, making blended older girl troops an impossibility so we have a huge drop out rate. We need activities that CSA can do together again. Bring back the outdoors, the cool badges the girls loved. The badges they tried because they were different from what they have done in school. Bring back leader guides so we know how to work with the materials and do not spend our valuable time trying to rewrite academic activities into informal education activities.
I'm leader of Brownie troop (number removed). I'm a life long scout and my mom was too. I'm appalled at the pathetic material in the Journey books. They require no skills, the material is way too young or oo confusing, and frankly ridiculous. The materials provided by GSUSA should make my job easier, not harder. I've had to resort to using my sons Cub Scout material. Please drop the journeys and bring back patches with real meaning. STOP reinforcing the societal message that girls should be nice and only that!
Bring back the skills badges. All the girls choice badges have been about the outdoors; the girls are telling you they want outdoor skills badges.
More badges.
The girls in our troop have the most fun when we are outdoors. They love hiking, exploring, singing and learning new skills. They had absolutely no interest while working the journey.. Basically, they went through the motions to just get through it. The most excitement they showed was when they knew it was done and were going to get more opportunities to start doing fun stuff again.
Better literature is needed all around. For both the girls and the leaders. Real information, not information I need to find to complete badge requirements.
I have been a Girl Scout for over 37 years and have seen many changes, some good, some not so good, like the studio to B. My troop of C/S/A will not do the journeys they to say they are so much like school work. Therefore they cannot earn the silver or gold awards. The hours have also doubled since I became a leader. I have been on the Council Finder Map since journeys came out looking for things for my girls to do. I have found that some councils still have odds and ends of the IPP patches and we have worked on them or on council patches. Please listen to us and bring back the IPP patches, they were so great to work on with my multi level group. Now we have these handbooks that are expensive for some girls and you have also purchase the extra badges and journey books. Example-the first aid patch, it is in each level handbook but my troop can't work together because each handbook has different requirements. I have a great small group of girls who work well together and I will continue searching the websites of other councils for things for my girls to do. Camping has also gotten so expensive, years ago we could go 3 or 4 times a year but now with a one night stay is $160.00 it is quite difficult. Then they say do a money earner, yeah right, we are so limited with that also. They say have a yard sale, babysit, mow grass. That does not bring in much cash. Then you have the B A Reader sale going for over a month and the cookie sale now goes into March. Take away summer vacations and it doesn't allow us leaders much time to have a money earner. They are very limited also. If I didn't enjoy being with my girls so much I would have been gone a long time ago. All we leaders ask is listen to us and to our girls. Then you wander why GS is losing girls and leaders. Well, this is your reason.

COMMENTS FROM 2-11-16 TO 4-15-16

I think the badges should cover a wide range of topics from homemaking, hobbies, pet care, personal care, auto care, etc. The badges need more activities. Five activities do not equal proficiency. The Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards should require badges with a broad range of topics.
Please eliminate Journeys from the Girl Scout program. I have led a troop for the past 13 years and my daughter is now a Senior in high school. She refuses to complete a Journey - boring, too much like school - which means she can't earn her Gold award. Bring back the old badges and let girls be outside learning useful life skills.
The few outdoor badges that are available to our girls do that have any programing to go with them. Horseback riding was the new badge at the junior level but our council does not support it. Our girls would love to do it.
Remove the Journeys. Girls don't connect with them. Bring back better badges.
I am saddened and disgusted that GS is moving away from badges and outdoor programs. Now selling off the camps that helped build myself and my daughter. I had hoped to some day help a grand daughter in GS but with the direction it has been headed recently.
The change to Journeys has caused my younger two as well as many leaders to drift from Scouting. Breaks my heart! I've been a leader for 15 years.
I was leader of one troop for 12 years. We were a part of the introduction of Journeys and it was and still is a hard sell. Book work. Not to mention the cost of the books to give each girl in the troop. The programs do have value, but they do not engage the girls. I know there was a great team that put it together, but you failed to get enough input from the leaders and the girls. It is too much a departure from what today's leaders remember doing themselves and I think there is a disconnect from a large percentage of leaders. I hope you can consider re-development of the program. It is time to reinvent ourselves once again. I am not really sure if Boy Scouts reinvents themselves the way Girl Scouts does, just saying.
Absolutely everything here and additionally to align the gold award with Eagle Scout. As it is now, GA is far more difficult than ES for a fraction of the prestige.
Thanks you
My troop dwindled and lost interest once the programming offered was too much like what they were learning in school. Many of the ideas and journeys being offered literally mirrored what they were already doing in health class, or social studies, or technology. We lost our Service Center (that was donated to us) that was a dedicated building just for Girl Scouts. Many kinds of trainings were available there, area events, and a much more accessible store. While the new place is more centered in the county, it is not easy to get to, the parking is terrible, and is a completely shared space that really doesn't allow for training and basically NO girl wide events. We also lost the camp ( a beautiful place that was donated and used for decades by Girl Scouts) that was the closest to us, and have had to utilize Boy Scout camps for our annual Service Unit weekend campouts. We also lost the dedicated space The girls just want to do what is fun, learning new things, and NOT what they are already learning in school. As a leader all these things just really made Scouting so much more difficult. I am a leader, but I am a volunteer. I also work, I have other kids, I have other programs and sports that my kids participate in. I don't mind doing work, I just mind that it is isn't anything my girls want to do. I don't feel I should have to 'create' scouting on my own because the majority of the programming offered is not appetizing to them. Tried and true scouting should be what Girl Scouts is all about.
Girl Scouts is loosing their way. We have strayed so far from the traditional scouting program and their roots. Girls do like camping, hiking, fishing, and all the outdoor adventures. The co-ed Boy Scout Venturing program is growing by leaps and bounds as proof of this.
Girl Scouts is big business and the decision makers are not interested in the girls. They are running a business. Its a business just like any business non profit or not. They operate the same way its just a different tax structure. The girls and parents are used to sell the product, cookies. The money brought in by cookie sales funds the pay roll. Board members are volunteers that come and go. Most volunteer for the position for a notch in their belt of public duty for their resume and may have never been involved in Girl Scouts. Paid staff actually run the business and make the decisions. The quickest way to get their attention so that they keep ( and maintain and publicize) camp NOARK is to stop paying them. If this is focused on and people get behind it you can stop the closing of NOARK. Your voice will be heard. Organize. Call the news papers, TV stations, daily and get them involved. Make the publicity happen. Demand camp NOARK be removed from the list of closures and that cookie money be returned to the girls via use of Their camp.
I believe that the camp programs are more valuable than many of the other offerings in Girl Scouting. Camp saved my life, bolstered my self-esteem, taught me life skills, and created lifelong friends.
Get rid of journeys. They are awful. The girls don't enjoy them and the leaders hate the drudgery of teaching them. De-emphasize the cookie sales. Bring back outdoor life and outdoor education.
I feel that to get the Girls back outside is most important. Everyone is spending way to much time sitting around with their faces in a screen and hands on a keyboard. Children should be outside playing and learning about the beautiful world there is outside of four walls.
When I showed my girls the old Junior Handbook from 1965 they asked if we could just do the badges from there. They are sick to death of talking about bullies, self esteem, and women's issues. They're bombarded with it. Let's give them higher self esteem by empowering them with skills.
I chose to be a leader for many reasons... To help girls become great leaders themselves in such a bitter, torn, and diverse world, to help them do things they think they can't, to encourage, discipline, nurture and love them with every drop of blood, sweat, and tears in me, and above all to enjoy them enjoying what we do...if they can't do that then not only have I failed as their leader but, Girl Scouts has lost its way and everything crumbles. <3
One of my moms summed it up best: "It's like the corporate types want the Girl Scouts to be some kind of junior Junior League." You won't last long at this rate, and your girls won't be back as parents if this is all you can offer their girls. Sometimes the best thing to do is go back to where things started to go wrong, admit fault, and reroute. In this case, we need to return to the well-traveled trail that previous generations have blazed before us. Split up the megacouncils, recognize the unique advantages your outdoor program used to offer our girls, and return. There's still hope that it could turn back around.
Save Camp Mintahama in Joplin MO. Give us back Ozark Area Girl Scout Council. National is mislead and out of touch with it's membership.
Camp and the outdoors are the most important parts of scouting, hands down.
We are in a multi age troop that camps several times a year. Our girls love the outdoors, we hold our meetings outdoors, and unfortunately the journeys are very curriculum-y. Particularly girls who have been in school all day don't need more book work....they need action fun! :D Also, the Daisy journeys in particular are far too centered on written work. Studies show that girls of that age learn best through play. My Daisies love it best when we are singing songs and playing games.
Stop selling our camps! Bring back the badges! Why are you destroying Girl Scouts? and Pensions??? Outraged you put pensions above our girls! WHY are the girls paying for anyone's pensions? You are destroying the heart of Girl Scouts. Keep the Out in Scout! Get back to teaching life skills, leadership skills, outdoor skills! Stop ripping off our girls! You should be ashamed of yourselves!
Our girls are disgusted by the program as it is. This is not what they thought they were getting into. They are very unhappy with the badge selection and despise the journeys! They have spoken and have decided they would rather have a vest full of "fun" patches about topics of interest they themselves develop than official badges that they consider to be boring and less than challenging. If the program continues on the path it is on it will self destruct!

COMMENTS FROM 1-16-16 TO 2-10-16

I like the idea, it's just not cutting it.
My girls want to be outside and explore the world with their troop. By doing THESE things they become confident, capable girls who bust stereotypes and gender-role restrictions. The Journey program is too forced and boring.
The journeys program is boring and the badges used to be much more fun.
Give us back water sports, skills like sailing, camping and outdoor leadership that the girls can use to build leadership. Not, sit on their rear ends behind computer screens all day. We can't out run the boys mentally or physically if we don't break down ALL of the barriers. (council name removed) Mariner Coordinator USSAILING Instructor
My daughter is dismayed about the dearth outdoor skills badges and programs. Our schools offer plenty of STEM opportunities; when she is not in school or involved in school activities she wants to be engaged in activities she does not otherwise have access to.
The girls get enough of Journey-type learning in school. Girl Scouts is for fun. Outdoors is important, especially in this glued to the screen electronic age. I have a graduating older girl troop, and if I had to do it over again, we would have joined the Boy Scouts Adventure troops instead of finishing Girl Scouting.
ADD MORE BADGES TO AMBASSADORS ITS PITIFUL
Get the girls back outdoors!
As a 25+ year Girl Scout since the age of 6, I am highly upset with these changes. First you wanted to change badges to charms, assuming all little girls want charm bracelets, and now you have done away with the majority of the badges? I find this appalling. The organization has been around for over 100 years and up until the early 2000s the only changes were additions and minor changes to badges. The changes since then have decreased outdoor activities, focused on 'girly' things like jewelry and makeup at much too young of an age, and completely ignored the leadership skills. Journeys are not fundamental and should never have been made to be.
The Journeys are so much more like school to the girls, with less emphasis on the outdoor skills and traditions that Girl Scouts should stand for.
I am appalled that the adults in the corporate headquarters have put their needs and wants ahead of the girls. When a girl sells 1000 boxes of cookies, that makes $4000.00. Out of that, the girl gets 100.00 dollars. I know the baker gets their cut but are our girls expected to raise money without any say as to where the proceeds go? I am sick of all the corporate rules and buracrocy. I am sorry GSUSA did not pay attention to pensions for themselves, but changing a program and selling properties that were given to the girls is unacceptable. I think the senior members of GSUSA and GSEP should be held accountable to the girls and hang their heads down in shame.
Our girls joined Girl Scouts to for more of an emphasis on outdoor skills and community service. This is what our focus as a troop is. They dread the journeys. That is something as a troop that we push through. We LOVE the journey in a weekend that we can get them done and over with. And that is just sad to me. Don't get me wrong, there have been a few badges that have been a hit. But, the focus shouldn't be on those badges. Especially since most of them seem to have nothing to do with Girl Scouts.
We have become too concerned about offering girls programs related to STEM and other issues, so that we are becoming more academic in programming as an organization. The schools have taken the road to STEM very seriously and in most states, because of various tests, are heavily concentrating on this area. When girls meet in their troops they are looking for a way to relax a bit, learn something that they don't learn elsewhere [e.g. outdoor skills], and spend time in an all-girl setting. They want to have fun and Girl Scouting has always provided an atmosphere of friendship and wholesome activity. And, they love doing service! Keep focused on these and less on teaching them what they are already learning in school and our membership will grow and be retained.
Abandon journeys, return to badges, outdoor activities, community involvement, rethink push to sell, sell, sell and give so little back to troops and individual girls
They need to go the way of the Studio 4b's
If it is not broken please do not try to fix it!

COMMENTS FROM 1-5-16 TO 1-15-16

Why fix something that isn't broken? You have completely ruined a wonderful program by trying to "change with the times". Girls and adults would sign up because of girls "older" than them and their experience(s). The new girls come on, are seeing and experiencing the changes and they do what? Quit.. The Boy Scout program has changed very little if not at all over the last several decades - Girl Scouts however, has become a revolving door with changes. Horribly disappointed in what the program has developed into. Change it now before the core values and morals of Juliette Low are lost forever and this organization no longer.
I would love to see more outdoor skills badges. The current badges are very boring and the girls have very little interest in them.
The out-of-the-box journeys are so boring our girls do not engage in them; they are too much like schoolwork. They want to be outdoors, exploring like their brothers in Boy Scouts. My daughter laments that she doesn't get to do the kinds of things her brother's troop does, so we are now a HAT and are doing more, but it doesn't really fit the GS model. More of a boy scouting model, with age-blended troops, and more adventurous camp options, would be great. Thanks, (name and troop number removed)
The Journeys need to be minimized. They are not valuable to the Girl Scout ways at all. We do not do the Journeys as they are, We jsut go online and get ideas, but the Journeys are a joke!
I've been a leader for 4 years of a multi-level group and also a SU volunteer in a very rural area, it is my experience that Journeys are not valuable to the girls. Our girls value their outdoor experience and mostly SU Events, they love badge work, and cookie sales. They also love camp and adventure - which we don't get much of as the camps in our area closed, and the nearest ones aren't in our council, and the ones in our council don't cater to us. But we struggle through. Thanks for your consideration.
I became a leader for my granddaughters this year (I am only 51) and was saddened to see all the changes made to an already great program. The lack of badges and emphasis on financial management for 7 and 8 year olds is ridiculous. We will be searching for another girl organization if changes to Girl Scouting are not made. I was also disappointed that for all their work, the girls only make .50 a box - this is exploitation. I am sorry for your difficulties but I think I remember my cub scouts making almost 1/2 the price from the popcorn sale. I will not be involved with girl scouting after this year because of the restrictions - my daughter-in-law is not even allowed to be my co-leader as planned ( I have experience and she does not) so she could take over the troop next year because she is related to me! Get it together GS!
Please get rid of the Journeys!
My girls detest the journeys. They consider them to be "book work" and of little benefit, and to keep them interested the leaders have to spend exorbitant amounts of time recreating the content to make it hands-on and exciting. The girls spend hours every day doing book work, and want to do hands-on, adventurous and exciting things as Girl Scouts. We have canoed, kayaked, surfed, wake boarded, paddle boarded, gone spelunking, backpacking, rock climbing, and done archery, horse back riding, high ropes, zip lining, and lots of travel. Those are the things that keep the girls excited, and that they can't do elsewhere. Girls build confidence by trying new things and getting pushed out of their comfort zones, not by reading from a book. I would love to see more value added to badges. Many of the badges line up with the TEKS at school and the girls cover these badge subjects doing school work, so they definitely don't want to revisit these topics during meetings!
The Journeys are a drain on time and enthusiasm.
I have enjoyed observing the consistency of the Boy Scout program as my son has traveled through it and recently had his Eagle Court of Honor. The GS program keeps going through changes which makes it seem like we don't have it right yet. I have read the book (I can't remember the title at the moment) which explains the justification for the Journeys and understand why they were implemented (to provide consistent goals to donating organizations). However, I get the warm fuzzies when I think back to the GS program I grew up with--getting to choose badges to work on to learn new skills and lots of camping. (I am 50 years old). I am envious of the Boy Scouts' experiences with so much camping and skill-building. Would love to have badges that help encourage us to get out and do something--would give us a goal to achieve on a campout. As it is, we can't complete any badge on a campout--they all involve some sort of research or bookwork or specific guest speakers that wouldn't be easy to complete on a campout.
Girl Scouts needs to find a balance between traditional Girl Scout activities and STEM. The promotion and focus on math/science activities alienates and intimidates girls with other skill sets.
Girl Scouts needs to get the old merit badges, old tradional green uniforms and the camps back. I'm very disappointed and dismayed with the GSUSA altogether, because I miss the old traditional green GS Uniforms and the old merit badges. The programs for adult women with special needs and mentoring programs in the Girl Scouts need to come back. I don't like the direction where GSUSA is going. Please listen up and wake up!!! Thank you, (name removed) "
It's hard enough to recruit volunteers without periodically completely revamping the program. Those who've committed to share their time as volunteers have to constantly spend even more time learning new programming while attempting to keep up with the paperwork and rules.
I love the old Brownie try its program. That is what I did with my oldest daughter's troop instead of Journeys.
I am a Girl Scout leader of Senior Girl Scouts. I have had my troop since the girls were Daisies. The girls and I find the journeys boring and much like school work. We enjoy working on the badges and prefer the traditional Girl Scout program. I am the mother of an Eagle Scout and was very involved with the Boy Scouts and have incorporated their program with my Girl Scout troop. As a matter of fact we may switch to Veture Scouts next year.

COMMENTS FROM 12-14-15 TO 1-4-16

Girls do not like the Journeys...too much like school work, especially for older girls.
As a Troop Leader (7 years)- my girls enjoy outdoor activities and working on badges, they have no desire to work on Journeys. Thank you for your time.
I've been a troop leader for the past 7 years, and was very sorry to see the changes with the new Journeys and patch sets. I've been working with the Boy Scout manual, a 1948 Girl Scout manual, and old try-it manuals to help keep our girls more active and acquiring more of the skills that were the original priority of girl scouts. I also strongly suggest that you pilot new programs before implementing them. The Journeys have often felt to me like they were never put to the test before being implemented, and they fall flat as an experience. Thank you, (name removed)
I would like more outdoor activities and would like more life skills. Girls need to learn knots. Knots are not just for ropes, they needed to know them for the Junior Jewelry badge and they couldn't do it. Knife skills are just as important. I am a 5th year leader and while the Journeys can have some fun parts; I still can't wrap my head around ways for the girls to understand why they are doing something.
Most of the girls in our troop would have left already, were it not for our focus on the Outdoor Journey.
Don't like the journeys at all.
We have been doing a journey with our Juniors. It has been difficult to get them enthused about it because it is soo open ended and all over the place. The girls (and leaders) feel overwhelmed. We feel we must do one in case there is a girl that will pursue the Gold Award (most will not). The girls like the badges, outdoor activities and the camaraderie of the GS traditions (songs, games, etc..) best.
My troop thinks the Journeys are boring. They would prefer a more interactive experience.
GS is a should stay a leader in getting girls outdoors.
I believe journeys do have their place but please do not put so much emphasis on them in the national level. Also having outdoor activities should be a bigger part of Girl Scouts
We have many troops that want to camp and do outdoor activities to reduce this would be a serious reduction in retention. Badges are another thing that grabs the attention of the public and we are always looking for ways to earn more and expand the learning of the girls
I think an the emphasis needs to be on building up the girl and one way to do this is through an increase in outdoor activities. it is important to get them outside! Less paper work.

COMMENTS FROM 11-10-15 TO 12-13-15

Keep camps!
I'm brand new in GSA leadership, having only my 12 years experience as a girl scout and memories to go on. I'm shocked and horrified at how complicated this has been made. So many materials to buy! It honestly feels like a pyramid scheme and I feel that GSA has betrayed its mission and girls. This does not feel honest, having council representatives come speak with parents and tell us that it will only cost $20 to be in scouts, when in reality it is going to cost us hundreds to purchase all the books and materials just to find out how to accomplish badge work. Who is this really serving?
I fully agree with this and respectfully ask that it will be considered. I as a Volunteer for the 5th year have seen last year due to poor Service Unit Leader and lack of concern from our local Council we had a mass exit of troop leaders and volunteers. This was out of total frustration with the lack of commitment or support from both the Service Unit Leader and Council. We live in a small working class community where money is always a concern. Girl Scouts have become expensive and going to camp is not a option due to the high cost to attend. We get $.30 per box for the cookies the girls sell. Last year we had less than $300 to run our troop. We ask parent for $30 per girl due. Even with this the cost of patches and badges takes most of that add in crafts, or any other activity and it is all gone and we are now supporting the troop out of our pocket. This is wrong and sad. These girls look to Girl scouts for a positive experience and to have memories to take with them. It is so bad here that our Service Unit doesn't even have a bow and arrow for the girls to try out Archery. We had to ask Council and they didn't have one either. They found one with another Service Unit but we had to wait for them to have an event and be asked to attend. This is not what we want these girls to take away for here.
Lose the journeys and get back to badges and Interest Projects that are meatier and have more variety for different girls' interests. The current fluff offered is almost worthless. Our girls have more heart and brains than you think and want more variety, less school like work.
Please hear us. You have been told repeatedly by troop leaders like myself that the Journeys were badly conceived, horribly written, are deadly boring, and were just a huge mistake (not to mention expensive--you have no business charging so much for materials!). The "legacy" badges are nearly as bad. Girl Scouts is not school. The girls don't want to sit and earnestly discuss bullying, financial management, or anything the materials cover--they want to camp, learn to sew, take trips. You are hemorrhaging members and volunteers because of this completely misguided and dull curriculum. Go back to the old materials and activities. Stop trying to create something "new" just so you can charge lots of money for it. If the girls are willing to do 2 small community service projects a year, stop trying to make them do 6. They have many, many other things to do and are overloaded already. If you want to keep them (or the adult volunteers!) then make it fun again.

COMMENTS FROM 10-23-15 TO 11-9-15

Let's go back to a badge book where girls can work on things that interest them. All girls are not the same. Why force them to do Journeys that treat all girls as if they have the same interests?
Put the "girl" first again. That is a large part of the change that is needed to improve girl and adult member satisfaction and participation. The "new programs" do not interest the girl, or are available in a better form through school, and other organizations. Tried and true traditions work, but also allow for new traditions be to established.
I love the 10 point plan. Many of the items in it would seem that they would not be too painful to implement. I also have a niece that recently graduated from college and was looking for a career in non-profit development and had an interview with GSUSA. She had been a GS from k-12 grade and still has events with her past scout friends. GSUSA had called this very vibrant, intelligent high energy young woman back for a second interview and I told her to be cautious of this call. I said they will use you eat you up and not use your best skills. GSUSA needs to change view that people have about the organization. I had been a scout as a child through 7th grade and then again as a co-leader of my daughters troops from 2005-20015.
As I lifetime member and active service unit manager, I would like to see Girl Scouts return to the way Juliette Low envisioned, with a touch of new technological ideas intertwined. I think the girls deserve the BEST of both worlds. Thank you.
I am a firm believer of the Scouting program. The recent change to Journeys and the new Girl Guide books are a far cry from what I loved about the scouting program. Where's the adventure and fun of being connected to the outdoors, the feeling of being able to try and learn new skills, or the traditions that provide an understanding of who we are as a strong group who stand together. The girls of tomorrow do not need fluff of cute pink badges they need to know they can achieve anything with hard work and the backing of an organization who believe girls can achieve anything because they are capable of being confident, courageous, and strong.
I was a Girl Scout 1st through 12th grade and just finished my 13th year as a troop leader, graduating 10 seniors. I implore you to hold true to the roots of girl scouting and leave the "contemporary" programming to other organizations. Boy scouting has survived and thrived on the same principles for decades. We should, too.
One of the big reasons people volunteer with Girl Scouts and enroll their children in the program is because of the experiences they had with the organization as a child. When I have children, Girl Scouts is not the organization I would choose to enroll them in. Changes need to be made. I am not proud to support GSUSA as it is today.
Agree.
I agree it is difficult to keep interest of older girls with Journey material.
I agree wholeheartedly with the proposed Changes!
I am a Girl Scout alumna and former leader. My troops were very discouraged with the recent changes, including the Journeys programs. In fact, our troops of more than 20 members each have either disbanded or dwindled down to 3. So sad that in the pursuit of something new, Girl Scouts have abandoned its mission and purpose.
The founding purpose of the Girl Scouts was to provide a fraternal organisation for girls to learn and grow. The organization at present is a complicated bureaucracy encouraging achievement hunting and impractical skills. Journeys remove the choice of curriculum from the troop leaders, who are often better judges of girl's abilities and interests. Also, in our modern age we need to encourage girls to return to nature and get interested in key STEM skills that are not only underrepresented but also in demand and increasingly useful. From a girl who was too overwhelmed with paperwork and hoops to jump through to get her Gold, don't let there be more girls like me. Return to our roots, and encourage girls to be their best and learn all that they can.
As a newer troop leader (embarking on my 3rd year now) I have experienced so much frustration with the materials I cannot describe. Luckily there are other great troop leaders that have shared on Pinterest how they have made the Journeys especially applicable to our girls. If not for the wonderful girls in my troop, I would have given up on the whole idea of being a leader. After reading this white paper I now understand why I have been frustrated and what is wrong with the girl scouts that I thought I was volunteering for. It apparently ended and the "new girl scouts" is sadly lacking. This white paper resonated with every fiber of my being and is EXACLTY what is needed to make lifelong girl scouts again!!! Please listen!!!
Looking for a change in focus back to outdoor skills, camping & camp activities. Girls need to learn basic life skills and it would great to have more badges that would support that.
Please listen!!! This is my third time as a GS leader and the first two times (over ten years ago), the emphasis was on badge work not journeys and the girls had much more time to focus on what they, as a troop, wanted to do. It also made the age-progression much easier, and the bronze much more important and impactful. PLEASE LISTEN!!
There is no harmonizing of mission when we teach environmental and personal responsibility but promote consumerism.
I hear over & over again from year to year how the Journeys are too much like school & homework.
Too limiting; sorry to see a high award offered for completing three Journeys in two years, when doing one per year all but excludes many other activities.
Bring back the badges! Earning badges on my own and with my troop is where I learned so many skills. Sewing, cooking, wild flowers. A rainy day with nothing to do meant go get my handbook and see what badges I could work on. When I got to be Senior (around 1960), I didn't like it as much because there weren't badges, just what looked to me like a lot a service things -- so there were deficits in the good old days too. Oh how I wanted to be in a Mariner troop. Bring back some emphasis on camping and outdoor skills! Not that everyone must do it, but make it important instead an aside. Undo the council mergers! We've felt like the unwanted stepchild since we were forced to merge with a bigger, more affluent council.
When I took a GS troop as an adult I couldn't wait to get the giant book of badges and give it to my daughter. I remember when I was a GS sitting by that book dreaming of what I could learn next. Troops were able to be organized into patrols and patrols were able to lead the whole troop in a badge. This is not impossible to do now, but VERY difficult. The journeys are really not able to be girl led unless they are done exactly like the workbook, which is like school work! Also the Journey requirement for an award really discourages new girls from joining the troop. For instance if you are a second year junior troop and the first year you did the journey and the second year you do the bronze, new girls entering second year never get to earn the Bronze. Girls don't do these Journeys on their own, and then the girl is discouraged. If there were more traditional badges and the requirement for the bronze involved doing a certain number of badges it would be a lot easier to work with newcomers. Please reconsider the journey program.
Please bring back more skill related badges.
The current program is a shell of what Girl Scouting once offered, wrapped up in a pretty binder. Girls want to get out, get moving, learn things, do crafts and art projects, go camping, and experience the world around them. There is far too much school-like book work int the current program. The girls need to be out doing, not sitting and listening.
I want my daughter to have the same experiences and more then I had when I was a scout in the early 80s. As a leader sometimes it feels like more nonsense work then learning a new skill or trade.
The girls loved, and still love, the old programs. Why keep trying to fix things that weren't broken? Large councils don't serve the girls, they serve the corporation. Dumbing down badges, and cheapening their value does not keep girls interested.
As a third generation Girl Scout I am so sad with all the changes in the program..I hope that in two years there will still be a viable program for my grand daughter, the fifth generation for this family.
The girls are hating the journey's, its too much reading for daisy's who are just learning to read and read well. Its too like schoolwork for the brownies and Juniors. There is no actual information on what they need to know to earn a badge. Return to more badges that speak to things the girls should learn and want to learn to give them lifelong skills. Winter survival, cooking, building, etc. We do NOT need 5 different scrap booking badges and no badges for building or electronics.
Girl Scouts is about getting out and doing. Girl Guides began because the girls wanted to do the activities the boys were doing. They didn't want to sit around and read a book and fill in the blanks. Girls have enough school and homework every day. They learn best by trying, by doing. Sell the Fifth Avenue offices and work from a Girl Scout camp.
Save our camps, help our leaders with more training, take our girls outdoors, listen to the volunteers, encourage our volunteers to do GS program.
I have been a Girl Scout for 29 years. The changes that have occurred in the past few years have been devastating to the Girl Scout Community. The emphasis on selling product has discouraged a lot of girls from participating. The addition of branding everything from Barbies to EZ Bake Ovens to ice cream cheapens the core values of the program. It seems that GSUSA is now all about the money. GSUSA has moved away from the Girl Scout program I knew as a scout. Back then it was learning new skills, enjoying the outdoors and participating in community service. The Journeys have been a disaster and older girls especially do not want to participate in them. They do "schoolwork" all day. The last thing they want to do is the Journeys. Let's pull out the old handbooks, badge books and leader guides. Let's go back to what Girl Scouting is all about. Pull out a copy of Juliette Low's manual How Girls can help their Country and return to the core values of what inspired her to create Girl Scouts. She saw what the Boy Scouts did for boys and wanted the same thing for girls. She emphasized self-sufficiency through learning life skills and a love of the outdoors. I think Juliette Gordon Low would be very disappointed in what has become of her vision.
As a lifetime member of Girl Scout (26 years so far) and an active Girl Scout historian, it breaks my heart to see how far Girl Scouts has strayed from the original ideals and encouraging programs.
Just bring back skill badges that are more detailed in what is required to earn them. We shouldn't have to add to badges, because they are so dumb down. and When a girl tells you these are dumb compared to what we had to do, that says volumes. My daughter has no plans to earn a single badge when she bridges to Seniors. She plans to do one journey so she can do her Gold. and if she didn't have to have that journey she wouldn't do that either.
As a Girl Scout myself in the 1980s and now a 3-year Girl Scout leader (of Daisies and now Brownies), there is much that I love about Girl Scouts. Aspects of the current program - the Journeys for example - do feel both overthought and then poorly executed (leader books and girl books are not in tandem). Requiring that we buy supplement after supplement to get the badge requirements - rather than a single book - feels like I'm being nickled and dimed. It also makes me feel that my time as a volunteer isn't valued. When I can have a single resource as a leader to work from, that simplifies my life. And I agree that I am troubled by some of the choices to link the Girl Scouts brand with consumer products.
Girls don't like the present program offered, it's too much like school work. It's not FUN!

COMMENTS FROM 10-13-15 TO 10-22-15

Girl Scouting is a optional activity, and girls do not like Journeys because they are too much like school work. Girls want a unique experience in Girl Scouts, not a repeat of classroom work. A more complete return of the outdoor program would go a long way to meeting this need. Journeys are a poor preparation for the Gold Award. A return to requiring actual leadership experience and more thorough, guided subject prepartaion of a girl's choosing would result in better and more meaningful projects.
I was a Girl Scout for eight years and received my Silver Award. I'm disappointed, to say the least, in Journeys. They are drawn out and girls are not retaining the lessons like they do with badges. As a leader, I've had to find ways to teach the Journeys in a weekend so my girls can focus on the fun and learning that badges provide, not the drudgery of Journeys. I have pulled out my old books to supplement what my girls learn, since so many of those lessons are long gone from the program. I feel I've done a good job ensuring that my girls not only learn and retain great skills, but also have fun.
I support these changes for the future of Girl Scouting
More skill related badges please!
As a GS life member, it saddens me to see the powers to be, stick their head in the sand. Ignoring a well written paper that clearly has the support of many GS members is the childish equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and claiming "I can't hear you.". Suggestion - read the paper, discuss and respond. All points may or may not be correct but at least give the general GS membership the courtesy of acknowledging "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark".
As a Girl Scout lifetime member and former Board Chair of a council that was forced to merge during the Council Realignment process, I have followed the "progress" of girl scouting in the years since, including the development of "Journeys". I am dismayed and disappointed to see how unsuccessful these programs have been for an organization that I was always proud to support as a girl member, adult member and adult volunteer. It is time for the national organization to recognize the failures that were inherent in making a "transformational" change with a constituency that was so divided.
I am saddened at the fact my girls, Junior scout and Senior scout, will know the joy I had with girl scouts and learning different skills. The emphasis of the journeys has taken that away. Both of my scouts was able to acquire some of the old skill badges and enjoyed scouts very much, I wish I could say they still enjoy it because after doing bookwork at school they have no desire to do bookwork at scouts. It's hard enough to keep the older girls interested in scouts. I feel these journeys will continue to lose the girls who used to enjoy scouts but now quit because of these journeys.
Higher awards should be about leadership within the girls' communities, pulling the community together and making them aware of the project they work on. The Journeys don't really do that and don't tie into every girl's higher award. They are confusing to leaders not just girls. Prerequisites should include hours of service with younger girls, certain number of badges that can tie into their project (thus the need for more badges), and some kind of leadership badge or award to help them learn to lead their community. I know girls that started their higher awards and the Journeys were to hard for them to do so they gave up. Really sad.
It seems that some in the Girl Scout movement has been infatuated with "Contemporary Program" for more years than I can count now. Camps have been closed and outdoor program minimized as GSUSA felt they were not appealing to new girls. In the end, there is now a movement towards the outdoors everywhere. "Leave no child Inside", "Nature Deficit Disorder", and others are pointing out the value of the outdoors to reducing depression, ADHD, and to stimulating academic performance. It's too bad GS abandoned that which made us great, and that which is now at the forefront of youth development.
The membership is unhappy with how GSUSA is running the organization. The White Paper recently written by the CEO of Fairbanks, Alaska with her Board's support accurately portrays our experiences and that is why it resonates with so many of us. We are tired of being bullied and manipulated. Please honor the organizations past and return to grass-roots level decision making processes. Stop selling this organization's soul to corporate America.
I am lucky to have worked for several years at one of the summer resident camps of a council that in their camp programs, at least, has continued to emphasize outdoor skills and what we are at camp for. I remember when I was young, we came home from camp with detailed badge sheets where they had checked off the (often many) requirements for various badges we had completed while at camp. At my camp, it seems like we've almost entirely phased that sort of thing out, because there is simply so little that we do that can apply directly to badgework. I always loved looking and seeing all the different things I had learned at camp, and finding out that if I dug into a topic I had discovered at camp and loved a little bit more, I could earn a badge for it. I have seen first-hand the impact outdoor-oriented programming can have on girls, and I wish that there was more of an emphasis on it--I remember the days of many, many outdoor-activity-related try-its, badges, and interest projects, many of which I earned. For me and for many of my fellow camp staff members, the outdoor component of the program is what kept us coming back. (Of course, it stands to reason that the sort of girls who loved camping and outdoor activities grow up to be the sort of adults that work at a Girl Scout camp, but the new generation of girls who love camping and outdoor activities is not getting the same set of opportunities that we did through Girl Scouts. I've heard several times from my campers that they're just waiting til they're old enough to be part of Venturing--the co-ed, high adventure component of the BSA--so that they can do the "cool" stuff they can't do as a Girl Scout.)
The girls hate the journeys so much that they are dropping out and not attending meetings because it is NOT what girl scouts is supposed to be about. period. FYI - we are a membership organization not a business. keep that in mind
I left my position with Girl Scouts of Colorado 1 year after CBS was implemented. Before we became a state council, we were a council serving a very diverse rural population (Girl Scouts of Chipeta Council). Someone decided we would be better served being a satellite office for the state council based in Denver (Girl Scouts of Colorado). Membership declined, programming declined and our mission seemed to be "Serve All Girls...who can get to Denver". I would love to see GS return to its roots, return to its desire to serve ALL girls and have leadership dedicated not to their monthly salary but to the quality programming provided to our future.
The Uniforms for both Girl Scouts and Volunteers should go back to standard full Green Uniform. Green beret, green dresses, green knee socks, scarves, green sash and so on. Thank you
Change is not always for the better. We need to build character, not just business women.
I just started again as a leader, having been one in the past, as well as having been a Girl Scout. The badges, journeys, awards, pins, etc.--too confusing! The few badges are too generic and repetitive from one level to the next and simple. The Journey books themselves are geared younger than they should be. Simplify the badges, create more badges (look to the past for this), make the whole journey program go away, emphasize the outdoors, nature, and the environment, and push service for the B. S. and G awards.
Go back to the old program, or something similar to it. I was a Girl Scout for 10 years. The girls these days are missing so many experiences I had during the days of the old program.
I love GS .. I want my daughter to have the same experiences I did when I was a scout. I want her to realize there is more to GS than selling cookies/nuts. To know that giving back should be at the top of our list. I work on this with my troop .. but it should be across the board
I was saddened by the fact that the Journeys put off several girls from working towards Silver or Gold Awards after completing the Bronze Award under the old requirements. These girls enjoy badge work and other experiences, and I believe would have been far more likely to consider the upper awards if the program hadn't changed. They did, in fact, give Journeys a try - once at the Junior level, once at the Cadette level, and no amount of suggestions or thoughts from me since has encouraged them to do another.
The Journey program is killing Girl Scouts. The girls absolutely DISLIKE everything about journey's. We've endured 4 thus far - and have tried a variety of different delivery methods. We are down to "Journey in a Day" to expediently check the box on this horrible requirement in order to move on to activities that will keep girls interested in scouting. Admit your mistake. Discontinue Journey's. Bring the badges back to full force and let girls learn about items they don't get exposure to in school.
Just read what we have requested, it falls into three main points... 1. The membership (that includes dues paying adults and girls) owns the corporation, the boards answer to the membership, not corporate employees. 2. The "out-of-doors" is an integral part of Girl Scouting, selling off properties for short term gain is a betrayal towards ALL the membership, past, present and future. 3. To the majority of girls and women who have been Girl Scouts for more than a "one-time" event thing, the Girl Scout Promise, the Girl Scout Law(s), the Motto ALL MEAN SOMETHING. They are not "just words" they are engraved upon our hearts and a foundation of our values and moral compass.
I have been involved with Girl Scouts for 15 years, 13 as my daughter's troop leader. The move from badges to Journeys was a disaster, in my opinion. We've done two Journeys with the girls, just so they would have the option of doing the Silver Award and Gold Award. They did not enjoy them at all, and my co-leader and I couldn't tell when we had completed the Journey. On the other hand, the girls earned about 20 badges as Juniors, and loved doing those. Also, both my daughters got the Silver Award, under two different sets of rules. The older way was a lot more work, but really emphasized leadership and learning, as opposed to just making it all about the big project. My younger daughter had a friend who pulled together her project in just a month or two, and still got her Silver Award. That would have been impossible under the old rules, which made the S.A. much more meaningful. I would love to help change G.S. We don't have to go back to the "old way", but the current program isn't working.
I have found the journeys difficult to use and impossible for a Juliette (independent scout).
I am really disgusted with the new badge/Try-it/IP programs. as an outdoor day camp leader, I am dismayed at how the program of 3-5 badges was squeezed into one! And there is no equivalent as girls progress. How is hiking a prequel to camping? How is Camping a prequel to Trees? Bring back the old program! My girls don't like Journeys and refused to do them (they were a requisite for Gold/Silver). You've hurt the program! Juliette would be dismayed!
I am an alumni of 10+ years, the daughter of a retired executive staff member, a former troop leader, and the mother of a newly bridged Cadette. BRING BACK THE ORGANIZATION WE LOVE. The current state of things just makes me sad.
If we want to raise self-reliant, resilient young women we need to be engaging them in meaningful hands-on experiences with real-life scenarios... too much classroom and technology= not nearly enough basic skills and outdoor adventuring.
More outdoors Less journey's More experience (And camping training for leaders)
I have been in Girl Scouting for 30 yrs.I earned my Gold Award in '92, so when I had a daughter I couldn't wait to become a leader. But as time went on and the Journeys came in and our counsels merged My girls didn't want to do it... they wanted to camp, bake in a cardboard box, and then teach others to do what they have learned. When they found out they had to do the Journeys to earn there Gold award they didn't bother. as a mater of fact they went a whole year without earning anything and had a great time doing it. We went back to the old ways. and as far as council goes I have nothing to go with them because they have nothing for my girls. My daughter even asked why her council didn't like us any more. I know how to have fun in scouting and that's just what we did.
I have been a leader for 2 years and scouts is not what I remember from when I was a kid. Patches are expensive and I'm sorry but handing a Brownie a badge for making her bed is not something I am willing to do. The patches available while there are some good ones, I have had to rewrite some to make them something the girls actually learn from, they seem way to me way to silly for 2nd graders. Journeys as written are too boring and the stories are not something my girls want to listen too. Parents aren't putting their girls in scouts for story time. Girls wanted to learn new skills and I think this emphasis on leadership misplaced, not all girls are leaders but all girls want to learn things they aren't exposed to in daily life. But I guess my biggest complaint is the lack of camps. The one or two times my scouts got to do summer camp either the camp sold out or got cancelled. I drive to my moms up in Northern new york and pass several boy scout camps and not one girl scout camp. The girls want to be out and camp but not for several hundreds of dollars and a several hour drive to get there, my families don't have that kind of money. Lets make scouts more accessible to the lower income, you have licensed our brand out to every tom, dick or harry lets use that income to open camps and give the girls who couldn't a chance to experience everything.
The Journey program has been a disaster. To make it interesting for the girls and leaders, the only advice has been "make it your own", which has led to one day Journeys. It has led my girls to struggle with planning for their high awards. It truly does not give them advice on developing their ideas, just unrealistic examples even they low are ridiculous. For example, the journey that has a comic of a girl rehabbing the local animal shelter and her school system allowing students to work and use of buses. We all know this is a unrealistic joke. My troop will struggle through our last Journey because we are required to, but my girls will celebrate that no more are required!
Girl Scouts needs to go back to what JGL envisioned. Corporate has sold out on our girls. The "White Paper" says it all.
What is killing Girl Scouts from a Junior/Cadette Troop Leader

-Single-level troops that do not allow younger scouts to be taught/led by older scouts
-A fragmented, age- based progression that resets accomplishments at every level
-A complete disconnect between the Gold Award and any kind of basic skills requirements
-Troops are transient and can not leverage enduring resources like outdoor activity equipment or ceremonial or traditional items
-No metrics are being collected or shared on membership or the popularity of badges or program materials. (e.g. how many jouney or Girl's Guide to Girl
Scouting are being sold by age level)

I feel like GSUSA is trying to be all things to all people, and it just isn't working. We should focus on programs that make strong, confident independent girls. Having them do journey after journey to show them girls can do anything is so irritating. My girls know this. So let them DO something (skill badges) rather than making more posters and plays spreading the same message year after year (journeys).
The Girl Scout Program that I am now offering to girls is NOTHING like what I grew up with. The girls are not fans of the journeys. They are too much like school.
I am so thankful that Girl Scouts from all over the country are taking back this organization! Girl Scouts is not what it used to be but I believe with some hard work and willingness to change it can be a great thing once again! I hope the Board members listen to what the membership is saying.
I have read the White Paper developed and submitted by Suellen Nelles CEO, Farthest North Girl Scout Council, Fairbanks, Alaska. I fully agree with every point made and every change suggested. I strongly support this effort and hope GSUSA will seriously consider every word and implement her ideas ASAP!
I am disheartened as a 3rd of 4 generation Girl Scout and troop leader in the direction Girl Scouts is going. I agree that science and technology is important but these girls get that in the classrooms as school. The girls in my troop love to go outside to explore. I can't understand why councils are selling camp with no plans to replace those amazing outdoor spaces. I have been a leader for 5 years and our council has yet to impress me. Things change every year, people are constantly quitting because they get fed up with the management and chaos. Girl Scouting should not be about classroom and book work. It should be about hands-on activities, community time and offering the girls an opportunity to participate in events that are NOT part of the school norm; i.e. camping, knot tying, sewing, knife work, star navigation, cooking, community service, etc. As an organization we can all do better to provide more interactive learning opportunities and as a leader we are looking to our councils and national for BETTER guidance and support. I'm lucky to be in a fantastic service unit in a council that supports their camp systems but that isn't the case on the other half our state in the council where I came up as a Girl Scout.
I'm beginning to feel more like a classroom teacher than a GS leader. Need more out and about activities.
The Journeys are a great IDEA, but they really bog everything else down. Basically, they're a pain. Especially for the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards. I've got girls who would do amazing award projects, but slogging through the Journeys books is just too much. Badges are FUN! And not the crappy & vague ones like you've got now. I want badges about sewing, sailing, gardening, etc. - PHYSICAL SKILL builders.
I am a lifetime member of Girl Scouts. I was a troop leader for 13 years and I had a core group of about 6 girls that were in our troop for the entire time. The program then was awesome. The program now is confusing and noncohesive. Please take a look at the big picture and remember what things were like when you were a Girl Scout - at least I hope you were a Girl Scout.
I am a third generation Girl Scout, who earned the Gold Award, and a fourth generation leader. I went into the program changes with an open mind, but both of my daughters have totally lost interest in the new program. Of the 20 or so girls in my troop over the years, none of them are still in scouting.

COMMENTS FROM 9-20-15 TO 10-12-15

Girl Scouts sure has changed a lot since I was a scout. I signed up my daughter and became a leader only to be met with a product sale in addition to the cookie sale I expected. Not to mention the ridiculous list of badges and journeys. What happened to the days of sewing and knot tying? This program is way off mark at this point. I don't think the Boy Scouts of America has had such ridiculous overhauls. STEM, STEM, STEM...I agree technology is important, but it does not mean we should stop taking the girls outside to explore. Now they want to sell campgrounds to pay administration fees. I have been a leader for 3 years and our council has yet to impress me. Create events and cancel them....Only after two years of complaining did they finally start offering trainings. Every year I want to quit, but I keep going for my daughter whose favorite thing is camping and learning about the outdoors. Our troop uses and enjoys our local campground where they have a little more freedom since it is closed to the public. If the camping trips end her interest in GS will probably follow.
Girl Scouting should not be about classroom and book work. It should be about hands-on activities, community time and offering the girls an opportunity to participate in events that are not part of the school norm; i.e. camping, knife work, star navigation, cooking, community service, etc.
Girl Scouts has sold out - on every aisle (from the toy aisle to dairy) I can now buy GS cookie flavored items, or even bake my own in the easy bake GS Cookie OVEN! What the heck is that? But we don't go outside if we can help it.

I cannot speak for everyone, and most of the comments are redundant to the fact that journeys are boring. My daughter completed all the badges for
  junior in 2 years (as did most of my troop) PLUS many of the old ones - the new are too much like school work. Let's learn things that you cannot learn in
  school, inside a classroom, or sitting at your computer. As cadettes, in 3 years, we will again have completed or had the opportunity to complete ALL the
   badges. There are hardly any that are special or unique or something we couldn't do in a craft day.
Even the ones I was avoiding we're doing now, just for something to do. We only did a journey to do silver award, but there is a lack of standards for the
  award - what is allowed? Our GS council answers depending on who you are and what service unit you are from - at least it appears to me.
Additionally, as a volunteer, I am seriously tired or all of the "mandatory trainings" and "new policies" which must be followed. I get it - to a degree - but
  respect the fact that as a volunteer, I am also a full time employee for someone else - so your meandering meetings (aka 'trainings') with no agenda or
  outcome, that start late and end far later than you said (after 9 pm on a weeknight), and take me (and I am fairly close) a 30 minute drive.. and that you tell
      me about a week or two in advance - are so disrespectful! I give several hours a week on average to my troop and my service unit, so adding in all the silly
  nonsense just aggravates me. I know why you don't have more leaders and why we can't get more involvement out of some of our parents or leaders -
  they are burnt out or too smart to get more involved.
Please rethink things - I am all for change, but change for change's sake is not the answer...

The girls feel like the journey programs are to similar to school work and want more hands on, skill centered badge opportunities. They want guidance toward Bronze, Silver and ultimately Gold awards. Less focus on Journeys and on Mall Madness and Movie theatre events. My girls have no desire to do that. They want to get outdoors.

COMMENTS FROM 9-3-15 TO 9-19-15

Back to JL basics would be wonderful.
Please get these girls to build their leadership skills in the outdoors with programs geared toward the outdoors. Women who have earned their Gold Award should be consulted in the direction Girl Scouts should take. The current program ignores legacy and tradition completely.
When I was a younger scout and found out about the bronze, silver, and gold award, I told myself that I wanted to earn all of them. I set a goal and was excited. When I earned my bronze award the prerequisites did not include journeys when I was a junior and my troop did a journey I disliked it very much and it became the only reason I didn't go for my silver award, and the reason I am not currently going for my gold. I think journeys could be a better resource and program, but in my opinion they currently are not doing their job.
As a fairly new leader, I only have 2 years under my belt, I was willing to give Journey's an unbiased try. My first year, our Brownies despised the Quest,and it took up so much time and energy for something that was tedious for the leaders and for the girls. I worked with our Daisies, and they didn't like much of their journey either, except the take action part. The rest is too "schoolish". I have absolutely nothing against school or learning, but girls don't join scouts in order to fill out workbooks. My co-leader and I persevered, though, and did World of Girls and the Flower Garden for our second year, and many of the girls are gone, now that our 3rd year is about to start. I had 14 girls in my troop 2 years ago! I will be lucky if I have a troop by next month. One specified (she's going into Juniors this year) that there is no outdoors in Girl Scouts anymore. I've lost most of my troop, and my own daughter has lost interest. She is just starting her second year as a Brownie, but she has already earned almost ALL the available badges just doing a few in meetings, and one week of day camp. She loved day camp, sleepovers, and working for the badges she did earn, but there is nothing to keep them interested when they are very active in scouts, and want to earn more than the few Legacy and Skill Building badges offered. Thanks for listening.
As a GS Alumni I am saddened to see where the focus has shifted. As a leader I find it truly difficult to teach young girls these ridiculous journeys! My girls find them boring & too much like homework. GSUSA needs to realize that girls become leaders by leading others and doing thigs that challenge themselves. They can't learn these things reading them from a book! The focus needs to go back to earning badges that give these girls lifelong skills and allow them to learn about the world they live in. Outdoor skills needs to be a higher priority for GSUSA. When I was a GS myself I was so very proud of every single badge I earned! Please GSUSA go back to the badges and leave the journeys behind for good! I think your recent badge polls spoke loud and clear what the girls truly want, more outside activities and less schoolwork!
I was a Girl Scout for 12 years & loved every minute of it! I wouldn't have changed a thing with the way Girl Scouts were run back then. We camped regularly, learned campfire safety, knife safety, sang lots of songs, made new friends and learned new skills every day. We weren't forced to learn the history of the Girl Scout Organization from a book, forced to be indoors doing homework or had the organization branded to death. We had FUN!! As a leader of 3 years I feel sorry for the girls. Everything they come in expecting Girl Scouts to be about because if what their moms, aunts and grandmothers have told them is so dar from the current programming. It has gotten so far away from what our founder started and envisioned for the girls. Our council has zero traininf for its leaders. We regularly attend training sessions at nearby councils just so we can take our girls camping!! Why have mandatory stipulations for doing different things with your troops.if you're not even going to offer the mandatory training? This just blows my mind! We shouldn't have to be seeking out other councils when we have our own that we should be able to utilize. We have no programming and no activities for the girls. If the leaders don't take the reins and plan events and learning workshops for the girls there would be none. The only thing our council cares about is cookies, cookies, cookies! It's just so very sad.........
I agree with the feeling others have that there is too much focus on Journey's to earn bronze, silver and gold awards, and not enough on skill badges. Girl Scouts is supposed to be fun and the journey's just aren't. The subjects the journe'sy focus on are too much like what they learn school so it's difficult to keep the girls engaged. Bring back the focus on life skill badges that they don't learn in school.
My daughter and I definitely prefer the older program and we spend most of our time completing the projects in those books. I agree wholeheartedly that the fundamentals of Girl Scouts are better represented with the previous program.
The reason for the drop in membership is the Journeys. They are too much like school, according to the girls. Girl Scouts used to be fun while educational. Journeys are not fun, in fact they are tedious. I'm a life member of GSUSA. I grew up with badges and so did my daughters. I DO NOT LIKE THE JOURNEYS. We have also seen a big drop in the number of silver and gold awards . . . because of the Journey requirements.
Leave the selling out; our girls are not your servants, slaves, or employees. If they cannot see the profits--in better programming!--they should not be required to make YOU more money! We, the volunteers, are getting more and more burned out trying to satisfy YOU and still be there for the girls to have a nice experience in Scouting. Once more people learn about all of the alternative programs, GSUSA will see membership shrink if YOU don't change things soon!
Our troop leader wants to do a second journey to occupy the meeting time. My daughter says she won't do it. She wants to work on Silver, and a journey is a waste of time. I agree. They get enough curriculum and writing at school. Girl Scouts is not school. Girl Scouts should be fun.
I was shocked at how much Girl Scouting has changed since I was a girl. Even as a camp counselor in 2008, the changes since then are obscene. It's nothing like what I knew and loved.
I have been in Girl Scouts for over 30 years including my time as a girl. I ha d a troop all the time my daughter was a scout who earned her gold award. For the last 11 years I have been my granddaughters Scout Leader. I have been thru several different types of books and programs over the years. I don't like what has happened with the badges and journeys. The girls don't like the journeys and want more out side badges. We need badges like Juliette Low wanted the girls to learn. Skills to help girls be prepared for life. You've covered financial but have done away with other skills. Also the girls love camping skills. We are in a rural area and don't have the resources to do some of the journeys as well as some of the current badges. I honestly don't think Juliette would like what has happened to scouting over the years. Please redo the badge program and replace the journeys with something like the requirements to earn First Class Scout. Thank you.
As a mom to 3 girls who all started girl scouts in K they love it. The journeys all are a dreaded task like homework. It is like pulling teeth to get them completed. It is not fun and exciting and they are learning very little. I have 3 very well mannered very well behaved well trained Girl Scouts so it is useless to them. They want to learn and earn badges that they can show daddy. The book they tell daddy we have homework it is booring. No matter what you do to it, it is dull...please bring back the try its...and make the journeys go away they came they were tried they failed...
Journeys were too basic for the age levels. It was all things they learned in school for a cadett troop. There is more tithe world than stem. While it is important so are other areas humanities arts. Not enough emphasis

I'm an ambassador this year and have not one badge on my sash. When I first started GS it was fun. I earned so many patches they had to be put on a wall flag but now it's to focused on book work (journeys). I loved community services, hands on outdoor activities plus the feeling of pride for accomplishing a badge.
I have a Daisy and Brownie Troop. Journeys have been difficult to incorporate at this age as the girls respond better to activities that earn badges at a quicker pace so that they see the reward for their effort and their. I wind up doing double work by trying to follow a journey and incorporate a fun badge or other traditional badge too. The girls understand that their progress through the year is a journey but the actual book and concepts are difficult for this age.
It's disgraceful how Juliette Godon Lowe's vision has been corrupted by GSUSA. Time to get back to basics. Always think- WWJD? (What would Juliette do?)

COMMENTS FROM 8-24-15 TO 9-2-15

I like to see the girls with badges on their sashes or vest. Journey's are slot of work for 1 badge. Seeing more looks like they have accomplished so much more
As a leader, I struggle with the journeys and the girls don't like them. The badges are much more interesting.
My girls dread doing the Journey's, especially as a requirement for the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards.
The Journeys are definitely not helpful. We miss the badges and skill-building focus.
Journeys are to much like school. This is not supposed to fun.
The Journey system is, in a word, lame. It's too much like school work, which is not what Scouting was ever supposed to be. There's been far too much emphasis placed on this Journey system and focus taken away from experiential, practical, and especially outdoor related things that Juliette Gordon Lowe held as the ultimate goal of Girl Scouting. We have yet to find other leaders or girls who actually like the Journeys and/or get anything out of them. They're a waste of what little Scouting time we have, and should be scrapped.
The girls seam very frustrated with the journeys from what I see..
Very disappointed in current program offerings. Girls are bored and frustrated with journeys and not enough badge options. Much better the way it was 10 years ago.
The reason I stayed in Girlscouts (in the 1970s) as long as I did was because I loved camping! My daughter, a junior, recently wound up in the ER because she didn't know how to use a pocket knife properly. Our scouts know nothing of the outdoors and our parents are afraid to send to send our girls to camp. Why? Because they get very little information about it!
We need more outdoor actives and teaching them true skills. My daughter comes home form Girl Scouts and she can not tell me anything she has learned. It is nothing like when I was a Girl Scout. Please bring back the old books.

COMMENTS FROM 8-22-15 AND 8-23-15

My cadettes just hate the journeys and the new badges, need to go back to the old badges, they get enough workbook activities in school, they don't want to come to Girl Scouts and do homework, they want to come for fun and learn things that they are not learning in school, how to camp, archery, fish, canoeing, sewing, knitting, etc. More outdoor activities are needed.
I didn't earn many badges as a girl because my troops were always camping, but the reduction in choices now has turned too many girls and their families away from Girl Scouts. While there are some valuable activities in the Journeys, they are too much like school (says the college professor) and don't engage the girls. I have had several troops in the past decade and its larger now than ever before. I am looking for ways to keep them coming. I fear that they will get bored and drop out like my previous troops. With our society valuing instant gratification, I think badges should make a big comeback. Journeys should not be mandatory, or should be built on skills that lead to badges, etc. We have lost our focus on serving others. The GS high awards are so much more difficult, and hopefully rewarding, than BS Eagle Scout. But who knows that they even exist? Wearing a uniform was once an honor. Its is now seen to be a burden. As a Cadette troop leader, I see that my girls never received their pins, badges and awards and have nothing to show for their years spent in scouts. They need something tangible to in which to take pride. I took a hiatus from Scouting in the 80s when it turned from outdoors to careers. Its better now but we still need to take a look at our program objectives and figure out why Scouting matters. There are certainly enough other activities to occupy young women. Why should they be a scout? What would Juliette do?
Girl Scouts have really gone downhill since I was a child. Today, it seems more like school work sponsored by corporations and catering to "closet Girl Scouts" instead of those who have pride in belonging to Girl Scouting. When I was a child, there were far more hands-on activities, outdoor skills, volunteering, trips, etc. GSUSA needs to return to its roots. Juliette Gordon Lowe would not even recognize what we have become.
I have spent so much time trying to get through the journey for my Juniors so they can earn their Bronze Award and it has taken away from the whole purpose of doing community service and focusing on the Bronze Award.
The Journeys could be done on a smaller scale to free up more time for outdoor activities - our girls love doing outdoor things, but there just aren't many badges that accommodate that. When I was a girl, most of our badges seemed to be either outdoor badges or life skills badges.
We need more focus on the traditional life skills and focus on the outdoor physical badges. By achieving these tasks the girls will gain the confidence and courage so many of them need. The soft skills (anti-bullying, finance,etc) are earned indirectly by learning the physical skills.
I've been a co-leader for years. The girls do not like the Journeys!
I am signing on behalf of my friends. But I was in GS when I was young and enjoyed it thoroughly. But it's changing. Girls benefited from being outside, learning about nature. Get them out of the house and away from video/computer. Those things they get in school. GS should engage them in those things that are not part of the school program.
I think the books are too expensive. My son's Cub Scout books were only $7-9/year and included everything. The Girl Scout books as they are don't even include all the badges. I would like to see a transition from younger scouts (leader led)/older scouts (girl led) similar to that of cub scouts to Boy Scouts. As a leader, I'm getting burnt out (I have 4th grade juniors and 3rd grade Brownies). I do not want to spend 10 meetings on a Journey. My girls want to cook and zip line, camp and horseback ride. There's not enough time in a year! (name removed)
I like the badges a lot better than the journeys
Love all the above ideas, especially doing away with the required journey to earn silver and gold! My older girls basically have given up earning their silver and gold due to journeys! They lack interest
These changes and "back to basics" of girl scouting are a must! I am very frustrated that the badge activities don't explore more hobbies (sewing, small engines, sports, horticulture, outdoor cooking, etc.) and encourage more career exploration (hand tools, carpentry, robotics, criminal justice, etc.) It appears that all levels of GS focus on one of two paths: entrapanuership or home maker. The journies are not laid out well and unreal expectations (how are Daisies going to plan their own event!?)
I would like the girls to be more focused on community and less focused on filling out a book!
I co-lead a Daisy Troop. We have not started the Journeys path and we do not plan to do Journeys based on feedback from older GS troops, parents, and other troop leaders. The major complaint that we've heard is that the Girls feel like this is MORE homework on top of their normal school homework. Please go back to the badges process from years ago when I was a Girl Scout.
As a past leader for my 38 year-old daughter and a junior leader for my granddaughter, I personal do NOT like the journeys. The girls are not interested in working on journeys during our meetings which meet right after school. It is too much like additional school work for them. They want the meetings to be fun and want to earn patches not journeys. Since our meetings are girl lead, we will be doing what the girls want, not the council.
It was stated that the new program was based on input from girls and what they wanted. I would like to know the demographics of those focus groups. I would venture to say that they were primarily large city urban demographics that are not exposed to the natural resources that most suburban and rural areas have. I think that the Journeys and the intense focus on service projects may be because that is such a prevalent need in big cities. My girls have done nothing but very long intense service projects the last few years earning their Bronze & Silver Awards. They are burned out & tired of them. Attrition is high enough in high school for Girl Scouts. Please bring back the activities that make Girl Scouts fun & adventurous!!
Our girls dread the Journeys, and we dread leading them. They are so time consuming that we don't have the time to really get into topics that actually interest the girls. They are too much like what they do in school all the time. The Boy Scouts continue to offer more interesting opportunities and skills.
Our girls would have greater satisfaction working on badges that interest them rather than forcing them to choose one of three journeys. As far as they are concerned, they are choosing the lesser of three evils. In their eyes, the journey is a chore they must suffer through to move onto their Silver Award.
I was away from scouting for 7 years when I returned with my youngest daughter I was so disappointed with the direction they had gone. Sewing...gone. All outdoors..gone ( some back due to girl input). Limited choices and journeys that are not all that interesting to the girls. The changes are depressing.
I had two girls in Girl Scouts. One quit because meetings became boring due to the Journeys. One is pondering completing her Gold Award. Already completed the Silver But the burden of having to do yet another Journey before even being allowed to submit her Gold Award idea may be what deters her from completing the Gold Award at all!
I definitely prefer focus on badges instead of journeys and want an increased focus on outdoor skills.

COMMENTS FROM 8-9-15 TO 8-21-15

We need to help our girls decelope skills that will help them throughout their lives! Too watered down, too easy....wish it was more like Boy Scouts.
we definately need a drastic change. .
I have gone from 12 girls to now 3. The girls do.not like doing the journeys. I feel at this pace I will not have any girls who will earn the Gold. Very dissapointing.
I would also like to see less cooperation with corporations that done have children in their best interests-those that promote unrealistic beauty standards, and those that have a history of undermining healthy bodies, healthy eating, and positive infant nutrition (Barbie and Nestlé, to start)
Please bring back the old badges and booklets, please don't put so much on the Journey, girls need out door badges so the can appreciate nature and what to do . I girls should be given the same opportunities that troops have in the spending of product sales money and not ever Girl Scout still does not have computer's and are not able to use resources wisely as far as getting to a library. Please take these things into consideration.
Since the inception of the journey program, my three girls scouts have had less interest in earning badges. Fun badges are the only thing on their uniforms... If they even make the cut.
Would love to see less focus on Journeys and more on earning badges.
Please minimize the emphasis on Journeys in attaining Girl Scouts’ Highest Awards (Bronze, Silver, and Gold).
The Journeys bore my Brownie & Junior Girls. They want to learn to do new things, and earn badges, and do the kinds of things they don't do in school or at home.
I have been a leader for 4 years (& assistant a few years before that). We did not do a journey last year. We had a troop of Brownies & Juniors. We did badge work for half the meetings, and outdoor skills for the other half. There was no time for journeys. This year, they will all be Juniors and I would like to have them earn the Bronze Award, but having to do a journey first is definitely a burden.
I would like to see councils incorporate their volunteers in a better maner to keep camps open instead of selling them off.
Can we please put the fun back in gs!!! Shape these girls into wonderful women with many skill!!
Let's get our girls outside and learning outdoor skills.
I'm guessing that Journeys are popular with new leaders who were never scouts themselves, as they are very similar to the workbooks that most of us are very familiar with from school. However, this is one of my main concerns with Journeys; current education theory indicates that this system of learning is less engaging and less likely to have a significant long term impact on learners than the more real-life, authentic, skills-based system of badges we had previously. According to educational research, scouting was doing learning the right way for nearly 100 years, and now that schools are moving to emulate this, Girl Scouts are moving to emulate the workbooks of the 1980 and 90s!

I also look at Journeys compared to Boy Scout badges, theirs have changed little and slowly, and are largely designed to indicate the scout's skills.
Attending the funeral of a prominent local Boy Scout I had some time to look at all of the uniforms and think about the information they conveyed. I
thought about all the skills I had developed over a lifetime of scouting and was saddened to think that no one looking at me knows about those skills,
because the badges I earned are no longer in style, and the insignia is outdated, and to top it off adult Girl Scout don't wear their badges (unless they
design their own patch jacket). Girl Scout leaders are often strong, capable, and skilled, but we have to prove it to our girls and world continually, because
our uniforms have become a fashion statement instead of a statement of skills and competency.

Please put more emphasis on hands on learning and less on the book work, the girls are not enjoying it.They want to learn and earn badges and have applicable skills, not have more school to sit through. That's why membership is declining. I overhear girls say its boring.
When I was a scout, I really enjoyed what I learned from earning badges, much of which I use today. I was saddened when I finally saw the books the leader works out of. There were very few badges I was familiar with. Very few badges have the vision for girls to be on their own. I tried to work a Journey with my Junior troop and it did not go well. The Journeys are cumbersome and take too much time.

COMMENTS FROM 8-6-15 TO 8-8-15

I have two daughters in Scouts. We actually left a troop because all they did was focus on journeys. I feel Girl Scouts should go back to badges and the core fundamentals to what Girl Scouts were started.
Hate journeys, want more badge choices.
I remember a large book of badges when I was a scout... We learned skills and earned badges. Please return to this method.
I would love to see the change!! That was my biggest complaint and disappointment when I enrolled my daughter that it just didn't feel like Girl Scouts. It was one of my greatest adventures of my childhood and I want so badly for my daughter to have the genuine experience of all the traditional Girl Scouts has to offer!! Thank you~
I was a trainer for YEARS but when the journey program came I retired. I don't think this is the best way to go!!
Girls get enough Common Core in school -- GS should NOT simply repeat those skills through schoolwork-like journey exercises. I'm sad that my daughter can't have the GS experience that I had.
Was a leader 25 years ago..... I'm somewhat disappointed by the change in materials including journeys..... my girls now aren't too interested in them
My girls really do not enjoy the journey badge, no matter how creative you get with them. Also would like to get some kind of Credit for having to buy these annoying books in the first place.
I was a first year leader last year and two sessions into the journeys and my girls were done. I went from 12 to 7 in just a few weeks because they lost interest. We decided to just earn individual badges, which was far more enjoyable for them. We won't be doing a journey this year, regardless of what the national program is. Lost too many girls with that last year.
I think that each girl needs to do what they are capellable of doing. I also think that each girl has the right to progress as she fills she is ready to
Scouting is a tradition of passing down skills and bringing girls together to form a bond not do homework.
There have been so many eloquent comments. The only thing I want to add is that as a lifelong GS, I know what formative experience Girl Scouting can be. As a leader, my goal is to help girls feel awesome! Strong, capable, educated, challenged, skilled...! I aim to help the girls learn through doing, to accept failure and try harder, to feel confident and competent...in nature, in their bodies, in life. These skills are not learned in a classroom environment. The journeys do not help challenge or inspire the girls. It's time to get these girls back outside and dirty. Thank you.
As a leader, I have been leading our troop through a lot of fun badges, since the Junior level badges and journeys are quite limiting. Much of it is very similar to their school work. Very few badges are interesting to them, and they are adamant about not wanting to do the journeys. The greatly enjoy the time spent outdoors and at camp together, but as leader I find few badges to accomplish outdoors and find myself putting in so much work to plan these activities that I am extremely close to quitting Girl Scouts. Helping our girls be more active and learn skills and trades that are not taught in school would support the girls; having details examples of how the leaders could present things to the girls would help make the job manageable for the leaders. Thanks!
We are going to lose leaders, girls and families if changes aren't made.
I really feel we are going to lose girls interest if we make scouting more like school and school work. Its hard too make the journeys fun for them sometimes.
Bring back more skill-building type badges and bring back the tactical "doing" types of programming. My now-Cadette troop loved doing Try-it's as Brownies and were able to take turns "leading" the troop in earning these badges during troop meetings. My younger troop who just bridged to Brownies isn't able to do this fun girl-led experience because so many of the new badges are now so philosophical, less hands on, less skill-related and not conducive to being done in the context of a troop meeting. Which...leaves the leaders to have to come up with something for meetings. How is that encouraging girl-led scouting? These girls are in very academic schools...they don't want to sit through "lessons" doing Journeys. They want to do hand on activities with each other! Leaders, who are volunteers, and are already asked to do a lot, should not have to spend so much time coming up with ideas and plans because the materials provided are so fluffy and intangible and quite frankly...not realistic. My own mother, a former Camp Fire leader is amazed at how much creative energy I have had to put into meetings the last several years because the program materials are so lacking in depth. GSUSA really needs to wake up a little or they will be losing girls and leaders, in my humble opinion. After six years, I just don't have time for this anymore. Where is all the money going that it can't be used to put together insightful, tactical, user-friendly program materials and guides that don't require leaders to take the "concept" and turn it into something real and tangible for the girls to learn and do? Thank you for listening.
Bring back the badge books.
I'd love to see the interest projects brought back. They offered many more opportunities for the girls.
I don't recall a minimum number of badges required previously to attain these recognitions. Why now? Why the prerequisites? Listen to the people in the trenches, please.
Our girls want more "hands-on" skill building similar to the skill and patch programs of earlier eras. We have vital, active girls that want to dig in and get their hands messy, so to speak! They want to learn a skill, test and retest it, and then Master the skill. We need more hands-on learning opportunities and less school-book type learning. Respectfully, (name removed)

COMMENTS FROM 8-4-15 AND 8-5-15

Offering the journeys and the badge programs is too confusing. Expanding the badge offerings and eliminating the journeys would simplify the portfolio. In addition, outdoor skills and physical activities should be provided that challenge girls.
Please put scouting back in Girl Scouts - more badges, more outdoor badges, NO JOURNEYS.
My daughter and other girls in our troop have lost interest after only being in GS for 2 years. They got bored with the Journeys so we didn't finish it. We did more "fun" activities... made it more "Girl Lead."
Please, Please, stop the demand on Journeys!! Let's get back outside and learn & build life skills!
I was a scout for 10 years, earning my silver. I have been an adult member for 10+ years. My daughter is in her 6th year. I don't know that there is anything I can say that hasn't already been said.
We need to get back to the basics. More skilled based, hands-on learning. Outdoor, living skills... They are in school long enough, this should be an extension of learning not a extension of their school day.
I have been leader for 26 years. Girls dont enjoy journeys. They l9ve outside because they dont get out at home. Deciding if i want to continye next year.
Please read these comments. Neither girls nor leaders like the journeys. Do not make them mandatory!! The girls want hands on activities. And a wide variety of badges so that all girls can find ones that interest them, from cooking to camping, from child care to car care. Bring back the old badges! I really miss the interest project badges!
I agree with numbers 1-5. Journeys are overrated.
I have been involved in girl scouting since being a girl scout over fourth years ago. As a leader now I have observed that the programming has taken a serious turn away from building skills necessary for life and leadership and towards an interpersonal nature. Although I believe that the ladder is important balance is more important for well rounded leaders for our future. I believe that skill building, to include outdoor skills, is equally important. Thank you for considering this matter and please place the needs of our girls in front of the agenda of the few. Best regards, (name removed)
Give us a handbook that is worthy of owning. I loved my handbook as a young scout and spent much time reading it on my own at home. Not one of my scouts is interested in purchasing one.
Get completely away from Journeys
NO MORE JOURNEYS!
Please concentrate on badge work and not journeys. It's so much like school work my troop loses interest in meetings when we do them no matter how we try to "dress it up" girls want to have fun not paperwork!!!
The way the current program is is not what the girls want. There is also supplemental material that is not available for adults or girls. For our girls sake, changes need to be made NOW
Why break something that wasn't broken? Girls loved Try-Its and the badge work of the former Girl Scout program. They got to try things they normally wouldn't, and got to go on out door adventures. Now, with the Journey program, they are back inside, doing "schoolwork" and are bored and uninterested in continuing with Girl Scouts. As a leader, I don't blame them. I have to fake enthusiasm for the Journey meetings (i.e "Girls, aren't you so excited to spend the next hour discussing stereotypes when we could have been outside hiking?") End the Journeys now before you kill the next generation of enthusiastic Girl scouts!
Juliette Low would not be happy with journeys.
The journeys are not fun. Losing girls over it. Please look at going back to badges.
I have a troop of Seniors. They absolutely hate the journeys and they are quite burdensome. Most of the girls take advanced and honors classes at school and the last thing they want to do at a meeting is more bookwork and sitting. They want activities. They want to earn the gold award but some may not because of the journeys. This is sad since the gold award projects provide such a wonderful service to our community.
Please go back to badges. Journeys are not fun.
When I was a young scout I learned to sew and to cook, I also learned to pitch a tent and build a fire to cook on. I still use these skills 45 years later. Now days scouts are learning to make money even at the daisy level, but don't have an opportunity to learn life skills that they can carry forward. We try to bring as much of these things into the troop on our own but then they aren't earning the badges and journeys that they need to advance.
Journeys are too difficult and way too much like homework. Girls are suppose to have fun, be outdoors, do community service work. Bring back some of the old badges
There is a reason why so many troops spend time scouring the internet to find retired badges so that their girls can work on them. They are missing from the current portfolio. The journeys are "meh" and don't hold the girls interest, so leaders are forced to go outside the programming to make them more interesting and in keeping with what the girls want.
Stop making it so easy for everything. You are not giving the girls a chance to compete. Stop wasting the Girl Scouts cookie money on leadership retreats and adult leadership meetings. That money was earned by the girls not adults. The adults male leaders should not be forced to stay outside the gates and camps. That is not gender equality and I will call the news next time this happens. The prizes the girls are offered for selling cookies are crap. How many times can you go to same water park. I also saw some pictures of some girl scout moms on a girl scout camp out drinking beer in picture. That troop should have been kicked.

COMMENTS FROM 8-3-15

Journeys are too much like the bronze, silver and gold awards. I'd like to see the badges come back where they can choose to work on items that interest them. They were able to try a little of everything.
We are losing girls and volunteers because of the change to Journeys. Let's get back to the basics and provide all girls the chance to experience the joys of badge work, not the "homework".
Drop the journeys!!! Too long and complicated to work through. Girls lose interest quickly! They love the badges we use to do. The journeys are confusing with too many parts to complete. I, as the leader get lost in following them.
I feel we have lost several girls because of the overly-academic nature of the Journey programs.
Please consider changing this program it is to cumbersome and difficult for the girls to negotiate. The traditional Girl Scout program worked
Change needs to happen.
Our troop bought old badges for our Juniors to work on last year and also for this upcoming year. We already bought old badges for cadets so once our Juniors bridge we will have the old Cadettes badges. Listen to what is being said bring back the old program!
The journeys need to go. They can't hold the girls attention. My older troop quit because of them. More outside programming\badges are needed. Let's get these girls out away from their electronics!
I lead two troops. My 1st year Brownies are only doing badges this year and they are the retired ones. My 2nd year Juniors hate the journeys, but put up with them so they can achieve their Bronze Award. The new badges are watered down. Bring back the old badge program!
Please get rid of the Journeys. Bring badges back! Girls are bored and we are losing them.
As a Girl Scout myself, I'd like to comment on the decline of the "fun " aspect of Girl Scouts. When I was a Daisy, Brownie, even a Junior, the badges were fun to acquire, yet still educational. Now, the strain put on Journeys, with a workbook makes Girl Scouts feel more like school, rather than a fun learning experience where I got a taste of everything, from sports, to crafts, to anything we wanted to make it. I miss the way Girl Scouts was when I was younger, and I dislike what it has become.
I've been a leader for 3 years now and have only one child return to the troop for all three years, my own daughter. The girls do not like the journeys. Starting this year we are returning to the old way of scouting. I have tracked down badge books and badges from the 80's and 90' and while we will complete the one journey for our bronze award we will also be working on the signs. Although my councle says theses are to be worn on back of the vest. My girls will proudly wear them on the front. They will complete the requirements and are rightfully earned and will be shown off as they should be.
We are losing girls, they feel the journey's are more like school and do not have the opportunities to learn more. The girls love working on badges that they can say they accomplished a certain task to receive it. Journeys have the girls baffled at times.
I quit GS years ago as a middle schooler because I wanted to learn how to build campfires/pitch a tent/ do outdoor activities, when instead we were told to make pillows, make crafts and never got to do the adventurous things most of us wanted to do. I am now back to being a Girl Scout so I can volunteer at a camp, but the outdoor programming needs to be much more emphasized.
The Journey program and badges shouldn't duplicate things the girls do in school. Please bring back some of the hands-on, skill-building, Girl Scout basics that were part of the previous Girl Scouting program. I want to teach the girls in my troops new skills that they don't learn in school, challenge their abilities, etc.
Please include description of requirements of all badges in the handbook and not when you buy the packets of badges. The girls need to be aware of all the requirements so they can make the decision what they would like to earn. There are links to these requirements, but it goes to the store and just has the purchasing information (thank you for supporting this information with the new outdoor badges though).
This really needs to be looked at. Who made the journeys up? I know it was not girls. Why is the change every week? This is a vintage orignation why not keep it that way. We as volenteers dont get paid quit making our jobs difficult and complex.. you are taking the real meaning of scouts into your own hands rather then the vision of juillett lows. Bring back the badges and uniforms THAT IS WHAT JUILETTE WANTED.
We want to earn badges for learning new real-world, hands-on skills, learning about our heritage, & serving our community! Lose the Journeys. Bring back the old badge books (with updates as needed).
My cadettes are begging to be in the outdoors. I imagine our troop will fold this year because they don't want to spend any more time at a table discussing the journeys or doing more work like they do in school.
Yes, I fully agree. This organization needs a complete overhaul. Where are the standards? Individual troop leaders shouldn't be making them up as we go. If someone says, this kid is an Eagle Scout, I know exactly what he can do. If someone says, this kid is a Brownie, all I know is that she is a girl in the second or third grade. It's ridiculous and enough already. Girl Scout USA is nothing more than a money hungry, child labor mill.
I have a group C,A,S. Years ago when I had J & C I tried a Journey. My girls didn't like them at all. It took for ever for them to complete one lesson. The next year I was down membership to 1 other child besides my 3 DD & niece. We stopped doing Journeys at their request and I started doing things they asked to learn. My membership has grew. :-)
Please look at bsa for ideas, they have a better model. Thinking Bput starting a venture crew g poo r my girls.
Please bring back the badges. The Journeys feel like school works and the girls don't like them.
Please re-develop the program back to more badges. The girls in my troop do not like the journeys and would love to have more of a variety of badges to work on. The choices are so limited and so much of it feels like school. We have lost several girls in our troop because it wasn't fun and was too much sitting. These girls want, need, and deserve hands on activities that get them interested in a variety of activities. They need activities that promote movement and physical activity. Girl Scouts was founded to give girls the same opportunities boys were getting in Boy Scouts. That is no longer the case. Have a look at the Cub Scout and Boy Scout programs. They are still badge based. Girl Scouts also puts too much emphasis on business skills. That should only be one component of the program. These girls are not all going to grow up to be CEOs of a company nor should they! Girl Scouts should be giving them a way to discover what they are passionate about!
I know the GS program better than most and I have difficulty facilitating the journeys with girls. My own daughters are independent Girl Scouts, and journeys are impossible for them.
10th Anniversary leader - 15years as a Girl Scout. Journeys are not beneficial to Troop meeting schedules or keeping girls interest.
Journeys are confusing and cumbersome for leaders. It is too intimidating for potential volunteers to have to put a curriculum together.
One person, the CEO of GS about ten years ago changed the GS into a "leadership experience." Many of us don't like this focus, the girls will get this "Be a dynamic agent of change" agenda when they grow up and get jobs. Let's let them have fun with the kind of unique adventures and outdoor experiences that we had growing up as scouts. An objection that I have to the GS "leadership experience" focus is that in reality, not everyone can be a leader, there have to be participants to get stuff done. I have a troop of 14 year old girls. They have so much pressure from school, they don't need GS to be a source of stress due to the leadership focus. It just needs to be fun, or they quit and do something else that's more fun. That's obviously what is happening as there are so few scouts at the CSA level.
Journeys are a waste of time & money. All 22 girls in my troop think they are boring and useless. Girl Scouts should focus on skills & community service. I have 0 girls interested in pursuing their silver award because they refuse to participate in the journey.

COMMENTS FROM 8-2-15

The Journeys are not relevant, they do not retain girls, do not provide skill building, including important life skills. Journeys have been the cause of membership decline and has a direct relationship to less service going on in the community.
The Journeys are ridiculous. All of the girls in my troop complain about the homework that accompanies the Journey. They would rather be doing and nor sitting. I have learned to take individual badges that work with the Journeys and use those to complete the requirements for the Journey.
Girl Scouts of today bares little resemblance to the Girl Scouts that had such an enormous impact on myself and many in my generation. It has become too focused on 5th Avenue Corporate goals instead of the girls. The outdoor education and experiences opens doors for many that would never had the opportunity were it not for the Girl Scouts. Very sad indeed.
I am a lifetime member and have been a girl, camp counselor, leader, and a staff member. I agree that program needs to be relevant and available to girls no matter how they are involved. However staff services have declined in many councils after the mergers. Volunteers need more clear guidelines for awards. Girls do not want to so more school. What happened to providing experiences to make gs viable? The current awards do not do that. My daughter will be a venture scout as soon as she is 14 because the opportunities are there. Please take a look at current programming.
Bring back more outdoor and badges no journeys
Return the old try-it's and skill badges when I was a child. We learned so much more with those than Journeys. Our troop completed one journey and they still cannot tell you what the badge means even after 4 months of working on it. Just lock 1, lock 2, etc. I started buying the old try its on eBay and the girls loved those!
Journeys are too much like school!! More badges need to be (re)introduced to give girls mores options in what they want their personal focus to be. STEM is important, but shouldn't be emphasized over girls who are still interested in the arts and get outdoors! Balance and options and less school-like work! Let's move and "do", not spend so much time sitting around and discussing to earn badges and pins.
Are girls don't like during Aid, and neither do the leaders. I feel like they aren't learning the skills the Girl Scouts have always learned. Bring back the badges!
The girls are not taking much away from the journeys. They really are too much like schoolwork. Earning badges when I was a younger GS in the 80's was challenging, but fun.
My troop did not enjoy the journey and the leaders ground it so much work and quite boring.
Too many hoops to jump through for Gold award. Only have 1 out of 5 that is attempting to complete the gold. I know that she has has at least 3 different advisors. Totally ridiculous and very disheartening.
The girls and parents have complained to me many times they do not like the journeys and feel like they are to much like school and that the new program is " beneath the girls" who wants a spider in their handbook and we are to be up lifting the girls and moving forward by this age group they want something that is exciting like the old junior books. I think this is one of the reasons that girls around here do not go for the Highest Awards, it is the journeys that is holding them back. Badges Juliette said was for showing you learned something well enough to teach someone else and you knew it by heart . todays badges can be done in a couple of weeks . what are we teaching the girls ? Is it to take the easy road ?
The Journeys are horrible, my troop (which are aging out next year) miss the old program. There is not enough variety of badges to work on.
Mor enlarges less journeys
They do enough book work in school - get back to the basics of scouting that Juliette wanted for girls. Especially girls that don't get the opportunity to do outdoor skill set items! Stop turning them into sedentary indoor high maintenance women!
The program definitely needs more outdoor activities and more chances for the girls to learn who they and what they want to do with their lives. What we do or don't do with these girls will make a great impact on their life in the future.
Please consider removing the journies. The girls learn more and enjoy the badge workshops we do. Reading stories similar to what is in their textbooks does not appeal to them. We should have more outdoor and stem badges. Require a take action project but lose the journies. We have daisies thru cadettes. We have lost a lot of cadettes. We may lose more. They want to be in the community not sitting at a table.
I've completed 11 years as a troop leader and we're now bridging to Ambassadors. The programming has declined significantly since we started as Daisies. I recently bought the Ambassador program book and was shocked to see that there are only *11* badges available at this level -- and TWO of them focus on cookies! The girls are 100% cookied out. The focus on cookie sales at all levels every year is nauseating. Please bring the focus back to the GIRLS and what THEY want and not how much money they can make for the council. Scouts is not supposed to be college prep work. Scouts is supposed to be hands on experiences that the girls delight in participating, not dread getting through boring and research-laden prerequisites. My girls only have two years left before they graduate, and I'm sad they won't have the terrific outdoor and hands-on experiences my son had as a Boy Scout (just earned his Eagle and graduated). Get REAL scouting experts to develop programs badges, etc., not academics who never participated in scouts to know what it should be. I know it's too late for my girls and we're just going to have to make the best of it, but I'm hoping the younger girls will benefit from efforts here to create positive and lasting change.
I want to see our girls learn courage, confidence and character by offering them the chance to learn about a wide variety of skills and trades. We as an economy are facing a shortage of skilled craftspeople. Why not address this issue through girl scouts?
My girls need and want to learn skills and explore areas not covered by school curriculum. They want to be outside, in motion, and having fun. Journeys and many of the badges just feel like schoolwork.
I agree with all the comments and the petition.
Girl Scouts is a very unfocused organization. Everything is very up in the air. My troop could make bracelets at every meeting until they graduate and still be considered a Girl Scout graduate. There is nothing that must be learned in order to progress and show that skills have been acquired. What does Girl Scouts want each Girl Scout to be proficient in over the years? There needs to be checkpoints and levels. Where is the push to move from one level to another if there are no defined skill points? Further, where are your leader manuals??!! In order to help girls become leaders, you must first equip your volunteers to be the best leaders they can be. Why do you not do this? New volunteers these days have to wing everything. It is so difficult that unless someone is very motivated to make it work, they will not continue. Girl Scouts has great potential, but it will fail if it does not have continue to equip its leaders and provide a focus for its desired outcome of the girls in the program.
I was an older Girl Scout and earned my Gold Award in the 1980s. I travelled to two World Centers as an older girl and Girl Scouting changed my life in a very positive and profound way. I attribute it to my leader, who was (and still is) the most magnificent individual dedicated to youth I know. I have now been a leader of my daughter's own troop for the past 9 years and have seen many changes. The focus on Journeys needs to end. The 100+ badges available in each level for girls to earn need to return. There has been a gross dumbing-down of curriculum for the girls for some reason. Maybe you thought that the girls weren't earning badges because they were too hard. Maybe you thought if they were easier, the girls would want to stay in scouting. The Journey program simply doesn't work. The girls do NOT want a workbook. The old program had all the components of a Journey already in it, but the girls got to choose how much "connect" and "take action" went into their troop life. Scrub the social lessons. The girls get those as a by-product of all the other activities they do in scouting. Bring back the focus of learning new skills (especially outdoor related activities) As the girls get jazzed about being introduced to these things via badges, they'll want to 'make a difference' all on their own to share and spread their new-found skills and passions. The Journeys take all the skills and passion out of scouting. Before you lose the girls completely from trying to go with the Journey heavy curriculum, fix it. In order for my older girls to stay in the troop, we have had to scrap the Journey junk almost completely and go rogue with old materials. Is this what you wanted?
As part of my college thesis I polled both Girl Scouts members and those intrested in joining. Outdoor and survial skills such as ham radio, knot tying, fire making etc were listed as the number one reason for joining Girlscouts. The new badge program focuses on cookie sales, babysitting and traditional female roles. Ms, Lowe founded Girl Scouts in direct opposition to what you are promoting today. Since Journey inception, my community's troop numbers have decreased by 60%!! whereas we had 4 older girl troops we now have none. We do not have a waiting list and our numbers are a shell of what they used to be.
So many have already said it so well. GSUSA listen to what's left of your membership and learn from your mistakes. Go back to badges and drop the Journeys.
The girls wish the badges were back in full force. They felt they learned more skills, lots more fun and not a repeat of life lessons they learn at school or from their parents of how to be best they can be.
You cannot have a group of 10 girls and tell all of them to be leaders - particularly in the younger age groups. They are bored, and learn zero skills because they are not engaged. Both my girls begged not to go to meetings because they hated it. I still have them registered, but they are involved with 4H instead because they are learning the skills that they want to learn, not what is thrust upon them. Why are we leading the girls away from life skills such as cooking, sewing, and different forms of art?
I remember learning and doing things in Girl Scouts that I would not learn at home or in school. We need to support these girls by offering challenges!
I have disliked the Journeys from the moment they were introduced. Being a Girl Scout can mean just getting on with it and making the best of a situation. I tried. I encouraged. I attempted to make them fun. Disaster. The girls hate them. They are not fun or engaging or inspiring. Please consider doing away with these poorly done books and bring back the badge program with a focus on ALL the skills that makes a girl scout so fantastic.
The journey program hurts low income girls whose families can not afford the extra books and activity packs. It takes away many of the true skill building that made Girl Scouts so valuable.
My Daisies absolutely despise the journeys. Most of my girls were 5 years old and couldn't even read the books to follow along. The Daisy level journey are meant for girls WAY older than 5-7, the way the characters talk and dress are not characteristics of little girls in K and 1st grade. My little girls want to play outside and get dirty, color, talk about animals and bugs, make presents for mom and dad, sing songs, play games, learn new sports, go on nature walks. NEVER have I had a girl suggest to sit and read more of our journey books. They're like school work, and even 5 year olds don't appreciate that approach. My little ones love Girl Scouts because I have adapted our program to fit their likes and needs, but really, why should I have to adapt anything? Shouldn't years of research and hands-on experience tell you what the girls really want? Journeys are not the answer!!!
The journeys need to go... My girls have lost interest in being scouts because they said the journeys are like school work and I agree! As a leader we should be asked about changes this large! We need to go back to the basics as Juliette Gordon low had used when she started Girl Scouts!!
My girls are third year cadettes and don't want anything to do with badges or journeys anymore. They say the badges are more about looking things up than learning by doing. They complain that badges can't be done during meetings because they are all about doing research. At their age they have many commitments and just don't have the time or interest outside of meetings.
Please do these changes. I have seen a huge decline in our girl and volunteer numbers.
Our girls hate the Journeys. They do the same stuff at school. They joined Girl Scouts to do something DIFFERENT. There are all kind of girl organizations now popping up to fill in the gap this Journey focused programmed is leaving. Please go back to badges - outdoor skills and the origin of Girl Scouts.
Lets get back to a program where girls can experience hands on activities and try many different things. The current program is deemed to be "like school work". Research does not always give us a good program, - before Coke decided to introduce New Coke, they did a lot of research which showed the consumers would like New Coke. We all know the how successful that change was! And remember Studio 2B.... Membership numbers are not increasing as a result of the changes, but are dropping. Why make major changes in something that worked for 100 years. Minor updates are warranted, but we should not totally revamp the program.

COMMENTS FROM 7-29-15 TO 8-1-15

Bring Badges back. Stop the Journeys.
This latest group of badge books emphasizes sedentary indoor work. Journeys are complicated and confusing. Scrap this programming and go back to the previous set of badge books and requirements (with current updating as needed)
I did not renew my membership this past spring because Journey requirements have made it nearly impossible for Juliette Girl Scouts to earn any of the higher awards. For some girls participating in a troop setting is just not possible. Denying them the chance at Bronze, Silver, and Gold because they don't have a group to complete the required Journeys is unfair. Girls are supposed to be able to choose their program, to keep it interesting and fun for them. Journey requirements restrict this personalization in choosing which badges interest them, and applying that badge work towards earning the higher awards.
The journeys are like schoolwork and it has come to a point that we dread doing them. We only do them so we can earn our awards.
To the board of directors for GSUSA..,, please look at your top Chiefs... . Take a true Look at the stats.. Look at the Hard core numbers. If you do that it will clearly tell you to Make the necessary changes in leadership at the top.. It's way over due!
Our girls and especially the leaders do not like the Journeys. My Cadette wants more outdoor oriented badges that she can earn on her own. Not everything has to be done with a group!
I agree with everything said.

COMMENTS FROM 7-23-15 TO 7-28-15

Regarding sales; Why do 5/6/7....year olds need to learn to be ceo's?
I was a girl scout when badges were all about hands on and helping your community, not reading from a book! We need to change back to where girl scouts when christmas caroling, arts and crafts, slime parties, and giving back by organizing for younger girl scouts. Reading from a book is good, but no girl wants to go from 6 hours of school to having an additional hour of homework from girl scouts!
My girls and I basically lost interest when you redid the badge books and changed to Journeys. It's no longer fun. It's a hassle. The Journeys are ambiguous at best. Skill building and outdoor skills and independence should be the primary foci, not international projects. Girls should be allowed and encouraged to do projects at their local camps for Silver and Gold rather than being told to go out in the community - because sometimes the camps ARE where the projects are needed. GS wouldn't be losing - or selling - so many GS camps if the focus was kept where it should be.
As an older girl leader (mixed Cadette, Senior, Ambassador), I went from having every girl in my troop earning Silver and Gold, to 3/16 earning. The main reason, the girls thought the journeys were boring, and more like school than Scouts should be. It took us a year to fully complete a journey. It was disappointing for my troop to find out that other troops working on the same journey "completed" it in a weekend. How can that be? Eventually, the girls in my troop asked that we go back to being a troop that is known for community service, and outdoor activities, and forget the journeys almost entirely. So, if individuals were committed to earning Silver or Gold, then the troop supported them, but journeys were up to them (and their advisor). The girls in my troop, camped, hiked, learned archery, held community sports/ play days, led food drives, fed the homeless, held tea parties for girls in a homeless shelter, delivered groceries and did yard work for senior citizens, had health fairs for elementary school kids, had reading activities for after school programs, taught younger Scouts how to camp, led sing-a-longs... and the list goes on. In general, did all the thing Girl Scouts are known for. Some earned their coveted awards, but mostly, they just enjoyed themselves, became the kind of young women that are looked up to, and admired. Are they leaders? You bet! Did the journeys make that easier for them? Not at all.
These kind of leadership & adventure activities kept me in Gile Scouting through high school; gave the skills I needed to run camps and have a job at a GS Council. I'm a lifetime member.
Having been a GS and then a leader for 12 yrs as well as a SU Mgr I always emphasized doing things with my girls they could not easily do with family or thru school. GS needs to get back to the foundation it was built on. Learning new skills, helping others, doing good deeds, building a strong foundation and making friends. Due to the great and adventurous leaders I had growing up, I wanted my daughter and her friends to have similar experiences. GS no longer seems to value those experiences for girls.
The journey program is too complex, especially for small troops or for girls working alone.
More needs to be done to engage the girls in badge work than on journeys. I am constantly hearing that I could only earn 1 or 2 badges this your because we had to do journeys. The movement needs to go back to a badge book and a handbook that cross references information. We had this program and it worked well. We need to have Council Own badges that can be shared with others councils. My troop enjoyed making a Council Own badge. Many girls join for one year and leave because they don't get to do much.
As part of a volunteer day camp committee and part of a very active outdoor focused troop we have found that when all of the outdoor badges were taken away from programing the girls truly missed this aspect of scouting. These skills like outdoor cooking, hiking, camping, orienteering, etc. aren't taught to our girls in schools and sports teams and help make our program unique.
I would live to see a stronger emphasis on badges, and more badges that deal with outdoor activities! Our girls want to get outside and do stuff. We get as creative as possible to try and make the journeys interesting, but it's very difficult. We rely on a lot of creativity and modification so they don't get tired of coming to scouts. It is supposed to be a fun experience where girls learn life skills and build friendships, but it has become much too school-like.

COMMENTS FROM 7-10-15 TO 7-21-15

More outdoor emphasis! My troop never uses the book, they are bored to tears by it! They want to be outside in the outdoors.
The quality of the program has taken a nose dive since I started as a leader 12 years ago. Lack of consistency is part of the problem, but only part of it.
I have a Senior troop of 16 and my troop grows bigger every year. This is because I de-emphasize Journeys & focus on skills and activities they haven't yet learned: Rock climbing, using an axe to make kindling, hiking through rivers, etc. If they want to earn Gold, I help them but my main focus is keeping scouting fun enough to stay in just one more year! Journeys are all about book reading & not activity focus. Girls learn leadership skills by doing, not reading about it!!
I strongly agree that the Journey program materials do not give the girls strong enough direction in ALL areas of Girl Scouting. Let's help the girls to be leaders who will be superior and well rounded in ALL areas of their lives.
Needs to be a better way to earn summit pins, Bronze, Silver, and Gold Award without having to do the boring Journeys. The girls don't remember any of it after 6 months from start to finish, they don't get much out of it except the badges, the leaders guides are confusing and not very well written. Lots of reading that gets boring after 10 minutes no matter what level the girls are. Something needs to be done. Perhaps go back to way things were back in the 80's. I'm 5th maybe 6th generation troop leader and my girls are 6th maybe 7th generation Girl Scouts. I have all level books from the beginning that my family members on my moms side have used. I have read some of them and even talked to my mom about which she liked better and she liked how it was in the 70's and 80's.
The Journeys are like schoolwork - not at all what girls want after a long day at school!
My girls are disenchanted with the journey programs and are considering ending their scouting journey. We wish the emphasis was more on individual badge works and NOT journeys.
Rutherford NJ girl Scouts spend more time staying in hotels then they do learning skills.
If you knew the number of people buying badges and doing the old program you would stunned. Since money is a priority these days, just think of all the revenue you are missing out on. People are starved for Badge programs that do not copy school work like the journeys.
I'm retired and leading my granddaughter's troop. It's our fourth year. I was also her mother's leader in the 70s/80s and a professional Girl Scout for five years in the 90s. I trained outdoor training and taught hundreds of girls and leaders to love and appreciate the earth and its complex web of life. I find the whole Journey system complicated and undefined. I can't imagine being a new leader and trying to figure out what to do that didn't seem like more schoolwork. I use my background knowledge to create our own programs. The girls don't care whether they are getting a GS badge or a commercial patch. Please put more arts, science and outdoor activities into the badge choices and modify the Journey programs so there not so book centered...bor---ing!

COMMENTS FROM 7-7-15 TO 7-9-15

When given a choice, our Daisies would rather do outdoor activities/skills that are just for fun patches rather than the journey activities. Please bring girl scouting back, the traditional skills also build leadership.
My daughter is a fourth generation Girl Scout, and I am a second generation leader. She's wanted to quit Scouts since she was a new Junior because the curriculum changed. As a Brownie, she'd looked at the Junior badges and was excited to try the outdoor and wildlife badges. Then, she bridged. The curriculum changed, and most of the badges she was looking forward to were gone.

My daughter is a Bronze Award recipient. She earned the Summit Award as a Brownie and a Junior, but now is struggling to complete a single Journey
as a Cadette. She's done every Journey she could from Daisies through Juniors. She says they're all the same, and it feels too much like school. She
quit our troop but stayed a Juliette because I asked her to. She has now joined 4-H because they have the outdoor programming she wants to spend
her time on. And I'm struggling to get her to complete even 1 Journey so she can earn her Silver Award.

The kicker that GSUSA should pay attention to? She's working on MEdia, and was analyzing the role advertising plays in her life. You know what her
epiphany has been from this Journey? And mind you, this is coming from a 6th grader: If Girl Scouts wants her to be so aware of the negative effects
of media on girls, then why in the world has Girl Scouts itself become so much about merchandising? Why can you find the Girl Scout cookie label on
so many products in the grocery store? Why are there Girl Scout Barbies? Why is Girl Scouts contributing to something that the MEdia Journey
identifies as a problem girls face. If she knew the word "hypocrite," I have no doubt she would have used it, as angry as she is that the program she
joined is not what she hoped it would be.

And GSUSA, I could not answer her questions truthfully without stating that the organization has moved far away from what Juliette Low intended.
Shame on National for making the Girl Scout curriculum be just like school, just like something the girls are forced to do every day. Because when
Juliett Low founded this group, she did it so girls could reach out and do things they didn't do every day.

And here's another thing National needs to be aware of. As an elementary school teacher, I can tell you that the new Common Core curriculum
emphasizes hands-on, exploratory activities. Girl Scouts no longer offers this as much, with this emphasis on the Journeys. So, essentially, Girl Scouts
is now more boring than school. We now do way more interesting things in school than I've seen in any Journey, Daisy through Cadette.

I am also a Cub Scout Den Leader as well as my daughter's Juliette mentor. My daughter looks at what her brother is doing in Webelos, and she asks
me why Girl Scouts can't be more like that. All I can say is, "Honey, Juliette Low started Girl Scouts so they could do the same kinds of things the boys
were doing, and I'm sorry you missed out on that.

100 years into the organization, girls are now right back where they started before Juliette Low's great idea. And that's the saddest thing of all. You're
marketing a brand that no longer means what it used to, and you're letting girls know they can't do what the boys are doing. So much for progress for
our girls.

Please consider this change the decline in numbers is due to the change in the program and councils do not have the tools to help
My older girls are not happy with the journey program and available badges. They want more badge variety, more outdoor programs, and a clear path to earning the silver and gold awards. Several of them have also commented that they feel like GS wants them “to be brownie leaders, not scouts”. They love helping younger scouts, but feel the program is too focused on the little girls with and not enough programs designed just for older girls.
Bring badge back that have active requirements, less book reading
I would love to see more emphasis on badges and less on Journeys. The girls find the Journeys boring and are uninterested. It is really difficult to have them sit through another "lesson" after they have been in class all day at school
Girl Scouts is loosing tradition as they look for increased funding. By trying to appeal to and attract "new" girls by changing the traditional program, they are alienating the girls and leaders who have embraced the program for years. I am unsure if the new program is actually attracting new girls and if it is, are these girls staying with the program through 12th grade, or are they sampling and then leaving? The constant pressure on the Leaders to increase fund raising through product sales and donations has made us feel like employees and takes time away from providing quality programming. We understand it takes money to keep the program alive, but there is so much focus on money, it detracts from the original purpose as set out by our founder. And while I'm at it - partnering with Barbie to bring in money? It feels like you are willing to sell out the program, virtues and values for a buck. That is shameful. I have been told more of these sellouts are in the works. How can we teach our girls to be committed to the Promise and Law as they watch national sell out for funding?

The Journey now constitutes 1/2 of the prerequisites for both the Silver and Gold Awards, the highest awards in Girl Scouts. What makes up a
Journey and when it is complete is up to each troop, and so some troops "complete" a Journey in one overnight, or one month, and others (like mine)
take a full year of program and activities. This lack of consistency has not only greatly watered down the great accomplishment of the Silver and Gold,
but has cheated the girls out of the leadership and learning that they had prior to the introduction of the Journeys. The old 4B Challenges, Career
exploration, and leadership requirements did prevent many girls from earning the Gold and Silver, because they required a great deal of work and
dedication, but isn't that what these awards are really about? Are all of the girls earning Bronze, Silver and Gold really earning them, or just skating
through the prerequisites to get to the awards? Some are truly earning them, others absolutely not.

My troop spends so much time on the Journeys, incorporating badges and events to support the Journey program, that we no longer have time to
host Service Unit sleepovers, Sing A Longs, and the events we have been traditionally known for. Perhaps, we should adopt the "One Night Journey"
philosophy that others have. We are not interesting in cheating our girls, however, and so that really is not an option. But not holding our events for
younger girls also cheats the girls out of leadership, budgeting, strategic planning, problem solving and mentoring opportunities. If the Journeys are
to remain, a more defined program or plan and a detailed definition of when a Journey is finished is in order so that there is integrity in the program
and so all girls across the nation are completing the same amount of learning, work and commitment.

Prior to the introduction of the new badges my troop of Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassdors had hundreds of diverse, interesting and challenging
badges that gave the girls opportunities to explore and build skills related to outdoor activities, various careers, historical facts, life skills, and personal
development. Because these badges were the same for all C/S/A scouts, my troop could work together on badges. This allowed older girls to mentor,
inspire and lead and younger girls to bond, learn leadership skills as they developed scouting skills. As of this writing (7-9-15) Cadettes have 21 badges,
Seniors 19 and Ambassadors a mere 11 badges. Gone are the opportunities to explore Engineering, Geocaching, Architecture, Textiles, Nutrition,
Performing and manual Arts, Medical and Health related fields, Film and Media, Disability Awareness, Agriculture...... I spend hours hunting down and
paying a premium for the old IPPs that my girls crave as they seek to expand and explore their world prior to entering college or the adult work force.
I am unable to tell a girl "NO" if she wants to explore an area no longer covered by the new badges. Sometimes these old badges have led a girl to her
college and career path, changing her world and allowing her to go out and make the world a better place. Previously there was a badge of interest for
every girl. That is no longer the case, and as a result, girls are loosing interest in the program.

In the past, Scouts of all generations could get together and celebrate their shared experiences, but the elimination of badge opportunities has
changed the program so that scouts who graduated as little as 3 years ago can no longer relate to the limited program current girls are exposed to.
The inability of grads and alums to identify and understand the current program has alienated them, and their financial support, and severed the bond
of tradition that existed for over 100 years. Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts are very different programs (I am a leader in both), but the continued traditions
in Boy Scouts allow men of all ages to relate and celebrate their shared scouting experiences. While maintaining badges of the past, BS continues to
add new relevant badges that bring necessary skills and challenges to today's scouts. There is no reason Girl Scouts can't do the same. Throwing out
the old program (Badges, 4B, Cadette and Senior Challenges) watered down the integrity of tradition, the awards and the program. I just have to
mention here that the new badges are not only unappealing in subject, but also in appearance. They are juvenile (especially the Brownie badges) and
the girls are embarrassed to have them on their uniforms. As I said, they crave the old IPPS.

I have been a leader of all levels of Girl Scouts over the last 17 years. I have adjusted to the many program changes (new Junior badges - in then out,
Studio 2B - in then out, Journeys (in and soon out?), change in level terms, change in recognitions (again - why change tradition?)) With each of these
changes we have been told "Girl Scouts has interviewed and surveyed girls and leaders". Never once have I, nor my girls, nor colleagues been part of
that process. We are always shocked and disappointed with the changes and wonder - WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO? I hope you read the comments
of these dedicated Leaders and volunteers who are first and foremost dedicated to providing opportunities for the girls. I worry about the future of Girl Scouts if those of us out in the field are not listened to, and you continue to make changes based on funding and the advise of "experts" who are
not part of the GS world. It is important that you remember we are the ones working with the girls, listening to them and in tune to their needs and
desires. We are the ones you depend on to keep the program alive. We are the unpaid, dedicated and committed workers bringing Scouting to the
girls. It would be nice to be treated with respect and appreciation, instead of being dictated to, and ignored. I love Girl Scouts and want to see it thrive.

COMMENTS FROM 7-4-15 TO 7-6-15

I have been a Girl Scout leader for 15 years, running two troops. One troop on the Juliette Low GS program and the second troop started the new way, the journey program at the end of Cadettes. All 13 of my girls have received their Gold Awards but I can tell you that my older Girl Scouts that are entering their Junior year in college, recieved the better program, more diverse knowledge/skills and they have a greater respect for Girl Scouts. My older girls took a year and a half to complete their Gold Award requirements and with the Journey program, I could have accomplished them in a meeting. Of course, we took a year to do our Journey as it would otherwise be a disservice to the girls. If this was done so they could see a dramatic increase in Golds being awarded, I hope that's not the case. I'm not sure who GSUSA was listening to to change something that was'nt broken so fundamentally. The decrepit that we were told that the badges and old program was not going away, that was a good one too. We were told that Journeys was developed so that everything would be in one place for the leader, but I don't know what was more simple and spelled out for leaders than the badge books. The foundation that Juliette Low built Girl Scouts on is gone. Its sad to watch since I know how incredible it was, how much all around sisterhood, tradition, and opportunity to Learn new things the girls had. Now it's all about huge events, most of the time far away. There is no emphasis on older girls putting on program. Well, I could go on but that's a start.
Most girls leave Girl Scouts because they aren't doing enough! They sit in school all day, then want to be DOING something exciting and fun!
The journeys feel forced and like school work. My daughter and I were so excited to start Girl Scouts. We were basically counting the days until she was able to be a Daisy. I was a GS when I was a girl, I started in 6th grade although I wanted to from the beginning but there wasn't a troop to join. I went thru 12th grade even when the rest of the troop went away. I have fond memories of sitting down with my badge book and completing whatever I had an interest in. I completed my silver award also on my own. I don't think I would have done either if the journeys were there instead. I was very disappointed to see the change in age levels -2 yrs of Daisies is too much and only necessary to complete these journeys. I have young girls with a real interest in GS but not so much in the journeys. We find ourselves unable to branch out into topics they are interested in (b/c going into 1st grade we can't be brownies anymore where there might be a try-it that fits). Instead we find ourselves trudging thru journeys. That's not girl-lead. I find myself as a leader limiting what we can do because we don't want to do too much! With 2 yrs of daisies we're so limited. Please bring back badges that focus on a wide range of activities and bring back the old levels - they also allowed for more flexibility with grade levels which I would think is in greater demand with the advent of TK in CA and the rise in home schooling, year-round schools, and the like.
I am thrilled these women took the initiative to launch this campaign. We fully agree that there has been a change for the worse and so much time is taken away from skills and the award program when trying to complete these unneecessary and lengthy journeys. (name removed)

I am a 5th year Cadet leader. When a girl comes to me and asks "can we do a badge on X, Y, or Z??? Please???" and I have to say "no" because the only art badge isn't what they're interested in, or there isn't a horseback riding one, or there isn't one on reading, I see the light dim just that much more. I've resorted to using my old (1990's era) Cadet/Senior badge book and updating them for current technology in several cases. They put in work, more work than for the current badges, and I can't give them anything they can put on the front of their vest or sash.
I would like to comment that the Journeys aren't bad, but if you have older girls they can interfere with Girl-Led. It just doesn't work for some troops. I have also struggled since one of my daughters was the only girl who stayed in Girl Scouts in our whole city after 8th grade. Trying to do the Journey group activities was very hard. The Take Action projects were the easiest part. Give us a suitable equivalent such as through badges or a "Make your own Journey" and I think you would truly make Girl Scouts for every girl and every situation.

COMMENTS FROM 7-3-15

Journey's too wordy, less doing. I have special needs girls that can not focus this long. Girls all miss the variety of badges, not enough to choose from now, and journeys take away from earning them. We'd like more badges, more new ones, but without losing all the ld ones. You should have heard the "OMG, where is the Theater Arts badge?" I had younger girls who had older sisters that talked about how much fun it was to earn that badge. When they finally got to the right age level to work on it, it was gone. SO, we had to do it as a troops' own badge. That has happened with several of the old badges. Girls want to still do them.
My senior scouts decided to not persue the gold award because they did not want to do any more journeys.

COMMENTS FROM 7-2-15

Membership in our service unit was down by over 50 percent last year. Wine asked why scouts and leaders were not continuing, overwhelmingly the answer was "We don't like Journeys."
When I found out my daughter was a girl, one of the first things I was excited about was the fact she could be a Girl Scout, like I was. I was involved as much as possible since the beginning and am now her leader. I am deeply disappointed in the scouting program compared to the one I was part of back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. My very best childhood memories were of scouting and camp. One of my co-leaders and best friends is a girl I met through Scouts in those days. A lot of the badgework is independent research, especially for the Cadette and Senior programs. Lets get back to basics - teaching the girls outdoor skills, teamwork, and inspiring innovation!
Please keep rather outdoor programming going at Camp Conestoga.
My girls stronger dislike the journeys. The girls are quitting because we were doing the journey. I have started doing the old badges and they came back. Please listen to what the girls are saying

COMMENTS FROM 6-21-15 TO 7-1-15

More skills and education. Less fluffy journeys.
Less emphasis on pink, more on green (outdoor skills), please
Leaders and girls aren't interested in the program as it is currently offered. They are doing journey-in-a-day programs, revamping requirements and hunting down retired badges because THAT is what the girls want. Girl Scouts is supposed to be about what the GIRLS what, so let us give it to them.
Please rethink the Journeys. My scouts can't stand them and fight me when I try to do a part of one. They feel they are contrived and too much like school work. They would rather do something, build something, get outdoors but Journey have them inside reading and as they say "talking about our feelings". Not a good thing, trust me. I was at a town hall meeting the other day and they said we have had a large drop in membership over the last several years. Seems that the drop in membership corresponds to the same time frame that GSUSA started to push Journeys on the girls. Coincidence? I don't think so.

COMMENTS FROM 6-13-15 TO 6-20-15

PLEASE return Scouting to more hands-on learning and less "classroom" time.
My girls are Cadettes. My troop leader and I have noticed the girls are so much happier when they are doing something hands on, such as hiking, making a snack from scratch, making a craft or being outside. Unfortunately, too many of the badges and especially the Journeys require the girls to sit and talk or worse, listen to someone else talk. Even the council programs are more like a lecture than a fun activity. If you want confident girls that will grow up to be leaders, let them do things. Let them try new things. Let them have experiences they may not get at school or at home. I believe this was Juliette Low's intention with the skills badges.
Yes, yes, yes!! I have written letters and attended meetings and begged for changes. I have heard our scouts impassioned pleas for less rhetoric and more creativity! We, as adult volunteers (can we be called Leaders again? or is that not PC?) need more meaningful support from our councils also.
I feel like Girl SCouts is a dying program and this saddens me as many of my fondest memories growing up revolved around Girl Scouts. As a troop leader, I have tried earnestly to make the journeys work and seem exciting for my girls. However, my girls find the journeys to be very drawn out, boring, and too much like school work. The girls prefer the shorter term badges and doing outdoor activities over sitting down and discussing sterotype busting, addressing illitercy, etc... I have found the best way to do a journey is through the journey in a day programs followed up with a short service project related to the journey theme. I fear that we are losing the interest of our girls in scouting due to the complexity andheaviness of the journey topics/programs. Let's get back to doing more historically traditional Girl Scout activities.
Let's get back to the basics and outdoors. Bring back the badge program! We love GS.

COMMENTS FROM 6-12-15

My daughter is a 3rd generation Girl Scout, I am a second generation Girl Scout leader in my family. The program has changed FAR TOO FAR away from it's original program that Juliette Low intended for girls. To me - the program that my mother followed in the 50s and I had in the 70/80s was geared towards leadership, citizenship, service to others, and trying new things. I understand that the "new program" is being used in schools and I was surprised to see "scope and sequence and reading levels" being tied to it - GIRL SCOUTS IS NOT SCHOOL!!! It should not feel like school. Great if you are reaching girls that you didn't before with this program - but then call that something different - and bring back the traditional Girl Scout program for traditional troops. You took away all the fun and made it seem like school. Most troops only meet a few times a month because "today's girls" have NUMEROUS activities competing for their time - like never before - they have sports, robotics, clubs, performing arts and so much more. Let's try to keep Girl Scouts as the number 1 girl program by simply returning to the basics. Get girls doing things that they couldn't do unless they were a Girl Scouts - number 1 should be outdoor skills - trying new things - citizenship - service to others - those are all important. AND if you run a troop properly - as defined in prior issues of "girl scout leader handbooks" - you WILL develop leadership through patrol methods and girl choices. Don't force EVERYTHING to be "girl-led" - they can't lead unless they know how to follow first. The current books are not only poorly made (most binders don't even last through 2 years of program level before they are broken) - go back to a girl handbook and a girl badge book - we use the old ones all the time - as those were truly written at a girl level AND they were so much cleaner - not a distracting magazine style. They had good information - and the separate leaders guides were invaluable to help TRAIN GOOD LEADERS!!!
Girls are NOT liking Journeys. Complain it feels like school. They are begging for more life skills and fun skills.

COMMENTS FROM 6-11-15

The badges allowed girls to explore so many different areas each year to find out what they love. The girls used to be excited to earn new badges, and now they are finding meetings about the journeys boring. Bronze, Silver & Gold projects will still allow Girl Scouts to focus on something in more depth, but at younger ages they really need more breadth of experiences.
Continue to integrate additional badges with the journeys to make them more hands on. If the journeys must stay then make them more encouraging and I think additional badges are the way to do that.
We need more badges. Less school like work.
I hate journeys!
Do what the girls want to do. NOT what ADULTS who have never BEEN GIRL SCOUTS think they want to do. Wake UP!!!!! You are loosing girls because they feel like GS is BS and more like school.

COMMENTS FROM 6-8-15

My daughter loves scouts but hates the book work. She is a junior and this is her 6th year she lives for girl scouts but is bored by the book work.
The girls in my troop loved the feeling of accomplishment when completing skills badges. As for the Journeys, the just wanted to be done with them. I fully agree with their sentiment. The badges for older girls are limited and seem like slightly modified versions of the same done at a younger level. More variety, please.
I have been a leader for 12 years, I was a girl scout and my mom was a leader. The journeys rolled in when my daughter became a cadette. We have worked on earning a Journey each year with the girls, but it is VERY difficult and time consuming and feels like more of the same over and over. Not one Scout has completed one on her own. Not Interested!!! More like school work! When the Journeys came out, I felt like the books look like the successful American Doll books and they were trying to go with that successful idea - but that's NOT Girl Scouts! The Journeys try to push ideas that can happen naturally through badge work, camping and traditional Girl Scout activities. Girls become "leaders" through participation and hand-on badge work and outdoor activities. The push for leadership through this bookwork - DOESN'T work and the girls loose interest. They get plenty of STEM through school. Let's get back to basics. I have a Boy Scout son and Boy Scouts haven't changed their badge based program. There is something to be said about TRADITION.
As a troop leader, I would like to see a return to the outdoor emphasis on programs. The Journeys are far too academic and school like. Additional comment: Please return the Girl Scouts program to its roots and bring back the badges that I remember so well from my own time in Girl Scouts - especially the outdoor skill building!

COMMENTS FROM 6-7-15

I have been a leader for 2 years and grew up as a Girl Scout. The change from then to now is unbelievable. Back then (late 80's/early 90's) it seemed the requirements for badges were easier to understand. Now there is all this gray area to earning badges. Leaders have no specific rules to earning badges, for brownies you have to choose 3 of the 5 recommendations to earn a badge, it gives you ideas on how to earn them in the binders, I want concrete requirements, like with the boy scout badge books. There is too much pressure for leaders to be creative with badge work and journeys, which takes a lot of time with planning. I agree with everything said about journeys, they were supposedly created so the program would be cut and dry for the leaders, unfortunately it is just the opposite, we do not want to waste precious meeting time (and multiple meetings at that) on journeys, you gave to be consistent doing them for many meetings in a row to earn the journey otherwise the younger girls forget what they learn. They are hard to work into the year because we like to do traditional events like JGL's birthday, World Thinking Day, Girl Scouts Birthday, Bridging which has to be prepared for using meeting time. It's hard to stay consistent with Journeys. There definitely needs to be more badges especially outdoor ones starting at the daisy level. There is no real emphasis on sewing which is an important skill to know. There is too much emphasis on trying to make the binders and journeys and badges "cute" but not functional or self explanatory, looking at some of the badges today I couldn't tell you what they are for without looking them up in a book, they look cute but don't have a definitive appearance. I have a troop of 22 and none of them have the binder or any of the journey books, the leaders are the ones using them, so the cuteness factor is kind of wasted. There are barely any useful items at the council shops, aside from uniforms and badges. Get more GS camping supplies, flashlights, whistles, first aid kits, song books, outdoor cook books, items that the boy scout stores sell. Put in quality items the girls can use now and in the future instead of all the sparkling cutesy bags and stuffed animals. Get more resources for the leaders, troop management books and ledgers, outdoor books instead of leaving us to find all of it online. Have definitive parent handbooks for all councils so us leaders don't have to come up with our rules. Want to know why you can't get leaders to sign up or stick around, because there are not resources for us. Useful items will sell in the shops, leaders, parents, and girls will buy them, stop focusing on the cute stuff because in the process it is dumbing down the organization. Girl Scouts are capable of doing so much more, leaders are capable of doing so much more, given the resources, training, and support.
As the girls get older and read the journeys they hate them, The Daisy Program was fine but Brownies and up is to school like and the girls do not like them, I have worked with all levels from the beginning of the journeys till now so I her it from the older girls all the time and now the new brownie troop I have.!
I almost guarantee that if EVERYONE stopped buying the Journey books & patches and boycotted the program, GSUSA would get rid of it. Because it's all about the money, it seems. In the Cadette program alone, there are 7(!!!) badges that deal with finances/business/money; 3 of these are solely about selling cookies. One of the financial badges actually talks about mortgages! Really?!?! These girls are in junior high~~many of them haven't even started puberty! In comparison, there is only 1(!!!!!) badge out of 28 that actually requires them to go outside at all. ALL of the other badges give options to complete them that never set foot outdoors. Even if you chose all of the outdoor options, there are still only 5 outdoor badges. This is CRAZY! My girls will be eligible to join a Venture Scout troop in 1-1/12 yrs., and we are strongly considering it. If things do not change, GS will continue to lose girls and leaders. You cannot make everyone happy~~Juliette Low founded this group to get girls outdoors, and to learn skills that girls would not typically be able to learn. They will learn about finances in school. They will learn about business in school, if they choose to. They cannot experience the outdoors in school. They cannot truly learn about many outdoor subjects without getting hands-on experience. If girls don't wish to learn about/experience these things, then maybe GS is not for them. And that's ok. We need to focus on the girls that are in Scouts NOW. It is not about recruitment, it is not about money, it is not about merchandise~~IT SHOULD BE ABOUT THE GIRLS!!!
My girls like the variety of the retired Try-its, there is more to chose from with fun requirements. I would like to see the old ways come back. As a leader, the journeys are confusing and do not give us much in the way of guidance. Additional comment: My girls love the skill building badges, but the journeys confuse them and they do not enjoy doing them . Which leaves us doing more fun patches and working on badges we have found online.

COMMENTS FROM 6-6-15

Please develop a program for Daisies which introduces them to all the fun you can have in scouting! The journeys are over their head...
Also, please stop selling off our second biggest assets, camp. That's one thing that entices girls to join!
I am a leader for a cadette troop and we would like to see the old badges return. I would like to see a program put in like the boyscout were you earn fun and work on the others for the bronze,silver, and gold.
The outdoor and camping portion is very important. I helped me become a better leader, having taught Girl Scouts canoeing , kayaking, camp skills, gymnastics-- then led girls in Camp Songs on the steps go the dining hall-- basically teaching the young girls as a counselor, what I was to taught as a young camper. Learning camp skills, crafts, and songs gave me great confidence as a young woman. Go back to the basics and do not lose the valuable activities and skills and fun that learning about camping and outdoor skills provides.
The journey program shouldn't have to be re-worked in order for the girls to get what they need from it. If they themselves or the troop buys the books they should be what is needed to learn and have fun without making it like school work. I've been told change it, but why should I have to spend even more time fixing something that doesn't engage the girls in the way they want to be engaged. To require this for awards is not right.
Journeys have turned into something the girls "get out of the way" due to bridging or B, S, G requirements. I cannot remember a week when I did not see a post about "how to finish a journey in a weekend". If the journey process was so beneficial, we would not need to look for ways to short cut it. I wholeheartedly agree with the focus on giving girls confidence. Unfortunately, Journeys will not give this. If a girl struggles with school work, she WILL struggle with a journey as it is too similar to school. If you want to give a girl confidence, send her outside. Teach her that she can cook for herself, that she has the ability to take care of herself and her friends in cases of injury, weather, etc.

COMMENTS FROM 6-5-15

The girls love the old badges and councils own badges. My girls want sewing, cooking, craft, sport, camping, etc. They want to have options on what they do, and they want to choose for themselves. The binders work well for the older girls but it would be nice if they had more room to add pages. The younger girls binders are always missing pages and have pages out of order. I like the badge books much better for them.
Yes, all of the above are important I think. Also at the council level....it is important to allow service units to reach out in the community IN PERSON rather than just "on line". With the council I am in we are not allowed to have "recruitment nights" in the community anymore. And in my area of St. Paul MN this has hurt enrollment considerably! Even if most service units opt to do the on line thing, it seems like we should be ALLOWED to do it if we want to. Does not make sense! Also, the journeys are very cumbersome for Leaders as well as for the girls!! The information in them is GREAT... but it takes too long to get through....and the "curriculum" is too much like "School" even IF one goes to the council site to use the short cuts.

COMMENTS FROM 6-4-15

My daughter is a special needs child and enjoys scout for the life lessons/fun activities, not homework as she calls it.
I have been a Troop Leader, Service Unit volunteer and Day Camp Unit Leader for 7 years. I am asking that you make the changes called for in this petition. I would like to see programming grounded in JGL's philosophy on badges: "A badge is a symbol that you have done the thing it stands for often enough, thoroughly enough, and well enough to BE PREPARED to give service in it. You wear the badge to let people know that you are prepared and willing to be called on because you are a Girl Scout. And Girl Scouting is not just knowing.....but doing.....not just doing, but being." Currently, badges only signify that a girl is marginally familiar with a subject. If I see a group of cadettes who've earned a cooking badge, sadly, I feel no confidence that I could ask them to prepare a meal. I want this to change.
Girls don't like journey books. They say it to much like school. Attendance goes down when they knew it was a journey book night.
Our girls want to be active and not do book work or journeys. leaders are confused with all the steps and everyone is a volunteer and things should not be complicated
I like the badges we earn, but the journeys aren't fun at all. My book is confusing and us girls are so bored with them. We enjoy our badge workshops and doing good deeds and projects. We are trying to do a journey though so we can work on our Bronze awards. My friends and I would like more badges please.

COMMENTS FROM 5-31-15

This is NOT what Juliette Gordon Low had in mind when she started the organization. I'm just glad she's not here to see it. It would break her heart.
Most girls do not like these and many newer leader are too confused about them. I am a Council Trainer and am constantly helping troops to get through these. It is time to go back to doing badges, outdoors, service projects and LIT, CIT, LEA, Bronze, Silver & Gold Awards.

COMMENTS FROM 5-29-15

Keeping the focus on empowering the girls to make decisions and take ownership is essential for prolonging their interest and engagement. It's sad to see that so many girls lose interest in the program as the get older. I fully support returning an emphasis to outdoor skills (I was previously a GS camp and program director)!!! However, any redesign must maintain a focus on choice and autonomy. Again, if we want to keep older girls engaged, they have to be provided with activities and opportunities that meet their interests, and not all girls are outdoorsy. Badgework options should cover a wide range of interests, and also include options for designing individual patches (girl or troop).
My girls do not like the journeys they want to get back to basics and camping.

COMMENTS FROM 5-27-15

Drop the Journeys! I have not met a girl or adult that likes them. Bring back the badges like the IP's. This gave the girls the opportunity to really choose what they were interested in or interested in exploring. If the girls liked the subject of the IP, there were several more in that area to choose from. If they thought they might be interested in something else, there was time to complete additional IP's during the Girl Scout year. I feel some IP's could honestly be completed by girls in a weekend; although, I don't feel the girls would get as much out of it in that short time period. Journeys that are done in a weekend, I don't feel are girl led rather orchestrated by adults. I DO LIKE the how the career component was laid out in the older girl Journeys. In the IP's this was often difficult for the girls/adults to imagine where to find that information. Perhaps a list of suggested careers and some successful women in that field for the girls to look in to would be helpful.
I been a girl scout leader for 16 years and I have seen so many changes in badge work books, by far the journeys are one of the most complicated way to earn a badge. Girls loose interest very easily due to the amount of time that takes to complete a journey.
Girl Scouts should be about girls learning skills they can use. Forget the journeys, they are boring, the girls hate the stories, they are not age appropriate and as soon as I try to follow what you have determined to be the best way to teach it they moan and grumble. Our girls want to be outside, learning skills that they can use. They are in a classroom all day, girl scouts should be about being outside. Juliette Gordon Low would not like how this is going, she promoted that the girls can do what the boys can. Make fires, camp, climb, hike, cook food over the fire. Lets get back to that!!!!! We need more community like the boy scouts. We need to get back to the basics.
No more journeys!! They are difficult to orchestrate! More badges, more camping opportunities! Additional comment: The journeys are time consuming and the girls really don't get anything out of them. I would prefer more "skills" badges.

COMMENTS FROM 5-26-15

One of the strengths the new Journeys were supposed to bring is to teach leadership skills. What it taught to the girls from my troops is how to avoid them or vote those activities out. Can the Journey steps be developed for leaders to follow, but let the girls pick what they are interested in, as they work on patches and learn skills?
I am very much against Journey's. I fully support all items in this petition but 1000 times in favor of number 3 Minimize the emphasis on Journeys in attaining Girl Scouts’ Highest Awards (Bronze, Silver, and Gold). It is very disappointing that GSUSA is forcing leaders/girls to do the Journey's (Which I believe is just a money making scheme) in order to earn the highest awards. I have girls that want to do the bronze silver gold but I am very much against the Journeys. They are boring and should only be used as a reference or a take home lesson. Not used like a workbook at a scout meeting!
Change is not always for the best.
I have girls asking me for more outdoor stuff, they want to more work with knives, survival, camping, campfire cooking, etc. My girls find the Journeys cumbersome and "boring". A few do them begrudgingly so that they can work on their Silver Award.

COMMENTS FROM 5-24-15

Agree with every improvement proposed. Girls hate the journeys and as leaders we try hard to make them more palatable but they just are not liked. All volunteer staff pretty much know this and even trainers and facilitators talk about ways to get the girls through it without losing the interest of the girls. No way for girl retention...things need to go back to an updated 'old' way. Our girls want to develop skills and follow their own interests. For an organization that cheerleads diversity the journeys fail. Girls want to do,their own thing. Might want to remember the different worlds, the dabbles, skills badges in each world and maybe in a journey track or mindset offer an advanced version of the dabbles for those wanting to take that world to a higher level. I loved dabbles,then doing skills badges but offer something at the end as a real challenge for the girls that really,like that tract.
Don't like journeys. Want more stuff outdoors. Stop selling all the camps. Girls wanna have fun doing things their own way. I did all the badges and there are not enough of them. Some girls like to do a lot of badges, others don't but we want to,be able to choose. You know we want more outdoor things and national is way to slow getting this ramped up. Not doing enough. Girls are aging out before you listen to anyone. When we have all these groups discussing the unhappiness and petitions out here does that not say something to national. We are being trained to be leaders and heard, yet not by our own organization.
I truly agree
I fully support a review/changing the current curriculums.
I would really support this. My troop and I have little interest in the Journeys. We want skills and outdoor time!

COMMENTS FROM 5-23-15

Reconsider having to have the portfolio align with common core and standards. Girls want less school and more fun. The current program forces extra effort to leaders to continuously seek alternate activities that are more hands on and less discuss, interview, and write.
In the past, we've lost troop members because they did not enjoy working on the journeys. These girls join girl scouts to learn "scouting" ie outdoor and traditional scout skills. From working together on these skills and activities, they learn cooperation, leadership and gain confidence. I believe the journeys are keeping kids inside. They look on the journeys as more school work. No matter how pretty the pages, they are not well received by children. Kids want to get out and do things hands-on not talk about social issues. You can serve up paperwork about female body image all you want but, if girls don't learn about camping and using outhouses, these girls won't have the confidence to go on amazing trips; places only accessible if you have the know-how. Some of these girls will miss out merely due to unwillingness to come into close proximity to insects. Without building the program on camping and outdoor skills, these girls will miss out on a whole world. Inequality will continue and GSUSA will be a part of the problem.
All of my older girls tried the Journeys. Not one of them liked them. While all of them earned the Bronze award under the previous programming, each has told me that if Journeys is how they have to earn the Silver and Gold, they don't want to earn it.They won't even look at the badges because they hated their experiences with the Journeys.
The use of Journeys as the only prerequisite to work on the highest awards has decreased the value of earning those awards. Given that many councils have one day Journey events in which girls do all but the Take Action project in one day and some of the Take Action projects look a lot like old service projects, a girl can start working on the highest awards having developed few real skills.
I'm a public school teacher and troop leader. Trying to plan for these Journey lessons is too time consuming and difficult for even me to follow. The girls don't enjoy them. There isn't enough time to do all the activities. And there is very little fun, even in the Daisy program. Back to basics!

COMMENTS FROM 5-22-15

These issues were discussed at the national convention last October. My impression was that GSUSA was open to these requests. However, I have not seen too much action since then.
I have been in Girl Scouts for twelve years. When I first started my troop had about 30 girls and our biggest dilemma was trying to decide what badge to earn first. The amount we if badges we had to choose from was amazing. From sports to survival skills we did it all. But as the badges we loved slowly turned into ones about business skills, online saftey, and girl impowerment our troop fell to only 4 girls... With these four we stopped doing bagged completely, we came up with our own things to do unrelated to Girl Scouts completely... 2 of these girls have already given up on earning their gold award due to the ridiculous requirements. I myself and struggling to earn mine with the number of requirements along with keeping my gpa up and apply to college the fact that any junior and senior has the time to do this amazes me. I have talked to mothers who we planning on thier daughters in Girl Scout but on further recognition decided they don't like what Girl Scouts stands for... And I agree, Girl Scouts was never meant to to turn young girl into small business feminists.
My girls really dislike the Journeys and find them teedious. I have had some success with Media, but they did this simply so htey could work on their Silver awards. They would not have chosen this goal. My girls want to camp and kayak and do both together. They get PLENTY of life skills in other areas, kids can find a camp for anything. Let's get back to Scouts being, well, SCOUTS. Please. Thanks.
The journey is a waste of time. The girls don't really enjoy them, the leaders hate them. The guides that go with them are worse than reading stereo instructions. I was a Girl Scout as a child and I got so much from the skill building badges, more than I ever would have the journey. The badges encourage working together, learning something new and building friendships that last a lifetime. The journey is more individual based, at all age levels. The girls end up missing so much because of that.

COMMENTS FROM 5-21-15

The girls are not learning as much from the journey. They take too long to plan and execute. The girls work better with 4-5 steps to earn a patch short term and there is a reward for completion not just a piece of a puzzle that takes months if not the whole year to complete.
Bring back badges, drop journeys
They are finally providing more outdoor options. We attended an overnight journey class at camp. All done in 6 hours that was the way to do it!!!!!! Forget trying to do as a troop. To school like.
I have worked on journeys with my troop and they did not like them. The older badges were great and gave the girls several different options. I and my girls liked them better than the journeys.
We have done the Journey requirements but they were boring and the girls didn't get much out of them. Only did them because they had to. Got it out of the way by doing a Journey Weekend at Council but how do you get anything out of two thirds of the journey being done in an overnight? The girls would benefit so much more from skill building badge requirements and life skills.

COMMENTS FROM 5-20-15

Girl Scouts should have more community activities like Boy Scouts (e.g., pancake breakfast fundraising, christmas tree removal) to put back into their communities. Girls should learn the same skills as boys such as engine maintenance, electric circuits. More emphasis and efforts need to be put into the outdoor facilities and building these skills for the girls.
While my daughter and I highly enjoy scouting, I probably would have considered against joining Girl Scouts had I realized that the basic foundations of the organization have changed so much since I was a Girl Scout (1990s). More adults will be glad to volunteer if we incorporate GS traditions and traditional badge work with a modern influence.

COMMENTS FROM 5-19-15

I have yet to meet a girl or adult who likes Journeys.
We need badges that we can do at meetings. So many things are "research this" or "read about that." We live in one of the poorest counties in Pennsylvania and my girls don't have access to so many of the things required to finish journeys and badges.
The girls come to girls scouts and have fun. They spend all day in school learning and being tested. Being back the old ways when we had fun learning and earning badges
I am a Daisy, Brownie and Cadette leader and non of the age groups want to die the journeys. In Cadettes I have individual girls work on them because they want to earn their silver award but that is the only reason they do a journey.
My Daughter grew up living @ Camp Tweedale in the summer time. She worked hard all school year just for the 8 weeks to be at that camp. It had everything, TeePee, Wagon Train. Cabins, Tents, canoes. hiking everything. She was very sad when the talk started about closing the camps. She even spoke at a meeting about why camps like Tweedale should be around. Now if any of the girls in our troops want to go to camps we have to drive an hour plus away.
My Dasies were not excited by the Journeys!
More badges, less journeys please. The girls do not like the journeys. They do not engage the girls and the format is very confusing.

COMMENTS FROM 5-18-15

Girl Scouts need to return to the roots of its program! All this new stuff is not what GS was supposed to be about, hence the reason my 6 yr old is not in GS.
The Journeys are like school work. I wish I had joined the Venturing Boy Scout/Girl Scout program while I was a girl scout. GSUSA denies an outdoors journey, says the girls have access to outdoors, but closes many campgrounds. All the while having they have a fancy midtown Manhattan address for who knows how much per month. It isn't about the girls. It's about the upper management of GSUSA getting their cookie bonuses. My whole troop folded over Journeys hatred.
Save our camps
I have been a leader for 8 years. I have an Ambassador troop and a Brownie troop. We have tried the journeys at all levels and while the topics are timely, we did not enjoy the journeys. The only one we really enjoyed was one completed through a council program and it was substantially changed from the structure in the girl/leader books. If our own council needs to deviate that much from the program then there is something wrong. Personally, I would like to see more skill badges and more emphasis on the outdoors.
I have been in Girl Scouting continuously since 1952. I earned the Curved Bar, have raised 3 daughters in GS'ing. Been a leader, and held about every volunteer job, plus been a membership staff member for a few years. Directed Day Camp, been on Resident Camp staff, been an Instructor Trainer. Attended the 1962 Roundup, Been to 3 of the World Centers, Been to Rockwood, Nat'l Center West, Savannah several times with Troops. Yes I bleed green. Currently I'm in my 7th year leading a troop for my grand-daughter, and am Historian for GS of (council location removed). I love the outdoors, and hands-on programming. My troop has been losing interest because of the current programming available to them. It breaks my heart to see the girls dropping out. We need to energize the Nat'l program. Our service unit's membership has dropped drastically and it's so sad.

COMMENTS FROM 5-17-15

Please, more badges, fewer Journeys. The girls get enough "textbook" type stuff at school. Let them be hands on!
I was so disappointed when I compared older badge books to the newer ones. There were so many amazing options for the girls to choose what kind of badge to do! And so many more skill building badges. It saddens me that girl scouts seems to be adopting a "cookie cutter" image instead of fostering creativity and individuality in the girls. There's a time to be a part of a group and work together, and there is a time to branch out and see/discover who you are and what you interests you as an individual. I feel like girls scouts doesn't really offer that option to the girls any more and it's sad.
I grew up going to Camp Rockey Point in Texas and absolutely loved it. I gained an appreciation for the outdoors as well as responsibility by taking care of my camp through latrine duty, mopping the dining hall floor, hopping, picking up trash, and straightening stones by the pathways. I also loved completing requirements for badges while at camp. Being outdoors was a vital part of growing up for me. Tromping through dust and playing silly water games helped fuel my appreciation for life.

I moved to California for my Cadette and Senior years, when the program started to shift its focus to Studio 2B. This was the first mistake Girl Scouts
made, and it only went downhill from there. The Studio 2B workbooks struck me as ridiculous and namby-pamby. I wanted to be a part of something
with strong heritage, not some guinea pig. The Journeys look no different to me. They create confusion about what Girl Scouts actually is and turn us
into a laughing stock.

Yes, we should update our program with new badges as society changes and our world faces new challenges. No, we should not try to re-invent the
wheel.

When I returned to work at Camp Rocky Point after high school, I was shocked at what had happened to it. After changing hands in leaderships, the
camp deteriorated and half the staff members were driven away by the hostility of the new director. I stuck with it the whole summer, but it was a
struggle to keep everything together. I didn't fully understand what was happening at the time, but my friends who remained active in Girl Scouting
informed me that the neglect was no accident. We've been victims of corrupt leadership.

The next two years, I went to work at a Boy Scout Camp in California and was relieved to see that at least their program was not unraveling at the
seams. I have remained active in youth leadership by volunteering with Odyssey of the Mind, and this year I am going to judge at their World Finals in
Michigan. Both programs have a strong foundation and constantly update their content, but do so in a manner that supports the stability of their
organization and sets clear expectations for their members.

I want to see Girl Scouts return to its former glory. I would even like to be a troop leader someday, but with the Girl Scout program in shambles, it looks
like I'll be an Odyssey of the Mind coach instead.

COMMENTS FROM 5-16-15

I am a life long Girl Scout and I whole heartedly agree that the emphasis needs to focus on girl led activities! There is no part of a journey that is girl led!! We need to give girls the choices and ability to lead each other and become capable young leaders. Journeys are expensive, and need to be "reworked" by leaders to even start to make sense...they also take way too much precious time away from real Girl Scouting! Get the girls back outdoors doing the things they love, while they are learning to be leaders and making the world a better place!
Outdoor programming should be the core of Girl Scouting, and girls should be able to attain the highest awards through earning badges and participating in the leadership skills learned through Outdoor programming.

COMMENTS FROM 5-15-15

The Journey's and badges have taught the same things that the school teaches. The kids think that is boring and have dropped out because of it. Focus more on the outdoor skills that are no longer taught to kids, like building fires, setting up a camp, knife safety, cooking on a campfire, etc.
I will love to see the traditional way back. More outdoor activities and hands-on experience.
It's a chore to get the girls to do the journeys. They hate them. No matter what I do to make it interesting, these books have caused girls to quit and not return.

COMMENTS FROM 5-14-15

I did 2 journeys with my troop but neither I nor the girls enjoyed them all that much. The structure made it hard for me to find ways to allow the girls to take the reigns and too many components were like schoolwork. The requirement to complete a journey prior to starting the Bronze Award meant there was little time for badge work. I much preferred the old system.
Tech seems to attract interest it is because it's hands on. We need more activities and steps to goals, not more classroom time. More outdoor activities would provide same thing as Tech bridging: building leadership skills, develop problem solving pathways of thought, you can't learn how to build a campfire from scratch unless you are outside. Yes, maybe you can learn conservation from a book but the reason why to protect our planet will only be appreciated when the wonder and beauty are experienced first hand.
Please, please change the format. We are losing girls. I'd love to see the old badge books that had so many more options! The journeys are just so cumbersome that many have paired them down to just fulfill the requirements. The girls are getting anything out of them.
I have been a Girl Scout for over 30 years, as a girl, a leader, a parent, and a volunteer. I am heartbroken that the organization I have dedicated my life to has been heading in the wrong direction for the past decade. PLEASE, get back to what Girl Scouting was meant to be: a place where girls develop outdoor skills, life skills, leadership skills, and self-confidence to grow up to be strong, smart, confident women.
The older girls in my Cadette and Senior troops stayed in Girl Scouting because of the opportunities for outdoor activities. Many have told me through the years camping, hiking, canoeing, horseback riding and other outdoor activities were the only reason they stayed in Girl Scouting so long. Take that away and you will loose girls.
Our girls don't like it at all!
Bring it back to what it used to be like when I was a kid. It seems too much like school these days and less fun. Although we have an awesome leader who tries to make it as fun as possible! Girls are going to lose interest in Scouts and we would love to see this continue on through our children, grandchildren, etc.
We need to get back up to the diversity of badge options we had before the new guides. Journeys need to be revamped so that people don't view them as "school like". They have merit, but are perceived to be "boring" due to the school like nature of the Suggested Meeting Plans, which some STILL think are the gospel and ONLY way to do them. Even if there was just a supplement made for each journey with options listed for each steps needs so that we can customize with less effort would be a huge improvement. PROVIDED you also bring back the diversity to the badge program. I also feel that with the added badges we should go back to the older badge earning based prerequisites for the major awards, and possibly add the service to community award at the Cadette level and up. So if a Gold award was designed to help animals in need, she would do several badges related to animals, or that could be applied to animals with adaptation. (So learn First Aid and then do a MYO on animal First Aid to show you've learned that aspect) and her Service to Community would be working with the local animal shelter, or a service dog group or Equine rescue. So it would be propose the project. Do any badges and service that is still needed if not done already THEN get the FINAL ok to complete the project!
The journey's undermine what is supposed to be Girl led by putting to much power in planning in the leaders hands, when in fact we as leaders are charged with putting this power into the hands of our girls.

The try-its were nice because they allowed girls to create an experience that was specifically for them. It would be ideal to bring back the try-its that
allow a girls to create their OWN journey using try-its. For example if your troop really likes technology or wants to learn more about engineering,
crafts,  foreign language. They could put together their own program and have awards that are based upon their own journey.

They should NOT be a requirement for earning a bronze, silver or gold award. They work for those awards should be enough.

Please stop selling us these overpriced plastic products made in China. Make all GS products here in USA, and offer a better selection of products that have a purpose in GS activities like stainless steel reusable water bottles and mess kits (stop with the plastic already!!!), sleeping bags, quality canvas backpacks for day hikes and for overnight hikes, quality compasses, flint, flashlights that are rechargeable (instead of using batteries that are thrown away) We should be stewards of our environment and using resources wisely. All these useless consumerism products that are tied into the GS program are an outrage and go against the Girl Scout Law.
Girl Scouts has lost it's fun and it's core. The journeys and badge requirements read like academia and not scouting. Leaders everywhere are doing their best to make GS an important, validating experience DESPITE the national program not because of it. Girl Scouts is losing members and volunteers. WAKE UP - YOU HAVE BROKEN GIRL SCOUTS. PLEASE ACCEPT IT AND MOVE FORWARD. And take GS cookies out of the stores. Greedy.
Pro badges! The journeys are BORING!
If you are going to keep Journey's then create a dozen per level and let the girls choose which TWO they would like to do. There are 2 years in the early levels, one Journey per year is beyond plenty. 3 Journey's Nissan way to much work and does not leave time for the fun stuff. I agree with MORE BADGES to choose from also. Boy Scouts have over 100. Come on, where are the life lesson choices for our girls in their badge selections? Scouting was much better decades ago. Now it's all work.
In scouts as a child, leader and trainer for 20 years. Dropped out and came back as an adult volunteer. Too much technology and not enough outdoors and skill training. What happened to badges? Journeys are a trip! and expensive. We have turned into a Product Sales Organization instead of Leadership Training! Not enough communication from the Council. No enough caring. I was MOST Disappointed in both the girl and Leader participation a well as the Leadership from the Council.
Totally agree there needs to be more badges...for more of a variety....like the Great Old Days....the Journeys are too much like school when you get the girls after school....we do one a year........Please take away the journey program add to the badges...and the Binders fall apart and don't hold all I bought for it.
My daughter complains that there are fewer badges and no badges in summer camps. She wants to stay in GS & is now a Cadette but finds it boring. I see so many GS dropping out of other troops. Lucky that we have a wonderful troop leader but I still don't know how long my daughter will.stick it out.
We want more badges on life skills than on all the computer, electronics, and politics. Computer is being taught in schools. Electronics are everywhere and not every girl has either of these except in school. What is going to happen when a depression comes back and there is no life skills taught. All of the older people are passing and girls today do not want to learn these important skills because of all of the electronics. I am proud to say I learned a lot from my peers.
Nobody likes the journeys - my girls are bridging to senior this year and our goal is to push them through the gold award and get out of girl scouts - 4H and BSA Venturing are better options. I don't say this lightly as I have 25 years now with GS. The main problem with journeys and the limited number of badges offered is that 'program' is dictating to girls what they should be interested in. The old program allowed girls to experience many different things through the plethora of badges available, and through that they gain a wider life experience and maybe even find themselves. The program now does not reflect a 'scout' program as its founder intended.

COMMENTS FROM 5-13-15

I spent many summers here... instead of the streets...xoxox
There should be summer camp at camp cedar point.
The program has gone too strong on leadership. You do not have to beat the girls over the head with leadership. For 100 years, great leaders were developed through the Girl Scout program by the experiences the girls had... not by forcing the ideas of leadership down their throats. Get some people who have a realistic clue as to what the program should be...stop using pompous people who think they are more educated and knowledgeable than they are - they are true idiots that have ruined the Girl Scout program! You couldn't destroy the organization faster if you were actually trying! Do not blame the volunteers - the blame for the problems and drops in membership belongs at your doorstep. Wake up, get a clue, and listen to the volunteers - WE know our girls and what interests them and what will work with them.
We are just finishing our first year, as Daisies, and the girls loved every minute of it -- we skipped Journeys entirely. I am nervous as the girls grow that their interest will wane, and it sounds like Journeys is not helping.
Every time I work on Journeys during our regular troop meetings, I lose about 20% of the girls in my troop and they never come back. At the same time, I have a really hard time finding appropriate and interesting badges to work on throughout the year and especially when we go camping. Juniors want to try lots of new things, but the available skill building badges are too limited.
My daughter loves hiking and camping and doing outdoors things but there is very little of that available in the junior program. Would love it if she and her troop could develop outdoors-y skills or STEM projects. Enough with the silly, shallow girl-y things.
Please go back to teaching girls skills.
My girls want to go back to patches so they can choose the things they enjoy the things they want to learn they do not like the journeys they are too much like schoolwork my girls will not read the books it too long and too complicated. my girls are cadets they like to enjoy their time they get enough school work throughout the day and want their meetings to be more what they want .
Girls do mot comperhend everything and there is to much writing for the girls mostly Brownies and the traveling jiurney but my daisies like the handbook and gardening and 3 cheers
The journeys are tedious and sometimes completely duplicate work done in school (WOW for Brownies for example). The girls love the badges, hate the journeys. Focus more on outdoor skills - we have a badge for shopping but not for knowing how to tie knots or use a knife? Additional comment: The journeys are so tedious and require too much sitting and reading. Girls want to DO things. They are confusing the leaders and girls, and require the leaders to do too much customization to make them interesting - if ALL the leaders are saying that they have to customize them to make them not boring, something is wrong. We are ONLY doing a journey so that we can get our Bronze Award. The girls love doing badges and having a sense of accomplishment - but let's do more to prepare them for life in the 2020s....why is there both a "Flower" and "Gardener", but none that require any sort of practical outdoor skill? I love being a GS leader, but the journeys are aggravating and frustrating to me and to the girls. Listen to the leaders on the front lines who are doing their best to be great leaders and dump this terrible failed experiment.
The Journeys mimic what they learn in school. Bring back the outdoors, THAT is what the girls love, and that is why they are Girl Scouts.

COMMENTS FROM 5-12-15

I know we are free to work on badges, but the Journeys take up all of our time! The girls want to earn their Gold Awards, so all of our meeting are used up trying to complete the tedious Journey book. We are all so tired and bored with the Journeys.
I really do not like the Journeys. I am a school organizer and our numbers are half of what they were 5 years ago. The Journeys are too much like school. The girls are bored and it is so much extra work for the leaders.
I've led the girls through one journey as Brownies. It was boring and too school-like. We want to do the Bronze award, but are reluctant to do so because of the Journey required. Seems there are better uses for our meeting time to promote leadership and service than doing a journey!
I was very upset by the fact that all badges were not included in one book. I feel the old badge books were much better. It seems to me that Girl Scouts have become more interested in get more money and not what is best for the girls. Why else would they make you purchase two separate badge books plus a journey book. As far as the journeys go, our girls are not enjoying doing them. They seem a lot like school work and that the last thing they want more of. I have been a leader for 12 years. I would like to go back to original badge books. They worked fine. Thanks, (name removed)
I would like to see more proficiency badges and more of the Christian roots of the organization. The current sets of Journey programs are dry and vague.

COMMENTS FROM 5-11-15

I couldn't agree more with the statements in this petition. As someone who went all the way through Girl Scouting myself and received my Gold Award, and as someone who has been a leader for 9 years, I am deeply committed to Scouting, but I feel very strongly that the programming has gotten way off track with the Journeys and the lack of outdoor skills programming. Thanks for listening. Happy to answer questions or talk if it would help. Probably too late for my daughters, but would like to help other girls and leaders.
I loved camp and the outdoor skill building when I was a Girl Scout in the 60s and 70s. I'm not sure today's programming would keep me engaged. I agree with another commentor that Girl Scouts seems to have lost its soul.
We need alternatives for outdoor, community service, career exploration AND higher level awards!

COMMENTS FROM 5-10-15

I would like to do badge work in one to two session max. Less reading more doing. Less things they have already done in school.school is tough enough this is a chance for fun and character development for our girls.
As a long time leader and lifetime Girl Scout, there is no interest for the older girls. They are left behind. Nothing is keeping them interested. They would rather work on badges than the journeys, which are too much like school. Bring back the progression for the Gold Award.
PLEASE bring back the outdoors, the traditional GS badges and works. Over half the stuff that I learned as a brownie back in the late 80's and as a junior in the early 90's is no longer taught. LIFE SKILLS that are practical need to be brought back. I agree that we need to evolve, and that STEM and computer based learning fundamentals are needed, but that doesnt mean phase out what could potentially give knowledge in a fallen society/economy/etc.. as it has shown that things are not going the way they need to be with economic basis and humanity.
Since all the mergers in our area, Girl Scouting is trying what Boy Scouts tried a few years back. Boy Scouts rewrote their program to inter urban boys. Soon all rural area troops were getting smaller and smaller because the outdoor programs had been so minimized. Only the troops that did not stop teaching and participating in the outdoor program continued to grow. After a short period Boy Scouts reinstated the Outdoor Program and published all new books. Boys and Girls do not want more class room experiences. They get these 5 days a week at school. Not all children's families can afford extra curricular activities for there kids. Girl Scouting offers a place for all girls rich or poor. Many leaders as well as councils help support individual girls so they they can be a Girl Scout. Girl Scouting did offer a fantastic choice of badges and experiences for them to investigated and possibly become a career choice. A lot of leaders had commented that some journey's takes an incredible amount of time if taught correctly. Please take politics out of Girl Scouting and Re-instate Juliette Low's traditional teachings. Thanks

COMMENTS FROM 5-9-15

Let's get these girls back to the basics of Girl Scouting.....it's NOT all about technology, put the devices down and get outdoors.
The Journeys are definitely too much like school. The skills of discover, connect, take action can be taught without a separate story book. One badge requirement for each badge could start this discussion and pathway.

Girls' Guide--without all the badge requirements!? My biggest pet peeve. I love it when I was a Girl Scout from Brownies through Seniors (in the 70's
and 80's) and still have my Junior and Cadette handbook with all the badge requirements dated and signed off by leaders. I loved picking the badges I
wanted to do on my own and the ones we did as a troop. I still have my Cadette vest filled with Junior and Cadette badges (junior badges moved up--
twice sewn!) Without all of the badge in the book and without a place to sign off, it's a big pain. Girls don't know when they've earned anything. Leaders
are stuck creating spreadsheets or using charts to keep track. The ownership should be on the girls.

Outdoor skills are more than Theee cheers for animals, wonders of water, etc. Let's include outdoor progressions: camp in a cabin, camp in a yurt,
camp in a platform tent, camp in a tent... Let's include cooking progressions that include outdoor cooking (not knocking the current cooking badges
but would like outdoor cooking included).

Why do the girls have so many fun patches? The Journeys and badges aren't meeting their interests! There must be a way to tap into what the girls
really want.

COMMENTS FROM 5-8-15

Please bring back some of the old badges. I have a troop who would love to earn badges for more outdoor things. They ask why badges focus on things they do in school and not the great outdoors? I really don't have that answer, please bring back the original style of scouting. Additional comment: Please move to getting outdoor badges, and activities. Get back to the way things were.

We are losing girls. I even have a hard time enjoying girl scouts now with my daughters. I miss what it was like when I was their age.
All the girls want to do is play games, do crafts and have fun. Journey a money making thing. When Girl Scout started it was not like that it was all about the girls!
I was working on a journey test on Wednesday and it was supposed to be a quick activity took most of my meeting the girls were frustrated and I'm not really sure what the meaning of it was done with journeys I'm going back to teamwork corporation badge work and fun
Journeys are boring and feel like school! Scouts should be about learning new skills and exploring the the world outdoors.
As a leader and mom, I would like to see the journeys teach the girls to be self-sufficient and active. We have modified many journey tasks in order to get the girls excited and motivated to learn.
More skill building! Less sitting and reading in journey books.
I really missed when the girls didn't have to do journeys because we were able to get a quick head start on the year. Now a journey takes up quite a bit of time. I also feel as though the journeys put limitations on a girls ability to complete a silver or gold award, especially a gold because you have to complete 2!!! Journeys or complete a silver award and then 1 journey in order to start.
I have been a leader, among several other positions since 1997. I have seen so many changes in that time, some good but many not good. Removing so many patches and replacing them with Journeys was NOT good. My daughter, who is a brownie, loves earning badges and is always looking through the old try it book for more to earn. She likes them so much better as do I. Let's bring the badges back and get rid of the journeys. Please.
Both of my girls quit because these journeys suck, it's not fun anymore
I've been involved with GS, on some level, since my daughter was in 1st grade, she is now 21. The Journey program didn't start until we were coming to an end but the one thing that I noticed, and heard from Leaders when I was Neighborhood Chair, is that they are too much like school. So many troops hold meetings right after school, so the last thing the girls want to do is more reading and discussing. They want to do fun activities that keep them active, while learning new things along the way.
There has to be a way to to get back to basics. Boy Scouts has the same program and does not have to keep changing all the time. Please hear us and take our requests seriously. Thank you!
Keep it simple - and less expensive.
What happened to the days of a Junior opening her badge book and having so many to choose from. now you have to buy 4 different books?
I think it would be best to go "back to basics". I do not like Journeys.
These proposals would absolutely make for a more liked program. For girls and leaders. Thank you for your consideration.
Journeys minimize the choices girls have and are so much like their schoolwork. Let's get back to allowing the girls to choose badges to complete their program so it can be more tailored to their interests.
This year I have first year Brownies. While we attempted to do a journey, I wish we had not spent the money. My girls are in second grade and geography as well as social studies have not been fully introduced to them in school yet. I feel that the subject matter was not suitable for their ages and they got board. I would like to see the girls be able to interact more with their fellow girl scouts, much like the Cubs/Boy Scouts do. I feel this may keep the girls interested longer and I think it would also help leaders, both new and old, with challenges they are facing in their troops.
Need to work more on Outdoor Skills and more Badge Work. My girls are finding the journeys boring. They actually dislike them.
The girls do not enjoy the Journeys. I would like to see the Journey program eliminated and more badge work for the girls at each level. I also would like the Journey requirement to earn the highest level awards (Bronze, Silver, Gold) done away with and in its place either more badge work or community service. I feel that the Journeys have taken away what Girl Scouting is truly about.
Journeys are boring! I like all the badges. They are interesting and fun. So happy my mom bought the old ones all for me to still earn. I like trying new things so badges are cool. Journeys are like school and the books suck.
Have to agree that the journeys are boring and are in line with what they are already learning in school. Scouts was not supposed to be about school that is not what Juliette Low had in mind. Let's get back to where she began so we can build independent leaders with the knowledge they are going to need everyday of their lives.
There was more variety offered before the change to journeys. The badges actually gave the girls more choice for what they were interested in, and felt less like school work. School work is for SCHOOL not scouts!
Lets get the girls back outside instead of inside reading stories. They have their classrooms for that. Girl scouts needs to be more!
My daughter will not do anything with the journey. If thereader brothers do it in Boy Scouts they will do it. My girls are in high school and are tired of not doing anything useful. We are not in the city. Maybe if national were to move there head quarters and be part of the rest of the USA they would see how out of it they are. Girls are quiting because they are not interested. My girls are joining Boy Scouts Venturing program and even though I am a delegate and a SUD there is a good chance that I will be leaving with them.
I'm a 30 year Girl Scout volunteer, and feel as though all these changes that are being made are helping to have us established volunteers back out of the picture. Get back to the basis, journeys are a waste of time. Girls are bored with them. Girl numbers are way down, they want to do more outdoor activities and earn badges for those things. It is hard to keep our volunteers after 1 or 2 years.
As a lifetime member and LF it is very frustrating everytime National decided to fix something that wasn't broken - first there was Studio 2B that was so confusing to all in our area, we aren't in a city. Next Journeys that a few are good with, but most feed back is the girls don't like them. Why keep fixing the original program when it still worked.
I never have felt like the Journeys did anything for our girls except push them away.
Sometimes I wonder if the girls even know what they are working for. I have also wonder where the CHRISTIAN part of Girl Scouts has gone.
My girls got into Girl Scouts to camp and hike and fish. They left Girl Scouts so that they could hike and fish and camp and it would be part of the program and count toward awards. They constantly complained about the "touchy-feely nonsense" and leadership trainings that really didn't teach leadership, they taught the girls to sell stuff. My girls miss Girl Scouts, but they took their whole troop with them to BSA Venturing.
I feel that if Juliette Gordon Low were here today to see how the program has changed, she would not be happy! "let's ask the GIRLS, they'll know what to do!!"
A lifetime member, I joined Girl Scouts in 1948. Went from Brownie through Senior Wing Scouting. Executive staff member, including CEO of a council, for years; volunteer troop leader for years. I think Girl Scouting has lost its soul. It used to mean something special to be a Girl Scout; now it seems the whole focus is on marketing, marketing, marketing. No wonder girls have lost interest and parents have lost heart.
I have been a GS for more than 50 years!! have stood behind & beside the program in the past, but in the pat 4 years, it has been more fo CHORE to implement the program!! Our troop enlarged from 7 girls last year to 40+ this year ONLY because the GIRLS want to do OUTSIDE THINGS!!!
GS changes too often. Go back to the heart and stay with it. Teach girls skills they can use for a lifetime. They want to do hands on activities, not workbooks.
I don't feel that the opinions of the girls and leaders were taken into consideration when the journeys were chosen. My girls hate them and would rather take the previous badge books and use them for activities. Scouting should be about them not what corporation wants.
A short 15 years ago at a huge Girl Scout adult conference, dinner time arrived, a lady stood up at the head table and announced that we would not be singing any traditional Girl Scout grace!! "Some people find it offensive." Judging from the outrage heard around the room "some" must have been 3 or 4. And thus seems to have become the pattern; a relative few folks decide they know what is best for the wide variety of American girls. When in a few years, 2 sizeable service units with 20 troops between dwindles to 1 wide age range troop of 7-- something is wrong. Somebody up there needs to be listening to the girls and to the volunteers who ARE listening to the girls.
I have been a leader for the past 4 years, and have really tried to make the journeys work. The overwhelming consensus of all levels of girls is that they HATE the journeys. I know this is a organization wide issue, because our council has started 'journey in a day' programs to help the girls trying to earn their higher awards to 'get through' their journeys. Honestly, they shouldn't have to 'get through' anything, if you want to gain and keep membership, you must adhere to the 'Girl Led' principals - they all hate the book work and homework involved with the journeys. Recognize and address this GSUSA!
Camping and outdoors made me who I am. it gave me great leadership skills. I worked summer camps for about 20 years later became a teacher all due to my camping and love of outdoors. My best buds are because of that experience
Get rid of journeys program and bring back skill badges.

COMMENTS FROM 5-7-15

The girls loved earning the badges but the journey book was making them lose interest.
We lost a few juniors in our troop this year because they were "bored" by the journey and it felt like school work. Help us retain our girls who LOVE scouting!
How can girls progress with their knowledge and skills if they can only do a badge topic once when GSUSA says they can? i/e camping as a Junior, photography as a Ambassador, trees as a Cadette, car care as a Senior. And the Girls' Guide doesn't TEACH anything as a handbook, you have to go research everything yourself so leaders have to be an expert on everything and the girls can't intuitively learn or do things on their own. If rewritten, the Journey program COULD teach leadership by properly guiding the girls on how they want to spend their year/pathway - like their own girl-led yearly planner. If the girls want to travel, the Journey workbook could help them budget, plan a money earning activity(how many cookies to sell), research their location, etc. If the girls want to camp and learn life skills, the Journey workbook could provide the resources & skills to get them there. If the girls want more community service, the Journey could have been written like a guide/check list on types of philanthropy leading to how to plan a take action project. Now completing three Journeys about Travel, Camp/Skills, and Service represents the CORE of what Girl Scouting is all about and would be a Journey Summit pin to be proud of.
Take the journey away! Bring back the "scouting"
The Journeys are tone-deaf and boring. Skills-based badges and outdoor activities are profoundly more appealing to my fifth-grade Juniors.
Please remember our roots. I learned a lot of my independence, self reliance and adventurousness from the outdoor program of the 40s and 50s. Kids are too sedentary, too involved with electronics. I have to laugh when I remember how long it took us to plan our meals but once the decisions were made we all enjoyed it together. Keep what we have always been good at... What no one else offers girls.
As a Leader, who was once a Girl Scout and is also a Gold Award Recipient, I feel the program today that we offer the girls is very limiting. There is so much focus on making them Leaders, business women, and scientists.. What about the girls who want to be stay at home moms, and teachers, nurses, and such?? We can not push them aside for what is the current "Fad" in New York. GSUSA needs to look at what Girls all over the US want and are interested in.. And what they have access too.. The badges we have to pick from, which are very limited are nearly impossible to do in our rural areas.. Which make up a vast majority of the Girl Scouts..

Looking at the Gold Award, these Journeys they are required to do, do not set them up to accomplish this.. Our girls know how to give back to their
community already.. We should not make it a Requirement.. The old program allowed the girls to explore their interests and do projects and learn
more about what interested them so they could build a better Gold Award Project.. Today, the girls are walking into their Gold Awards Blind.... I have
heard this from many girls working on theirs who have given up because they felt lost and ill prepared..

The girls want to earn a variety of badges, and learn a variety of skills, and GSUSA has taken that away from them.. Ask the girls around the US, not
just New York, and you will hear, what they want.. Listen please GSUSA, the girls are practically screaming for the old program.. And so are the leaders
who are  trying to provide the girls what they want.. You say Girl Led, so we as leaders are now scrambling to put together a program these girls will
enjoy.. We have to pay HUGE amounts as volunteer for these books that we then as volunteers have to rewrite.. VOLUNTEERS! We do not get paid.. We
do this because we  believe in a Movement, a Girl Led Movement, that sadly at this time is not being Girl Led, as those who can make the changes are
not listening to the Girls, the very girls they are saying should be leading their program.

I agree 100 % with this petition. The curriculum is too focus on how to run a business - we need to get back to basics and the principles on which scouting was founded.
My girls were devastated when the badge books were eliminated in favor of the journeys. I lost 2/3 of my troop and the ones who have remained, who were originally gung-ho to earn silver and gold, refused to complete any more journeys as they felt it was too boring and school work. Outdoor adventures are their favorite activities and they only stay involved to go camping as a group together.
Girls do not want to do school work after school. Get rid of curriculum based Journeys and get back to having fun and helping girls grow. Additional comment: I really hope someone listens or else Girl Scouts will not make it to be 125 years old!

We've done the journey's....very little is STEM related...whereas previous badges developed interest in computers, drafting, engineering...non traditional women's roles. Where is that now?
The Journeys as written aren't working; all the "Journey in a Day" or other shortcut programs to do them make that clear. Girls hate them. While I've heard they were developed to be able to be use "out of the box" by new leaders, in general the people who have had success with them have not used them as written, but have adapted them so creatively that the original product is not recognizable. Girls join GS to go camping and to earn badges doing fun things. My daughter's troop did a Journey in two hours and I doubt she could tell you what she learned, what she did or why. It was a pre-req to the Bronze so the leader got through it, at least sort of. I didn't even try a Journey with my troop--I didn't see the point and I don't have time to re-write a badly done program to make it palatable for my girls. There was nothing wrong with the majority of the badges in the old program and no need to throw them out with the bathwater. Badges give leaders a framework to use when exploring new topics. In short they say (or should say): If you want to learn to ______, here are the steps you need to take.
Would love more badges. When I was in scouts I loves the book with badges I could earn. That way you did what you were interested in.
Let's go back to what Juliette Low intended Girl Scouts to be!
I believe that the Girl Scout program has been diluted through the outright elimination of outdoor skills training. Girls grow though skill building; without outdoor skills, you are doing the organization and the girls a major disservice.
The Girl Scout program seems to have lost its way. Return to a solid emphasis on challenging outdoor fun to capture the girls you are currently losing left and right. For an organization which claims to be engaged in building girls into leaders, there is an astonishing lack of a national uniform curriculum on leadership skills. Build a leadership skills program which is integrated across all ages, and taught to adult volunteers as well.
Girl Scouts and the outdoors go together like peanut butter and Jelly. A journey that once again teaches the basic out door skills beginning would be wonderful. The progression could be by senior they are primitive camping.
My girls HATE the homework like work that the Journeys. And, I don't like trying to present them.
We are losing girls in record numbers. Change is needed and overdue.
I understand wanting to keep the program fresh and new, but the journeys didn't do that. They seem like school work to the kids. They don't inspire creativity in them or the leaders. Journeys don't have the variety that badges did, allowing each girl to explore their interests. Juliette Low said girls should do what they want to do; they really don't want to do journeys. Kids love computers, horses, cooking, camping, music--a million different things. Let's not funnel them all down 2 or 3 paths. Let's let them fly! A better approach to staying current would be to keep introducing new badges vs. a whole new program. And while we're fixing things, let's stop selling off our irreplaceable camp lands or there will be none left. Once land is developed, it will never return to campsites.
What makes Girl Scouts the greatest is that girls are able to try and do things they have never tried before in a safe nonjudgmental environment. This helps create stronger, courageous and confident girls and sets is apart from all other organizations
The girls look at the current journey's as "homework/schoolwork". The Girl Scout program should be what the girls want. You need to listen to the girl that are in Girl Scouts!
We need more outdoor training and engagement for girls in the national portfolio! Give a journey worth while!
Our girls want to be Doing... not sitting like they are in a class. They love camping and lots of active, hands-on things they can do at camp and meetings to earn their badges.
I think the girls lose interest in the journey due to the length of time it takes to complete the journey. Badges are better but still a wonderful program no matter how you participate 😊
Girls need REAL skills--if their town was hit by a tornado or flood, they should know how to purify water, cut wood & build a fire, help their community, conserve resources, respect authority and be a friend to other kids.
I do not see why the girls have to complete a journey in order to get the Bronze, Silver, or Gold awards. As a leader I see no connection between the two. My girls did not get anything new from the journey and felt it was a waste of time.
The "Worlds of Interest" badge organization allowed girls to explore different subject areas, and then to decide which area they most wanted to pursue. Although I understand the objective of directing girls to the STEM subjects, this is not the most effective way to do it. Under badge curriculum, I had 2 of my 10 high school scouts go into engineering. They discovered this interest while also enjoying dance and music, reading and service. A well rounded program of topics with clear instruction on how leaders can implement the program is key. Also, requiring LESS training for leaders does not support them in their role of mentor/leader. We are leaving leaders high and dry to fend for themselves. Our "Journey" in Girl Scouting should begin with two evaluation questions 1) Is it safe? and 2) are the girls having fun?
I am a leader of a 2nd year Daisy Troop and a 1st year Brownie Troop! I had always done badge work with the Brownies 40 years ago with my daughter. My Granddaughter is part of the 2nd year Daisy's. We have done several Journey's. I do not believe that the girl's learn as much from a journey as they used to learn from earning a badge. Please minimize the Journey's and challenge the girls to work on their Bronze, Silver & Gold Awards and more badge work. My Brownie through Senior Scout experience included many Outdoor experiences. I grew up in Denver, Colorado. Juliet Gordon Lowe wanted girls to make a difference in this world.
I would Iike to see a program with more structure similar to Boy Scouts. A program where girls can truly explore more interest to gain knowledge and skills. The current program is very limited in badges especially outdoor experiences. The "flexibility" on how the program is delivered leaves some troops not following the national program at all this inconsistent program delivery makes it difficult to convey the program to potential recruits.
I would appreciate a return to a focus on Scouting & less on education. I'm seeing less focus on the Promise & sisterhood to EVERY Girl Scout. Journeys are to long & complicated for a new leader to complete with a troop. Asking high school girls, who have other service, religious,athletic commitments to complete 2 journeys, is a tad bit much for a Gold Award.
Yes!! I have stopped letting my younger daughters do Girl Scouts do to the changes! Journey's, politics, etc,. Go back to how I was and I will continue to support Girl Scouting! If not then after 13 years I am saying farewell!
When I became a leader over a year ago, I didn't really know what to expect. I still don't really know what exactly is expected of me. I would like more clear information about GS traditions, and also more help on completing badges. The girls get board indoors and I find myself at a loss for what to do next sometimes. The girls want more outdoor activities, but not many badges are related to that. I would like more resources and suggestions for activities the girls actually learn a skill from rather than sitting doing a craft project with them. I agree with every change petitioned for.
An Outdoor Journey is vital to girls of all ages. It is part of the fundamentals of Girl Scouting. We want to teach our girls that being outdoors is as equally important as learning technology... for personal growth, survival and so much more!
The girls want more variety in the badges. More outdoor, more STEM, more in general. The older girls have no interest in spending all year working on a journey. The only way to make it palatable is with major modifications which puts a lot of unnecessary work on the leaders. We need to retain girls not bore them to death.

COMMENTS FROM 5-6-15

I am the leader of a Cadette, Senior and Ambassador troop. All my girls want to earn their Silver and Gold Awards but they really hate the Journey's. It is like pulling teeth to get them to work on them. Also, they don't like the badges because they are to easy and don't have badges related to their interests. We have actually still been using the IPP's because they enjoy them more...and they really don't care about having the badge on their uniform, they find them more challenging and fun. My girls LOVE the outdoors and camping. They are disappointed that there are not any badges. They do know that some are coming though.
While the journey's may be interesting to us as adults - our girls tend to think they are too touchy, feely and are usually more embarrassed by some of the issues than enthusiastic about them. (Our schools tend to lecture on Bullying a lot - after a while it become "noise" to our girls. We get more interaction and valuable conversation with the girls when we do a "real" activity with them. When they are happy and comfortable, they get chatty. Learning to build something, learning to camp and work as a team, choosing badges and following through on them - that is what our girls really enjoy. Forcing a conversation about bullying or making them build "friendship" whatevers - well, we get a lot of eye rolling! No one ever rolled their eyes at a chance to learn knife safety! No one ever rolled their eyes at the ropes course or boating!! They love the "old" Girl Scout stuff. I hope you'll make a real effort to bring it back before we loose our 6th and 7th graders.
My troop really dislikes the journey program. They keep asking to do more fun badges that no longer exist.
I am a delegate and a leader. We have had plenty of feedback from both girl scouts and their leaders about the journey:

Not fun
Too much like school
We just get through it because we have to
Least favorite and most disliked part of girl scouts
Leaders have to figure out how to do it with minimal support from councils
No one felt part of the decision to adopt journeys
In speaking with someone from a major corporation about why gold is less recognized than eagle scout - they gave 3 reasons
1 they don't know what journeys are
2 they didn't feel there was leadership or citizenship involved in gold
3 there were no merit badges
National convention needs to address the real concerns of girl scouts - surveys should be sent ahead of convention to ask membership or at least
delegates the real issues long before the agenda is set...

I have been running a troop since 2009. We started with Kindergarten level Daisies. We have completed a total of 3 journeys.

- It's Your World Change it! -- Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden
- It's Your Planet Love it! -- WOW! Wonders of Water
- It's Your Story Tell it! - aMUSE
We have only been able to complete 1 journey per scouting year. If you do the journeys the way they are intended, they take a very long time to
complete. So one year we would work on a journey, and then the next year we would do badge work. With that said, I've found that the girls were
much more engaged during our non-journey year, when we were doing hands on badge work. They looked forward to and came to more meetings.
They also liked running events and volunteering for community service too. These are activities we could fit in better on our off-journey years.
The journeys did have some good aspects to them. The flowers we planted in our hand decorated planters and donated to the senior center were
well received. And the girls liked interacting with the seniors. The presentation the girls did for younger troops to help keep water clean made them
feel like they were helping the Earth. And the panel discussion we had with successful women from our town was very interesting. At the completion
of our aMUSE journey, they really enjoyed bring a favorite book to life in their production of "The Day The Crayons Quit." However, those activities
were only a small part of the journey. The journeys took close to 10 months to complete and mostly felt like class work for both the girls and the adult
volunteers. I wish there was a way to reduce this class work feeling and the amount of time required to complete the journey.
Thank you for considering a change to the National Program Portfolio.

The journeys are too much like school. The girls want to have fun and not feel like they are school. The badges were designed with an entertaining aspect. It is hard enough to keep the younger girl entertained.
I feel that I have been cheated of the girl scouting experience due to the frustration associated with the new program that instead of making improvements, has made scouting more complicated, less fun, and increasingly unreasonable. I had every intention of earning both my silver and gold awards, but the confusion with the system have made it extremely difficult. While I have been happy with my troop and neighboring troops, I have overall been disappointed with my girl scouting experience. I have been a girl scout for ten years, and honestly, with the program moving in the direction it is, I would not sign my future daughter up for girl scouts.
Outdoor programming probably saved my life.
I actually love to teach journeys and my scouts love them. BUT I tweak it. Think about it: Communication skills, problem solving, trust, leadership, team work .... Can also be taught in fun, joyous environments versus structured curriculum feeling environments. How many of us have attended leadership team building weekends as adults? Big money spent ... On learning to have fun while leading and working well with each other ? Bring back the joy.

COMMENTS FROM 5-5-15

I truly believe the journeys are just a money making scheme and the girls get no benefit from them
Let's go back outside and sing songs, play games and have fun. Learning how to be a member of a corporate environment misses the point.

COMMENTS FROM 5-4-15

I would also like to see more continuity for troops. Instead of every grade operating independently the pack model in cub scouts allows much more development of new leaders and activity for members.
The girls hate Journeys. The girls in our troop love outdoor camping (tents), hiking, canoeing, and outdoor cooking. Our Scouts try to go to Hessel, MI every fall and compete in the Girl Scout/Boy Scout jamboree in Sept. Additional comment: Our girls (teenagers) hate the journeys. They prefer the older badges. The leader has found them on different web sites. They especially like the outdoor activity badges such as canoeing, hiking, camping, & outdoor cooking.

Our council employees are clueless. When I go into the shop, I say something questionable.... The looks I receive. They are close minded and not open to change. Their excuse is ALWAYS that it comes from New York. I don't buy that any longer. It is sad that there are SO many upset people trying to make a difference, & it is falling on deaf ears. They hear what they want to hear & say the same old excuses....
We have stopped using the Journey books as of two years ago. We work "together" to make scouts fun. We keep our girls engaged and moving.
I am a lifetime member- was a girl from K through graduation, I currently lead 2 troops, and a member of the service unit team. I am also a licensed and highly qualified educator and I find the plans for the journeys to be confusion and difficult to follow and even more difficult to modify in a way that the girls actually enjoy them. My troops are both bridging this year and our troop leadership team is having discussions on if or how to complete a journey as the girls hate them- they say they are boring and truthfully, we have yet to find a journey that covers material they haven't already learned in school.

COMMENTS FROM 5-3-15

There is way too much emphasis being placed on what corporations want. We need to return the focus to what the girls want. This is about GIRLS, not about corporate America.
Badge work is the meat of the program. Journeys can often feel too much like school work. Volunteers spend lots of time working on ways to make it fun.

COMMENTS FROM 5-2-15

Please get rid of the Journeys! They are horrible and always make me want to quit as a leader since they are so frustrating to work with. I've been a leader for 8 years and have made a promise to my daughters to see it through but the journeys are just torture for me and too much like school for the girls. They literally suck the joy out of girl scouting.
My daughter would like to see less girly badges and journeys and more skills based badges. Why can't the girls build fires, learn to use pocket knives and earn life skill useful badges like the cub/boy scouts?
I would like to see the journeys program go away or be very minimal. Return to outdoor skills, leadership, community service and badge program. Most important, stop changing the program and requirements every few years, you are losing girls and leaders due to frustration with constant changes and inability to meet goals. It is also a financial hardship for many troops and leaders to keep buying new program guides, etc.

COMMENTS FROM 5-1-15

After the girls have completed a full day of school, the last thing they want to do is sit at a meeting and do more school work! My girls hate the journeys but did wage through one for their higher level Award prerequisite. Badges bring a more rounded experience and with the community impact component of the old IP's, the girls were able to be very successful in exploring the needs of their community. The journeys have a very narrow focus point and the community involvement isn't add extensive and limitless as it once was. Additional comment: The Journey program is a good program for home schooled individuals because it meets the "educational standards" however, out of all the girls in my troop over the past 16 years, only 1 was home schooled and she did not use these materials in her schooling. All of my girls thought the information was poorly written and spent most of their time critiquing the materials instead of working on the program. I had to do a lot of research and work to delve into these materials and develop a journey that the girls could complete and meet the requirements and intent of the journey.
With older girls, I was ready for an easier path where they did the leading, which for all other aspects of the program, works wonderfully. The Journeys, in my opinion, can never be girl led due to their complicated organization. It took me putting through the materials several times to figure out exactly what the point of the journey was and to define its intent.
I fully agree with petition changes #1 - #5
I am the service unit manager for (location removed) as well as a leader of a Brownie troop and a Cadette troop. Our girls on both levels absolutely hate the Journeys and we are doing them by the book. They like to earn badges and go camping. Lets get back to the way it used to be. Why fix something that was not broken. The girls say the Journeys are too much like more schoolwork.
Journeys are horrible! My older girls hate them!! After being in school all day, the last thing they want to do is more assignments! We need to go back to the old badge programs for every age level where they learned skills they could use the rest of their life!
I earned my Gold Award in Girl Scouts and I loved Scouting, camping, and earning patches. I am the troop leader for my daughters troop and in the past 2 years my troop has gone from 15 girls down to 5 girls. I have had several girls stop because they felt the requirements were to much like school with all the book work. The girls said that it was not as much fun because they are not able to do as many community service projects and fun activities, because they are spending so much time in a book. I currently have 3 girls trying to work toward their Gold award, but are finding it hard to complete the 2 journeys required to get to be able to work on the Gold Award since they did not earn their silver award.
Return to a badge path from brownies to gold. Include all the stem activities as badges as well as returning all the outdoor badges and badges for the other domains of life. Require some badges in all domains and let the scouts pick their own concentration of interest. The result will be much better retention, easier recruitment, and happier scouts and leaders.
The Girl Scouts I talk to not only in my troop but others as well all say they don't like Girl Scouts because they don't learn anything except a rehash of what they learn at school. They hate Journeys and don't see a use for them, they take to much time and feel pressured to do things that they don't find interesting. They want to learn more outdoor skills like fire building, boating, fishing, how to use a knife, how to cook simple meals, how to shop on a budget, how to plan trips. how to raise money besides selling cookies and candy. They want to dream big and have fun turning those dreams into reality not worry if it fits into the Journey.

COMMENTS FROM 4-30-15

Please consider changing the journeys. Or better phase them out completely. Bring back badge books. Learning and building life skills are crucial.
The Journeys was a roadblock in preventing my daughter from pursuing the Silver and Gold Awards.
I fully agree with the above ideas and statements regarding more "back to the basics of Girl Scouts", and less emphasis on specific requirements for awards to be obtained.
My daughter does not enjoy doing the Journey books. She prefers working on individual badges, however, there are not as many badges to work toward. She really enjoys camping and other outdoor activities.
Bring back all our badges. We had so many that were STEM and now we have none. Plus the new badges do not teach skills like the old badges did. The Girls do not like the Journeys. They are boring and to much like school.
I believe that the program that GSUSA offers to empower girls and give them the opportunity to build courage, confidence and character needs to be a program built on variety. It needs to include the traditional skills that GS was built on as well as current issues. We need to be available for ALL girls, regardless of whether their interest is in STEM, Outdoor programming, life skills, etc. The current program is too much like school. The girls want opportunities for activities and experiences, not more school work. Another thing that I would like to see changed is the handbook. When I was a Scout, nearly every girl had a handbook and she took pride in owning and using that handbook. Now they have become cost prohibitive for many girls. The handbook should be something that is affordable to all girls. GS has gone away from many of the traditions, the things that girls look for when joining, and deciding whether to stay in, Girl Scouts. I hope that

GSUSA is listening.

Not only are the Journeys confusing, but scouting with the current set up is dividing our girls more and more, causing less and less interest in the program. We need the program to return to a community driven experience that is less fad based and more badge based.

Things that are popular aren't necessarily things the girls need, nor do they last. Badges, when done well, teach lasting lessons. Well, at least the older
badges did. I'd like to see more Skill building badges return as well and less badges that are basically "read this page, make a tiny craft and be done
with it." It's not that the simpler badges are bad, it is that the simpler badges we have now don't teach much in the way of life skills and there are too
many simple ones and not enough challenging ones to keep the girls interested.

Top it off, the books are soo filled with fluff and excess that they are distracting and not very helpful. Plus, you can't just buy the book, you have to buy
them in pieces!!! I thinkg they need to be consolidated back into one or two books...and when you buy the badge book, you get the WHOLE badge
book, when you buy the handook, you get the hand book. Maybe a third book...journey book...but put all of them into one book! More girls would be
likely to buy the books if they could actually USE them. So would more troop leaders.
Additional comment:   Journeys are complicated messes for both leaders and girls. The girls don't like having "homework" either. Badges are no longer
about learning skills, they are about "tasting" a topic. While the concepts of some of the badges and the idea behind the journeys are not all bad, they
are no longer as well thought out as they used to be. There really is very little way for the girls to feel like they have REALLY learned something with the
current badge structure. Things need to change. I'm not against new things, but I think this is one time when we really need to revert back to some of
the older ways. Bring back the badges that teach girls real skills and/or real things. Bring in new badges that teach Modern things like social
networking, internet safety and computer sciences.The only thing I really think is good about the newer model is the badges that "grow" with the girls.
Having an art badge in brownies that connects to an art badge in juniors...and connects to cadet art badge...etc...it good. BUT they need to learn from
it! My now 9 yr old girl scout isn't interested with learning "oh Juliette Low is the founder, she wrote notes to former Girl Scouts" and then next turning
to write a letter to other girls and never doing anything else within the badge....ignoring the fact that like 6 brownie badges call for you to write letters
about scouting to younger scouts, my daughter wants to learn what scouting was like when it first started, she wants to try out some of the things girls
did then. She wants to learn about Juliette as a girl, a leader, a mom. etc. She wants to learn without everything being more homework.

I am astounded at how watered down the program has become in the journeys. There is too much emphasis on global changes when the younger girls are still thinking how big the neighborhood in which they belong. Badges should be learn by doing with focus on actions not paper products.
I was a GS through 9th grade. My daugher was a Girl Scout until HS graduation, then worked at camp two summers. We both are lifetime Girl Scouts. I lead my daughter's troop, and started a new on when she started college. I understand that we need to change, but Girl Scouts has been so successful that I don't understand why the entire program has to be discarded at once! Very little of my experience as a VERY active Cadette was applicable to my daughter's Studio 2B experience. But even less is applicable to the Journeys that I am forced to work on with my Junior troop. I understand why my girls are leaving Girl Scouts - I'm tempted to, as well. Badges in multiple areas encourage girls to stretch their limits. The old badge requirements we easily understandable, and girls could lead sessions easily. Journeys don't have requirements that are easy to decipher - either for girls or adults. Many badges that my girls would have LOVED were eliminated - all at once. I CANNOT imagine anyone with ANY knowledge of Junior Girl Scouts eliminating the Horse badges. Please - don't try to meet Common Core. Don't interview non-Girl Scouts as try to figure out how to get them to join. Please - listen to current Girl Scouts - bring back the old badges, cut back the emphasis on Journeys, and GET THE GIRLS OUTSIDE!!!

COMMENTS FROM 4-29-15

I've been a GS leader for 14 years now. One thing I learned early on from visiting Juilette Low Birthplace, is that she wanted leaders to listen to the girls and change your troop to their interests. Our girls tried a Journey and hated it. So we just concentrated on things they did want to learn....camping, cooking skills, discussions about issues in the news & local area,..... They also learned leadership by leading many Service Unit activities and helping other troops. Our troop likes to learn by doing instead of Journey books that seem like sitting at a desk a school.
I currently have a troop of Brownies bridging to Juniors and on their behalf I would like to see Girl Scouts bring back badges that bring about leadership, confidence, and outdoor activities and skills. My troop is very active and they learn the most and grow the most when we are out camping. It saddens me that the badges I earned and the skills I learned as I scout are being traded for touchy feely badges and journeys. Through the skill building badges I earned in the 80's my self confidence, strength and self worth grew without my leader stopping to continually ask what I was feeling. It showed in my ability to take on a task and complete it successfully. This is what I want for my troop! Please hear our call!
I too was a scout until I graduated high school. My best memories are camp, and I formed life long friendships with girls through my troop and our camp experiences. I can't wait to take our girls camping.... scheduled already!
Eagle Island is a one of a kind camp - 33 acres in a pristine Adirondack lake. It made all the difference to me and to my daughters - a connection to a natural place so spiritual it made our hearts sing, a community of girls not afraid to be strong and reach out their hands to others. The idea that the council is trying to sell this breaks my heart. Outdoor camping in this beauty is the heart and soul of Girl Scouts, not corporate values, not cookies, but girls singing around the campfire surrounded by pine trees, mountains and lakes.
This is so important! I am ready to teach my older scouts about knife work and safety ... and cannot find a single GS resource or badge that addresses this. How sad. My girls want more outdoor activities, and less 'schoolwork'. Please fix this!
I am a girl scout leader and a lifelong Scout and I approve of these changes to the curriculum.
As an only child of older parents growing in in Scouting in the mid 50's to mid 60's I went to GS camp every summer. My mother took out troop from 2nd grade through 8th grade and then I joined a Senior Scout troop. As a girl growing up in the cities summer camp was a highlight of my summer. Yes we went "up north to the lake" every summer but a family vacation is definitely not the same as my 2 weeks at GS day camp and resident camp. I was fortunate as my council opened a 2nd camp for older girls just when I was ready to attend. The skills one learns and friendships made on a 5 or 10 day canoe trip are absolutely unforgettable and now at age 69 I still get together and camp with former campers and counselors. I don't know much about the Journey program but I had 2 sons who are both Eagle Scouts. They grew up with the badge program similar to GS. I see they are still using that program that has worked for over 100 years. Sometimes if it isn't broken don't fix it. Maybe have the Journeys available if a troop chooses this but stick with the badges, a tried and true program. As more and more girls grow up in the cities there is an even greater need for resident summer camps and weekend outdoor programing. We were founded on these outdoor programs.
The National council need to move out of New York. Too much emphasis on every girl/women must be a CEO to be worthy of what they do in their life. Move out West.... Colorado, Montana, Nevada Etc... Time to get the mission back on track and help girls with lessons that will help them within their lives. Being just an ordinary MOM is also a great gift and one that does not always receive recognition it deserves.
Camping needs to stay and become more of a priority as girls (and children in general) get less and less time outside. If we are to foster a new generation of adults who will become stewards to our environment, we must raise children who have a connection to the land, to nature, and to the outdoors.
Give leaders more structure.
Spent many years as a scout myself and then as a leader. My daughter and o left the program when GS lost it's focus and became all about money. Gs has disappointed many people and left many girls without the opportunities to learn and grow their skills in a program that was once all about the GIRL. You've cut camps, developed non-age appropriate resources (and then forced us to buy them). You know all girls want more "school work", right? Um, NO. Working for badges was fun and allowed for individuals to choose and expand on interests. Not so much any more.
I lose more girls to boredom, frustration of journeys and badges. They don't like them, it feels like school work and that is not why they are in scouts. Additional comment: The journeys and badges feel like homework to the girls, they like activities, hands in things, being physical.

I have been a leader(2 troops)delegate,community leader, camp cook, day camp leader as well as many other "jobs" in girl Scouts.I feel we are moving to far into education with not enough emphasis on experiences for the girls. Hands on, with reward able goals is so important. We seem to be moving backwards. Women today have so many more opportunities, and challenges then they had years ago. We need to give them concrete experiences to grow. Work toward those badges! Get outdoor skills that will relate to life skills that they will use the rest of there lives.
Amen. The Journeys take away what Scouting has always been. So many girls never learn the outdoor skills and rich tradition of being a Girl Scout.
For 12 years I have been a leader to my daughter's troop, and 10 years for a second troop which I started when my youngest daughter started Girl Scouts. I have seen many girls come and go through the years for various reasons. However, it wasn't until the Journeys were introduced that we began to loose girls because of the curriculum. My now 18 year old daughter, who will be bridging to adult Girl Scouting this year, earned her Bronze and Silver awards, both of which were earned "the old way". However, when she was told that she would have to complete a Journey to attain her Gold award, she lost all interest in what had been a huge goal for her. She struggled through a Cadette Journey and vowed that she would never do another. She felt it was too much like school work and no longer like the Girl Scout program that she grew to love. She had so many more choices and more ways to explore old and new interests. The Journeys have become a "cookie cutter" program that doesn't fit for everyone.

COMMENTS FROM 4-28-15

The journey program is horrible! We need to bring Girl Scouts back to the way it was so the girls are empowered and excited about being a girl scout again!
I became a leader so that I could share my experiences and memories of being a Girl Scout with my daughter. As a GS, I was so proud of trying new things totally out of my comfort zone just for the chance of earning a badge for my efforts. Since the complete changeover to the Journeys, my daughter (and her friends) is not getting the same opportunity. Although the Journey topics are worthwhile, they seem presented in a watered-down way. Girls can't get excited about new adventures or interests like astronomy, sailing, rock climbing, sewing, unless they pursue them through special programs or at camp. Then there generally are not badges to reward them for their effort. I have had a revolving-door membership in our troop, and it's largely because the girls and moms think the Journey curricula are "too much busywork", "not very engaging", and "don't take into consideration girls' individual interests." Maybe the way to get more girls interested in Girl Scouts is to give them more to be interested in!

COMMENTS FROM 4-27-15

Camping is and always has been an integral part of the Girl Scout experience. It teaches a girl how to survive and take care of herself in the outdoors. It also builds confidence and leadership skills. Some of my fondest memories are of GS Camp back in Indiana, in Germany, in North Carolina, and Michigan. I think it is a crying shame that some individuals are cutting funds to benefit the few, rather than the many.
I am very concerned that the GS program is becoming unbalanced, and that an equal emphasis on nature and out door skills is being allowed to disappear. Camp programs are expensive, but the facility can be used for so many activities. They were usually bought with cookie funds. They should not be sold for administrative purposes. I also see arts programs disappearing in the name of business and job skills. Girls must be more well rounded to succeed. Where I live (Northern Minnesota) I almost never see Girl Scouts as the children want outdoor programming and go to other organizations as near as I can tell. If you want girls to become members you must listen to their interests.
In addition to having spent 12 years as a Girl Scout parent and registered leader (certified Camper), I am an Eagle Scout and veteran Boy Scout leader who has spent a fair amount of time in Canada, where Scouts Canada is coed. Having seen girls in action, in the woods, up there; having seen outdoors-oriented Girl Scout troops in action down here; having felt the pressures, from girls and women, to allow them to join the BSA because they prefer our program to yours, and having seen how mastering outdoor skills builds self-esteem in a way which indoor exercises never can, I very much hope that Girl Scouting returns to its roots as an organization which is, first and foremost, built around outdoor skills as a means of developing character, citizenship and fitness. I have seen too many of our young women whose outdoor skills are without peer to believe that any Girl Scout cannot flourish in the out-of-doors just as her male counterparts do. Additional comment: I am an Eagle Scout and veteran BSA Scouter who, when my daughter joined Girl Scouts, also took on the role of Assistant Troop Leader. I was quite dismayed to find out that a girl could join GS as a Daisy and age out as an adult without going camping, backpacking or hiking; and indeed, in 12 years of GS, my daughter went camping (in full-facility cabins) 4 times in her first 6 years, and never again after that. In my Scouting career, I have seen GS troops in this country, and Girl Guide troops in Canada, whose outdoor skills are second to none; but sadly, down here, the norm seems to be the troop which shuns outdoor camping in favor of more indoor-centered things, especilly in the inner cities. An organization which began as a way to build character in girls through an outdoors-centered program has become, essentially, an indoor and day-trip program which is often an extension of school; and any "camping" happens only in the tamest of settings. Camps are sold to provide money for shiny new indoor facilities, often with computer and STEM labs; and we are told that it is much more important to prepare the girls to be the career women of tomorrow, to build self-esteem so that they can stand up to things like sexual violence, avoid "body-shaming" and "slut-shaming" and the like. Well, during my time in Girl Scouts, I taught more than a few girls, none of whom had ever been camping before, how to do things like work together to do things like cut firewood, build fires, and used ropes and lashings to build things. I remember a 10-year-old girl who took to swinging an axe like a duck to water; and when I truthfully told her that she could swing an axe as well as I can, despite being less than half my weight and over two feet shorter than me, you'd better believe that the smile I got in response was a sign of her self-esttem soaring. The girls who I trained to teach the others to select the proper kind of firewood, and lay, light and maintain the fire, and then to use the three-pot method to wash up afterwards, sure learned a lot about leadership, management and initiative. I taught all of the girls to lash a bridge together to span a gully separating our cabin from the main road; and if I could dig up that picture again, you will see a bunch of very proud young women standing atop that bridge. In building that bridge, those Scouts learned valuable skills which will serve them well in their adult lives, whether in the workplace of just having fun out in the woods.

For years, the BSA has had to deal with the issue of whether to admit girls to the Cub Scout and Boy Scout levels on a mandatory or optional basis (given my Scouting experiences in Canada, I personally favor the latter). Much of the impetus for this change comes from girls and women who are dissatisfied with the scope and quality of the Girl Scouts' program. As a girl once told me, "I got tired of sitting around indoors, singing songs and making things; of going on only the tamest outdoor trips; and of spending so much time selling cookies. By the time that I was in 8th grade, I wanted to go camping and hiking, the way my brothers did in Boy Scouts". I also met many adults who enjoyed the challenges of the Boy Scout program much more than they did the perceived lesser challenges of the Girl Scout program, and switched to the BSA.

Girls do not need what is, in effect, an extension of the classroom; and they do not need an indoors-centered program which they can find in many other places. Scouting is the one program available to them which (at least nominally) offers an outdoors-centered program; so why not going with what makes us unique? If a troop is in the inner city and has trouble getting to camp or getting the necessary camping gear, then let's help them get to camp and borrow what they cannot improvise for themselves. If the problem stems from adults who, as one GS troop leader told me, view camping as "icky" and "gross", then provide necessary training and require that they take it. Above all, return to Girl Scouting to what it was even 50 years ago, when my same-age female cousin was a Girl Scout: an outdoor-centered program where girls can build character, citizenship and fitness, and have a great time doing it.

In 50 years of Scouting, I have seen many examples which prove that girls and women are just as proficient in outdoor skills as are their male counterparts, if given the chance. Let's give them ALL the chance.

I lead troops at the following levels: Daisy, Junior, Cadette. I'm finding that the girls are losing interest in Girl Scouts because the current badges and Journeys are not piquing their interest and the Journeys remind them of school. My Juniors and Cadettes aren't sure they will want to earn their Bronze and Silver awards because of the emphasis on the Journey.
GS camp made me who I am today. I would hate to think about my life without it.
Scouting has seemed to turn into a game of numbers and not be about the girls. Develop the girls that are members and their programs, and the numbers will follow!
The skills I learned while participating in summer camps from Brownie through Senior were invaluable to me. The team building, tolerance of others and the flexibility I learned have served me well thought my 40 year career as a nurse. Please keep these programs intact. Some girls may never get to experience the joy of sleeping outdoors, under the stars without the outdoor program the Girl Scouts do so well.
I just had one of my girls quit today. She is a high school freshman and has been a Girl Scout since Daisy's. I had 2 Senior GS this year and we were working on a journey. Her reason for quitting, since most of the badges were dropped and journeys begun its no longer interesting and challenging like it was before. The only reason we were doing the journey was in preparation for the gold award!!!!!!! t
I want camp! I love my camp, it's like home. I learn new things there and get to stay in cabins with my Girl Scout sisters.
Girls don't want to "sit and discuss" - they do enough of this at school each day. They want to go out and do!

COMMENTS FROM 4-26-15

I have been a leader for 39 years. Girls love Scouts but hate the Journey books. They want more variety. My high school girls try, but can't even find any badges they want to complete. My 4th and 5th grade girls like badgework, but can't concentrate on Journey books because they have already been at school all day and want something less like schoolwork. My 3rd grade troop did complete the WOW journey without complaint, but we only could work on it about 15 minutes each meeting, then lost their interest. Please bring back the old books.
Bring back badges and emphasis on outdoor activities.
Also, please go back to printing affordable, paperback scouting manuals that include all of the badges.

COMMENTS FROM 4-25-15

Please return to the 'good ole' days' where girls weren't forced to do school work to earn badges, make it fun again.
The program, which was successful.for decades, focused on building skills, camping and the out-of-doors, and service. We need to return to that.
Journeys should have supplemented the program instead of replacing it. The incredible failure of Studio2b souls have been a wake up call that messing with the program by implementing such broad changes is a mistake that all the girls suffer for.
My Cadette girls did not enjoy doing any of their three journeys so far, they are more like homework than something enjoyed in an extracurricular activity. They do like doing badges, it the selection is so small, and strange -- if you're not into trees, comic strips, or badges associated with cooks, there's not much left to do. They have been very disappointed in that regard. Our troop enjoys the scouts experience, but not because of of anything in the handbook. That is sitting gathering dust on my shelf. Troop leader, (location removed)

COMMENTS FROM 4-24-15

I grew up as a scout - all of the way through high school. I was thrilled to return to the program as my daughter's leader, but have been consistently disappointed and disillusioned with the new programming. I have had a troop for 4 years now and I struggle to get them through the Journeys. To them, it feels like schoolwork, and for the girls who have learning disabilities it is absolute torture, regardless of how creative I try to make it. This is not what scouting should be. We need hands on activities and more badges that allow them to touch and feel and explore! As it is, they struggle with the manual dexterity required to do craft activities because they spend so much time pressing buttons on electronics in other areas of their lives. Girl Scouting should be an opportunity to try new things and explore new ideas - things the girls may not have even thought of. What happened to opening up that old badge book and thinking, "What can we try next?" You never know what sort of dreams and passions that can spark. The leadership building will come naturally as part of the process, and does not need to be shoved down their throats via the Journeys. Isn't that what the Bronze, Silver and Gold are for anyway? I have a great group of girls who, at the age of 10, have big dreams for their scouting careers, but this program is not going to hold their attention for long.
Get them back outside.

COMMENTS FROM 4-23-15

Please bring back the outdoor and life skills (or at least place a greater emphasis on it). They're so important and increasingly rare.
My experience training the Journeys for Brownies is that they require much parent involvement. And, let's face it, it is harder than ever to get parental help, particularly when an assignment similar to school work comes home from Girl Scouts, parents prioritize time and adding GS work to their schedules doesn't hack it.

With the emphasis away from hands on training, and the lack thereof, fewer girls are not experiencing many of the wonderful traditions; such as,
being twisted and turned, baking a bunch of Brownies, flying up and going across a bridge from Brownies to Juniors. I could go on.

Leadership is one of the main emphases of GSUSA (and it should be). More leadership happens in a troop camping situation than anywhere else!
Residential summer camp contributes, but we must nurture leaders with camping skills. Given the opportunities to experience camping and the
leadership involves truly invigorates a girl.

COMMENTS FROM 4-22-15

The old GS highest awards prerequisites were more well rounded (some skill building, career exploration, leadership, gs traditions) and offered the girls more choice and helped the girls grow. The Journey's are a repeat of what they get through school, and do not enhance what is unique to GS
I think the girls would be missing so many great opportunities and experiences without this change. Many of these experiences have made me a better person today and stronger woman today. I would hope future sister girl scouts would have the same opportunities.
I have been a GS volunteer at many levels over the last 14 years. I have watched the girls go from being so excited about badges to being completely bored with the journeys.
Although I'm fairly new to the organization, I was a Girl Scout as a child. The Girl Scouts of today are a far cry from my experiences as a youth. I find the current curriculum to be confusing and lackadaisical. There is far too much fluff and the important things have lost emphasis. "Girl Led" is one thing...but without structure the resulting leader lacks discipline and motivation.
If GSUSA wants to grow the organization, they need to focus on meeting the needs of the current members and not on girls who aren't in scouting. Girl Scouts needs to treat the girls and volunteers (both) as their customers. Build it and they will come!

COMMENTS FROM 4-21-15

I am very involved in Girl Scouts. None of the girls in my four troops have enjoyed working on the Journeys. I have tried and tried to get the girls involved in the journeys. The girls do not want them in GS. I know troops that are doing them in a weekend. The message is a lost. Give the girls what they want, Badges, the out doors. Additional comment: I have four troops. While trying to get the girls to do a journey I lost girls. Girls do not like the journey books. All four of my troops completed a journey this year. I will not force these books on them again. Unless I do what most of the troops are doing, A journey in a day. What are you teaching these girls.

Please develop the emphasis on STEM badges and skills in addition to the outdoor skills, both are equally important. The Cadette/Senior STEM journeys are barely related to science and the girls have no interest in them!
All of the girls in my troop hate the Journeys--not one enjoyed completing either Journey we have done. I had 21 girls in my Cadette troop and we are down to 9, partially due to the "schoolwork" feel of Journeys. Please restructure the requirements and get rid of the Journeys!
I feel we have gotten away from the history and traditions of Girl Scouting in favor of 25 outcomes posited by a marketing firm. The Journeys are not fun, engaging, or educational. The leader guide is completely irrelevant to the activities the girls do, and as such, is a waste of money, and trees. And I say this as a troop leader of girls who have earned the summit award. Were it not for the training I received as a Girl Scout, I would have never made the Journeys relevant or meaningful. My girls have taken, but never enjoyed, the "journey".

Older girls do not want to do the Journeys, and resent the requirement to earn the higher awards. Their leaders should be in a position to advise and
encourage, but instead are forced to lead them through a program this is ill prepared and is a demotivating factor to their success.

The leader guides are wordy and confusing. The girl books are wordy and confusing. Girls don't want to do schoolwork in Scouts; they come to have fun and learn hands-on skills. Some 12 years olds that I know cannot even use a kitchen knife! Scouts give girls a safe place to learn about how to do things in the world, how to think for themselves and not always rely on others for the answers to life's problems.
I received my Gold Award in 1991. My sister received her Silver in 2004. I am now the leader of my daughter's troop and they are about to receive their bronze and bridge. My daughter has every intention of receiving her Gold Award just like me. We are a Girl Scout family and I am worn out with the program. The troop is completely girl led. They decide the badges, field trips, etc. The girls noticed that badges repeat one another from level to level. How do you reply to a girl who looks at the Junior First Aid badge and says "this is almost exactly like the brownie badge?"

To make the Journey's even slightly palatable for the girls, I have to completely redesign the journey. It is painful and exhausting. As the girls get older,
I am supposed to be able to advise, but if I have to rework everything to make it interesting in order to keep them engaged, I am putting in more time.
And not every girl wants to be a leader. If everyone is a leader, who will follow? Being the Premier Leadership organization for Girls quickly alienates
people. Girls need to learn how to work together, not just lead.

COMMENTS FROM 4-20-15

I have 3 girls in Girl Scouts. My older 2 got to experience the badges early on and have lost interest since the journeys started. As a matter of fact, my oldest is dropping scouts after this year because she quit having fun at meetings. She is at 1st year Senior level and not interested in the journeys at all.
The girls want to do more badge work and learn more life skills and do less journeys or do no journeys at all that feel like more school work.

COMMENTS FROM 4-19-15

Please go back to try it, the journeys are not fun for girls or leaders. I loved girl scouts as a child and want my daughter and troop to experience the best of girl scouts, and journeys are not the answer.
We even had a director several years ago try to sell the camp because they had not maintained the place because she had other uses for the money and didn't believe in camping. I taught swimming,boating,canoeing, and primitive camping skills for period of 7summers. Great training for Elem. teacher. I'm still subbing at age 80. We had a Ex Director try to sell the camp because she had other priorities for scouting and the money. They let the facility deteriorate to accomplish this. I have been in scouting as a girl,a camp counselor,and a leader. It has shaped my life and the lives of my daughters . The outdoor program is the only place girls can learn outdoor skills that promote self reliance.
I think that this is a great idea. I remember the GS books when I was young and the badges were great and we learned so much, I know that if something was to happen I could make it because I learned the skills to in Girl Scouts
The journeys are boring and extremely time consuming. To be able to complete 3 in 2 years plus other badge work, plus community service plus fun activities is impossible.
When I was a Girl Scout back in the 60s path of the fun was all the badges you could earn while learning new skills in the process. Now as a leader I find the Journeys so confusing and don't find the benefits of using them for my girls. They enjoy working towards a badge for specific skills they learn. We don't use the journeys because they don't want to come to a meeting and read
As a scout who experienced the switch to journeys and de-emphasis of outdoor programming, I would like to advocate for a switch back to more traditional scouting experiences.
Stop killing the Girl Scouts, stop selling the camps, stop hiring corp people instead of Girl Scouts, stop it stop it
I didn't even attempt Daisy level Journeys. Now I'm about to start our first journey and from reading the leader book to the girl's book, there is such a disconnect. Was there something missing when the change to journeys was made? Frankly, the way the girls' book (for Brownie and Daisy is all I can speak to), is silly. The girls think it is silly. Even when we try and use them in the meetings, they don't like it as much as when I customize it. You had a product that worked...please return to it.
My daughter doesn't work on badges at all; there is no camping. This is not the GS that I remember.
It is very sad that Girl Scouts has changed so much. I have been a leader for 13 years....and ever since the Journey's came out...my girls have hated doing the GS program. It is a shame. I saved the old badge books and still do the "old school" way and buy patches from other places.

COMMENTS FROM 4-18-15

I have all age levels and none of them like the journeys, besides it feels like school. To many variations if how you can do the journeys, I am disappointed that all girls don't receive the same gs experience, it is pretty much depends on their leadership and their ability to teach or willingness to think outside of the box.
I am a life member of the scouts. I was a teacher for 35 years. Considering these two things about myself I can speak honestly and say what you have done to the "programing" is not building skills but making scouts more like school. Let's get back outdoors and build our skills through another way. There is more than one way to "learn" something. By selling off all the camps to pay the bills and fund your underfunded health/retirement funds did a HUGE disservice to the camping programs across the country. Shame on you for not trying to work things out with local councils. Our 2 camps left are packed each weekend and troops have to wait over a year for a weekend to camp. This is a clear disconnect from the top management to the local levels.
The Journey were not designed for the average volunteers to present. Have you ever tried it? It takes to much time to present them in a way the girls will enjoy working on them. The whole process was introduced backwards- the Guide should have come out first but even those badges need to be added to and get back to progression in scouting. Many troops are multi-level and the badges are not designed for two age groups to work on them. I like that you have badges to support the Journey but the actual Journey books are horrible, dry and confusing for the average volunteer. There are a lot of good B-J- C/S badges that should be brought back because there are many girls who want to do those type of activities and you can tell by the number of leaders searching for out-of-date badges and try--its.
The Journeys are like being at school, none of our girls enjoy doing them.
If we want to increase membership and volunteership, this is the way to go. The girls do not find the current programs fun and you are making it too difficult for the adult volunteers.
My girls love the variety that the old badges offered. They are not enthusiastic about the Journeys. And a few times, they have covered the same information with their guidance counselor (bullying, stereotypes) and science teachers (water, energy) in school, so their teachers signed off on that portion of the Journey. I want scouts to be something that is new and different and that they don't learn in school.
Girls like to be active, learn skills, and do hands on activities. The Journys, no matter how much it is "tweeked" do not offer the excitement, fun, and activity level that was present in the badge program. Girls "are busy" on meeting dates where the Journey is planned. They are in full attendance when we work on badges!!
Our troop is GS in name only, they have totally walked away from the program, because the girls simply do not want to do it. I tried to do the program by with my daughter, alone, and found it too difficult.
I am registering for my 70th year. ! (10 girl years )Everything has changed, but even more quickly in recent years.Always loved outdoors and camping,was able to pass that on to my daughters and many girls.I think the commercialization of Girl Scouting (e.g. GS cookie tea,creamers ,etc.) is detrimental to our values. I do not really like the journeys,but with a very small troop of Brownies we just do some badges and are working toward a camping experience. I remember the Try-its and the Brownie B's as good program.

COMMENTS FROM 4-17-15

The girls don't have fun with the Journey program. They would love to go have back the badge work. They earn more badges and learn more things that interest them.
Journeys would be great to have for Workshops and to encourage girls to work with their families at home.
Bring back the badge books, and get rid of the reading intensive "lessons" called journeys. My girls don't want to do any of them. They want to camp, hike, learn about nature and living outdoors.
I would highly highly enjoy doing things like this outside It would be the best thing ever and traditional
The girls do not want to complete the Journeys. They are too much like school work. Please go back to badges and let the girls have the "fun" back in girl scouting.
I was a Girl Scout for 11 years growing up. I saw the introduction if IP's. They were a good change. Now as a leader, I have seen my eldest daughter drop Girl Scouts - we tried to do a Journey - she said it was boring. My two younger daughters are now saying it's too much like school. We need more badges - that's what our girls want. Less Journeys - too much like school. And do not make Journeys necessary for the higher awards - that's another reason why my girls do not want to earn their Silver and Gold awards as I did.
You haven't had a decent program since Worlds to Explore. The Journey books are even worse than the Studio2B stuff was. Go back to more badges and have them all alike again for older girls. Many older girl troops combine as they move along and now they can't work together on badges. The present program is badly designed, boring and too much like school.
Camping, outdoor survival skills, badges, and learning life skills were important when I was in scouts. The academic aspects of the Journey programs and such are great, but I keep hearing from a lot of girls that the Journey requirements take up a lot more time than learning outdoor skills and other more hands-on merit badges. I have heard of several of my friends' daughters dropping Scouts because it's too much like school and they don't do any neat hands on learning. This makes me sad, because the important skills I learned in Girl Scouts gave me the confidence and know-how to lead others through a wide variety of situations. I would love to see return to a more hands-on approach to learning important skills that keep our young scouts' attention so they may stay interested in becoming the confident leaders we all need, armed with a know-how to deal with any situation that arises.
100 % agree. Girls need more hands on experience, more time outside learning life skills, learning and discovering the world and culture, growing and doing. Treasuring tradition and citizenship. Badges provide ideas and direction for growth. Most girls don't join Girl Scouts to have more homework. Journeys... Just more reading and workbook pages. The material is OK, but gets boring and tedious creates a lot more work for leaders.

COMMENTS FROM 4-16-15

Please take the focus off journeys and go back to try its.
Bringing GS back to basics . . . Camping was always the hook to keep my girls together as a troop for 10 years. Setting goals, working together and attaining leadership milestones also kept my girls in scouting. Older girls mentoring younger girls in Service unit programs definitely rewarded my girls on jobs well done. Win win situation Teaching Girl Scout skills to younger scouts, helped my older scouts grow and have fun!
I learned confidence and found acceptance in my troop going to camp and spending time with crazy counselors in the outdoors. Badge work wasn't everything to me, it was the community and acceptance that came with the organization. Unfortunately, the Journeys program has narrowed the definition of what it is to be a girl. Even the guidebooks depict a very gendered picture of who girls are and what they do & strive for. The old badge books were more inclusive, respectful of diversity, and provided real opportunities for self-exploration and community engagement. I support changing the program to better reflect and welcome all girls. The only way to keep our camps running is to make them appeal to all, and to make the whole organization appeal to more girls. I know times are hard, but I never felt that redefining our programming was the way to retain members. I'm a always proud to be a Girl Scout, and I care enough to sign this petition.
Journeys are great but they don't have to be the entire focus of scouting. And having worked for the girl scouts I know they aren't but a lot of focus is devoted to them. Unless Girl Scouts has a lot of changes I highly doubt I would put my daughter in it. We will likely try something g like 4H
In short, more emphasis on hands on, on DOING, rather than reading, researching and discussing.
We need an outdoor skills journey option! We need our traditions back! This is not the Girl Scouts Juliette Gordon Low envisioned. Girls have enough busy work all day at school. They want to explore and adventure and learn new skills. Outdoor training gives them that. Please give them the option to do outdoor journeys and badges. Thank you.
I was a Girl Scout for 11 years (the most possible in my day), a leader for two troops (1980-1988, 1990-1999), an active volunteer at the council level for 29 years. The comments about Journeys feeling more like school and being more about fluff are true. Today's girls need skills, resilience, problem solving abilities, and leadership experience if they're going to be tomorrow's leaders and change agents. And they want a program with choices and challenges.
Please change the format back. The girls don't like it and neither do the leaders. As a former scout and now leader, it's no longer as fun as it used to be and the girls lose interest.
We try to follow the journey books to a we feel there are things that would be beneficial to the girls that are not in the journey books. With the books it feels more like school than Girl Scouts
The proficiency badges of yesteryear were journeys into the Worlds of Girl Scouting: activities. new experiences, service, partner with experts, taking action to introduce others to a cause. We need more emphasis on life skills and leadership and community partnerships and taking action. Why? So when the girls go forth into the world they have diverse experiences under their caps and can take the lead to make the world a better place … that’s what we do as Girl Scouts young and old.

The Journey books as written are full of fluff. I think it would be great to do away with the girls’ journey books and add pages to the Girl's Guide to Girl
Scouting (one page about each journey theme and the requirements to earn it) and condense the adult guides into one booklet (about all the
Journeys) for each level.

Add more depth of knowledge to each of the heritage badges ... change them back to proficiency badges ... "As Juliette Gordon Low said, "A badge is a
symbol that girls have done the thing it stands for often enough, thoroughly enough, and well enough to be prepared to give service in it.” When girls
add badges to their sashes or vests, they're showing people which skills they've built." http://www.girlscoutshs.org/nationalproficiencybadges

Perhaps the best way is to reinstate the WORLDS of Girl Scouting ... classify the proficiency badges into each world and provide a "JOURNEY" after the
girl has earned _____ number of proficiency badges to demonstrate that she has the Girl Scouting experiences and leadership to strive towards
earning the highest GIRL AWARD available in her level of Girl Scouting … that might mean devising a GIRL AWARD for Daisy's and Brownies, so they
can TAKE ACTION to CHANGE the WORLD too!

Of my troop of 8 members, 6 earned their Gold Awards. After they graduated, I learned to fly and together with local members of an international organization of women pilots, began offering an aviation program where Juniors earned their Aerospace badge. It was VERY popular. Then the badge disappeared and we worked with Girl Scouts to try to find a match with one of the Journeys, but without success. Now we offer our program as a STEM program. Every year we have a long waiting list. This tells me that our Girl Scouts today have a variety of interests which the Journeys program doesn't address. With the badges, every girl could be unique, explore her unique interests, and still be a contributing member of the group. Aren't those the type of women we're trying to develop and promote?
Sadly my own daughters have not completed the Gold Award (youngest did not complete Silver) due to changes. Would like to see these awards comparable to Eagle Scout -- does not change through the ages. An Eagle Scout 18 or 81 knows the step and work required -- not so with Girl Scouting's highest awards. So sad.
The Journey's feel like busy work to the girls. As a leader I feel like I'm leading a classroom not a girl scout troop. I know alot of resources have gone into the journey program but you should be looking at the effectiveness of the information and lessons learned through the activities.
Please please please get rid of journeys. Go back to the old girl scout traditional ways and earning badges. and teach your leaders tradition. The reason Girl Scouts is crumbling like a cookie is because leaders don't understand these new books. the women who want to stay In Girls Scouts are Girl Scouts from the past and they are willing to continue if things change ...
The changes over the past 10 years have been terrible. I am a GS of 25+ years. I was a leader who managed to keep more than 20 girls in scouting until they graduated from high school. My girls were not interested in Studio 2B, nor Journeys. They wanted the traditional Girl Scout plan from the 70's with badges, adventure, and some creative planning to meet everyone's needs. The program of GS did NOT need to be changed. What the GS movement needed was for leadership to train leadership how to adapt as girls move from younger scouts to older scouts. They need to know how to keep it fun and interesting. They need to know how to meet the interests of girls through a variety of activities. They need to learn how to camp, how to plan trips, and how to involve the girls to plan and execute these trips as well. Look at the leaders who have successfully managed to get a significant number of girls to graduate high school proud to be GS! There you will find the recipe for success. These constant changes make GS look like it is run by fickle women who change their minds all the time. It does not reflect building strong young women through a solid foundation. Boy Scouts are successful and they don't continually change. GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM! The program doesn't need to be bigger, it needs to be stronger. YIGS
Too much emphasis is put on journeys. I feel all my girls do for the current badges is sit and talk. It is too much like school. Let them get outside again.
I am a new Daisy Leader this year, and I really expected to be outside with my girls. I am frustrated at how hard it is to get my girls engaged in the activities that are required for the Journey. When I do other activities, My girls are totally engaged, and have a great time. I find the Journeys too limiting to have fun with them.
In 2016 I will celebrate the 50th anniversary of my first GS Camp experience. I was hooked for life. I was also an ADHD/OCD kid in a world where no one knew what to do with us. Camp gave me the tools I needed to succeed in the world. I see camp being watered down by leaders who do everything for their girls and councils who don't provide enough training. Too many think the girls can't do so many things. We need much more outdoor program. Not just progressive from level to level but progressive within the level. The girls need more awards to work on by themselves and in different camp situations. Some girls will not like camp but many will need more room to expand their interest and knowledge. Additional comment: People are doing events earning 4 badges in one day. Daisy journeys ask the girl to read and write more than they are capable. Everyone is dropped in the same box doing Journeys. It takes away individuality. What happened to proficiency? Being able to demonstrate a knowledge of what you learned? Variety to meet every girl's interest. GSUSA seems to have lost the spirit of GS. Girls are having trouble getting all their patches on one vest. It seems we are just handing out awards these days. Where is the quality over the quantity?
We are so disappointed in Journeys. They are completely boring! What kid wants to sit and look at workbooks, which is what they've done all day at school. Leave the workbooks for the school teachers. Get our girls back outside and learning productive skills. Let them learn to be leaders of their community, not fill out a workbook page. Who does that as an adult? Good thing we have loads of imagination and creativity or all our girls would quit if they just had to sit with those Journey books. Girl Scouts offers so much that school doesn't teach. Get back to the real Girl Scout ways and leave the Journeys behind!
I have been a leader for 20 years, working with the second generation now and I can tell you the old ways were better!
I have three girls in Girl Scouts and in all three troops and I have heard complaints about why Girl Scouts isn't more like Boy Scouts (with the outdoors). As a leader I would love to provide that for my troops but I personally lack the knowledge to successfully take the girls "camping" and doing woodworking and the like. It would be wonderful to have these options available for my troops and the training/materials available to teach myself how to teach them! My girls are bored with the Journey's - they want more hands-on work and not just arts and crafts or trips to a local jewelry story to talk to someone who works there (to earn the Jewelry badge)!
I find the journeys very confusing and overwhelming even though the plan is laid out in the book. I used a lot more "out of the book" type activities to meet the requirements or what I think the requirements are. I was a cub scout leader for four years, and I find their handbooks to be much more organized and very precise on the requirements to earn the badge. I would like to see more badge work with specific requirements and no journeys. Most of the journey ideas seem like they can be incorporated into specific badge work.
I am the leader of two troops. Daisies and Brownies. Neither troop enjoys the journeys. They find them boring and tedious and just more homework. I have lost several girls because they do not find the meetings fun. Just more work. This needs to change. Maybe make the journeys optional? I don't know for sure but something has got to be done. I have been a leader for 2 years and can honestly say I don't believe my girls have learned anything from these journeys.
I feel that restructuring the program to be more like the Boy Scouts, in that there are some badges that are required, and then a minimum number of additional requirements that are designed as elective based where the girls can choose either individually or as a troop.
I am just getting back into involvement with Girl Scouting after many years away (was a Cub Scouts Leader for 5 years & a VERY involved parent for Boy Scouts for 2 years). It is so very disheartening to see that the Badgerland Council has shed ownership of the Echo Valley Farm, which was obtained when I was in Cadettes, and was the site of many projects we all worked on to convert it into an ideal location for Girl Scouts to enjoy for the next 200 years. Sadly, I often hear from folks in the local community that the Girl Scouts are dying, and they cite the rapid selling off of Camps as evidence of to support their perceptions. What I have heard from many other parents and grandparents is that Girl Scouts now lacks the focus on Outdoors FUN which was recognized for many generations as being the basis of opportunities for girls to learn new skills. Because of this, their daughters & granddaughters quickly lose interest, & complain that it is too much like school, with nothing to offer which is not available from multiple other sources.

Earning Badges taught the value of learning a wide range of new life skills. The rapid turn-around from the start of work on a Badge to the acquisition
of the reward (Badge) helped kids learn the value of setting achievable project goals, and helped youngsters keep their focus. Leaders were able to
plan activities which required the girls to assist in all elements of the planning & implementation of those activities, to learn how to take responsibility
for their individual roles for the benefit of all (as well as to acquire understanding of the many elements of event planning).

Please, give serious consideration to the genuine need for our girls to learn timeless outdoors skills and experience connectedness to our Earth, in
order to become assertive and knowledgeable stewards of the Earth as they become women in our society.

My girls get so bored they don't like doing the journey because its like school they want to do more funner things
Boring
The Journeys are good for those who are interested in them but it should be up to the girls as to how they pursue their Girl Scout Path.
I have been in Girl Scouts for eleven years now, and I have seen a drastic change as I have grown older. I used to do so many badges as a younger scout, but as I grew older and moved up, my troop stopped doing badges or anything really. But then the journeys came, and that's all my troop does, we all hate it, my leader hates it, and most of our girls have dropped out because of them. I am currently trying to get my gold award but the journeys and all the unnecessary requirements are limiting my success so much, that I'm afraid I might not even get the only reason I've stayed in Girl Scouts these past 5 years. This needs to change, girls are no longer staying in Girl Scouts because it's not fun. It should be a fun way to learn to be a leader, learn about topics that you'd otherwise not get to learn a lot about, and to make friends. Since first grade, I have seen these things slowly fade until they are said to be there, but no one can actually see them.
My troop really does not enjoy the journeys. They love working on badges, Additional comment: Girls do not enjoy the journeys

This is my thirteenth year as a Girl Scout and I was disappointed when the Journeys were first introduced. To me, they make the program harder and more in depth than it needs to be- it turns developing skills into difficult schoolwork. Girl Scouting had always made me more confident in my abilities and straying from the traditional values and insisting on what are basically complicated research projects made me feel inadequate. It is so difficult to earn a journey. Badges were not intended to be easy, but they were intended to teach. I feel that the journeys require too much, and the girls in my troop have agreed with me- so much so, in fact, that they will often avoid even starting a Journey because it is so difficult to finish one. I would love a return to the more involved and environmental participation that comes with the badges (and a greater variety of them at that.) I believe it is just what the organization needs- and what it was meant for. Thank you for making this petition so that our voices can be heard!
Please encourage councils to do programming for older girls!
Economies of Scale and Relevancy do not mean an end to tradition or a putting aside of the core of our program.
My daughter is right at the end of the age where many girls "grow out of" girl scouting. She wants to continue. She is extremely badge driven. The journeys don't motivate her at all.
I was a leader 25 years ago, before I had children. Girl Scouts then was a whole lot better!!! Before we had cell phones and internet. I would go to my monthly leader meetings to a room full (40 - 50 women), with tables full of fun things to do. Now we have a meeting with two different service areas and maybe a dozen on a good night. Yes go back to the badges and throw the Journeys away. When my own daughters did a Journey when they were Daisy's I remember thinking, are you nuts. The material was so boring and lost the girls' interest right away. Now the girls are Cadettes and have to do a Journey for their Silver. No wonder you lose girls as they get older when they are required to do these Journeys to earn their Silver/Gold. Yes it is just more "homework".
You can't learn about outdoors from an ONLINE course, but by interacting and doing the activities is the wide open spaces of the camps, of which are disappearing FAST. Keep the Basics alive.!
As a Leader, I found the shift to career building daunting and repetitive....the girls get a lot of this in school. What is lacking are the 'life skills' ~ interacting with troop members, building working relationships and learning the basic (and, fun) outdoor skills. I was brokenhearted when our council let our camp (Camp Singing Pines) fall to disrepair and finally sold it to a neighboring camp. What a loss for our girls. There was a period when camp programs were lacking (for all sorts of reasons) and because of this, girls stopped going to camp. Yes, CSP was a primitive camp....but that never mattered when the program was engaging, challenging and fun. We absolutely need to get the outdoor program back into the Girl Scouting agenda. The girls need to have something to balance the overwhelming academics!
When I was a girl scout growing up we did lots of badges and outings. We went camping and learned while having fun. I became a leader to give my daughter that same experience but the program has changed so much that the girls are not having fun anymore. We are losing more girls every year because the new program is more like school work than girl scouts. I spend 10 plus hours a week planning meetings and trying to make it interesting. It should not be this hard to keep my Cadettes engaged and interested in girl scouts. There was nothing wrong with the old program and hey lets face it since it is a numbers game for GSUSA, membership levels were up back then! Get back to basics and get back to it being about the girls.
The Journeys take away so much from the activities and are to confusing.
Having been a member over 60 years, I have seen many changes. Most have been wonderful additions to the overall GS program . However, the journey additions are a distraction from a historically solid and focused program path set in motion over 100 years ago with badges as the road to levels of achievement. Let's go forward by going back to what got Girl Scouting started.
Bring back the badges. My girls have earned the Bronze and Silver and are starting the Gold process. We have only done the "one" required journey for each award. I have always read the requirements picked the ones they might like and then changed them to fit my girls. It takes weeks of prep work. This is not my full time job, I am just a volunteer and the time I put in to just to change a journey is unreal, but I do it for my girls. No wonder we have a hard time keeping leaders.
I am a leader and I, along with all the leaders I know, hate the journeys. If you do them using the lesson plans, it feels like school, and the girls find it boring. I figure out the overall lesson of each journey, and make up my own lessons to go with it. Instead of doing a bunch of silly busy work, and lame projects, I have my girls do fun crafts and interesting field trips. The journey program is obviously an attempt to make money on all the books. Well, I don't know of a leader who even buys any of the books. We're not going to make our girls pay for something that they won't even use. We live in the age of the Internet. We can find out the main lessons in a journey, and at the very least, we pass on journey books to other leaders, so we all aren't wasting our money on this crap. GSUSA is losing members and money. Go back to doing what works! A focus on the outdoors, and less silly busy work!
As many have said, the Journeys are too much like school. Daisy said the girls should learn and have fun, and if not both, then they should have fun. Bring back the fun.
My troop wanted to earn their gold awards, but decided the journeys were a long process that did not interest them. This ultimately caused my troop of 5 girls (for 10 years together) to quit girl scouts. High school is a busy time and you are forced to choose what to so with your time. If this is something you are not passionate about, it goes by the wayside. I feel journeys could be an option, but not a requirement. There are many other things that could be added to a gold award or as a prerequisite. Every girl scout meeting I have attended over my 10 years as a leader talks about "girl led" programming, but in my opinion, the journeys are "leading girls" right out of scouting.

COMMENTS FROM 4-15-15

Please keep the activity level of adventure and learning the way it was intended through badgework. The girls and leaders both love the out of doors, singing, hiking, building campfires, sewing, cooking, camaraderie. Signed, (Identifying information removed.)
I have a troop of Cadettes who, though they did the Journeys and found them "OK" once I customized them to the point of being completely non-book based, but teaching the full concepts and doing very hands on involved TAPs...want MOSTLY to do the Retired program and it's IPPs since they actually cover topics that interest them. Please bring back the diversity in badge choices they had in the past.
We have spent so much time working on Journeys that we don't get to work on Badges.... We need to get back to a well rounded program where the girls are learning a variety of skills not just focusing on one subject. I have been a leader for 20 years and feel like I get nowhere on the journeys. If I am not passionate about the subject how am I supposed to get the girls excited????
The Journey's take away from the spirit of Scouting. The badge work makes Scouting an ideal environment to learn in a fun atmosphere. The Journeys are more projects rather than skill sets. The older badge books were more fun... you would see what a badge looked like, read the requirements, and have fun! The girls are overwhelmed rather than inspired.
The new scouting program just makes me shake my head...
In the old try it/ badge / IP books we had lots of STEM and outdoor programs. We need those back to balance out the school work type journeys.
Earning more traditional badges lets girls decide on their "journey" to higher awards. In the past, girls had a variety of badges in many areas of interest. Don't simplify the program to the point that earning an award is more of a "gimme". You need to encourage more adult participation to service more girls.
The old badge books were so much more fun. I have been a leader for 5 years. Our troop did half a Journey- they did not want to finish it. I agree with this petition
The girls hate the journeys - they want to do fun, hands on badges. Sitting & listening to leaders talk causes them to lose interest. Mine will not be continuing past Cadette.
Please bring back the badge programs & outdoor skills. Don't lose our young women,
With the change to the new handbook and emphasis on Journeys, GS has become a whole lot less interesting.
My daughter was in for two years, and I was the leader one year. She hated the journeys and I did too. We tried to do the bare minimum so I could keep the girls interested. After two years she dropped out. I loved Girl Scouts when I was young, and it made me sad but extracurricular activities are not something I force my kids to do. They should be fun.
My child loved Girl Scouts with the old badges and ways. She really tried to like the new journeys and badges but finds them uninspiring. As a result she has decided not to participate in Girl Scouts next year.
Please listen to this. My daughter has earned her bronze and her silver, and is now getting ready to work on her gold. We have done Girl Scouts since she was a first year Brownie. We have used the prior program and now the newer version. The girls hate the new programming. It is to much like school. They want to go to camp, they want to do community service, and they want to explore the world. My daughter is still a current member of Girl Scouts, but she just recently joined the Venture Crew in Boy Scouts so that she could have more emphasis in those areas. She has only been a member of the Venture Crew for 2 months and they have already gone skiing, on a bike on a local trail, and at the end of the month they are going to the sand dunes and are going camping. Now they are working with the Boy Scouts and getting ready to do Scouting for food. They have done more in the two months my daughter has been involved with them then my daughter has done in the last two years or more with Girl Scouts. Please listen to this petition and make the necessary changes. The program has such potential it is a shame to see it going in the direction it is currently headed. Outdoor programming is a must!!
Thank goodness my daughter only had to do one Journey in order to earn her Gold Award (already had her Silver), or she would have quit GS completely. The repeated looks of complete disgust and contempt I got from the girls when we worked through "Girltopia" says everything about the whole Journey process. The girls loved the variety of badges, and what wasn't part of the "standard" set could be found with our "Council's Own" or on the internet with other "Council's Own" badges (another thing that has been done away with). GS should be about trying all kinds of new things, and the Journeys and severely restricted badge set really do not serve the girls.
Please take this into consideration - not sure where your poll came from but we are loosing GS due to lack of outdoor program
The program was so much stronger 20 years ago with a strong array of badges and lots of outdoor activities. All the subsequent changes have driven girls away and reduced the sense of accomplishment in going for the Bronze,Silver and Gold awards. In addition, the constant flow of changes, discouraged my girls so much that many began to think the organization was crazy. The basics...skill building through badges, outdoor activities and gradually learning leadership by taking on responsibilities...all things they don't all get in school.
I have never under GSUSA's drive to constantly change program! There was nothing wrong with the badges we have had over the years. Yes, some needed updating and yes, more needed to be created to keep up with our changing world. Throwing the baby out with the bath water does nothing but confuse our members and the public about what Girl Scouts is all about! Additional comment: As a Girl Scout of 50 years and one who has served all over the country, I strongly suggest GSUSA go back to some of the original badges! The new ones treat girls as if they are stupid without enough sense to put one foot in front of the other! Outdoor programming enhances a girl's self confidence, teaches her leadership, and develops her character. Isn't that GSUSA's byline? I get so tired of hearing that phrase and not seeing it fulfilled! If GSUSA can't restore Girl Scouting to what Juliette Low intended, then it is time for everyone there to retire. Get out before GS is ruined completely!!

Our girls love to camp and be outdoors, where is the Journey's for that? Let's get back to basics, camping, outdoors, safety, sisterhood, and community service related items
The Journey program was clearly designed by adults with an agenda. I find it hard to believe that any Girl Scouts were involved. It's painful and boring. Our Junior girls just laughed at the spider, asking if people knew they were in fifth grade. We do it because we have to, but we do the minimum required just to get it over with. We maintain our integrity by making the effort, but always take the easiest possible option. Since there are no real standards it's easy to skate through without making any effort. An example of this is in the Get Moving Journey. You can take a nature walk or watch a video to learn about nature. Really? We watched a 1/2 hour video and called it done. Why put any more effort into something no one wants to do. We spend hour and hours on badge work, but never put much effort into Journeys.
Please put the fun and adventure back in Girl Scouts.
The journeys are way more difficult then the badge work!
Please return outdoor skills to the program. Requiring the Journeys for higher awards is an obstacle to the girls earning their bronze, silver and gold awards. If the Journeys were popular among either girls or leaders/adult volunteers there would be more summit awards.
Please bring the emphasis back on outdoor skills - girls aren't getting this experience anywhere else!
My daughters were fourth generation Girl Scouts. My daughter's daughter is unlikely to become the fifth generation because Girl Scouting no longer values its own members, its own traditions, or even it's own supposed core value of "girl leadership". Our council administration recently went to court to defend it's right to ignore a valid vote of its General Assembly which called for re-evaluation of a drastic camp-reduction plan. They won / members lost. Eleven of our original fourteen camps are now irretrievably gone. Journey workbooks are very poor substitutes.

A basic question is left unanswered: if members have no say in important ( as oppposed to "token" ) policy and program decisions, what is left of the
heart of Girl Scouting? How do you expect us to support an organization that refused to listen to us? That denied our rights as members and majority
funders?

It might be too late for GSNEO. The rest of the country may have a chance to reverse the downward spiral. Respect your membership.

Turn GS BACK over to the GIRLS, and train the LEADERS to be able to LEAD the girls in what they want to do. Journeys do NOT inspire a leader to foster Girl Planning......
I have been a leader and trainer for 18 years. My girls and adults do not like the journey programs. They find them difficult and non challenging. If anything bring back the Studio 2B program.
I am 51 and have been a GS since 2nd grade. The program today is nothing like the one I was proud to be a member of as a girl. Bring back the traditional program. Boy Scouts still have theirs and are thriving!
Please dump the journeys and include more badges for girls to try new things.
I've been a volunteer for 25+ yrs. I've seen a lot of changes and have to say, the journeys are among the worst. GSUSA needs to rethink their emphasis on the journeys. The girls are not enjoying them. There needs to be a greater emphasis on the traditions of Girl Scouting and the outdoors.
Please stop trying to compete with our school systems and lets stop making the girls feel like they are back doing school work. Our girls hate the journeys and are bored to death with them. Then you make them spend money when it would be cheaper for you to give electronic copies with today's technology and you then offer for them to do journey's in a 2 hour event. They do not even use the books. What a waste of money and time. No one is taking the time to give these girls fun and better experiences. And the leaders are leaving cause they don't like the way the organization is run. Not because they don't want to be with the girls.
Change is always good but sometimes too much change that blurs the mission of Girl Scouting leaves Girl Scout, both old and new confused as to what outcomes are expected after completion of journeys. Girls can no longer earn the badges their mother, grandmother earned in scouting.
Was a leader for 10 years. Would like to see it get back to basics
The lack of real skill building involved in the Journey curriculum is disappointing.
It's very tough to keep the girls engaged in the Journeys. We hold our troop meetings immediately after the school day ends and have since we formed as Daisies. We are now 2nd year Cadettes. It feels so much like a continuation of school work. As a volunteer I also find it difficult to find the time to do the Journeys justice especially since teaching is not my profession. I really do try to make it work but it is probably the biggest challenge for me as a volunteer and the most frustrating part of volunteering.
Please listen to the comments....we are the leaders out there trying to make a difference in tomorrow's women...the new programs are u have implemented are not exciting to teach or learn.
I have witnessed a decline in the number of girls choosing Girl Scouts over the past 5 years. It is my opinion that this is due to a limitation variety of choices in respect to self expression when the emphasis was put on the journeys instead of badges.
I have already left the GS program (along with both my daughters) due to the changes in the National Program structure. I have many years of experience as a girl, employee, adult and leader of multiple troops at all levels. I have been the Service Unit Manager, age level consultant, training consultant, Cookie/ Product Sales consultant for the county, etc... I am an outdoor educator and very involved in mentoring our leaders of the future. I am the kind of person we are losing. Think again.
My girls, cadettes and juniors don't like to sit around a table and do journey book stuff. They are happy when I do badges (outdoors, camping, canoeing, archery, cooking, building fire and its safety, knots, hiking, biking, bb gun shooting, indian lore, leather work, swimming, emergency preparedness, environmental science, etc. I am introducing more and more stuff from the boy scouts to my girls. Make the awards not connected to a journey book. That means 1 Community Service project instead of 2 or 3. I think the requirements are way to far fetched and some time unpossible to do especially when you are overseas with a whole set of different rules.
more outdoor skill teaching, more outdoor challenges, more overnight and long stay camping needed, more emphasis on physical activity
My troop does not enjoy the journeys. They like learning skills and doing activities, not reading, discussing, and writing-it is too much like schoolwork. Additional comment: The girls in my troop (and the girls in my SU) do not enjoy the journeys. They are too much like schoolwork. The leaders don't like them, either. It takes so long to complete them, we get very little done in a year.

We need to get these girls OUT more. I have seen girls leave and go to the Boy Scout Program for Venture scouts to get more outdoors with a little more outgoing rules and encouragement
I just read over, in depth, a Brownie Journey in preparation for my Cadettes to teach it to a group of Brownies. It took way too long to look it over and pull information and ideas out of it. Everyone is so busy and not everyone has time to spend an entire day researching a Journey. The Journeys and badges need to display information and requirements in a more organized, succinct manner. My Cadettes don't like the Journeys so I have to add a lot of other activities to make them interesting. To do it well takes a lot of time that most people don't have. I think we should go back to the old badges, and leadership pins, etc.
The 12 years as a scout gave me the experiences because my leader built our scouting around the many different badges. As a new leader now, I am so utterly disappointed with the structure. The "lessons" I am building for these girls is so lost. Girl Scouts is where I grew and learned my strengths, my identity, my true self. I want the same for the now and next generations. This must be changed. These girls deserve to get all and more that I had gained.
Getting new leaders who were Girl Scouts 20-30 years ago is difficult as they want to promote the scouting they loved, badges, skill building, exploration, outdoors, and home skills. Things that would carry them through their life. Learning they can do anything and should never fear growth as a person are skills our girls today need to know. We are losing them to limitations on what they can earn and rewarding girls for just showing up. Life doesn't reward you for showing up, so what are we teaching? Bring back the badges and open the girls up to what scouting was prior to the Journeys.
The girls are interested in hands on activities. They want to focus more on camping and other outdoor activities. My 2nd grade Brownies will focus on LOTS of camping and earning badges while at camp.
I think the girls have enough homework to be done and alot of them are going out for camping and enjoying the outdoors.
Please keep us adventuring and learning. .
My girls from both troops do not like the badges / journeys - they are too much like school work - especially the journeys. And so much of it IS already taught in school. They want to get outside! Juniors badges are so hard for it to be girl led - they are so complicated for me to figure out - I can't imagine my girls doing it.
The Girl Scouts, seems to be moving away from the principles I remember from my youth. Self sufficiency, skill building, self-esteem. It has been replaced with the equivalent of common core teaching. It's sad. It does not inspire our girls. And it's like Girl Scouts Light, all of the fashion...none of the substance. Please take this petition seriously and make the recommended changes. We want to build strong female leaders. Help us give them the tools they'll need.
The girls complain that the journeys feel like more school work.
Please either minimize or do away with the Journeys! I am happy that we have awards for the girls to pursue, but feel that doing certain badge requirements might be a better way of going about the awards. And yes, not only should there be more badges, but emphasis on more skills/interests like in the past. Am happy to see some new additions being made, however. Additional comment: I have been a troop leader for the last two years (going on three), and a former Girl Scout myself. The Journeys seem to be a drag and not particularly loved by either leaders or the girls! We would love more hands-on activity opportunities (in essence, getting back to the badges of the past, which were great to do solo or as a troop), which could serve as well for any prerequisites to be met for the awards.

Please bring back the Worlds to Explore badges. I feel there was a greater variety for girls to try many different new things, & even specific badges for specific girl interests. Journeys are boring & too much like school. Current badges, & journeys, are repetitive from level to level. And there's also not enough outdoor programming or STEM badges! Look at the facebook pages where leaders quickly buy/sell/swap retired badges...that's where the interest is.
The journeys are too broad and General to hold girls' interests. The "old" style of badges is more conducive to girls delving deeply into a particular interest/skill
The Boy Scout Program hasn't changed substantially in 100 years, and it produces leaders. An Eagle Scout is universally respected. Why does the Girl Scout Program keep changing? If it ain't broke...
Most girls seem to feel the journeys are too tedious and too much like school work.
Former staff member, and Lifetime Member.
The future of Girl Scout leadership and fund raising is from former Gold Award recipients. 1 in 10 Boy Scouts reach Eagle. 1 in 1000 make Gold. Requirements for Gold, as well as all the programs, need to become simplified to produce more participation. If you ignore this, there will be no Girl Scouts anymore.
We can bring in more STEM while still supporting our outdoor programs! They are not mutually exclusive. Camps are GREAT science labs! And we could partner up with the Makers Guild movements for all sorts of wonderful STEM opportunities. And please go back to supporting your rural members. We are some of your strongest supporters! So, in short: bring back badges, keep camps open and support ALL your members!
I have helped with my granddaughter's troop for 5 years. They are now disbanding because the girls are not enthusiastic about the journey's. They love doing badge work. I have offered to help any of the girls as solo Scouts to work to finish their Silver Awards and accomplish their Gold Awards but there is little interest because of the journeys. The leaders constantly complained about the journeys being difficult to plan and complete and how they just weren't Scouting. It's a real shame to see such a previously fine program lose the interest of some fine girls.
Girl Scouts need to go back to the focus of girl scouting. Minimize the Journeys, increase outdoor programming, bring back more badges.
The journey' s are too structured. They don't really allow the girls to explore and discover. They are poorly played out. There is more material in the girl's book then is ever mentioned in the leader guides. We followed the leader guide with our current journey and then realized half the girl's book wasn't even used.

Girl Scouts are no longer being taught how to come up with their own ideas. I feel we are just teaching them to be consumers with all the
merchandising that they are bombarded with. Girls are actually restricted from making t-shirts with their troops on them because they didn't have the
proper logos. The fun and creativity is gone.

My leadership was in the 80-90's. I thoroughly enjoyed the Brownies and Juniors programs at that time. It was so much fun to find propping the community to help with the badges. The girls loved it!
The journey books are like homework assignments. They drastically reduced the number of activities girls can get credit for doing. They are like mini bronze projects that are sequential instead of exposing girls to a wide variety of subjects & activities. The subjects not included in the journeys include: STEM, outdoors, car repair, horses, etc. These are exactly the activities girls need the most exposure to in scouting. These all of these journeys can be completed by an ambitious troop in a few months, then they have nothing to get credit for for the rest of their time at that age level. The journeys would be fine as extra project work in addition to the badges, but bring back the badges! The fact that most of the badges have remained the same for over half a century shows how valuable they are to all girls of all generations. If you're worried about older girls not liking to wear their vests, they still appreciate getting the "reward" of earning a badge, even if they don't go out & buy the badge (which most girls do).
I would like to see less commercialization and more programs that will interest the girls. We are stuffing to get through a journey in order for them to work on their Silver award.
My girls absolutely hate the journeys they get bored and cranky when I tell them it's journey day. I have done all I can to make these fun for the girls but they want hands on, hands in activities!
girl scouts is about outdoors, girl scouts is about making things happen, girl scouts is not about girls filling out forms and following checklists and coloring inside the lines.

COMMENTS FROM 4-14-15

Teaching leadership skills for girls is valuable. Many cannot get "training" in leadership. That being said, leadership should not be the ONLY focus of the Girl Scout program. Girls are interested in exploring "life skills", opportunities in the world around them, and just plain "fun things to do".

The current journey program can be part what we offer in Girl Scouts. But let's provide more opportunities for girls to explore anything that is out
there. The girls should explore as many things as possible while they can change their mind about what they want to try. It is much more difficult to
"explore options in life" and change their direction after they are into a career or family. Let's give them a chance to try things.

Maybe we should bring back Juliette Low's "Stalking Badge"?

Perhaps we should bring back the option of uniforms for ALL girl levels to help increase Girl Scout visibility to the general public.

Please keep Girl Scouting interesting, they have enough "busy" work.
More emphasis on camping and traditions.
My Girl Scouting experience from age 7 -17 helped form the woman I am today. This valuable program for girls needs to be fortified and grown so the most can take advantage of the experience and develop into women that make a difference. Boy Scouts continue tohave a presence and give boys wonderful experiences.Girls should have the same.
Use the camps!! Use the overnight summer camps!!! You might just be surprised at the leaders you actually develop.
I only hope the damage is repairable...
I would not be who I am today without the experiences I had at Girl Scout Camp and earning badges with my troop. Please bring back more outdoor programming and emphasis on badges that teach life skills!
The mergers forced on local councils seven and eight years ago, the pension obligations the Reorganization precipitated, and the disassociation of girl scouting from camping were existential errors.

Girls can and do learn the life and leadership skills they need to succeed with a good dose of health and wholesomeness from spending as much time
as possible outdoors and at summer camps.

The movement cannot and does not deserve to survive on its current course. The sooner this is understood and meaningful programming and
scouting values restored, the better chance Girl Scouting stands to recover its reputation and worth to our culture.

Camping at places like Camp Eagle Island is what made Girl Scouting different from other available organizations. I turned in a 50 year life membership due to this council's policies and refusal to consider other options to the sale of its camps
It is past time we open our hearts and minds to ALL our girls (including those in "flyover country") when they tell us what they want to do in Girl Scouting. Then, with their advice, design and implement age-appropriate programs that will help them grow into strong women of character who will lead at all levels of society, government, medicine, research, STEM, and and the military to make this world a better place, and then help lead the next generation of girls to do likewise. Additional comment: The National Program Portfolio is a far cry from Daisy's vision for our girls. It is not girl-led. It does not address the needs or wishes of all our girls. It has stripped out what has made our Movement a vital part of our girls' lives for years. Let's get back to listening to ALL our girls, wherever they are, whoever they are. Let them talk. Stop "guiding" their conversations. Stop thinking for them. The best conversations I had as a girl in Girl Scouts were when my Sister Girl Scouts and I were sitting with each other just talking. Not in "focus groups," not with a bunch of adults telling us what to say, just speaking our minds with each other. The best conversations the girls in my troops had were when my co-leaders and I stepped back and listened. We didn't "guide" their planning sessions. We heard their dreams, their fears, their plans. Out of these sessions came some great ideas. Let's open our hearts and minds to our girls and each other. Remember Daisy. Remember we're all in this together. We're not at war with each other. We're working together to keep our Movement growing!
I began in Girl Scouts of the Oranges and Maplewood, which later became Greater Essex. I was an active scout 1945-1954. The heart of my experience was camping at Eagle Island, 1947-1953. Later I was a leader for both my daughters who attended EIC, the younger from 1975-1982, and also was a counselor the last year. Girl Scouts needs to focus on making girls strong and independent-this is in fact the heart of scouting. Keep our great traditions alive in out troops and in one of the greatest camps in the nations, namely Camp Eagle Island. (Name removed.)
-The current Gold Award process seems to be much more about the paperwork than the project! -More outdoor programs!!!
The Journeys are entirely too repetitive from level to level and are repetitive from school as well. Girls are no longer willing to pursue Silver and Gold awards if they have to do Journeys to get to them. The ones who do are only doing it because they have to, not because they want to. I am really sad to see girls leaving GS for Venturing crews because they want experiences that don't come from books.
emphasize more outdoor skill building
These girls need hands on life skills not more book learning.
The journey books were not well regarded in our troop. Back to basics would be my vote. GS handbook with the list of badges and requirements. Go back 30 years to the simple handbook (without all of the distracting graphics and preform programs) and you will be surprised how much more excited girls will be to take the initiative to direct their GS activities.
It should not be putting girls off from staying in scouting or completing higher level badges. The path should certainly be challenging but not boring or tedious or uninteresting for MOST. Additional comment: I have 2 boys in scouting (cub and boy scout) and a daughter in girl scouts. She wants to do the same as them and BEGS for the same chances. She isn't interested in the journeys and i can see her lose interest in girl scouts as we go along. Please let us go more badge driven so we can mix and match to a girls specific interest and challenges and help keep them excited and wanted to go forward in scouting. The different levels of scouts seem so confusing and the programs doesn't flow well between them right now. Im hating trying to follow it as a leader too. If things don't change i will not be able to stop my daughter leaving to become a venture scout at the earliest opportunity she can.

Girls join girl scouts to have fun, not go to school. They want to earn badges but many of the new badges require internet and research. Many of the girls love Outdoor programs and most of the new badges are not outdoor friendly. Before they did away with all the old badges, they should have done a survey of the most popular badges sold and kept those and then added the new ones.
My older girls (grades 6-11) would love to see more badges that are of interest. My ambassadors are disappointed with the lack of badges. These are kids, they still want to have fun! They want skiing, art, camping, canoeing, pottery, etc. We have tried really hard to find retired interest projects and councils own interest projects for the girls to complete. While they have earned Journeys for silver and gold awards, they have not cared for the Journeys. We have reworked the Journeys so they are less like school work. My girls don't want more school work!!!!
Act like you care about the kids and volunteers. Stop selling the Gs logo for stuff that is not beneficial or healty for girls and families. Make the program enjoyable. Have programs in the antelope valley that are not just thrown together and actually tell people about them. Why is it for our camp all the money is due up front where other councils have a deposit
I think we need more skills badges. And a return of more categories especially for older girls..They have enough schooling they want more hands on categories like jewelry, TV, radio , creative writing , pottery etc...The journeys should include stepping stones to the higher awards to get girls more interested too
I understand the rationale for the journey: they are practice for Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards. But, I find them too hit-or-miss with my quirky Girl Scout troop. There are not enough Journey Options or ways to make Journeys more friendly to C/S/A girls. My girls also prefer practical skills, camping, high adventure, and interesting field trips. They want more badge work. They want badges that can be completed at a troop event, overnights, or meetings. The badges where it says "Take notes for two weeks" or "create a survey" are just not going to happen with my scouts. I'd like more options to help make the program more adjustable for my Girl Scouts.
I am a Girl Scout leader in spite of the material. I have multiple troops and multiple ages. I feel national and councils pay lip service to volunteers. I feel the material is not age appropriate (in the case of Brownie material skewed too young and in Cadettes sometimes too mature). I spend most of my time reworking to meet the spirit of the badge or Journey. The Journey program and the extra badge packets are truly designed as a money maker for GSUSA. If you cared truly about the girls and leaders all the material would be available in one price book. The focus on making little sales people for your cookies where you as an entity get more of the money than the troop is ridiculous. Girl Scouts has become more about the business and not the girls - you have lost touch and are buying into your own hype so much that you don't hear the volunteers or girls.
Emphasis on camping, especially effort to get inner city scouts to country sites. Urge support of retaining/repurchasing/reestablishing Girl Scout Camp of Eagle Island in Saranac Lake, New York as prime example.
Both my daughter and I went through pre-Journeys programs. We loved scout camps and badges and both grew a great deal in self-reliance and confidence as a result. There is no replacing them! I am now an advisor at our church to scouts for religious awards, and the girls are dropping out as they hit the journeys. They really don't like them and wonder why their programs can't be more active and interesting. They liked badges, camping, and competence-building challenges, not Boy Scouts but Scouting tailored to girls.I am concerned that we are neglecting the challenge level needed by vast numbers of girls who need to be rescued from the "Barbie" culture and encouraged to be confident, capable, strong women leaders, comfortable with physical activity as well as with real technical achievement and service. Badges, the Awards, and camping are all powerful tools that can change the lives of girls at all levels of society.
Cannot get my girls to participate in new program. Needs to include materials that don't seem like doing a school workbook. Very uninspiring.
We've had to make the journeys fun and interesting - because they aren't as they stand. They are schoolwork. They are unimaginative. They pretty much suck the light out of the room. They're wonderful if you don't have a clue or are completely overwhelmed as a leader. This fine for those who like stuff handed to them and don't have to think. Which is not who I want as a leader...but I digress. There should be two options - the "I don't have to think' one you have now and then the stripped down outline - that we can personalize for our troops. One size does not fit all!
Yes, please minimize the journeys and dramatically increase the outdoor opportunities to reflect what today's girls want and need. I am a Cadette troop leader and can tell you this change is absolutely needed.
I have stopped volunteering as leader of 2 troops due to the time constraint to enact journeys and all the of scouts I have LOST has been due to the move from fun badges to school like journeys.
I would like to see the curriculm change back. I began GS as a brownie and went to Senior, but I don't have the time nor the desire to invest so much effort into one single activity. I like the shorter badge work, I feel like I was able to try so many new things. Its how I discovered my love for cooking.
I don't like the journeys. I joined GS as a daisy and am now a Junior. I don't believe I will continue as I have found the things I want to focus on and I have other avenues for service projects. I enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone to try new things, however these journeys become exhausting after 3 or 4 meetings.
The girls I work with in our service unit have lots of patches on the BACK of their sash or vest & few badges - - especially the Jrs. & up. The journeys are too much like school work. Many of the journeys emphasize issues that are now addressed a lot in the schools - while GSs should support these issues such as gender equality & bullying we do not need to make them the main concept again & again.
Our council has been asked to address to issues in the new strategic initiatives project. One is engaging girls and the other is changing the culture to be more girl-centered. De-emphasizing the Journeys that require too much adult input and re-emphasizing badge and skills work that girls can choose and progress with will address both of these initiatives. The girls want to do badges, but the badges do nothing to earn them the higher awards. This needs to change.
I am a third generation Girl Scout. My daughters and granddaughters have been or are currently Girl Scouts. I was a long time leader and certified GS trainer. In the late 1990's, I had a Cadette/Senor Girl Scout troop with 25 girls in it. Some of those girls had never been Girl Scouts until then. (This was in council name removed). They loved the outdoor activities, and went half a year without doing any interest project patches. They got bored and voted to work as a troop on three...

I have always loved the way GS changes with the time to meet the needs of the girls. But they have also had the foresight to change things again if they
don't work well. I was still a trainer when this new program went in, and my daughter is currently a leader, so I have knowledge of the new journey
program. The loss of badge opportunities has been the girls and the adults main complaint, right along with the complicated process of the journeys, it
reminds me of the ramblings of the Brownie B's from the 1980's. All said and done, the outdoor emphasis that has mostly gone missing, is another
sad issue. Children love and need exposure to outdoor activities and by having them, will give them the focus needed to protect their environment in
the future. This is just as meaningful, necessary and important as careers, science, mathematics and life in general. Please listen and act accordingly
(and responsibly) to the members that sign this petition.

The journeys have to be rewritten to be useable and cover the same topics that are presented in school. Girls come to scouts to do and learn things they cannot in school.
I don't like the Journeys at all. They are boring and the few badges we have now are just not what I am interested in!
I am both disgusted and dismayed at the total disregard of GSUSA for the wishes of the membership, for whom they are supposed to work. Further, their apparent intent to continue with programming that is almost universally detested by the girls they work for shows their true feelings. Since the Members are supposed to be the basis for actions and decisions, why does GSUSA continue to ignore the many issues with programming and

other problems that they have created with their stubborn insistence on proceeding down a path that is destroying Girl Scouting?

Encouraging outdoor activities is a way to teach the love of nature and is a gateway to understanding the best environmental practices.
I've hated Journeys since I was a girl. Now I'm a leader and having to teach this stupid program again and again every three years.
Journeys are difficult to implement and don't offer the variety badges did. I had a troop from 1st - 10th grade and loved the badge system. Now I have a brownie group and really struggle with programming.
Changes are needed in both programs and the way some upper management discriminates against both programs, training ways as well as volunteers. Additional comment: GSUSA needs to listen to the volunteers-- so do the upper management people in Councils.

I think a lot of this changes between program orientation and counsels merging has created a big mess and caused kids to lose interest
My girls were very disappointed when they first saw the journey books. I was afraid they were going to quit right there on the spot. Instead, we discussed it and voted. They voted to choose badges and experiences as we go and to forget the bronze, silver, and gold for now. As a first time leader, I was grateful that I did not need to work through the books and determine how I was going to fulfill the requirements. I found the book I did read....boring.
Make outdoor programming the focus!
Bring back true Girl Scouting. Too much of the Journeys go against many families' values. I was very disappointed in so much of the New Age and far left leaning values that were being taught. Let's teach the girls how to do things instead of the social engineering that seems to permeate the program materials.
I am currently an Ambassador level and have been in gs almost nine years. When I was little we had the badges and I loved them! I enjoyed working on them with my troop and occasionally going to events where we could earn multiple badges in one day. Now it seems like the only way to do that is be a boy scout. My troop disbanded just as journeys started, two years ago I rejoined gs with a different troop than the one I am in now. That troop never did journeys because they were too complicated and badges were extremely rare because there weren't any to earn anymore.

My current troop only does the journeys because all of us want to earn our Gold or Silver award. Us girls don't actually know what we are doing with
our Journeys and just do what our leader tells us to until we earn it. I would much rather have a program like the Boy Scouts. To earn their Eagle award
they have a certain amount of badges but there are tons of other badges they can earn besides the Eagle Required ones. I wish if Girl Scouts had to
have requirements to earn the Bronze, Silver and Gold it should be badges. Badges that are different for each level. The current prerequisites to earn
Gold says you must have earned the Silver or do two Journeys. I earned my Bronze but I wasn't a scout when I could have done my Silver project, now
that I want to earn my Gold the requirements make me feel bad that I didn't earn my Silver. For if I had I wouldn't have to do as many journeys, more
than the other girls in my troop that have done their Silver.

Been though the older program in the 80's. Lived through the Studio B2 program - epic failure. Really have been puzzled with the Journeys as it seems to be more school work than fun & exciting new experiences...MEGA EPIC FAILURE. Revisit the basic Girl Scouting books from back in the day.
My girls have yet to complete a Journey. They are now 7th grade Cadettes and my eldest is a 10th grade Senior. They don't like them and view them as school work. I can't force them to do it. We've tried numerous times, they simply do t have any interest. My 10th grader was enjoying the interest badges, but had just begun those and they were taken away at the same time. Please get back to the basics.
PLEASE return back to what GS was and put more emphasis on badges and less on the Journeys. The Journeys are so time consuming and my girls really dislike them, and they are so disappointed when it takes away from time to do badge work.
Journeys are ok for some but I am for a wider range of badges and especially those promoting the outdoors and the benefits of outside :)
We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. Those who are wise remember this. Organizations that remember this, thrive. I believe so strongly in Girl Scouting and what it can do for girls, but I don't believe the way we are going about it is the right way. Yes, we can update the program to include wonderful things like STEM, computer programming, and robotics, but we need to also remember where we came from, and the core of the program. I am sad to see many camps sold, many outdoor programs cancelled, and many girls leaving the program by age 12. We need more support for leaders, more outdoor programming, more emphasis on the girls, and less of the corporate world.
As a girl my favorite part of scouts was when we as girls would choose which badge to go for next and then work to complete it together. The ability to earn badges on our own and have SO many to choose from. Now as a leader I'm saddened by the emphasis on the journeys. The girls get easily bored by them. And even when complete they can't concisely say what they learned from it. The skill badges are exciting for them. They like seeing the clear list of things to do to complete it. They feel a sense of accomplishment when completed and gain a life skill.

The general movement away from the outdoors completely baffles me. There is only one badge per level that focuses on traditions. This is awful. We
have an organization with deep roots and profound history that is minimalized or ignored. It is heartbreaking for those of us that were scouts as girls.

Bring back the pride in the organization.

I am a life long / lifetime member and current trainer. I just tried to plan a 6 - week session using the Girl Guides and couldn't believe how lame the badges are. I had just given them a cursory look in the past. Having to plan a multi - level experience for girls who have never been members, I thought I would use the GS Ways badges. I was SHOCKED to realize they were almost exactly the same! No real progression at all! It needs to be totally scrapped or we will have lost a generation of girls. Additional comment: I am a lifetime / life - long member since 1971. As someone who has been a trainer for over 15 years, I am still having trouble understanding and teaching the journeys. I have been through the Studio 2B fiasco as well. Please stop trying to "modernize" the program towards what is being taught in school and give the girls a chance. Leaders are clamoring for pre - packaged, simple programs with lots of badges. Older girls want something that lets them be leaders and chose their own path. NOT journeys.

A variety of skill based badges that allow girls to explore a variety of fields should be the basis of Girl Scout programming. Juliette Low knew the importance that specific skills, especially in the outdoors, help girls become self-reliant, independent, competent, and an asset to their community. During the flood in our town, it was those who had skills in the outdoors that could help themselves and others in the community.
The journeys are awful and boring! They are confusing to us leaders to even do with the girls! The girls just sit and read a LONG story and do a few activities! The leader book is even more confusing! Page numbers do not go together with the girls books! What fun is it to do a book that is like school work, after you just sat in school all day? It is NOT!!! I have had girls QUIT GS because the journey took too long!!! It takes us 1-3 MONTHS to get through one of those awful things! Yet it is REQUIRED for awards!! Let's earn badges, be outside, play games and HELLO .... HAVE FUN!!!!! I was a GS for 12 yrs, and worked at the camp one summer! I know GS can be MUCH better than what you are giving us leaders today! PLEASE put back the F the U and the N in GS!! My girls will thank you when you do ... if I can keep them in GS long enough for you to fix this mess!! Thanks!
Having been a leader for four years for my oldest daughter (now 22), I can attest that she and I both had fun with the former Try It program. My daughter got to experience so many activities that she wouldn't have otherwise. There were activities to appeal to everyone.

I quickly jumped at becoming a leader for my incoming Daisy 11 years later. I attended a "training" session about implementing the Journey program,
and left, still scratching my head and wondering how I could make the program fun for the Brownies. Even tweaking the Journey, the girls complained
that it felt like school work and hated it.

Kids learn best by hands-on-learning, bot by reading stories and doing ""paper and pencil"" fill in the blank stuff - which feels like school work.

After two years of being my youngest daughter's leader, I quit. Fortunately, she continued, and I became a TCM. My daughter knows full well what I
think about the changes to the curriculum. So far, she is still interested in attending the meetings, but I've heard her and some of the other girls say
how boring it is. They earned their Bronze award this year. Of course, they had to do a Journey to get the award. I honestly wonder how many of the
girls will stay with Girl Scouting as they get older and if they continue having to do Journeys. In my opinion, Girl Scouting used to be fun. Girls got to
try/experience new things and looked forward to meetings and camping. Not anymore...

Journeys were implemented when my troop bridged to Brownies. We ignored them during Brownies and did stricktly skill and fun badges. When we bridged to Juniors, we tried to add a journey. My troop dropped from 6 girls at the start of Juniors to 2 girls wanting to continue into Cadettes.
The girls spend so much time doing book work at school. They need to be able to have fun while serving their community! Bring back the learning new skills, challenging themselves physically, spending time outdoors.
I am a Lifetime member and have been a member for over 35 years. I have seen the Promise change 3 times with great care and respect for the history and endearing standards of Girl Scouts. In the last 5 or so years, with the introduction of the Journeys program and then the revamped new badges, I have gone from a troop numbering around 10 (Juniors) to 4 faithful Seniors. I have tried to keep their interest and give them the skills I believe are the foundation of the program. My girls were very bored with the Journeys but did them because they always planned on working to receive their Gold Award (I earned my Curve Bar as a girl). They have complained that the new badges are too much like homework. I have tried to keep them interested in Girl Scouts because I believe in it so much. Please revamp these two things so that future Girl Scouts will have the program I, my daughter and my two granddaughters have benefited from.
Get back to basics, just update those basics to reflect current society and technology.
Please change or remove the journeys! The girls do not want more homework! They want to learn new things in Girl Scouts!
The girls loathe the journeys. I lost more girls last year after we did the Amaze Journey because the found the meeting work boring and too much like school. The Journey did not help cut down on bullying behavior with my girls over the long haul. My girls love to camp. We camp 5 times per year because our council supports us and our camps. This and travel are what keeps the girls as they get older.
Badges allow flexibility - which means troops can be girl-led. The Journeys do not facilitate being girl-led. How do we teach leadership? By being girl-led!!!
I have been a registered Girl Scout for 58 years and have seen many changes which have not been for the better. I currently co-lead a Cadette troop and we find the Journeys extremely difficult to hold the girls' interest. We need to get back to teaching skills. The Journeys are too much discussion and not enough doing and too much like the girls are already doing or have done in school.Where's the adventure and excitement and sense of accomplishment? Additional comment: Please, please bring back the skill badges. Our Cadettes are losing interest. They know what the boys are doing at the same age in Boy Scouts. There's no comparison any more. The girls are being spoon fed. It's no longer fun or exciting. The journeys just mimic what they've already learned in school. Where's the hiking and knife craft and survival skills?

GS is becoming just a girls' get-together time.
I have worked with volunteers through three program major program changes, each one has left volunteers more frustrated by leaving them with having to do their own writing of programming and activities for girls to keep their interest. The tradition of Girl Scouting is being lost. While we do need to look forward as an organization, we also need to hold the roots of Juliette Gordon Low's foundation and why it has been so successful. Please listen to your volunteers and listen to your girls; they are tomorrow's future.
I think we need to get back to more Outdoor skills and take the main emphasis of the program off of the journeys. The journeys are so repetitive and boring for the girls. I wish we had more choices of badges. I'm a life-timer with a huge troop and really don't like the direction Girl Scouts is going right now.
More badge options is what my girls want (even the Daisies!) They don't all have to be outdoor badges, we aren't an overly outdoor troop, but they want badges that they explore different areas. It is about exposure not about studying like school!
The Girl Scout focus needs to move away from the money and back to the girls and what they want!
This petition, with its discussion of the current Journeys program, is not something I can decipher intelligently. As a mother of two boys, I only was involved in Cub Scouts as they grew up, and haven’t been in Girl Scouting since my high school days as a delegate to the first GS Roundup, a counselor at two different scout camps, and a proud member of Mariner Ship Water Witch. I am distressed now, however, at the direction Girl Scouting seems to be heading, with the de-emphasis on outdoors experiences—camping, in particular--and the insistence on "curriculum" activities. There has to be more to scouting than full-time fun, but that extra sauce should be mastering the outdoor adventures not offered in our cities, schools and safely scheduled homes. My experiences as camper and staff at our Saranac Lake camp Eagle Island, centered on the waterfront and mountain trails, with everyone living in canvas tents, still shines as my idea of the perfect introduction to the world beyond school and family.
I was a scout during the transition to Journeys, and I much preferred the way things were done before. The previous system of badges was much more engaging and enjoyable.
We have done journeys since daisies and I don't feel the girls learn half as much as they do with badges. They are difficult to implement and the girls feel as if its just an extension of homework and lose interest halfway through.
Need to get back to the basics of scouting: badges, outdoor skills and fun. Juliet Low said to try and learn something and to have fun doing it. Journeys are not fun.
I agree the journeys are hard to implement, taking too much time frim volunteers to understand and too much like school. I even got an old junior book of badges for the girls to look at. Wish they didnt tie these journeys into the bronze, silver and gold awards.
As a life long Girl Scout, I'm at a loss to understand how every decision GSUSA sanctions is explained by: "it's what the girls wanted"! Yet, no one acknowledges ever having been asked.

Here are some facts: Living in western Colorado, I can safely say our resources have been stripped and our program options decrease every season.
When we were forced to consolidate GS of Chipeta Counsel with GS of CO, we were told it would combine resources, making a stronger, better
program opportunity for every girl. We were told scouts on the western slope of CO would be assisted to access programing consolidated in the
metropolitan areas of the eastern plains. The fact is, no provisions have been made to give scouts west of Denver equal access to anything except the
opportunity to sell cookies. Instead of a craft completed, a skill gained, an opportunity fostered or a plan implemented, the pinnacle of the girls scout
experience is doing duty at a cookie booth, shilling cookies outside walmart in January. As a girl scout of 9, I had learned how to make a sit upon to
keep my bum dry when I was outside; I learned how to plan, shop and prepare a meal of tasty food miles away from any kitchen and how to clean
up/keep my dishes/ pots/pans clean and sanitized when there was no chlorinated water or washing facilities; I learned how to break down a complex
task into simple jobs everyone could do. Most important, I learned something GSUSA no longer appears to value: I learned how to talk with my fellow
scouts in a way that allowed everyone a voice and encouraged everyone's participation. When something worked the way we wanted (or better!) we
celebrated! When something didn't go as planned, we worked together to solve the problem.

Finally, I learned that no process is complete until everyone's had a voice and every opinion was listened to. Everyone's participation was crucial to the
success of our experience and no endpoint (irregardless of how great it looked from the outside) was considered complete until everyone had crossed
the finish line in a way that was meaningful to them. Not everyone got there at the same time, but no plan was a success unless we got there together.

Journeys and pastel badges made my troop quit.
As a lifelong Girl Scout and a mother of a Cadette, I feel that Journeys need to be eliminated entirely or become an option rather than a requirement to progress with awards such as the bronze, silver, and gold. I feel passionately that the emphasis needs to be on those opportunities that Scouting brings to girls that they do not otherwise have opportunities to participate in during their long days at school. I also miss the days of being able to work through badges independently instead of relying on troop work. My Cadette's twin brother is a Boy Scout and they go camping once a month! As a Girl Scout, my daughter is lucky to camp 2-3 times a year. And, my son camps with his troop over the summer where he is able to work on requirements for higher awards. Yet if my daughter camps over the summer, she camps with strangers! Girl Scouts needs to look at the greater picture of what we are offering to our girls, whether the opportunities are relevant, interesting, and different than class work, and why Girl Scouts loses such a large proportion of girls after elementary school, especially compared to Boy Scouts.
You really need to being back the badge work. My daughter has earned her Bronze and Silver and now due to the journeys has chosen not to get her Gold under new guidelines. My troop of 19 is down to 6. Girls say the journeys feel like school work and it's not fun. I had the same girls since kindergarten. They are due to graduate high school next year. They meet now only to be with friends no to follow the program. Girls and Leaders alike have lost the our love for the program. Do something about it as this is not he intention Juliette wanted when she started the program. Why have you allowed yourselves to lose that?
I have been a troop leader since the 1980s. The journey books have done more to discourage girls and leaders than anything in my experience. I have just now become involved with my first grandson in Boy Scouts. The granddaughters want to go with him! Please bring back the traditional skill related badges. Keep it simple.
Outdoor roots and badges!
Change is needed to grow, but if you don't have a sound foundation nothing will stand. Please keep outdoor activities that teach human skills.
Nine years of Scouting as a girl and 10 years as a leader of two troops through many years of change. Extremely disappointed when they took away all of the badges that me, my mom, AND grandmother earned. Yes, times change, but not everything changes. While the Journey books are nicely designed and illustrated, neither the girls in my troop or myself cared for them at all. I could go on, but just please consider a return to what had worked for generations!
Boy Scouts is still outdoor-focused and is still successful. Girl Scouts is not. It's that simple. Girls who don't crave the outdoors have plenty of other activities to engage in like dance and gymnastics, they're not going to be attracted to scouting. And girls attracted to scouting don't want to be indoors working on journeys. Get back to basics and hold your target audience, or risk losing all.
My older girls HATE the Journeys. They believe you have dumb downed the badges making them cutesy. My girls LOVE TAMBU and the outdoor skills it builds. Get back to the true focus of Girl Scouts.
GSUSA has told us why our numbers have been declining (we are going against sports, etc), however I know first hand that our Service Unit has lost multitudes of girls because of the Journey program. Wake up GSUSA - you want to stop some of the bleeding? Listen to your volunteers who are in the trenches and have to spend hours on how to make a system that is broken and undesirable to all girls, maybe a little fun if that. Get back to the basics - make it fun for the girls and way less painful for the volunteers.
Journeys are to much sit down and not enough girl scout traditions
As a leader of a multi level troop, i find it is very difficult to complete the journeys. the girls loose intrest. they find them boring and complain they are too much like school work. i will say the Daisy Journeys are great.. the girls seem to have fun with them but the other levels ... not so much. the girls do not want to do them. they would rather work on other badges. we have been working on one journey now since September and we meet every week... this is because they just do not want to do it.
I cannot stand the journeys!
Please bring the real Girl Scouts back!
The current emphasis on Journeys and lack of hands-on skill badges hurts girls and makes others look down on Girl Scouting. I was a member from 1st-12th grades and camp staff for a summer-and-then-some after. I was fortunate during my time as a child to be able to pursue a variety of badges according to my interests, and I was even more blessed as an adult leader at camp to help my girls pursue what they wanted, which was almost always hands-on learning or creating.

When asked what the girls should do, Juliette Gordon Low responded "What do the girls WANT to do?" Please heed her response. The way things are
going, girls are going to have to join Venturing in order to pursue skills and interests. I respect the Venturing program and their leaders, but it's sad to
me that girls will have to give up empowering, women-only spaces to do that.

I believe the entire program is moving too far away from the basic belief and foundation of the Girl Scouting. There are many, many outdoor career possibilities available for exploration, not to exclude the basic skills.
I think we need to get back to traditional girl scouting with emphasis on the issues our girls face today.
I'm worried. I'm a lifetime girl scout and I want to start my daughter next year and I'm worried that she will hate it. I want her to love it but she already has school.....
Also, I hate that all leadership is now shifted to Journeys, not only higher level awards My Cadettes are supposed to work with Brownies on a Journey before they can earn Program Aid Requirements (LIA). And guess what? The Brownies dont want to do a Journey! So the older girls cant earn PA, and qualify to work with younger girls. Doesn't make sense, just follows an agenda. NOT developed by the girls.
More outdoor and/or high adventure activities
The Journey requirements for each badge are often unrealistic. We can barely get one Journey done in the 2 years we have. In addition to more skill building, some support for introducing other cultures from around the world would be nice. I would say that the Junior Journey Amuse does a pretty good job introducing the girls to various roles that they can play as adults and discussing stereotypes and how they should not be limited by them. I would also like to reiterate our desire for more opportunities for TROOPS to attend GS camps rather than just individuals, which is too expensive for our girls and they really have been too young to want to go alone (they are first year Juniors). We were told there would be more last summer but there were none except for the Rendezvous. So we are spending our money again taking our troop to the YMCA of the Rockies. Thank you.
I have seen a 2 fold decline in my troop with the implantation of journeys my girls want patches and badges.
I tried to do a Journey with my Junior troop this year. It was not a good experience. The girls did not understand the purpose and some have stopped coming to meetings. They attend camping and other activities but are bored by the Journeys.
I have done a Journey from Brownies through Seniors. My girls hate the Journeys. They feel it is very much like sitting in school and they are bored with the program. If they weren't required for the Highest Awards we wouldn't do them. They want the variety of the old badges that we used to have. I have a 20 year old daughter that went through GS from K - 12th grade. We spent over a year attempting to go through Girltopia. Very confusing Journey and the leader book was no help at all. She ended up not getting her Gold because by the time we got through Girltopia it was Senior year of high school and she didn't have any time to get it done. She also went through the studio 2B program and hated it. I have an 18 year old son that got his Eagle by following the Boy Scout program from 5th grade up that wasn't fickle about their program. I also have a 13 year old daughter and 4 other girls in my troop that aren't thrilled about doing another Journey for their Gold Award. My troop likes to plan trips, they teach the Power UP anti-bullying program, plan service unit events, two of them are Program Aides. I would agree that girls get bored with the program. We need to go back to the old badges and update them. But you can't put all the girls into just a few badges. Each girl is different with different interests. What the girls are interested in is how we decide what we are going to do as a troop. Please change the program back and listen to those in the trenches and implementing the failing program.
Fell the same as other leaders and parents, need to have more outdorr and earning badges, experiences, not so much push on the "Journeys". Think more girls would actually STAY in scouts, if the program was more geared to what they enjoy doing, and learning skills and character building as they go.
I am a certified teacher and the Journey has a lesson plan just like the teacher editions of text books. I had my senior troop choose activities to complete their journey so it could be their experience. But it is up to me to plan the whole journey to make sure they have all the experiences to complete a take action project. Yes, they will run the journey and come up with the project, but it was a lot of work for a volunteer to prepare for that to be done,
I have believed in Girl Scout for most of my life and have lost total faith in the direction they are going. Please get back to traditional ideas and service oriented scouting and not an organization being served by big business to be served.
Really wish girl scouts did more camping and appreciation of our beautiful outdoors!!
Having led two or three troops for the last ten years, the changes out of national are appealing because they're pushing an agenda. Rather than teaching girls and their leaders real-life, important skills, they demand lessons in social change policies through every single Journey. I did two Journeys, and because I used to homeschool and am very creative, we had fun some of the time, but I had to work very hard at that! I have volunteered in BSA for seven years now but I'm limited with how much of their programming I can bring into my GS troops because it would take time away from Journey time requirements.

Girls are fleeing to BSA because BSA provides a TON of training to its adult leaders and volunteers at all levels--because of this, the leaders in BSA have
the skills and help in providing excellent programming to their youth. With shamefully pitiful GSUSA training, it has become more and more obvious
that the underlying agenda from national is NOT creating strong girls, but creating left-wing social issues protestors/activists. I've remained a leader
because my GS are too dear to me to leave them to someone else who will infuse them with nothing but the national brainwashing agenda. Scouting
to me is about creating opportunities to grow and develop independence. It's not about sitting in a circle indoors and talking about feelings ALL the
time! Bleh!

To retain girls in our Cadette troop (we call ourselves the RETROS- Resourceful, Environment, Travel, Recreation, Outdoors) we do all the stuff that Girl Scouts used to do. We follow the old school of thinking that the girls actually follow more of the Girl Scout traits from experiencing the things that they don't usually get to do. They have more confidence because they can hike safely, they know how to start a campfire, they can plan activities, etc. I would love to see more badges where the girls get to do more than just business skills and Community Service.
Please remember our outdoor skills roots, and re-emphasize camps again: by not closing them. We just lost yet another of our Colorado camps, and when my child last attended, it was full. Please explore other ways to effectively utilize the camp (family camps, retreats, etc.) for other revenue streams. GS camp was one of the most formative times in my childhood, and for so many others too: don't deprive today's girls of that experience.
The one journey we tried to implement was very difficult and the girls didn't like it. Girl Scout should be a fun place where you learn things and experience things that you don't learn in school.
Journeys are exactly like school work. I don't ask my girls to sit still and just listen after being in school all day. Regular old badges are much preferred and liked by girls. Buying extra books and skill builder badge supplement packets are just a money making enterprise by GS.
My girls love the badges . The journeys are difficult to schedule into meetings and to prioritize how to implement them with the girls. My girls love hands on activities and building skills they would not otherwise obtain. Please make Girl Scouts more about outdoors and the heritage on which it was founded.
Has anyone looked at the array of choices the Boy Scouts have? Their merit badges, which have remained pretty consistent over many years, teach dozens of incredibly valuable and interesting skills. I wish we had choices like those for our girls! If so, maybe the Gold Award would have the kind of name recognition Eagle Scout has.

COMMENTS FROM 4-13-15

How many leaders have essentially rewritten their own Journey programs in order to make them workable?
The strength of scouting was the ability to TRY and ACCOMPLISH a great variety of things. My girls HATED the journeys and looked at them as something to just get through to check the box for the higher awards. As a volunteer giving my time, they were difficult to implement. And my girls lost interest in accomplishing awards in scouts. They are only interested in some of the extra activities and camping.
The girls find the journeys uninspiring and the old badges seem like a lot more fun!
As a leader, I can attest that girls do NOT like the journeys. It is too much like school work. My girls would rather camp and earn skills badges.
I agree with this petition. I was a leader of 2 troops during this journeys changes and I really saw the girls get uninterested in Girl Scouts almost immediately. My younger troop disbanded that same year from lack of interest. My older troop disbanded a year later. I think they would have stayed with it had they been able to stay with the older program. They earned bronze, but wotksnt do silver or gold because of the emphasis on journeys.
Please help our girls enjoy girl scouts and grow!
One set of badges and programming for all older girls is necessary. Journeys stink and are extremely difficult to implement but provide little to the girls participating. Furthermore, lack of minimum standards for the Journeys means that many people implement them in a trivial way. Additional comment: Consider going to one set of programming for Cadettes thru Ambassadors. There are not enough older girls remaining in scouting to warrant multiple sets of programming for the older girls.
My granddaughter has dropped out of her troop. She wants to go camping and hiking. She just turned 14 and wants to join a Venturing crew. I am heartbroken that Girl Scouts is not marketing outdoors to girls. GS should be the pacesetter for developing girl outdoor leadership program. GS should advocate linking girls to the land. Girls do not "see - experience" Girl Scouts as a leadership organization building courage, confidence and character. Cry.
The Girl Scouts are placing too much emphasis on the Journeys and not enough on skill-building. I get that society has evolved past traditional "domestic"-type activities for the girls, and I love it, but learning to cook, sew, build a campfire and many other Girl Scout activities of the past are LIFE skills ... and a lot of fun! The Journeys are, quite frankly, uninteresting to the girls. My 6-year-old Daises HATED having to sit to listen to Garden Journey stories and discussions, and said they felt like there were "in school." (We've since abandoned the Journeys to focus on fun patches, along with petals and leaves.) Furthermore, there's no clear directions for how to facilitate a Journey. Even the volunteer trainers with the council have admitted they don't know what troop leaders are supposed to do with them. The leaders' manuals are so vague.
I would love to see more of an outdoor/camping emphasis and practical skills building in the National Program Portfolio. Don't forget the roots of the Girl Scout organization! Camping is so important for developing respect for our environment, as well as an appreciation for the outdoors and physical activity.
Having been a leader for 14 years, and being active as a girl. I have seen many changes. Most girls are here to learn things that aren't the focus of school. They want to do different things. As the Journey's were introduced the girl's lost interest in scouting. They want to have fun and experience a variety of things. The badge books were great and each girl could choose what interested her and helped the other girls to see why. While working the journey's sometimes it took a couple of months to get through them.
My biggest issue is that the Journeys are so much like school work. If our outdoor adventures were badge earning that would be awesome! We use a lot of the Cub Scout/ Boy Scout curriculum for our troop.
The Journeys need to go! We are Girl Scouts. The girls get enough school in school. They come to Girl Scouts to have fun and try new things. Journeys are ruining our membership levels.
All the troop'a own suggestions from my troop is for out door activities like fishing and bee keeping.
I only do the legacy badges unless it's for the Bronze award, etc...
I COULD NOT AGREE MORE! Please listen and make the changes. Girl Scout has been such a great experience for me and my girls, but we have to BREAK the rules to enjoy the program. That is wrong, short-sighted and tragic.
I would love to see the old values of camping and survival skills back, i have been a leader 15 yrs and my daughter lived scouts,, my new girls and me are not fond of the journeys, bring back the badges , and lets get back to where we came from ..
Would like to focus on more outdoor activities and earning badges. Girls are not fond of the journeys. I try my best to make it fun but that doesn't work all the time.
Journeys are Evil - a quote from the girls in my troop. They don't care how sewing makes them feel, they just want to learn to sew, camp, and have fun! These journeys are like a bad Simpson's Episode where Lisa has to be disguised as a boy to learn math. This is an apt example as girls wait to reach 13 to join the Boy Scout Explorer program so they can actually DO something.
Former scout, former leader, current parent of a junior. Journeys are a waste of time. We need real skill work, not social fluff.
The current program is more like a continuance of school, rather than it being fun ( as it should be). The journey program appears to just tell a girl what to be interested in, rather than explore the possibilities.
I just feel like the journeys and many of the badge requirements are so "school based." We have paid, trained and educated teachers to do those things. I want my girls to learn how to do things that are not taught in school - sewing, camping, cooking, fire safety, etc.
My 6 and 7 year olds HATE the journeys....they do enough school work during the day, why make them sit down during the fun learning time and do more work. Most kids learn BEST with hands on, interactive learning. They will actually learn more from doing and NOT from having to sit still MORE!!
I HAVE BEEN A LEADER FOR 8 YEARS NOW. I STARTED FOR MY OLDEST DAUGHTER IN KINDER. I NOW AM A LEADER FOR ALL 3 OF MY GIRLS, CADETTE, BROWNIE & DAISY.

I WOULD IMPLORE YOU TO RECONSIDER THE SUGGESTIONS THAT ARE BEING MADE. LET THE LEADERS GET BACK TO LEADING THE GIRLS IN
ACTIVITIES THAT WILL LET THEM EXPLORE THE ENTIRE WORLD AROUND THEM. TIME AND TIME AGAIN, WE HEAR, HOW COME THE BOY SCOUTS GET
TO DO THAT AND WE DON'T?

VERY VALID POINT. THE ANSWER, BECAUSE WE ARE CAUGHT UP IN JOURNEYS, THAT FOCUS ON INDOOR EDUCATION.

ALSO, THE COOKIE MADNESS NEEDS TO GET UNDER CONTROL. COOKIE SALES SHOULD BE A SMALL COMPONENT OF WHAT BEING A GIRL SCOUT IS
ALL ABOUT. NOW, IT CONSUMES COUNCIL, AND EVERYBODY ELSE. NOBODY IS ALLOWED TO PLAN EVENTS FOR 2 MONTHS BECAUSE OF COOKIE
SALES. THAT IS COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS. LET'S GET THE FOCUS BACK TO REALITY, AND WHEN SOMEONE STATES THAT COOKIE SALES ARE JUST FREE
CHILD LABOR, WE CAN STATE CONFIDENTLY THAT IS NOT THE CASE AT ALL.

PLEASE LISTEN TO THE VOLUNTEERS IN THE TRENCHES. OUR SERVICE UNIT MANAGER IS AMAZING. SHE WORKS TIRELESSLY BECAUSE SHE CARES
ABOUT EVERY GIRL. HOWEVER, THE CURRENT GS PROGRAM IS BURNING LEADERS OUT.

Strongly agree with many of the comments already made with this petition. Hope GS leadership will take note and make some much needed programming changes. No more journeys, back to many more skill building badges that appeal to a wide-range of interests. Much too narrow focus now and much of scouting feels like school, especially the journeys. My girls strongly dislike journeys and only did them grudgingly, because of the pre-req for Bronze/Silver awards. They love it when we do outdoor activities and trips, but there are precious few badges related to this. Also, totally agree with criticism of binders and seperate skill-building pages - should be one combined handbook, like when I was a girl. Much easier to transport and read through. My girls love looking through my old book and wonder why theirs isn't like that.
Girl Scouts ought to be learning life skills not readily available in school. Out-of-doors
I find the Journeys very confusing. I picked up a set of books to try and do something fun with my GS bears that I could post to help leaders and girls with one of the journeys (since I am not involved directly with girls anymore). I was very disappointed that I have not been able to do this due to many reasons, the main one being that I find I would have to have some kind of training to be able to even know where to start. I would love to see more emphasis back on badges and toward the "worlds"-art, people, today and tomorrow and the world of Girl Scouting. I feel they are not outdated and would help leaders and girls focus on all areas of life. The badge books made it very easy for any girl to be able to pursue any interest she had. The new journeys seem to have taken that away! I think Juliette would not be happy about this change in her program. Please consider this petition! Thank you!
IF IT AIN'T BROKE! DON'T FIX IT!!!! Adding new badges to keep up with the times would be better than robo teaching. Girls need a wide range of activities to help them learn what they just might turn into a fruitful career!

Between my Sister, Mother and I, we have over 100 yrs combined Scouting experience! In this crazy world, Girls need a center of calm in the massive
chaos that has been created. ADD & ADHD is now the issue with so many young people. Scouting gives stability! Each girl is recognized for her own
capabilities and encouraged to build confidence and faith in one's own self. The sense of belonging to a special group keeps them focused. Now it
seems individuality is being stifled!! Why is it that those in charge(?) can't see past the end of their noses and realize that they are in a large part the
cause of the decline in membership and advancement. Boy Scouting is thriving!! Juliette Low took many suggestions for building a great idea for Girls,
from the very ones who established Boy Scouts, Lord & Lady Powell. Even Awanas follow basic guidelines of Boy Scouting.

I'm not against change, I against being force fed new ideas with no clear guidance of how to implement into a good functioning program. There are no
Wider Opportunities left to allow Girls to expand their range of knowledge. (So I believe). Sheltered Girls usually end up statistics! We women have
fought long and hard to break through the Glass Ceiling in so many ways. So why is National reinforcing the glass without listening to the very ones
who are the volunteers and girls that keep the jobs open at National? Without us, you have no job!

It is a shame that the basic badges that started girl scouting are not all in the handbook but in seperate packages. it is unfortunate that a handbook cost 25 bucks because most of the girls in my town can't afford that. i have found that it is more expensive to be a girls scout in 2015 than it was in 2003 because of the way things are set up. i have always believed in scouting and welcome any girl into my troop but we do not earn as many badges as we could because it is too hard to do.
I agree we as Girl Scouts need to get back to the basics. The Journey's tie you down and the girls loose interest quickly. We love camping and the outdoors. What/Who is Scouting for? FUN and the GIRLS. Do it for them.
I'm seeing girls on our town drop out of the Scouts left and right. The traditions and real skills development and dropping left and right and the girls want nothing to do with it. I'm beginning to question weather or not to keep my girls invoked and just find another organization that operates more like the Boy Scouts.
We have tried to work withe the current program, and will continue to do so. The girls hate it. No matter how we try to tweak them, and we have tried and tried, the girls detest the Journeys. After years of Journeys, one (and it's one of many) of their complaints is that they are tired of doing service that has to fit someone else's strict guidelines, and would like to receive a little recognition for the service projects they have chosen to do. Our Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors have informed us that they will quit if they are forced to do Journeys. The older girls literally yell at meetings, "Why did they have to change what we loved? Why couldn't they leave our program alone?" Yes, they felt the IPs had too much schoolwork and too many "share what you've learned" requirements. Now it's worse. Older girls join our troops, and have done none of the things our current system assumes they have done. There is no place for them to start, learn new skills, and build on those that allows them to receive any recognition at all. Our girls have decided to continue using the IPs as bridges to their own activities, or "earn" badges for younger levels and try to find a patch they can wear - since badges no longer have any meaning for Journeys or Bronze/Silver/Gold awards. They wanted to learn to geocache, for example, but only Juniors can receive an award for that. They love the outdoors, and would be happy to learn new skills, but high adventure and long primitive backpacking trips are not what they want to do. They have embraced the old Mariner program, and their enthusiasm for that is nearly breathtaking. Without Mariners we would not be holding their interest. They want badges that peak their interest in something they would never have thought about doing, allow them to explore and learn and grow (their words) without becoming experts in each subject. Most of our girls have decided they aren't interested in the Gold Award if they have to go through a Journey to get there. In the past few years four different girls who were already in their Take Action Project planning stages have given up and changed their mind. Each one said going through the exact steps and tailoring the service project they were passionate about has destroyed their passion and the joy they felt in tackling it. Not only were they not interested in the Gold anymore, they no longer had the heart to do much of anything. Girl Scouts should not be about destroying dreams and self-esteem. The girls are hurt that their projects are not considered "good enough" because their vision of sustainable is not someone else's vision. In our area we have many community resources that are the result of Boy Scout Eagle projects. It's sad that Girl Scouts are not adding to that because their Silver/Gold projects have to be so momentous that only girls who have tremendous parental support, and money, can achieve them. As one girl put it, "I can be a leader, and I can serve others, quietly in my own way. I don't have to become a poster child to plan and execute a good project." She was willing to go talk to one or two groups. She was not willing to put herself on display enough times to make the grownups in charge feel she had demonstrated leadership.Every girl can be a leader. Every girl should not HAVE to be the type of leader who is a CEO. We NEED the quality people who enjoy working behind the scenes, and are often the ones who bring the most creative, innovative, and functional resources to a project or event. We continue to have healthy troops mostly because we have tried the new, and gone back to the old tradtitions.
I graduated from girl scouts just a few years after it had transitioned to journeys. I had completed a few of them, but I didn't enjoy them nearly as much as the badges. The badges had a lot of variety, so I could pick and choose which ones I wanted to earn. The journeys are very limiting. LET'S NOT LIMIT THE FUTURE WOMEN OG AMERICA!
My daughter is a third generation Girl Scout. The outdoor programs and badges was what interested her the most. As a member of a Trailblazer troop, I enjoyed camping and the outdoor programs. The outdoor events made me aware that there's a whole wide world out there and of my duty to protect and preserve it.
The basic idea behind the journeys is solid, but the "script" is too much like school. They do not want to be buried in books all day at school and then go to troop meetings for more of the same. I do not follow the "script" at all for the journeys. I spend a LOT of time and effort on reinventing them to make them more interesting to the girls, but still they do not really enjoy them. I especially agree with #2 of the petition because we could implement the Discover-Connect-Take Action framework within badge work without spending a whole troop year on one theme. They would feel like they are accomplishing more and enjoy a broader range of experiences. It would also give more opportunities within a troop to cater to more of the girls' interests since they don't all like the same things. The last step in each badge could be to provide service in that area. Even for the high awards, they could build on an area of interest/skill built through the steps of a badge instead of the steps of a whole journey. Or they could develop a badge program as their project for a high award!

There is a lot of good left in Girl Scouts and a lot of potential. I'm sure that a lot of the feedback you are getting focuses on the negative, but I haven't
stayed in Girl Scouts for 6 years and counting for no reason. If you look at what our girls still enjoy about scouting, it's the badge work and the
outdoors, especially the camps. We have great camps in our Council area, and I am SO very sad that some will probably be sold.

So please, listen to your membership. As in all endeavors akin to the survey, many will not take the time. But I would be very surprised if we do not
represent the masses. What I am saying is the same or very similar to what I hear from almost everyone I know who is involved in Girl Scouts. The
common thread that I hear from almost everyone I've talked with is the journeys are dead in the water. They failed. Please accept that. It is the gosh
honest truth. Almost no one wants to use them.

Let's let the girls guide the dialogue on what badges need to be developed or brought back. That's how you can get your membership back so you can
keep what's left of the resource the girls value above all - the camps.

We need to get these girls outside more!!! The sky is the limit!!
Please return the focus of Girl Scouts to outdoor activities. The Journey Program is a hassle to execute and often of interest to the girls. Badges are much more enjoyed by the girls. The root of girl scouting is being outdoors. Keep that heritage.
I am an alumna of girl scouting in the 1950s - 1960s in Essex County NJ. I started at age 7 and continued through high school as a Mariner Scout. I was also a camper and counselor at Eagle Island Camp, Saranac Lake during the 1960s. The skills I learned in my troops and at camp are part of my everyday survival: weather forecasting, first aid, housekeeping, cooking. I want scouting to go back to the basics. Entrepreneurial projects can be developed by anyone. Girl Scouting really is best when it's about the natural world we live in as humans on this planet.
PLEASE hear the pleas of the membership!
Please return to skills badges. The current Girl Guide books rely far too much on "soft" skills and all of the useful skills that Girls have traditionally earned in scouting have fallen by the wayside, and that at a time when these skills are most needed, since home ec classes have fallen prey to educational budget cuts and parents often simply lack the knowledge themselves of how to do. What is worse, all the emphasis on "Journeys" appears to me to be simply a means of earning more revenue for the organization. The girls (and we the leaders) are bored by the Journeys. Why emphasize reading rather than doing? Girls read in school all day; the last thing they want to do at a meeting is read some more. They need and enjoy hands on activities which teach important life skills. Also, as a leader, I find it much more difficult to structure exciting and innovative meeting plans around the current badges. Girls are not always regular in attendance and having to complete multiple tasks to earn a badge is difficult to monitor. It was easier when we just had to find activities to fulfill badge requirements under the old system.
Our girls get enough STEM and STEAM while at school. Let's get back to teaching the girls things they don't learn at school- confidence, character, self-reliance and skill-building. Let's get back outside! Let's earn badges for life skills. Journeys are STEM. The girls don't come to scouts to extend their school studies. They don't like it! They see the Boy Scouts doing cool stuff (and earning badges for it) and they want to do cool stuff too. Please!
Leaders are leaving due to lack of support. Girls are not learning.
It has become quite apparent that GSUSA is ignoring the outcry from membership that the journey program is not working. Bring the 'outing' back to Girl Scouting, and you will bring the girls back! The traditional Girl Scouts Ways work. We were making girls into leaders of courage, confidence, and character long before the phrase was made up. Bring back the handbooks, badge books, and outdoor training, and let's put our organization back on top for development of girls! GSUSA please listen!!!
I have been extremely disheartened by the whole GS program since my daughter entered it in 3rd grade. It is way too much like school, way too much emphasis is on finding out about others who have done whatever the achievement is, and not enough on having the girls do it themselves. I was appalled to find so few leaders willing to take the girls into the woods to do camping, canoeing and other adventures. My daughter gave up on her gold award because the council committee only met during the school year, when she was inundated with school work and had no time to work on her project. Even though she had a great idea and support from an organization to get it done, she had no council support so just gave up. Is that a way to inspire women? No way! The 2 year program gives the girls no time to lead each other. The older girls are too similar to the rest of their level. Gone is the ability of having the 6th graders teach and lead the 4th graders, the 9th graders lead the 7th. There is no reaching back to help pull the younger scouts forward. No depending on fellow scouts, just on leaders. How is this developing women? The new program just focuses on book learning, which p belongs in school It also asks the girls to discuss intimate things which are no one else's business. I found that offensive. All in all, I am greatly disappointed in the direction Girl Scouting has taken since I was a girl in the program. It is where I grew up and learned skills which increased my self-confidence. I learned things my mother couldn't teach me. And I learned them from other confident women. I mourn this loss.
DITTO...if you have thousands of volunteer leaders from all over the country saying the same thing....you might want to listen
I object to the proposed sale of Camp Eagle Island inSaranac Lake NY and in the abandonment of traditional Scout values.
The OUTDOORS it what brings girls to Scouting- even after all these years.
Girls hate the journeys!
The Journeys are just silly busy work! They assume that a leader can't lead and that the girls scouts want to be spoon fed. I miss the old badges. Please bring them back!
I am a Gold Award recipient. My daughter has been a scout for 10 yrs and has earned her Bronze and Silver Awards. My youngest has an extreme dislike of the homework like tasks of the journeys, so she quit scouting. So sad. She begged to start scouts and wasn't old enough, then once she started, she became overly bored with the journey program. I hope this petition works.
Retention in our troop is greatly challenged because the girls feel like it is too much like "homework". They complain of being bored. Leaders feel required to "teach" not direct the girls. A stream-lining approach for multi-leveled troops is greatly needed to ease the planning for the leaders so that girls are able to earn similar badges without the leaders having to plan different meetings. Also, I would like to see a better Girls Guide to Girl Scouting book, more like the boy scouts book, where all materials are included in one spot without the need to add additional packets for requirements.
Please listen to all of the voices. Your program needs to change. When I was a girl scout many years ago, I learned how to use a compass, I slept out in a hammock, I learned to carve a wooden ring, cook, sew, swim, along with many outdoor activities. Somewhere along the way, Girl Scouts have lost their way. Campgrounds are disappearing. All the Girl Scout organizations seems to care about is sending masses of little girls out to sell cookies on a yearly basis in order that their salaries are met. It is time to wake up! Find a Girl Scout Book from the 60's and 70's and go back to the basics and as you are going back, throw away the touchy feely journeys!
We gave up on Girl Scouts long ago for our daughter. I have stayed involved as I find the attempted sale of Eagle Island (the camp of my youth) an egregious breach of faith with the girls, the history of scouting and the intent of the donors of the original property. My daughter went through Brownies and Junior Scouts only to have her camping and outdoor experiences with her family belittled by the GS leadership as "not consistent with the Girl Scout way". In my community Girls Scouting is no longer a relevant activity for children beyond the Brownie years. I have not a single friend whose daughter has continued. This suggests that leadership is out of touch or has fundamentally changed what the organization is about. In any event, I am diametrically opposed to selling camp property to support pension obligation. There are other ways.

COMMENTS FROM 4-12-15

If GSUSA would of listened to the girls in the first place the program would be in place now. Also think of all the moneys spent by GSUSA to roll out new program after new program and they keep getting it wrong!
It took years to get my daughter into a troop. It REALLY wasn't easy. Our council did NOTHING to help. She was on a waiting list for 3 years and we never even got one phone call or email from them. A friend met a troop leader (complete stranger), got her info and we joined that troop, which is an amazing troop with amazing leaders. We are a strong BOY scouting family, with her dad an Eagle Scout and her brother earning his Eagle badge at age 12. I really wanted my daughter to love scouting. I never got to do it as a child and wanted to share this experience with her. While she is earning all the badges available to Juniors (she only needs 3 more), as well as several Council's Own from a trip to Alaska, she absolutely HATES the additional "schoolwork". She finds a lot of the badges "silly" (Social Butterfly and Independence -- the boys get to do real stuff like Emergency Preparedness, Orienteering, Search and Rescue, Wilderness Survival, Tracking). She loves crafts and sparkles and making things and is not especially a tomboy, but she also loves getting outside and learning SKILLS. Kudos to the soon to be revived Horseback Riding badge. Too bad for her that it's only for Juniors, and she'll be a Cadet by the time it's released. We recently did Geocacher as a family and we all really enjoyed getting outside and learning something new. This is the type of thing we were looking for from Girl Scouts. I was a Cub Scout leader. Her dad is a Boy Scout leader and Venture Crew advisor. She has grown up in the outdoors and wants to learn and earn badges doing "all the cool stuff". She doesn't need GS to learn to be a Scribe. All the requirements were things she already does in school. We look at the Journeys as a necessary evil. But they seem completely counter-productive. It seems like whoever put this program together was determined to undermine scouting by making it as tedious and boring as possible. If we have to have Journeys, why isn't there an outdoor one? Whose idea was it to turn scouting into a classroom? While I understand that GS wants to make every girl a leader, they need to start by getting the girls' attention and making the program what the girls want, and not what the top execs think girls should want. Technology is great. STEM is great. STEAM is better. But most of all, put OUTING back into SCOUTING!
I agree with the above. My Ambassadors earned two Journeys as Cadettes and voted that they didn't want to earn any Journeys as a troop while in high school. Only my Gold girls did any additional journeys. I also bought enough IPs to get us through this school year as my girls like the "old stuff" better. After some of my girls graduate this year, I will have eight girls returning next year. They have each signed up to host two meetings. Only two of the girls want to host a new badge. The rest want to do "fun stuff" at their meetings.
My girls despise the Journeys. Just like others have said, they feel it is too much like school work. My cadette girls love to volunteer and do service projects. But they cannot earn a silver, bronze or gold award because of the Journey stipulation. This need to be changed! My girls are very deserving of an award.
My girls really dislike the journeys and get very bored when we have to do one. They also don't like the fact that they need to do a journey for them to complete the Bronze, Silver or Gold Award. My girls want more outside fun things! They also want more things available in our area because it takes an hour or more to get to any type of council event. Then sometimes when we sign up for something it gets cancelled and we are not notified. If it is rescheduled, the girls cannot always go then. (Council name removed) is very unorganized and half the time you cannot get answers from anyone when you email or call & leave messages.
2015 is my 30th year in GS and the current program is beyond disappointing. When I started my daughter's troop in 2012, I couldn't believe what awful choices I had to work with. Juliette Gordon Low would be appalled at what her beloved organization has become!

Getting rid of the Worlds to Explore was probably the biggest mistake. There were so many more options for badges and by earning badges in each
world, you were sure you got a well-rounded experience. The new badges are too complex and some are impossible to earn as a group, like the
computing badges. As the leader of a multi-level troop, I am very frustrated by the fact that there are no longer equivalent badges across levels.
Either I have to split my girls up and plan three different activities for one meeting, or we work on one level's badge and the other girls don't earn one.
I've stuck to council's own badges this year because every level can earn them. And forget about multi-level Journeys!

Turning badges into the Discover, Connect and Take Action model has made them less fun. Why does every badge have to have some kind of TAP? I
know my girls would rather do 5 fun activities instead of 4 fun ones and a 5th laborious "share what you've learned".

And finally, the current badges are trendy fads that will quickly become outdated. Locavore wasn't even in the vernacular until recently and once that
fad is over, the badge will be ridiculous. We need the practical badges back, like car care, sewing, woodworking, and cooking. The Boy Scouts have
always offered practical badges focused on one skill and GSUSA needs to go back to that.

Girls are losing interest, leaders are having to go on their own and just disregard the program to make it fun. " comments from my parents and girls (I have a Daisy and Cadet/Senior troop) is "This is like homework and not fun. I just don't have time with my classes and don't care anymore." And "Why bring my child for another hour of story reading and school work?" I am on my ninth year both my kids have lost interest. My question, why should I do it? Many parents are looking to other programs Heritage Girls, Sunbeams, etc.
Please listen!
SUPPORT YOUR LEADERS
My daughter quit because of journey book, not enough outdoors, just like everyone else has said. She has two brothers in Boy Scouts having the time of their lives !!! She was sooo disappointed she couldn't handle it and quit. You need to change. Thank you!
I agree that if we are going to retain the girls in the girl scout program that we need to have the ability to cater to their needs and wants which was better suited by the old programs/badges instead of the journeys
While I agree with most of the petition, and I would like to see the emphasis on Journeys minimized, I do feel there need to be some prerequisites to earning the highest awards, particularly the Gold. Before Studio 2B & then the Journeys, there were a number of items required to earn Gold, not just the project. Those items have all been scrapped, in favor of the Journeys. So unless a new set of requirements is created, the Journeys are all we have. We can't do a single project to earn Gold & expect anyone to equate it with the Boy Scout Eagle, which takes years & has many requirements to fulfill, the project being only the last.
Bring back the old badges and pre-reqs for Silver & Gold. Keep journeys as an OPTION. Allow for girls to also earn the awards by focusing on "project management" leadership which is what many of them will end up doing as an adult (example-many Eagle scouts build something with the help of others.) Offer all badges as a progression so all levels have camping, all levels have art, all levels have musician, etc. If a girl didn't earn it at the lower level, she starts with those and then does her level requirements. Give the girls a wide range of options rather than the narrowed focus of the last few years.
We need to return focus to outdoors skills and away from such a heavy emphasis on business leadership.
The girls need to have opportunities to earn multiple badges in areas like science. Let's make them for real girls, and not for Barbie. "Eating for Beauty"? Really? Let's just put some supermodel photos in with the badge requirements and give them anorexia. My girls want to go ziplining and canoeing and camping and hiking and spelunking and learn things like how to tie up a robber with 8" of rope (yes, girls used to learn those things). They also want to earn badges. Lots of them. Unfortunately their likes don't line up with the badges that exist. I'll do what I can, but, as a VOLUNTEER with my own business, family, etc. it's harder than it needs to be. Again, the volunteers should be helped and heard. There is paid staff that should be able to figure out how to get back to a decent program. (You know, like it's your job). As a volunteer I am frustrated that I'm forced to do so much reworking of the program to make it relevant to my girls. Additional comment: While I appreciate a second outdoor badge per level, that's just not enough. Make things more interesting. Give us a decent leader book. More substance, less flash. Don't treat the girls like they're dumb. Realize that they're not all urbanites.

There are many reasons that a girl joins Girl Scouts, none of which are because they want more school or school-like work. The journeys feel like school to the girls and they hate them.
It should be possible to reconsider the Journeys program and take the older girls and adults advice- reduce the amount of instruction and just ask for the outcome. We all have different journeys when we plan to get from point A to point B. Every troop has a different personality and set of priorities, and in the past, had great success in accomplishing GS goals in many unique ways before the big change. Journeys have a boxed-in feeling, traditional members and many leaders are disinterested. Maybe taking a few steps back can bring more progress forward at a pace that makes it easier.

As the Outdoor programs go- National should be recruiting educational and environmental sponsors for every council in the country with their
beautiful camp property on the sale blocks... Why are councils closing camps instead of partnering with businesses and universities with
Environmental majors, conservation programs, renewable energy, natural resources and conservation, engineering and lots of STEM funds? Camps
need money and program to stay open. Higher Ed wants more girls in their STEM departments, companies need women in these areas to employ.
Start loving the outdoors in all ways possible with Daisies and keep them involved until they graduate from high school- lets give this campaign the
same attention and energy that is given to the self esteem Dove campaign..... we don't need pictures of confident girls smiling in just a city- we need
them standing at the top of the camp lookout tower they lashed together over the creek restoration project they are working on! Save the focus and
the camps....

How? hire the right women (and not just ages under 25) for program direction that have a good solid positive background in GS and understand what
this could blossom into.

It was difficult keeping my 4th generation GS Daughter interested. My troop has graduated and they didn't learn half of the outdoor skills I had to know. They are not prepared. Give them options instead of the same old stuff they learn in school. They will learn the program management concepts as they DO other things. Bring back all the old badges.
Girls and leaders are tired of bait and switch from GSUSA. We were told that Studio 2B would be optional, then it was required for Silver and Gold. We were told the Journeys would be optional, then THEY were required for Bronze, Silver and Gold. We were flat-out lied to, and we are sick of it. Honest and fair, folks.

The first set of Journeys could have been used to replace the old 4B's Challenge. But making a Journey the entire prereqs for the medals? All fluff, no
substance. Also, these Journeys are near impossible to do in the its and starts of spotty attendance we see at the older-girl levels. Middle and high
schoolers have busy lives. While they could make up a badge activity on their own, how are they supposed to make up a group discussion by
themselves? We can barely get their families to sign permission slips and health forms. We have no prayer of getting their families and friends to do
Girl Scout homework around the dinner table, if they even have family dinner time anymore.

Girl Scouts is NOT school. It only succeeds by being something different from what girls can get everywhere else. Brand differentiation. Instead
of  telling us how Girl Scouts is unique, national is spending a lot of time and money telling us how they're just like every other youth group, but a little
better. I am reminded of TV commercials showing 2 different brands of cola or pasta sauce. The viewer knows that there really isn't a difference
between the brands, only personal preference. Are we just another bottled youth product, or are we special?

I was a camper at Eagle Island for several years. The experience lent much to my life. We need to get back to doing things right.
My girls feel like the Journeys are like school work and are bored and ready to leave GS!
I'm a third generation Girl Scout who has been active my entire life as a scout, camp counselor in a Girl Scout camp for years, and adult leader in my daughter's troop. I couldn't wait to share scouting with my daughter and her friends. The Journeys and other program changes have absolutely ruined the Girl Scout experience. The Journeys and new badges are boring, mostly pointless, and way too much like school. Please look at the strengths of the old program and make changes to return to what Girl Scouts used to be!
I was heartbroken by the closure of and move to sell Eagle Island Camp. This camp was gifted to the council to be used as a place for girls to develop outdoor skills and self confidence and develop lifelong friendships through camping. It is an amazing historic property which the Girl Scouts should be desperate to preserve for future generations of girls instead of selling it with no regard for the intentions with which it was originally gifted to them.
Journeys are too much like school work for too long a period. As girls get older they are hearing a lot of this in school already. Trying to make it fun and upbeat is a real issue. Especially when the Senior girl scout is conflicted with attending meetings due to so many other school activities.
The girls feel that the Journeys are like school work. The Take Action projects are intimidating, and the explanation of what they are supposed to be is unclear.

I am feeling lately that our girls are being used as child labor, peddling cookies for a pittance per box, while Girl Scouts is using the money they raise
irresponsibly. How much did it cost to add bangs (bangs!) to the logo, and subsequently change all of the logos?

Our girls need to learn skills to better themselves, not just to keep an economically irresponsible organization afloat.

I really tried to work with these with my older girls, and they just didn't like them. The first one I showed them, they took one look at and and asked what it was suppose to do for them. The booklets made no senses, and when I showed them the ideas in the leader booklet they did not see the correlation to what they suggested activities where and what the girl booklet said. They only did the minimum Journeys they needed to do and preferred to do "vintage" badges as they made more sense and gave them skills more relenvant to life.
Camps. Stop selling camps and stop lying about why they are being sold. Camps are the one thing that GS have to offer that no other girl organization has. When these camps are gone, they will never be regained and the organization will die.
Journeys are to tedious for the girls to do they loose interest quickly my girls like working on badges better.
Let's return to what we are good at, developing outstanding leaders through quality programs as a non-profit.
Journeys need to go. This is scouts, not pseudo-school. Just the fact they are tied to school standards is wrong! Books need to be redone. They need to be the old fashioned method- all in one, and girls need to have book for record keeping. As is, most girls do not buy books, and GS is about what the troop does only. None of my girls (except my on DD) has EVER done anything outside of troop activities- largely becuase they don't have a book to read and dream about as I did when I was a GS! Having the girls depend on the leaders to have the books is NOT encouraging leaders. It is encouraging followers!
I'd love to see more emphasis on traditions & values... Really never liked journeys!
I agree with the petition. GS has veered off from the program of life skills, outdoor skill, cooking etc. There seems to be more emphasis on the leaders political agenda than on the girls learning and growing. We should go back to where the program was 20 years ago. Yes, progress but by incorporating not deleting!
When the idea of the different pathways that girls could follow came out I was really excited that they would have choices. However, I quickly found that deceptive. The badges were taken away as were other programs, and in it's place was the Journey. Just the fact that the girls were forced or required to do it in order to go for their awards was enough of a turn off for them. And then we tried to get through one. UGH! And what do we have to look forward to after that? TWO more! They are obstacles they have to get through, not journeys to take. They are school assignments, not fun activities. They don't lead up to the award they are going after. It's like the PARCC test. They have little to do with what they are actually doing.
I grew up as a Girl Scout in the 90s and early 2000s (daisy through senior) and loved it. I came out so well rounded as a result of being a part of the Girl Scout program....I could pitch a tent, backpack for a week, cook a meal over the campfire, check the oil in my car and change a tire, sew, and lead a group of people all thanks to Girl Scouts. So when I took a brief hiatus from Girl Scouts to go off to college and returned to an adult volunteer role around 2009, I was shocked by what I found....a program starkly different than what I grew up with. By that time, the journeys had been put in place and I quickly learned how much they were disliked. I also experienced the changes from many wonderful badges to the very limited focus badges that not only don't interest the girls but also create such a narrow focus girl not a well rounded girl like I was when I finished. Maybe its different now that I am on the other side of the coin, but it also seems like no one in Girl Scouts is listening to what the girls, the leaders, or anyone has to say about how they feel about the Journeys, badges, or the program in general. The Girl Scouts will do what they want whether we like it or not, which makes me sad because isn't Girl Scouts supposed to be about the girls and creating leaders. As someone else mentioned, I can only imagine Juliette Low is looking down with her head hung low so disappointed with what Girl Scouts has become and the direction it is continuing to head. I understand Girl Scouts has to change with the times but it saddens me to think that if the program continues this way it may not be around for my future children or I may not even want to be a part of it as I had once dreamed of years ago. It's time to start listening to the girls and the leaders and including them in on the decisions and changes that need to take place for Girl Scouts to once again thrive and create well rounded girls of the future.
GS needs to return to the basics that Juliette Gordon Low wanted GS to be. I have been a ldr for 35 years and have seen myself the extreme changes - especially the focus on money. The girls want to camp and earn badges, not be GSUSA's little minions to earn their salaries. I watch ldrs drop out all the time - too many rules, too much red tape. "They" say girls dont really want to camp and whatnot - of course girls will not want to do what they don't know - I defy you to find groups of girls who hate camping once it is presented to them. They have school for so many things, GS doesn't need to pile onto that - lets offer them the things they DON'T get in school.
As a parent I am having a difficult time with what is being offered. Our troop is having to go through other council across the country to get fun old school badges our girls actually wish to do. Wishing scouting was like it used to be. Hard for me to continue to be part of an organization that seems to be trying to make my daughter less adventurous. She should be enhancing life skills. I'm over the journeys. They seem forced to be bigger then they should be. Hoping and pushing for change.
My troop and I would definitely like to get back to "hands on" programming and take the emphasis off Journeys and "feel good" programming. Journeys are too much much like school work.
I agree with the comments from all the other Leaders. I feel that Girl Scouts has turned into a money making business. I have been a Girl Scout Leader since 1999, I do not like what it has turned into. With the old badge book we had fun doing the activities, but now with this new stuff this group of girls don't even want to listen. There was Studio 2B which I didn't understand and now there is Journeys, I don't even know where to start with them. Please listen to the Leaders and go back to Badge Books, before we all give up and quit.
The Boy Scouts get it: don't tinker with something that is working. The GSUSA council realignments several years ago brought the loss of nearly 75% of badge offerings and replaced them with dull dull dull Journey schoolwork - an uninspiring requirement to earn bronze, silver and gold awards. Because of this, our girls are split between doing activities that keep and inspire their interests or drudging through the Journey workbooks so that they can earn their silver award - an award important to them. Appropriate badge interests WILL continue to keep girls engaged with community interest projects. GSUSA doesn't have to try and pound these obligations into them through the Journey activities and projects. The old system worked. We know it did because we as a troop used it successfully and our girls remained engaged. The Boy Scouts continue to ADD to their cache of badge offerings, and in doing so keep the interest of millions of boys (I have an Eagle Scout at home and two as neighbors who are proof the system works). The new approach isn't working. GSUSA, please listen to those of us who have been around for many years and have seen and been a part of what actually works. Remove the BOREDOM from the program changes that have been thrust upon us all - leaders and scouts alike.
More cheaper activities for all levels. Camping prices are too high . Would love to see a lot of changes on badges.
My girls are Jr's and do not find the journeys interesting and would prefer to go back to the basics of girl scouting.
I would like to see the development of a Fair Trade Badge as well
Please return to the original reason for Girl Scouts - badges and outdoor skills. Those are the important criteria that girls take with them as they become women, and it's those skills that shape them into such great civic leaders and role models.
As a former Girl Scout and a current Girl Scout Leader I hate the Journey's and so do the girls in my troop. They need to be either completely redesigned or done away with. I miss they way Girl Scouts used to be.
I am a both a Gold & Silver leadership award and Gold & Silver award recipient, and leader for the past 8 years for my daughter. Please consider these suggestions. Not only has this impacted how GS's is seen as a valuable part of girls lives, but the increase in cookie box prices is discouraging, and their also seems to be growing disorganization within the leadership.

COMMENTS FROM 4-11-15

The firmer program contained a wide variety of badges that the girls wanted to do. They could strengthen a current interest and find and develop new ones. Now my girls look at the badge options and say, "What else can we do. These don't interest us." EVERYTHING is journey based. Even to get Program Aid, we have to assist younger girls with a journey. It is too limited and restricted. Furthermore, the Gold Award has been devalued. The Boy Scout Eagle rank has a clear path for boys to follow, and boys know the badges they must earn and the service hours they must perform to achieve each rank. Every Eagle Scout has earned badges in citizenship, first aid, emergency preparedness, personal fitness, personal finance, etc. the Gold Award does not have that strong, consistent program behind it and that is why it does not get the recognition that the Eagle program gets. A huge disservice has been done to our girls by basing everything on Journeys.
I have been in scouts for over 30 years. So many great memories as a girl and as a leader. Last few years I have been so disappointed in the program. I have had a hard time finding interesting fun things to do in my meetings. It has gotten hard to be a leader. I took the badge book to a meeting and my senior girls actually said " there are no badges in here that I want to do. They all suck". My current goal is to push my girls through the gold, reflect on the good memories, and cherish the friendships I have made. As far as current programming goes...I am sad to see the state of Girl Scouts now.
It would be nice to see millions spent on keeping the girls in scouting with why they are here instead of spending millions on getting new membership. Please remember the girls enjoyed the older programming and stayed. You have made changes and they have pushed girls and leaders away. Perhaps this time someone will hear us.
I have been a leader for 14 years, and have served the GS organization faithfully. I am extremely disturbed and concerned about the direction that Girl Scouts has been taking over the past few years, to the point that I have nine girls graduating next year, and hesitate to advise them even to apply for Life-time Memberships, on the grounds that I doubt that Girl Scouts, if it continues in its current path, will even exist 10 years from now. Our town's enrollment has dropped from close to 400 girls to fewer than 200; the number of troops has dropped from 43 to 18. Something is CLEARLY wrong.
I have led both daisy and brownies. The girls find the journeys not only boring but confiding. Must if them in the younger years are actually pitched over their heads. The badges and daisy petals are much more meaningful in terms of the strong compassionate moral girl I wish to raise. Leadership comes from those values. Not learning journeys.
Agree with above and not eliminate but reduce the amount of paperwork. Additional comment: Get rid of the journeys, have more badges. More outdoor activities.

It is hard for me to view the GS as the leadership organization for girls when there is now a GS Barbie. My girls are not fans of the Journeys. They are too time consuming and the material is too repetitive to school. My own daughter is ready to quit because she is so bored.
I support this wholeheartedly! The Journeys are like school and not materially different from award projects in terms of leadership building. Outdoor programming and badges that pique a wide array of interests are what the GS offered me and what should be offered today.
Please bring back the traditions of scouting. Girls want the outdoor activities and we are losing girls to the Adventure Scouts (Boy Scouts).
Get rid of the binder. The old hand books could be carried in a backpack and referred to on a camping trip. The binder wont even hold the inserts for the skill building badges! Binder cant go anywhere - too big, bulky and heavy. And pages fall out. My daughter loves my old handbook - badges requirements and useful info all in one.
Yes yes and yes. Please return to the gs of old
Please bring back the greater variety that we enjoyed in old program. My Cadettes have now earned every single badge and have no where else to go. Several also have their Summit. The Journeys are too repetitive from level. If you do them once - it just repeats at the higher levels. We need new/diverse/challenge!
My girls are ALWAYS asking when can they do Archery or Horseback riding or anythubg outside.....and MOST of my girls are Daisies and Brownies!
Struggling with the Journeys. As a leader, I do not have time to read the books to guide the girls properly. I do not have time to figure out which of the Journeys would best fit the girls. I have to rely too much on what others do and as a leader I like to be able to present the girls with info I understand enough to guide them. Girls don't want to do anyway but I recently took on a few younger girls who could benefit from a solid Girl Scout program like the ones that used to be available. I've been told we don't have to read all but why is the book not set up to just show me what I NEED to read? If I don't need to read it all, why is it there. Someone took time and effort to create so you would think it's all important but so far I can't seem to pick out what is and isn't. The program needs to be concise. The instructions need to be straight forward. I don't have time to read more than I need to and customize. I'm not sure what GSUSA was thinking when this was created. Regarding badges: I don't want to buy different packets for the girls to decide what they want to do. One badgebook and one handbook with concise descriptions and directions was an easy format to work with. The current format creates too much work for the volunteers and too much reliance on information from others who took the time to do the reading and maybe came out with a different perspective than you or your girls would have. Please. Concise, easy to understand and to the point is what we need. Not pages upon pages of useless information. Less books are needed, these multiple books and packets are a burden on the space and funds available to most troops. There is no need for more than one badgebook, one handbook and if GSUSA insists upon keeping them, one CONCISE Journey book with all the journeys (if 3 or more journeys can't fit in one booklet, it's too long) per level.
I have been involved in Girl Scouting since 1956 when I joined as a Brownie. Over the years I feel that Girl Scouting has lost it's focus and has tried to rearrange it's programs every few years to increase membership. The original traditions and goals are being diluted (lost?). I am an Advisor to a teen troop and my girls want to DO things, not study them. A badge book, full of requirement options, is an excellent reference. A handbook, with Girl Scout traditions, ceremonies and flag etiquette, is an invaluable tool. I think the Journeys were a great addition to prepare girls to plan and execute a Gold Award, but they have proven to be confusing and "boring" for the girls, and pretty expensive. Please step back and look at restoring a program that has been a fabulous opportunity for girls, but now seems to be losing it's way.
End Journey alignment with Common Core. We are scouts not school. Bring back the history and tradition that has kept us strong for so long. Scouting is supposed to supplement our girls' lives not over regulate it. Bring back 3 years to a level so that girls can actually take their time earning badges and awards so that these accomplishments are actually learned from and not just a task completed.
I'm losing my troop because of lack of interest in journeys. The girls are now going to 4H as the can focus on their interests versus the councils interests. This is disheartening.
I was a Gs until I was 16 then again when I became a parent. Miss the old badges and teaching girls gs traditions and outdoor skills. Have never cared for the Journey books. Let's make a change back to basics.
I have been a leader for almost 20 years, and I have seen many changes over those years, some good, some bad. I am not a fan of the Journeys. I find some of the requirements unrealistic. We do them only because of the awards. And they do them grudgingly. It is not fun. I am a multi level troop leader. My numbers dwindle as the girls get older for many reasons. One being that it is not fun anymore. Too much bookwork. Please bring back the old interest patches. The girls want to learn and dabble in everything? We are trying to raise versatile young ladies. How can they go through life not knowing about all things that life has to offer.
I agree with everything that has been stated. More hands-on badge work and less journeys. There's very little leadership instruction in the journeys. I was also incredibly disappointed and disgusted in the revamp of the badges. Example: pink badges for the juniors and cartoon character badges for the brownies. The girls want and need more interactive and outdoor activities. Activities that actually justify earning the badge. Not just doing pet bingo to earn the pet badge and silliness like that.
I have been a scout for 32 years and was excited to have a chance to lead my daughter thru scouting. We completed her 6th grade year under all the old materials and started working on the new materials (journeys ) and such. My daughter hated most of the choice available. After completing 8 badges and one journey, she informed me she didn't want to do anymore. I've heard the same thing from my other girls. Not one of my girls (15 total) decided to continue in Gs after we were relocated. My daughter has no interest in completing the higher awards because of journeys. Breaks my heart. I now lead a group of Daisies and more often then not revamp materials so the have the same higher quality and more well rounded experience that my daughters troop had. They love what I do and I love helping them explore the world around them while making a difference.
I've been a Leader for 10 years and have seen the program change - and not for the better. Going from over 100 badges to choose from, there are now only a handful - and they aren't of any interest to the girls. My Senior Girl Scouts are totally BORED with the new badges. I managed to find several of the old IPs and they LOVE these - so much more interesting. We do the bare minimum for the journeys - just enough to say we did them so they can work on their medal awards. But did they get anything out of them? Absolutely not. The "old" ways with required badges to earn was such a better way. Girl are dropping out left and right because of the new programming. Additional comment: In the "old days" certain badges were required to earn a higher award. Leadership, Public Speaking, etc. USEFUL badges. Oh wait - THEY DON'T EXIST ANYMORE! It's more about sit down, invite someone to come talk to you ... what was that sound? Oh - it was the door closing as all the girls just left.
HELLO! WAKE UP GSUSA! This is my 11th year as a leader and I can say it's gone downhill ... fast.
I don't tjink you need to do s journey in order to earn your silver!!
Our girls do not enjoy doing the Journey's. We have lost a lot of girls in our troop because of them. They struggle to get through the Journey's so that they can do their awards. The Journey's should not be a requirement to get to the Bronze, Silver or Gold awards. I have been a leader for 30 years and since the Journeys have been out I feel that the girls are being short changed in scouting because of them. Everything, journeys, badges, etc. feels dumbed down.
Journeys are nice but not as great as GSUSA wanted them to be
Love badges and out door work and fun, not into the Journeys!
It is hard to keep my Cadette & Senior Scouts interested in activities that they are not wanting to do. They do not like the Journey books at all - reading is like being in school. They want to do more outdoor activities & earn badges for what they learn. "I don't want to dance with my dad, I want to hunt an animal, kill it & eat it" - not a princess!! She wants to do outdoor events that help her to learn about knife safety & hiking & really is interested in shooting a gun!!!
Get rid of journeys girls don't like them
I wish Girl Scouts would go back to the way it was in the 90s with awesome badges on each level that are true to what girls need and should learn. Also the cookie orders need to go back to the old way. It is sad I loved girls scouts in the 90s and now 2015 and my three girls a jr brownie and daisy absolutely hate the Girl Scout program. We are not coming back next year we have found something better for free that covers really life objectives like Girl Scouts used to.
Minimize journeys. Use them as a supplement to the badges! Bring back badges. We used to have 80 plus per level. We should have that again. We need an emphasis on outdoors and a badge for all subjects. The badges were great because they offered something for everyone. Also, please stop with the pink and purple. Let the badges reflect what they were earned for.
More funding needs to go back to local council facilities to provide proper upkeep and modernization. less money going to the corporate level.
I want my granddaughters to have the quality experience my daughter and I did in Girl Scouts. I understand times change but not like this. The girls don't like it and even our numbers prove that. Additional comment: Please listen to the girls that are already registered, not the ones that never will.

The Journeys are hard to get my girls to work on. They are brownies, and they complain that it's too much like school work. I'd love to see more of the older traditions start to shine through.
Our girls are too important not to make this change... I personally think Juillette is screaming down saying No No No this is not what Girl Scouting is supposed to be!
I work around the journeys by basically reading through to figure out the main themes, then I absolutely overhaul them. I prefer to see more traditional skills taught, and definitely more emphasis on the outdoors.
The new rules and programs are making it harder on leaders to enjoy doing the program with the girls. Yes it is for the girls but if the leaders are miserable they won't stay and neither will the girls.
As a former leader's daughter and now the leader for my own daughter the scouting tradition has been going strong in my family for over 60 years. I only have experience with the current journey program at the Brownie level but I have found it such a stark contrast to the traditions of badge work that I grew up with. The program has become overly complicated and the reality of bimonthly 1.5 hour troop meetings makes it extremely difficult to complete journeys on a continuum to keep the girls engaged. Seeing the popularity of journey in a day programs speaks to the challenges of completing journeys in the troop meeting format. In contrast, many of the legacy badges can be completed in a meeting. As a Cub Scout leader as well I see the pitfalls of both programs in becoming too school-like. A greater emphasis on outdoor skills and traditional home making skills would be a return to scouting's roots. My girls thoroughly enjoyed looking through my mom's brownie book from the 1950's.
I am a lifetime Girl Scout and coming from poverty as a child the Girl Scout program was indeed a lifeline. Opportunities to learn skills and experience many different things indoors and out were abundant and helped me to become the woman I am today. I have embraced every program change throughout the years as an adult volunteer as an opportunity for growth in the Girl Scout movement. I have held a positive attitude however we must listen to the girls after all we were directed by Juliette to "ask the girls" When after providing program in the most positive ways possible the girls reject and leave the program and membership continues to decline I must ask our national staff to re evaluate the program we are providing. Additional comments: 1) My heart is heavy as I see girls and adults leaving the Girl Scout program as it no longer meets their wants and needs. The era of the Worlds to Explore provided an easy way to provide a balanced program as well as meeting the needs of ALL girls as there was always something in our program we could find that she was interested in trying and learning about Sure technology areas would need updating but I hear over and over again requests that could be fulfilled by that program thank you for listening 2) My girls crave the old program that their moms tell them about They love camping learning skills and wearing their badges

I have been a Girll Scout for 53 yrs and I am as Lifetimer. The Handbooks were and still are full of information and teaches the girls things they can use everyday. From Camping, Cooking, Games, Sewing, etc.. Plus the girls remember what they did to earn their badges and I believe they worked harder to make sure they earned it. I know young woman I had in my Troops that still use what they learned from bage work.
I think less emphasis on journeys would be great! The girls say the journeys are boring and don't really care to do them. The skill building and legacy are so much more fun and the girls learn so much from them.
I keep having girls quit when we do Journeys, even when I adapt them. The girls want more badges to choose from.Also make the badges less like what they do in school.
Girls DON'T like journeys....go to the old school ways...and get the girls outdoors
Here would be more participants in scouting if we returned to scouting as it was ment to be. Additional comment: Daisy program is terrible. Brownie program needs to go back to teaching actual skills that they can use in real life. Journey program is to much like school, common core is bad enough in school let alone in GS. Girls say they want more outdoor skills and programming. That is what it was. Should go back, may bring girls back to scouting.

My daughter currently a senior went to Costa Rica Outward bound on a national GS trip. At school she is a 3 season varsity athlete. It is impossible to find any kind of quality outdoor or real sports Girl Scout products. For example a water bottle on par with camel back or Nalgene. An Under Armor, Champion, or even Danskin brand name quality dri wick T-shirt. Or go crazy a women's backpack for hiking! Your stores and councils lack these types of product but have plenty of charms, hair ties, bandanas. If you look at what you are selling it is a reflection of where GS are headed: to the mall with crap made in China!
Please put the focus of this great program back where it belongs - on the girls. Every single upgrade we get - be it online registration or training costs the troop more money. I'm tired of printing forms and paying for ink and paper from the girls' money. Every time we turn around the badges, books and materials cost more money. Its ridiculous. Did you forget about the girls?
What made GS great and different is that we understood project based learning long before the schools did. We knew that girls learn best by doing. Badges made things interesting because they were episodic (if you missed one, you could just jump in on the next) and they were very easy to be girl led. Please, if you don't get rid of journeys, give us many more badge options. Sewing, cooking, all kinds of life skills are sorely needed - many of the girls aren't taught those things at home any more, and scouts can step into that gap.
While there are parts of the journeys especially the messages given that Are great. The journeys are so school like that without years of experience making them enjoyable is difficult.
I feel that Journeys are are too school and lecture oriented. The way that they are written is too confusing, and requires too much work on the leaders part. I have seen girls drop out because of this and they were Juniors! It is too much like school. Every girl is different and they need to be able to explorenew topics. The badges the way they were beforegave them that.
Today's girls need more badges for outdoors and science at all levels.
Get rid of journeys. Back to basics and fun. Our grand daughter's loved going to cub scout Fam camps, they got to canoe, fish, arts & crafts, archery, shoot bb guns, swim, they had a great time. Trip request did not have to be made when staying in your area.
The program does need to stay with the changing of the times but we need to still teach our girls the basics of what Girl Scouts is founded. My troop has completed 3 journeys in the last 3 years and honestly our Girls do not like the program how its presented. Thier eyes glaze over at the stories. The learning they like but needs better platforming.
I grew up as a Girl Scout and felt like it gave me skills and confidence I could get nowhere else. So many of those fundamentals seem to be missing or downgraded I the current program.
Having more badge options with various skills for the girls to learn would be a much better use of time & get more girls involved.
Take a page from the Boy Scouts! My son plans a campout, assigns a cook who has to collect money, do the budget sheets, plan the meals, shop, pack, cook and serve his troop while at the campout. He's learned all about finance, cooking, budgeting, etc in a hands on, real world application- way more than repeating the word leadership 1000 times during a journey, but never applying it in a meaningful way.
I know that some of the old badges are similar to new ones, but there were so many that could be easily brought back today. Please bring back lots more badges with outdoor emphasis.
It is important that Girls to come, not us teens who have been through the changing Girl Scout world, get a chance to experience Girl Scouting as it's raw, exciting self. Getting back to the core of Girl Scouting for the millions of girls to come is vital.
Badges worked for almost 100 years. Journeys don't. The intent was good but the execution was poor.
When I was a scout I enjoyed earning badges, I don't like these Journeys we have now
Our Daisies meet twice a month. They need more immediate payoff than journeys are able provide. The "sit, read and talk" suggestions for meetings make our girls who are struggling in school (even just a little bit) anxious and uncomfortable. There are lots of kinds of smarts, and the school strugglers need a chance to feel awesome about themselves, too.

Unproddded by me, my daughter says, "What I like most about Girl Scouts Is getting petals and doing fun activities. My favorite activity was spreading
birdfeeders around school to make the world a better place. The stories with the flower friends are bad. They’re just annoying because you actually
have to be doing it for almost the whole time. You’re just reading, reading, reading. It’s not that fun. It makes you feel like you’re at school." (And for the
record, we weren't "reading, reading, reading." That's just a child's perception of a 5-15 minute activity.)

As a parent, my concern is that there just aren't enough subjects for the girls to pick something that interests all of them. The journeys I have read lack
complexity, leading the girls in a very straight direction, essentially telling them what they should think (even if it's inferred). This doesn't develop
strong, confident girls, it develops people pleasers.

Third party science institutions offer boys a variety of options because the boys have enough badges to support that. The girls are limited to their girlie,
fluffy badge options, whether or not they have anything to do with the museum's offerings. The Brownie science badge involves activities our girls
have already done ad nauseam. How does this promote excitement--or even respect for--girls in STEM? If you had a variety of badges, they could pick
one that interested them and we could use our local third party resources in more valuable ways. Right now--even at the science museum--they are
learning that science is for boys. And that is coming straight from the lack of anything but a few sparkly, girly science badges in the Girl Scout program
portfolio.

Your leadership experience model is worth codifying, but when it becomes a formula repeated yearly (at a minimum and from a very young age), it can
become too automatic, unintentionally making girls overreliant on external instruction handed down by adults. Isn't that the opposite of what you
want?

I so wish there were more badges for the girls to earn! You have limited so many girls by the few choices given.
I am a third generation GS leader. I have been a leader for 6 years. I have only done one journey. It was too long, focused too much on emotions and feelings. Why did we fix an issue that was not broken. I will keep with the traditional badges and hope I do not run out of material.
Please scrap the journeys and go back to the older methodology with one book the girls carry/follow.

COMMENTS FROM 4-10-15

My daughter, then a Junior scout, bought a reprint of the original Girl Scout Handbook. She was fascinated by the outdoor skills and read it cover- to- cover. She wants to know why can't girl scouts be more like it was then? Why can't it? Learning new outdoor skills and gaining confidence by doing something for yourself is the Girl Scout Way.
Juliet Low wanted to empower girls to be women who could deal with life "outside the box" - having known disability, divorce and disease, and being a woman of colorful character. Making a organ that just reflects the educational establishment? How is that better if we are just copying? Where's the program that helps every and any girl to be the best she can be?
Our girls do not like the Journeys. They tell me how they are too much like school. One girl brought in the badge book from her mom's era ... all the girls were so excited about the choices available ... they wanted to know why they couldn't do these badges!
Formerly Indianhead Council before all of the merger crap happened, leaving our side of the state with nothing, because everything is distributed from the population center on out. Guess who is farthest away from the population center? Guess who gets hardly any funding or attention? Guess who has to beg to get maintenance for our Camp after they shut it down due to, you guessed it, lack of funding? UGH If they were about the girls, they'd try to keep our camp open on the west side of the state and the other camp open on the east side of the state.
This is my 2nd time around doing a troop. Finished the first with 2 Seniors. Currently have 2nd grade Brownies. We live in a rural area and it's been more difficult to work with the new materials. The girls keep asking for the badges my first troop had done. Very frustrating.
Living, learning, and conquering challenges in the out of doors should be among the highest priorities of the great Sisterhood of Girl Scouting. Other organizations can handle most other areas of interest, but only Girl Scouts take girls camping. It is our turf and we should shine at it.
Wake up GSUSA! Listen to the girls and the volunteers! Revisit Juliette Low's original mission!

COMMENTS FROM 4-8-15 AND 4-9-15

I have been a Girl Scout for over 20 years. I was one of the first girls to earn the Gold Award when it came out in the 80s. I was a leader for a brownie troop after graduating from college and have been the leader of my daughter's troop for the last 5 years. Ever since the changes have come about I have been disappointed with how Girl Scouting and the badges have been run. My girls do NOT like the Journey's in their words "it is like school!" I don't blame them. They sit in school all day and learn and then they come to their meeting directly from school and have to sit and "learn" the Journey's. During one meeting my co-leader and I brought in our sashes and books from our time as juniors and Cadettes and the girls could have spent an hour looking at the badges and finding the requirements in the books. They kept asking, "Can we do a sewing badge? What about a pet badge? " They also commented on how easy it was to read and do the badges in the book.
Girl Scouts, please listen to the girls go back to the old ways!!Wow spot on with everything I feel. The journeys need a redesign. Way too long pondering the same topic and theme. The leaders try to bring to life, but it wears everyone down and I feel some girls lose interest in scouting. I also find the financials of troops are odd. Leaders are pitching in their own money and events always require girls to pay until cookie money comes in. Then we try to use that toward an event the next year - The $25 cap for troop dues collection is too tight, yet our council had extra funds? I think we need to adjust that cap a bit to make things a bit easier.
I fully support the requests in this petition! The current GS programs have strayed significantly from those that made the organization such a force in girls lives and in American culture more generally in the past. The recommendations in the petition, if enacted, will be a major step in the right direction!

COMMENTS FROM 4-7-15

I co-lead my daughter's troop. She asked me when we'd be learning to whittle, identify plants, and to make something that "didn't have flowers on it." To me, that says it all, everything we did this year had flowers on it. Are we raising little princesses or are we raising young women?
The Journeys are the death knell to GS. My daughter hates doing them. So much of GS has become the equivalent to a school guidance lesson. So much written homework. Boy Scouts has got it right.
More outdoor, I understand safety but there should be more things daises could do
The Journeys' Girl Books are terrible! Some of the necessary programming materials are in the Adult Guide, requiring leaders to make copies. The articles are already outdated. Definitely more outdoor badges are needed. Reduce the Internet types of badges.
Journeys are too instructional based. Girls want more hands on. The journeys leave little for girl leadership in the execution of journey, even in higher levels. My 3rd year cadettes yearn for more badge variety. They love camping and exploring new ideas.
While doing a journey with daisies they asked me why Girl Scouts is like school and when do we get to do fun stuff?
I have 20 plus years in Girl Scouting, and it makes me sad to see the declining membership at a time it should be easy to attract girls who want to lead, who need community service, who want to try new things... who are looking for a rewarding experience with other like minded girls...
More badges, less journeys Additional comment: Please, Please, Please, go back to badges. It can work again!!!

I support a renewed focus on Girl Scout values, principles and traditions.The Girl Scout organization has always said that the program is designed to meet the varied needs and interests of girls. I support a National Program Portfolio that includes Program Focus Areas that connect to the needs and interests of girls. For today’s girls the program focus areas must include the Out of Doors, Health and Wellness, People-Friendship and Global Understanding, Arts and Culture, S.T.E.M., Financial Literacy and Business Smarts –the Cookie Sale Program. Including Program Focus Areas in the National Program Portfolio can aid in program planning at the troop, service unit and council level to meet the varied interests of girls. Program Focus Areas with supporting guides can provide a tool for planning with girls, identifying interests of the individual girl and the troop/group and helping girls explore new interest areas. A variety of badges, patch programs, service projects and other program opportunities can be developed related to each focus/interest area. Success in Girl Scouting happens at the grass roots level in all our communities through councils, service units and troop/groups. As we look to the future of the National Program Portfolio the resources to support the Girl Scout Leadership Experience must connect directly to the needs and interests of girls, be engaging for girls, varied, flexible and easy to use by front-line volunteers. Program focus areas with supporting resources plus an expanded badge program and a revised journey program can help front line volunteer and employed staff more effectively meet the needs and interests of all our girls.
In our Service Unit, we are seeing a huge drop off in participation in Girl Scouts as girls get older and a big part of this is the journeys and lack of exciting outdoor activities is a big part of it. The girls are not interested in doing more school work -- which is how they see the journeys. They also aren't interested in being Cookie CEO's -- other fundraising gives them a better return on their time. And not every girl wants to be a leader -- some just want to challenge themselves to try new things and learn who they are as a person. We need a program that reflects "what the girls want to do", to paraphrase Juliette Gordon Low.
Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to admit you have made a mistake. GSUSA what statement are you making. Are you willing to admit mistakes have been made, keep what is good, reinvent and move forward. The Outdoor program and Service to Community that Girl Scouts was built on did make us the Premier Leadership Organization for Girls. The Journey Program as it is currently and the de-emphasis of the outdoor program is the worst decision I have seen in the organization I have been part of for 47 years. I am still here and trying to give the girls the program THEY want. Camping, Hiking, Backpacking, Kayaking, Forestry, Nature. Learning the skills they need and learning how to work together with people of all ages. How to take charge and be the leader and how to support and work with a group. A Challenge to you in GSUSA - Who can stand up and help us be the organization we can be?
I have yet to meet a leader that really likes the Journey's. Most view them as something they have to "get through", or figure out how to modify to make them workable. The old badge system was easy to understand and follow, offered a wide variety of skills, and could easily be adapted and modified to fit a troop.
Journeys as presently written are insulting to Scouting. We need a path to Gold that is meaningful and a cumulative experience in Scouting achievements. Scouts should be proud to explain every prerequisite to the highest honors. And the importance of skills, real Scouting skills, should be emphasized starting with the outdoors. STEM? Original stem is learning chemical changes when building a fire, understanding engineering when building a structure, astronomy, navigation, learning about nature ...
We desperately need to return to scOUTING...where outdoor skills take a center stage. That's what parents expect and what girls want. It's also why the BSA Venturing program is waiting in the wings to welcome girls who can't find what they are looking for in Girl Scouts. Not to mention that their training (both adult leader AND youth) is heads and shoulders above what Girl Scouts offer. "Leadership" isn't a program...it's the result of good programming. We don't have that right now.
I am a Girl Scout leader of older girls and all I hear from them is this needs to be changed! Help us give them a program to be proud of!

We need to go back to the basics of what Girl Scouts is supposed to be. Adding Science and Technology is fine but lets not get away from everything else. Additional comment: I am very disappointed with this new direction Scouting is taking. Outdoor activities were a core part of Juliette's program . Camping and other outdoor activities have been an important component of our program. Why are we downgrading them. The present program is unbalanced and is causing a loss in membership in a lot of areas. My girls have complained that the new stuff makes them feel like they are still in class at school. they expected Girl Scouts to be different. In our rural area this drastic change in the core program has caused many of our girls to switch to 4-H which has a more balanced set of activities.

COMMENTS FROM 4-6-15

My troop did the Amaze Jouney as Juniors & did not enjoy it at all... It felt to much like school work & they really would like to do their Gold Awards, but have no desire to work on another Journey... So they will probably not do their Gold Awards because of the Journey requirement
Our troop abandoned a journey when we had an influx of new girls enter the troop mid year. We were too far along to catch them all up, especially as the parents are not overly involved.
We like doing things outside less papers more fun like it was back in the 80s. We can teach them life skills camping, fishing, reading a map things they can use all thier life not just the time being. Give them skills they can use and remember and still have fun doing them :-)
Journeys are the worst part of the 'new' development.
As someone who went through a fantastic scout program when I was a child, I really was looking forward to sharing some of those memories with my daughter as she became a scout (20 years later). I was appalled and saddened to see the curriculum that is now presented to the girls. Not only are there less than half as many badges available as there were when I was a scout, but there seems to be a huge disconnect between the people who designed the curriculum and what the girls want. Where is the encouragement to get outdoors and actually do things? There's about two badges per level that actually get the girls out. There isn't enough badges for the amount of time spent at each level and my girls have ZERO interest in doing journey's...and I don't blame them. Girls spend a horrible amount of time in the classroom doing "book work" during the day. They don't want to come to an extra curricular activity and do more "book work". I've had girls drop from my troop and out of scouts because of this. And I'm one of the leaders trying to do my best to do activities with the girls. The journey's come across to this leader as a pulpit for the personal political leanings of those who wrote the curriculum as opposed to having a series of badges that allow each area of the country to use the resources available to them to teach the same lessons and encourage outdoor activities. You can't learn about the outdoors, conservation, and other concepts through a book. That's aside from it simply being wrong to try and program your ideas into impressionable young minds you claim to be trying to develop into free-thinking adults. It was my understanding that that is not what scouts was about. That instead it is about encouraging critical thinking, interaction with the world around, and developing the next generation of leaders. At least for the area I live in and the young women I have the privilege of working with each week, this curriculum doesn't do any of that. The curriculum I had as a child and the leaders I was blessed enough to have made me into the woman I am today.
I have been a leader for 16 years now. I honestly believe nothing has been as destructive to the GS program as these journeys have been. The girls already spend 7 hours a day in school, and hours doing homework. Nobody in their right mind would want to go to an extracurricular activity and do MORE 'school work'. It is completely saddening to see the girls despise having to come to meetings knowing that we are working on a journey.
Being required to complete Journeys in order to obtain Bronze, Silver and Gold awards seems redundant. In reviewing Agent of Change for Juniors, this talks about identifying a need in the community and working to make something better. We are already doing this as part of our Bronze award. Journeys feel more like school work, than building relationships with fellow girls. A lot of work goes into our World Thinking Day, we do both Fall Product sales and Cookie Sales which take quite a bit of time. It would be nice to allow the girls to learn NEW things (knot tying, boat safety, etc), and not additional things that are already learned in school. Journeys are not enjoyable. Thank you for your consideration.
The girls nor the leaders enjoy the journeys. They need lots of retooling by leaders to make them interesting. Often the subjects are too broad and the instructions vague.
Lots of outdoor enrichment and basic skills like sewing, tools, and automotive. Journeys are great, but must make it more enjoyable and to the point not to lose the interest of the girls.

COMMENTS FROM 4-5-15

I have been a scout for over 25 years. I feel that my girls are not getting what I did out of scouts since we went the way of the journeys. Please being back the old badges.
My girls love working on the skill badges but have difficulty understanding the journeys. I would love to see more of the skills badges like in the past.
I am happy to sign this. I agree !!
Girl Scouts played a big part shaping the person I am today an individual with an MS Youth Development Leadership who has been a Girl Scout for 25 yrs. I love Girl Scouts and all the opportunities it can provide girls, including myself. I started in GS as Daisy, earned my Silver and Gold Award. I am proud of all that I accomplished and learned in Girl Scouts. For the past few months I've been serving a as a member of a local councils Silver, Gold Award committee,

The Journey program is turning girls away from the higher awards in Girl Scouting. They are expensive to buy, difficult to use, and require far too much
time and effort from the average volunteer to change them to make them relevant to the girls they work with in their local communities. For those
Girls in particular who are getting to the Gold I can see that that we need to bring back the old leadership component for doing the Gold. Girl many of
time come in with project proposals for the Gold Awards that are Community Service bar not Gold Award worthy.

We need to bring Girl Scouts "back to the basics" intended by Juliette Gordon Low. Girls will not become leaders until they are proficient with their
skills. We need more active skill building! The girls need to be able to have more badges to choose from. There is not a lot that interest them now. We
do need to focus more on outdoor skills. We need to get back to basics, traditions.

I find the journeys nonsensical, and the steps to complete them confusing. I deplore the de-emphasis on outdoor skills. Some of the girls in our council have never been camping and have leaders who have admitted that they won't take their girls camping. Girl Scouts should be about making girls self-reliant, confident in nature and in society, responsible for themselves and the planet.
Go back to old school requirements. Razzle-dazzle with a bunch of reading and names of petals on a flower… Does not equal better curriculum standards when it comes to instructional material. If you think about it, if we use the curriculum of yesterday with our Girl Scout Handbook, we would once again capture the main idea in teaching skills, environmental studies, and hands-on learning. In addition, Girl Scouts was the 1 place girls had the opportunity to become exposed to the outdoors through camping...not a motel room! Girl Scout Organization does not have to be stuck in yesterday to exemplify the enrichment of today's life learning. It's Girl Scouts...not school. Additional comment: outdoor programs enspire girls in so many ways! Not reading journals!

As a community Liason the girls I serve do not enjoy, nor want the journey program. It's too much like school and not enough of the type of outdoor experience they wish to have. Let's get back to what JGL would be proud of!
25-year member of Girl Scouts, current service unit team member. Had a troop of 12 girls who enjoyed Girl Scouts through high school and bridged to adult level.
I've been involved in Girl Scouting for more than 20 years as both a scout and now a leader. My current Troop has been together for 7 years. We are not happy that our voices are not heard. We do not want selling of camps and licensing of the GS name to things we do not approve of. My girls are not enjoying Scouts as much with the new programs. Too much like school.
The Journey's "feel like school" according to our troop. Also, it does seem like the program is moving away from outdoor skills. That's unfortunate.

COMMENTS FROM 4-4-15

The girls want more badges. The journey is too much like school work.
Since Journeys inception, my Daisies/Brownies have enjoyed the activities but not having to read the stories. Perhaps if it was in comic book format they would be more interested. At the Daisy level they are just beginning to read and this presents difficulties. I have found being an educational diagnostician that at the Brownie level those that present with a reading disability are more likely to not want to participate even though they are not required to read.
The journeys feel like a chore, something that has to get done before the girls can earn anything else in girl scouting. The journeys could be made to act more like the old Junior Signs, not mandatory but highly regarded if you did them, even better if you did them all (Journey Summit Pin). I would like to see a return to old traditions of earning badges and getting outdoors.
More council events with more open spots for max attendance.
Hearing Leaders complaining all the time makes me realize there must be a change. Without leaders we do not have Girl Scouts!
Yes, especially to the outdoor activities and what isn't taught in schools. Make GS a leadership organization with a unique perspective that IS rooted in tradition for not all tradition is bad.
The Journeys program is busy work/schoolwork.They should be optional. Outdoor skills and camping should be emphasized. Increase badge work. I am no longer a leader because of these three issues.
It use to be that I could put a troop together if I had 5 girls interested. I can't do that anymore. With badges it was easy to split out responsibilities among the adult volunteers. I can't do it with the journeys. Your research shows people have less time. So why go to programs that are harder to divide? It's also harder to take in a new girl mid year. Your research shows that girls don't like things that are school like. Their complaint about the Journeys is that they are too school like. Please look at your own research! And listen to your volunteers! We are the ones who hear the girls' complaints and hear them saying that they won't be coming back next year. :-(
Bring back the old badges and offer new ones that keep the Older Girls Involved.
My troop cringes at the mention of the books. I miss the potpourri of badges we had as kids. We got to sample so much more, they were doable in a meeting or two. And so many more girls wanted to be in scouts then and didn't seem embarrassed to stick with it longer. If there was something the whole troop clicked with, we would go into more detail and it made more impact with us all. These books are tough on the girls and tougher on the adults. Too much like schoolwork. I get goofy and silly just to keep us all engaged. The badges are nice, just need more variety. Service projects are good, but with every journey?!? I feel blessed to watch both my daughters start in kindergarten and are both still in their troops. One is a senior and the other a freshman, both in high school...and both will eventually bridge to adult. I think all the girls in the troops get more out of the leaders these days, they see how we deal with the scout stuff and families...learning for their future on dealing with things and people, even awkward stuff? Besides the mentorship is priceless! We all have a sense of family. They didn't push cookie sales so darn much either...and we had one book for each level. I still have one from when i was a kid. Not to mention one badge book! Not the pricey expense of the journey book, the Leaders and girls book, then each badge packet at $4....times are tough, but so many more families are asking for financial assist.....little out of control! Camps....they are talking about closing two more here! And closing service centers! Doing kiosks in malls... If we had some closer, i would use them for meeting locations during the week. Schools charge. Churches are filled. Troops need room to do badges or just get the silliness out of being with their friends before and after getting down to business at the meetings! New leaders, oh the stuff we could learn from veteran leaders! Would love a quarterly forum to exchange info even amongst the service unit...without the dedication and support of the leaders, you should kiss scouts goodbye! Online is good but also that direct interaction is necessary! Interpretation is as individual as all of us are. I LOVE the concept of scouts, but the reality leaves a bit to be desired at times.
I lost 50% of my older girls to Journeys. From an original troop of 24, I lost 10 when the program changes occurred -- all quit together...and another 7 when the 'grandfather' clause ran out at our council forcing them to do the Journey route rather than the badge route to earn their Silver. I have 5 left (2 moved) working toward Gold, but it took us a year and a half to push them through the Journey required. If I did not have creative co-leaders, we would have lost them as well. We no longer sell cookies because my high schoolers don't have the time for the amount of profit they make. Right now -- they are only in it for the Gold and camping. What was once the most vibrant, active troop in our SU, is now barely hanging on. It's not about the business. It's about the girls...and you've let them down.
We want to retain girls, giving them lots of opportunities, not drive them away with less choices and more homework. And get them outdoors again!
I have led/am leading Daisies through Cadettes and in my opinion the programs become increasingly less fun and more focused -- as my Cadette daughter says -- on "talk-talk-talk, all we ever do is talk". It translates to the badges as well as the Journeys. We are supposed to be hands on but the hands on seems to be lost. And the program gets a lot less interesting at an age when it should get more interesting. The Cadette program is especially dreadful in this way, and it not only turns off girls but makes leaders scratch their heads and say "what else can we do instead to make this meaningful?" No sense in sticking with a bad thing for the sake of sticking with it. It's time for a wholesale revision.
Girls despise the journeys. They want the old badges back where they can be outside more and create handiworks. The badges now have been dumbed down for girls and it sends the wrong message. Please do a side by side comparison of two similar badges requirements. One for Boy Scouts and one for Girl Scouts. It's ridiculous how easy the girl badge is. The Boy Scout requirements actually retire skill and knowledge. He comes out a better more knowledgeable person because of it. Girl Scouts get a cute patch and that's about it. It's shameful.
I like the National program portfolio and appreciate the journeys, but definitely feel the sting from the loss of skill-based and outdoor badge opportunities. I feel girls often gain confidence and build character the more they DO, which in turn is reflected in the "connect" and "take action" steps of the GS Leadership equation.
Go back to the way it was. The girls don't want activities aligned to the failure known as the common core!
As a teacher, I can't imagine completing a journey without my experience in differentiated learning. They are poorly set up and the objectives are cloudy. We have completed them but I have torn them apart and I don't believe the girls could tell you the point. I have a very intelligent group of girls. They want to experiment not complete a stem or common core project.
Core values need to be practiced. Additional comment: Tradition!

1) Badges round out a girls exposure to different activities way more than the Journey program allows. 2) Journeys are too long a process to keep young ones interest these days. 3) Create a fun badge App for the girls - would be a sure hit. 4) And does EVERYTHING have to end in community service? I am all about giving back but can't the girls just have fun some times??
We really need to listen to the girls- they are why we are here. Many girls do NOT like the Journey program, and the way councils have watered them down to "A Journey in a Day" really shows that it has gotten to be all about the awards, not the girls. If girls really liked the Journeys, they would jump on them. Instead it seems like more work, not fun. Funny how so many girls are asking to do the old badges, more in the out of doors and traditional GS stuff again!
The girls are spending way too much time completing Journeys. In my daughter's previous 3 years of scouting, 1 year of Brownie and 2 of Junior, she earned a total of 2 badges. That's TWO badges. How can they feel a sense of accomplishment from one badge per GS level? There is no point in having a sash if you only have one badge. The journeys occupy all of their time, there is no time left for anything else.

Everything our troop has done so far has been as a group. There is nothing in this program that inspires them to go out on their own to earn badges or
do anything else; everything is group centered. It seems they do not even know they can strike out on their own. How is this shaping thinkers or
leaders?  It’s shaping non-thinking obedient sheep. It is ridiculous.

My daughter loves camp and wants to learn more about the outdoors. There is only one outdoor badge that appeals to her! That’s 1, ONE! They aren't
getting cooking, sewing, and craft things in school; Girl Scouts is an appropriate place for home skills, arts and crafts. My daughter loves art and crafts
and would be inspired to do badges in that area on her own. A painting and drawing badge would be excellent for my daughter. We need more of the
traditional badges that they can do on their own.

I loved the program when I was young, I found things that interested me and I did them. I would hate it if I was a girl now. Silver and Gold are great,
but my daughter won't do it unless the whole troop is doing it--and we may not even have a troop next year. Our leader, an elementary school
teacher!-- no less, is tired of doing it. What good are Silver and Gold if there are no leaders to help the girls achieve it? Let’s teach self-motivation. Let’s
teach environmental concerns like the destruction of the monarch butterfly. That is something they can get behind on a local, small scale level. I’m not
at all surprised that membership is dwindling. I wouldn't want to be a leader having to follow a “curriculum”. This is not school. This is supposed to be
fun, a place to stretch and do different things. Admittedly, some things in this program are good. But my daughter would like more badges that inspire
her, something she likes that she can do on her own, and more of the outdoors. Let’s get back to basics.
Additional comment: My daughter repeatedly says she wants more outdoor skills. She want's to learn how to cook over a fire. She likes summer camp,
but finds the monthly troop meetings boring. She says the Journeys are like schoolwork.My daughter wants badges for things like painting, or crafty
things. I'm sure she would like a badge for outdoor cooking, or camping skills. Badges for things like sailing or canoeing would be great. She is just not
at all motivated by the current badge selection. I cannot get her to do any badge work on her own. I agree. The badges and Journeys do not motivate
me at all. When I was a scout, I poured over the badges looking for things I wanted to do. I wanted to earn badges on my own. I had fun at meetings, I
found them interesting. I'd quit if I were a Scout now.

I was never a GS as a girl however this is my 19th year as a GS troop leader having taken 2 troops from Kindergarten Daisy's through Senior HS Ambassadors. I am now on Troop #3 which I also began as Kindergarten Daisy's and they are now 9th grade Seniors. This is my first troop where not every scout earned their Silver Award because these girls chose to skip meetings when they knew it was a Journey meeting and since this is the only requirement they refused to even attempt the Silver. The kindest thing I can say about the Journey Program is that I AM NOT A FAN!! I have attempted many different approaches to make this enjoyable to the girls but I have not only lost scouts because no one wants to do these but they find it boring to have to stick with one program for so long. Thank you for your time.
Leaders are NOT teachers, we are moms and grandmoms. Journeys as they are now, force us to try and teach these girls in stead of them doing!
Thank you for undertaking this.
The current program is not relevant for the girls and does not interest them. We are losing girls and leaders faster than we can recruit them.
I have been a GS leader for 3 years (currently 1st year Brownies), leading a troop of 22 girls, and we have not and will likely not attempt any journeys. The girls and I are very busy with outside commitments and we have time for 1 meeting a month, and none of us want to be working on the same activity focus for months on end. Being able to earn a badge within a meeting works far better for us, and definitely the girls want HANDS ON activity, not researching etc., at this age. The cost, planning, and time involved with a Journey is not commensurate to what you learn. My troop does want to spend all its hard earned cookie money on Journey books! And, speaking of cookies, enough with the badges related to cookie activities.

I contrast this with Cub Scouts, where I was a leader for 3 years. The activities are useful, challenging, doable within a meeting time, get the boys
outdoors, and provide and experience unlike other alternatives out there. Journeys are too much like doing a school project. If you want girls to seek
out and stay with Girl Scouts, you need to provide them something that they will not get anywhere else.

If Journeys are going to stay, there needs to be room for different topics. We all love the environment and all, but it seems like every Journey is
promoting a certain value set, and it can be boring to girls whose interests go beyond the narrow range of topics. What about Sports Journeys? STEM
Journeys? Artistic  Journeys? Music Journeys?

Finally, enough of a focus on the "leadership experience". If girls can gain practical skills, learning to work with other girls, challenge themselves, try
new activities, etc., with the confidence that results, then "leadership" skills will develop inherently, without the overt focus that GS seems to have.
Some girls, moreover, do not want to be leaders, and there needs to be a place in GS for that.

Our Brownie Troop was very bored with the Journey. Once we started working on our own badges their interest returned.
The Girl Scout organization requires way too much money per girl for supplies like Journey books, separate badge guides, etc. It is not the organization for every girl, as it was when we were girls.
My girls don't like the Journeys at all. They plan to stay in Girl Scouts until all the girls are old enough to join Venture Crew with Boy Scouts. They love one another but they want to DO MORE.
I wish that the Girls Guide was like it was when I was a scout in the 80's. I think the badges and activities were much better during that time and we had fun completing them!
Please bring back the badges. My daughters and my troops LOVED the try-its and badges--they learned so much. And the outdoor emphasis was KEY in helping one daughter decide on her career--put the outdoor emphasis back!!
Girls complain that journeys are too much like school work.
Juliet would be so disappointed in what GS has morphed into. :(
My daughter has been a Girl Scout since Kindergarten. Her entire group of 14 girls quit as the girls were entering Middle School because they were no longer interested and my daughter was the only one who continued in scouting. Now that she is 16, she has lost interest in the Scouting side, but continues because most of her current friends are in her troop and it is her social outlet. She finds the GS program to be boring. When we go to Boy Scout events with my 10-yr old son, my daughter asks to go because she has more fun at their events then she does at her GS events. I have tried to get her into Venturing, but she doesn't want to leave her friends in her GS troop.
We are losing the girls. Let's get back to basics.
I support more outdoor education and badges over journeys.
Making the books smaller and travel worthy is essential! I miss the days of having a badge book in every girls backpack. Bring back the useful size! A girl rarely finds adventure or growth on a shelf.

COMMENTS FROM 4-3-15

The new program makes it exceedingly difficult for a girl to earn anything but a badge by herself. So now instead of earning a Bronze Award as an independent scout she's struggling to earn a Silver Award too! You are turning more girls away than expanding scouting's base. Huge mistake. Turn this around now before we become an Edsel Ford.
I am a life-time member and it is sad to see the changes that have been made. As a trainer, I found the journeys detracted from the mission of GSUSA and the enjoyment the girls have in the program. As a result I have been less active lately. I will always support GSUSA and my local council but too often changes are made in an effort to be more up to date. This is not always an improvement.
Yes I would like to see these changes take place.
My girls want to know why they can't earn the outside badges their sisters earned. They don't like the journeys. I was told they would like to join the Boy Scouts. They have better stuff to earn.
We never liked the Journeys and eventually never used them. Too much like school work! We let the girls choose what they wanted to learn about and do. The Journeys took too much time away from new girl experiences. We only have so much time with the girls, why spend the majority reading and doing activities in a book.
I would like to see a reading badge at every level. Books was the first badge I earned as a Junior and the first badge my daughter earned as a Junior. Reading the basis for everything we do and a girl who isn't much of reader may be encouraged to explore books if there's a badge on the other end of it. Also, more skills badges at every level -- cooking, sewing, photography, woodworking (the current Cadette woodworking badge should be a Brownie badge), outdoor skills of all types, gardening, birdwatching, orienteering, map-reading, for older girls car maintenance.
I am a current Adult Educator (trainer) and have led multiple GS troops at Junior, Cadette and Senior level over my decades of Girl Scouting. I find too much emphasis on the Journey approach and not enough emphasis on outdoor skills, life skills, and career exploration. Back to basics or at lease have a dual track for Bronze, Silver and Gold with strong emphasis on Outdoor skills which are confidence builders. I love to see the girls "get it". The light bulb comes on and what ever they are learning gives them great confidence to go on and do other activities where their horizons are broadened, not totally focused into areas where they may have little or no interest. No one needs to be spoon fed when they enter Girl Scouts. Let them explore because we need young people that are able to excel in all walks of life, not just the Journeys. I would bet please to speak with you about my experiences in educating and leading Girl Scouts. Respectfully, but not stereotyped, (name removed)
Juliette Gordon Low always said that if you don't know what to do, ask the girls. The girls have been asked, and what they want is the old badge system and outdoor experiences. I have heard so many girls say that trying to do a journey is like going to school after school is out. They feel like it is torture. Let the girls explore and try things, without all this research the journeys ask for. They get enough research practice in school. Also, stop closing camps. If they aren't getting the needed attendance, then fix the problem. Better marketing, better programming, and using a proven camp rehabilitator has worked for programs across the country. Like our law says "use resources wisely", not sell them off.
As my girls prepare to bridge to Cadettes I've been looking at the Cadette program and the Silver Award requirements. If I read "refer back to your Journey" one more time I'm going to lose my mind. The Journeys are the worst part of Girl Scouting. They are expensive to buy, difficult to use, and require far too much time and effort from me to change them to make them relevant to my girls. We have girls from 4 different schools in 3 different school districts so many of the suggested projects are laughable. Plan a walking school bus so kids are safe...well the girls live miles apart--15 miles in some cases--and ride 7 different school buses, none of them walk to school. Our communities are small and don't have a community center, or a real homeless shelter, our meeting place is a church basement that has just been renovated...we can't make it any more "green" than it already is.

You need to realize that not only do the Journey not meet the need of the girls, but they are driving volunteers away. I spent at least 10 hours changing
the aMUSE journey so it was fun for the girls. And I have to tell you, that the 12 girls who participated in that Journey were not the least bit held back
by any preconceived notions of male/female stereotypes. We have moms who are doctors, lawyers, professors, authors, soldiers, business managers.
Our girls were surprised that anyone would limit their career choices based on their gender. We don't buy the girl books either because the girls spend
7.5 hours a day in school and at least another 1.5 hours in homework. They don't want to read the book. They want to be active. A program that is so
"necessary" should be easy to use and relevant to girls. I am an intelligent, well-educated, middle-class volunteer and the Journey books drive me
crazy. No real continuity from start to finish, hard to follow, difficult to implement in our setting. And don't get me started on the Take Action projects.
How do you expect 10 year old girls to come up with a project that is meaninful and lasting? See my comments above regarding the suggestions from
the books.
The current Girl program is failing and GSUSA refuses to admit it. The girls want to earn badges and they want a variety of badges based on necessary
skills. They want hiking and camping and canoeing, archery, kayaking, paddle-boarding, backpacking. And for goodness sake, let's make it easier to get
the girls out and doing things. I'm so tired of hearing that I will "endanger" the girls if I take them outside. They are NOT in danger and they WANT to
do new things. Not the same old boring stuff.

As a part of the Girl Scout community that was a Cadettte girl scout when journeys became in effect, I STRONGLY recommend getting rid of the journeys. I was one of the first groups in my service unit to earn a journey and I hated every second of it. I did not gain anything from the journey experience compared to the badges. I looked at journeys as things that were stopping me from earning my silver and gold awards rather than something that I look forward to earning. I highly support getting rid of the journey experience. Thank you for finally doing something about it.
Today's Girl Scout program is nothing like what I had as a girl in the 1970s. That program is what developed leadership skills in today's women. The program now is all about talking about issues not doing and learning new skills. The doing is key.
The Journeys don't reflect what girls want to do today. I would not have wanted to do them when I was in Girl Scouts, and my 2nd grade Brownies don't enjoy them. They feel like school. Your volunteers don't have time to redesign the lesson plans and develop a manner in which to accomplish the journeys in way that could possibly make them fun. Younger girls especially need smaller projects that can be fully accomplished in one or 2 meetings. They love earning badges, but the journeys are a failure with my girls, and goodness knows I tried!
The Girl Scouts of our Service Unit dislike the Journeys. They miss the badges and outdoor programming. Time and time again we hear this. I find it hard to believe that leadership is not hearing this same message at the national level. It's time for the Journeys to go the same way as Studio 2B. Bring back Girl Scout traditions and badges!
I am an alumna, a lifetime member, mother of a lifetime member, and troop leader. I feel that Girl Scouts USA is disregarding volunteers, their time and their experience. My daughter was in the Studio 2B program throughout middle and high school. Much of the lore I had learned as a Girl Scout was not applicable to her programming, and the transition was quick & with poor rollout. I started another troop when my daughter started college. Little did I know that within 2 years the programming would change 100% from the program my daughter followed. So, not only is my experience as a Girl Scout useless, so is my experience as a Girl Scout Leader. The Journeys are useless. A few of the girls like to read them, but don't' want to use them in meetings. The rest are just bored by them - they are just like school, and don't allow Girl-Led programming.

I am very grateful to be in a great council that has provided materials to make the Journeys palatable to the girls, but most councils have not done so.
Girl Scouts USA needs to look at what is working for Girl Scouts and volunteers, not education experts or non-Girl Scouts think is good. Since Girl
Scouts, USA is not providing material to help leaders, it should not be totally revamping programming on such a regular basis. I am happy with my
council, but I see Girl Scouts, USA as a source of unfunded mandates - taking away programming that the girls and leaders like, replacing it with
educational materials, and then blaming the councils for not supporting volunteers.

Oh, and if Girl Scouts USA put half the effort into helping volunteers that it puts into selling us stuff, Girl Scouts would be in better shape. When
councils are being required, by Girl Scouts USA policies, to fund retirements at the expense of camp, when good programming is replaced by bad, then
worse programming, when traditional programming (badges) is thrown out en masse, I don't see any reason to support the national office. If Girl
Scouts USA is so clueless about girls that they think that Junior Girl Scouts are not interested in horse badges, they should not be making decisions for
girls. Please bring back most of the old badges, and tone back the Journeys - they should not be a requirement for Higher Awards.

I have spoken to literally thousands of adults and girls over the last severally years from all over. I have volunteered as a docent at a museum; as well as traveling up and down the east coast during our centennial year. Almost unanimously, they want us to go back to no Journeys and more badges. Proof is found in the growing numbers leaving for Patriot Girls and Frontier Girls. They are growing, following GSUSA's former programs, while GSUSA is fading with all the constant changing and fluff.
Would love to see more skill badges especially ones focusing on outdoor skills.
While we have enjoyed the Journeys, they become increasingly difficult to accomplish as the girls get older. They have other commitments and often drop out siting they can't commit to making enough meetings. Being able to focus on more badges, and less on the Journey, will help them feel they can still be in GS on a more "drop in" basis instead of quitting altogether.
Stop journeys....return to more programming similar to the 1960-2000s. These include lots of life skill and outdoor badges. Stop trying to be everything to everyone. It is not possible. Audit national's finances, seems much too high (only know from few articles). Quit all the GS research costs and support those who want GS, mostly white, middle class members. Stop the exorbitant costs of too many components of books for badges. Go back to requirements listed on one page in a level manual with a sign-off space. I am also concerned about the market matches, definitely do not like the Barbie program. We've been accused for years of being a cookie seller. Now we are creamer sellers? No, we are girls and adults learning to experience our world today. Get out that message, and not on a box of candy bars.
Please, we need to improve the program for the older girls. They have more choices on how to spend their time and making scouts be another bout of school work is not holding their interest. Real life skills are so important and we are no longer teaching those if we follow the current program.
Also, badges that have the same overall skills, like camping, with requirements based by age-level, supporting multi-level troops and events, where mixed age girls can work on the skills together. Much like many council patch programs.
The badges program has been watered down to the point that girls can rush through most of them. It takes a long time to earn a journey and the girls are not always ready to "get it". Outdoor education should be a bigger part of the experience. Girls like the idea of the out of doors and the badges help people understand the skills that are necessary. Please add more badges!
If it had not been for the outdoor components of Girl Scouts I would never had been a member. I have been a member since 1964.
Please please make these changes to improve things for scouts and leaders too!!
Bring back the breadth of badges that allowed girls to really experience a wider variety of areas, and definitely limit the focus on journeys- we are losing girls left and right because they are so difficult for the girls and leaders to deal with. WAY TOO little emphasis on outdoors skill building.
JGL would be ashamed of the ways GS USA has compromised or sold out. My daughters are embarrassed to be associated with the Girl Scouts when they should be proud of the extent of their individual accomplishments. The reputation of the Girl Scouts needs to be rebuilt into a respected organization and not a puppet of the United Way.
Please return to our Founder's purpose for starting Girl Scouting in the first place; skill building and service. Leadership is a natural progression of learning new skills and becoming confident in service to others. Stop trying to force an outcome. Leaders rise to the top with experience not curriculum. Not every girl wants to be a leader but every girl will benefit from new experiences and opportunities and will be able to make that choice for herself.
I am a GS leader of 5 seniors. They have all earned their Silver and went to summer camp to complete the Journey needed for their Gold Award. The sad part: I doubt any of them will do a Gold project. Why? Every example they are given involves projects so enormous they are intimidated. Even our council rep can't bring it into perspective for them because the push is so global. Meanwhile, boys trying to earn Eagle Awards are helping each other build park benches and staying local. Please get some older women involved in planning. Women who have had children or worked with children for many years. Women who can take the ideals and plan developmentally appropriate activities. Leaders have been forcing things for years now because some of these topics are introduced too soon. Girls need skills. Skills lead to confidence. Confidence leads to ideas for change. Thank you
The current program is discouraging to adults wishing to volunteer and is "boring" according to Girl Scouts whom I have been a leader from Brownies to Cadettes. New leaders and existing leaders are forced to choose between the curriculum and what their Girl Scouts really want to do. Requiring completion of Journey's in order to receive a leadership award (Bronze, Silver and Gold) is unfair. I am a third generation Girl Scout - a legacy I am proud to pass on to my daughter and those I lead. Girl Led means just that!
Girls Scouts is simply not Girl Scouts anymore. Stop trying to chase after fads and sound bites. Girl Scouts is NOT a corporate entity, so stop trying to act like one and getting caught up in pretending to be one. Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts has not seen any need to change the basic programming offered to their members and they seem to be doing just fine. I do not think the same can be said for us. Additional comment: All the girls that I interact with complain that "Journey's are like homework..." They do not like them at all, and see it as something painful that they have no choice but to "get through as quickly as possible, like having a cavity filled.." Girl Scouts has made the mistake of trying to do too many "new" things over the last ten years in a misguided attempt to attract "more" girls. We don't need MORE girls, we need girls that are interested in Girl Scouts and what the program is about. We also need more support for all types of Leaders and more support and commitment form the parents; this is what will help with retention and "numbers" that they seem all consumed about. Journeys and the new Level Books just seem like a big waste of time and a way to make money (HOW MANY books and "Additional Badge Sets" are we supposed to buy?)

I very strongly agree with 4) more emphasis on outdoor skills. I understand that a lot of girls think they don't want to do this, but mastering (and realizing you enjoy) skills you were unsure of are excellent ways to build self-confidence and self-respect. The 'out-of-doors' and 'adventures' is what I believe scouting is about.

Journey's are currently presented as an extension to school. This is not what any girl I've talked to is interested in from scouts. There needs to be a lot
more fun activity (with values learnings as a result) and a lot less discussion and reading. It needs to be realistic with realistic ideas. As a leader, I'm
looking for a program that doesn't require me to spend more than an hour or two a week researching in order to have a fun (and productive) meeting.

The changes in the program are really sad. I want my girls to have the memories I had with my decade of scouting. A focus on outdoors and badges that are not business and computer related. This should be about the girls not making more money for the home office.
Journey's stifle the imagination and seem like more school work to the girls.
The Journey books are too much like school work, and my girls have shown no interest in them.
Please add an Outdoor Journey that includes a lot of Outdoor Program.
I have done the Journeys because we have to in order to get the higher awards, but when we started the Senior one the girls looked at me like I was crazy! I have been in scouts for almost ten years with this troop and I know how to reach them. But these Journeys are like homework and out of touch. The girls do not like them and would rather work on badges and really learn something! They want to learn how to whittle and knife safety for camping. I had to get a boy scout to come in because GS does not even have a fact sheet or any info on this. STOP trying to make the girls business women. That is not the goal of GS! Strong- yes, But not every girl wants to lead a company. We are losing the older girls because of GSUSA policies. They need to be engaged. It seems sometime that the focus is on the younger girls because they sell more cookies. But that is very short sighted. The older girls are the ones that mentor and give peer to peer knowledge. They are the future that we depend on for leadership and retention.
Let's allow scouts to gain, develop, and share life skills that they have a chance to learn in an outdoor and community-based setting unique to the mission of scouting and separate from academic programs!! Additional comment: Girl Scouts distinguishes itself from other programs by its focus on skill-building and community service -- particularly outdoor resourcefulness. Please make this a central focus of the national program!!!

The journeys have been boring, off-putting and detrimental to Girl Scouts. The girls have enough homework from school. They want fun hands on projects. We are actually losing Girl Scouts because of the emphasis on Journeys.
If the programs are made to be the same across GSUSA then you should make the training that the adults are required to have be the same across all councils. I'm so tired of having to retrain and recertify every time we move to a different council!
Most girls and leaders do not enjoy the journeys, and there are so few patches that the older girls want to do when you get to ambassador, they don't want any of the current patches
Now is the time for change!
I would like to minimize efforts for the Journeys. I didn't join to send girls home with homework to make them feel like they have to Work. I joined so the girls could complete badges and patches together and feel like a sisterhood. I feel the journeys are cumbersome. I don't want to do it. My girls are bridging into Juniors for the fall. I did not have them do Journeys in the two years of Brownies nor will I do them in Juniors. If you persist I guess the girls will drop out due to more requirements to move forward in the continually changing organization that I have been a part of since I was a Brownie. I started as a Brownie and graduated as a Senior in 1988. A lot has changed and most of it not great. I do it for my daughter, not for your requirements. Looking at the Boy Scout process and handbook they have stayed true to their course. Minimally has it changed and for good reason. Teach them to survive in our world. I feel like we would be better off with those basics.
Girls want to experience and learn NEW things - things they do NOT have the opportunity to explore at home or at school. Unfortunately, the National Program Portfolio is purposefully aligned with the school curriculum's Common Core standards. But girls do NOT want to re-hash things they have already learned in school. And they do NOT want to do homework in Girl Scouts. Instead, they want HANDS-ON experiences, where they can explore NEW things within the safe, all-girl environment of Girl Scouts. The OLD badge/interest project books were perfect for this, providing a myriad of choices for girls with different interests. Yes, some of the badge/interest project requirements were out-of-date. But all they needed were UPDATES to reflect the changing technology. Also, the Journey pre-requisite to earning the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards has actually weakened those formerly prestigious awards. Prior to the Journey pre-requisite, girls had to earn: 1) a leadership award, 2) a career award, and 3) a challenge award. These 3 awards provided a well-rounded experience for girls, while also adequately preparing them for the more challenging work on the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards. Not only that, these 3 pre-requisites were easily explained to and understood by the non-Girl Scout public. They were clearly seen as something worth doing in preparation for the highest awards.
I would like to see the GS Gold Award more realistic. Why is it easier for the Boy Scouts to earn the Eagle Award than it is for the Girl Scouts to earn the Gold Award?
It would also improve adult volunteer numbers if GSNIM had more trainings available locally towards the Michigan Service Areas.
Please we need to stick with our values and make a handbook that the girls can afford and is useable. Losing girls because scouts isn't fun. None of the girls have the handbook and when I tried to by one for the scout in my life I couldn't even get all the pages. They didn't have them all and then you don't remember which ones you have and the cost is out of sight. I get embarrassed by the path that corporate has gone.
I especially agree with statements #3 and #4. This is based on experiences with two different Junior troops that I have worked with in recent years, where the Journeys seemed to take so long to complete that it was very difficult to spend much time on the Bronze Award activities. Also, I found very few badges that could be related to outdoor activities such as hiking, overnight camping, and Camporees.
I have been a leader for 12 years and since the change me and my troop including parents have felt like to program now has made a mockery of the historical program it was meant to be. Requiring journey books (in which us as leaders have very little to work with in meetings so the girls end up just reading the whole meeting) but they are required before girls go out and lead to get an large community award. I wish the curriculum required what my girls got into girl scouts for in the first place. Life long survival skills not social issues.
Girl Scouting is an experience builder, skill builder organization for girls. Girl Scouting is fun outside the norm experiences for girls - not a social club. Girls develop leadership skills, service to others, and life skills. Outdoor skills are essential to the girl's experience. They can figure it out, etc in less than ideal circumstances, survive without a cell phone for a weekend, cook over an open fire. They can try things that test them in many ways - high ropes courses, rock climbing on real rocks, white water rafting, backpacking - they can do these things and learn from them! This year was my first year not a leader after 20 years as a Girl Scout leader.
It's time for the program to remember it's roots - we need to focus more on providing the girls with real skill sets to become confident women & leaders. Focus less on political agendas & cookies
My troop of 8- 12 & 13 year old Cadettes is teetering on the edge of falling apart. They (as well as myself and my co-leader) can't stand the journey books for one thing. They dumb down what is actually going on in their daily lives right now, and in general, they all feel like they are in an organization that doesn't seem to understand the changes they are going through.

There need to be fewer camps that include "housed" camping. It isn't camping if they are not in tents. Survival skills are next to nowhere in the
program. My son is a 15 yr. old in Boy Scouts, and has had more knife safety, outdoor survival and tent camping in his 9 years than I have my whole
life. Why are we treating our daughters like less capable beings than our sons? It's ridiculous.

My daughters have never liked the Journeys. They feel that the format is too much like school. They like the flexibility of badges, that you can pick from several options that fit your interests and available resources to complete a badge. They are sad that so much of G.S. resources are moving away from the outdoor experience, though the new badges are a step in the right direction. They also don't like the badges that go with the Journeys, they take up too much space on a vest or sash. And as a leader I don't like it when I have to buy all the parts and then a girl only completes one. The rest is wasted materials and money. Not using our resources wisely. We are loosing far to many girls to programs like Venture. Change is needed.
I'm a leader finishing up my first year with a Daisy level troop. We've covered two journeys, and from my perspective, they are nearly indistinguishable from one another. There is entirely too much focus on soft stereo-typically feminine concepts like "understanding our feelings and the feelings of our friends", and almost no actual concrete skill building - indeed, I can't point to a single thing my girls would be certain to know after completing a journey that they didn't know beforehand. Please refocus and give us to the tools to help our girls develop competence and a spirit of service, because from these things will naturally flow self-esteem and character!
My scouts hate the journeys. We buy old badges and IPs from the "black market" (collectors) to give them the experience they desire.
I would also like to see the skill badges focus more on the actual development of the skill and less on “research homework." As the badges are designed now a lot of the requirements require research that we can't complete in our regular meetings.
Our troop loves the girl guides. It gives them an introduction into something new without having to be overwhelmed by the material that comes in a journey. We as leaders struggle with keeping the excitement with journeys because not all the girls can understand the point to them. They get bored very easily. We get the same result by abridging the journey and using the guides. After talking to other leaders, they all agree. If so maybe have this issue than the journeys are not being used for the purpose they were intended for.
The old books for each level of scouting were great. They should be brought back.
What an inspirational message. I hope GSUSA is listening now.
I feel the program would also benefit from more leader training and less paperwork for everything. Leaders get burnt out being paper pushers more than they interact with the girls!
Do away with mandatory journeys all together. Make badges progressive, so each age level can earn each badge, if desired. More variety in badges offered as well! Girl scouts originated from boy scouts. Go back to that mind set. We lose older girls to venturing because girl scouts has 'dumbed' itself down a lot. Girls want more variety and to be challenged. Additional comment: I hate journeys. Too much 'homework'. Program needs to be open to all things. What happen to real life badges, life skills, career exploration? We need to go back to them.

COMMENTS FROM 4-2-15

This is NOT the Girl Scout program Juliette Low started!

I am in my 11th year as a leader, SU manager and otherwise very active volunteer with this organization. I am watching numbers and interest drop because of the current focus, among other things. Far too much emphasis on commercialism, consumerism, and the like. Hard to sustain passion for this.
Journeys are extremely unclear and very convoluted.
Please give these suggestions careful consideration, as they reflect the concerns of many registered girls and adult volunteers who recognize the multiple deficiencies in the current GSUSA Program. Additional comment: I have been a registered Girl Scout since I was in 3rd grade (1952); I was an unofficial assistant leader during my college years (back then, there was no membership between 12th grade graduation and turning of age 21). When my daughter became a Brownie, I started a Junior level troop so she could continue her GS experience. She and I continued our troop through Cadettes and Seniors, all the while gaining skills and experiences which served to contribute to the fine, strong, socially-conscious woman she is today. She became a nurse because of the Health Badge she earned in 4th grade! Fast-forward to 3 years ago, when her daughter/my granddaughter entered Kindergarten, and there was no Daisy troop in our town: I started one. I was unfamiliar with the Journeys, and tried faithfully to follow what the leader guide outlined to do; but I soon saw that they were NOT the hands-on, fun-with-a-purpose program that Girl Scouting had been for me and my daughter. My Daisies soon let me know that it was "too much like school" -- the Journey even had them do homework! Now, my granddaughter is in another troop in another town; her troop doesn't do Journeys; instead, they do badges and interest patches, and every troop meeting is focused on a fun activity where the girls are learning a skill and enjoying working together. It is a multi-level troop -- Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, and 3 Cadettes. Sometimes the Cadettes lead an activity for one of the younger groups of girls, thus learning leadership skills. My point? These girls are doing very well without the Journeys. The only setback will be if they want to earn the Bronze, Silver and Gold awards, they won't be permitted to because their troops chose to participate in a "traditional" approach to Girl Scouting. And having MUCH more fun and learning in the process!
The Journies get in our way of doing meaningful things with the girls.
I never grew up as a scout so all of this is new to me. I feel the need for more leader training and background on traditions. I can't teach what I don't know.
Journey books are too long and drawn out...too much like school! If insist on doing before higher awards then hours put into them should count! We hate them, the girls hate them, and they lose interest all together and quit.
I love Girl Scouts and all it builds inside Girls, including myself. I started in GS as Brownie and grew up in scouts. I earned my First Class, Gold and Silver Leadership Awards, as well as Silver and Gold Award. I am proud of all that I accomplished and learned in Scouts. I was thrilled to take on Daisy scout troop, while still in college and most recently, my current Scout Troop. I have had a troop for 9 years and my "girls" are awesome. I really love seeing them grow up into young girls and now young women. As the program changed - my girls and I were excited to see a new dimension to the program. We are an active troop. Most girls earned 80% of all their Try It's, Junior Badges and Cadette IP's and Badges. They all have earned Bronze Awards and are working on Silver and some Gold. The program changes have been a difficult to accept and incorporate into the GS program. The girls feel these new badges and Journey's emphasize "school" like aspects. The program and books are not fun or creative- I know that as a leader I can do what I need and not have to follow the book exactly as written, however the emphasis in Journey's are following educational guidelines and the girls recognize this. My Troop now figures out how to "get through" a journey, so they can move on to more "fun" things, which I work to program for them. I work 10x's more with the new program teaching the girls the things that are fun to learn and I have a troop of 13 - 8th-11th graders. They want to earn their Gold and I think that all girls who want it and are willing to put in efforts should be able to do this. Our Troop is active - we do program pieces, we camp, we travel and are off to Europe for 16 days this summer. I was Scouts to be important part of their lives....as it was with me. I am sad when I hear girls say -- this is like school. LISTEN TO THE GIRLS and THE WOMEN WHO LEAD THEM --- THIS IS NOT AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO RUN A PROGRAM.
Adults need an official uniform, leader guides, proper position training, proficient hands-on merit badges, at least 1 girl scout camp in each council, and handbooks should include outdoor skills in case the girls forget. Also, girls need positions and earn their awards not just show up and be tossed the badge. Our council staff could care less about the organization.
These changes are in dire need if we want girls to continue in Girl Scout's beyond 5th grade!!
I went from a very active troop of 12 Cadettes and seniors who camped, traveled, and tried Journeys but gave up; to a troop of 4 who only want to plan and work at day camp. At our day camp we have had to turn girls away who want to come to camp as PAs because we don't have enough spaces, but almost 1/2 of them only do camp, no Journeys, troop meetings, badges, or cookie sales. They want to be outside doing things not repeating what they learned in school. Personally it saddens me to see have far we have come from Juliette Low's desire to give girls the opportunity to experience anything they desired and earn badges to recognize that learning. Now girls can experience a few things that fit in a very narrow STEM framework or not receive any recognition.
I would also like to comment that if it was not for the volunteers that spend their time and money to support their troops, (council name removed) employees would not have a job. Last year I spent at least $350 of my OWN money on my troop. I had an incident during Cookie Sale 2014 where council believed a lying, bullying parent over a leader of 35+ years. We are a close knit community/Service Unit and I was told that parents wrote letters stating that that parent was indeed lying and they were not going to stand for anymore bullying from this parent. Council informed these parents that they had to believe that parent. So all these other people you don't believe? It is a shame that they believed 1 parent versus a dedicated leader as well as other parents who gave them proof. (council name removed) SHAME ON YOU!!!!! The parents in this area are very upset and I know for a fact that at least 30 parents did not sign up their daughter for GS because of your poor decision. Additional comments: 1) I would also like to state that our council does NOT stand up for their volunteers who donate their precious time as well as their own personal money. Please remember, if it was not for us dedicated leaders, they would not have a job. Please treat us with respect. 2) I am losing too many girls because our council requires us to do a Journey. Is it that important to lose girls to GS. Please we need to make changes that will HELP the girls.

We need to bring Girl Scouts "back to the basics" intended by Juliette Gordon Low. Girls will not become leaders until they are proficient with their skills. We need more active skill building!
Rethink Journeys! Take GS back to it's original intent. That is ... girls coming together to learn new skills through teamwork, and learning to be usefully, productive members of society.
Bring back the handbooks and the badges, get rid of the journeys, go back to Daisy K or 1, Brownies 1-3, Juniors 4-6, cadettes 7-9, and seniors 10-12. If you must have ambassadors they can be college age or get rid of them. We do not need so many different levels. Stop changing the uniforms every 2 to 3 years. No one knows what a Girl Scout uniform looks like from year to year. There is no "brand recognition"--no tradition. There are plenty of ways of incorporating STEM ideas in badges without getting rid of all the outdoor activities, crafts, cooking and home skills, drama, etc. They get STEM in school, we are not school, we are enrichment.
Love Girl Scouts! My girls really want to earn the silver and gold awards, but they are so bored with the Journeys. Much of that content they already do at school. They want more badges to choose from and they want to be outside! Additional comment: Please return Girl Scouting to its rich traditions of work-based badges and a stress on the outdoors. Please remove the Journeys as a requirement to the Gold & Silver Awards. The only reason my Cadettes are still involved in scouting is to earn the higher level awards and for community service. They will not do the Journeys because they are sedentary assignments and are too much like school. They already spend hours sitting and studying books and they don't want to read more of the Journeys. They want to be outside! Or active in other ways.
The journeys do not bother me, but I do feel there are not enough options (add an outdoor journey and more badges) and train leaders better. So many do not understand what informal education is, and end up treating the material like school. It should be fun! Additional comment: So, yes, this is the second time i am filling this out. But i feel i need to make an additional comment. As someone that works in imformal education, I do spend much of my time writing curriculum, or taking concepts and figuring out activities to make the learning fun. Unfortunately, the way journeys are written, unless you are an experienced educator, the majority of the material is dry and entails lots of discussion, and is too much like school. No matter the original intent of the journeys, they can either be done the way they are written (which is long and drawn out and not very exciting) or hacked up to make it work in the shortest amount of time. I watched a junior troop steadily lose members this past year because they were doing it the way it is writt. You published abook about "customizing" your own journey, but most leaders do not have the skills to do thus. Leaders have litte time to spend on adapting activities and do not necessarily have the skills. So they resort to Journey in a Day events or anything to avoid fixing them for their girls.

If the material is not understood by adults working with girls. How can girls work on then -and it be girl led? There is definitely something home with this picture!

The leaders try very hard to keep the girls engaged in the Scouting program, but the girls do not feel passionate about the Journeys. Voting on sloths and unicorns??????? This is not what Juliette or Baden had in mind. Scouting is leadership building and personal growth through adventure and service. Camp is where this is done. All women will not become CEO's. Too much focus on this.
I strongly believe that Girl Scouting needs to revisit their past...this is what worked for generations. Keep the program simple, yet exciting for the girls. For those girls who want the complex pathways, let them take their journey. I do believe, however that the majority are perfectly fine with the basics of Girl Scouting.
I would also like to see there be a national GS database for awards earned. This way, if a girl moves or just loses one of her BSG Award pins, she can go to any GS Council store and purchase a replacement (with ID). I have heard so many people complain that their girl lost their Silver Award pin, etc but cannot get it replaced without a certificate, which may now be lost or never given to the leader/girl in the first place!
Please bring back the basic skills of scouting. My girls feel that the journeys are too much like school and do not like them. Thank you.
I wholeheartedly support the requests above. I would like to see the journeys eliminated altogether. Most troops meet every other week in the evening. Journeys take an average of 6 meetings to complete taking up to 3/4 of a troops meeting in a year. The girls do not like the journeys and it is difficult to keep them engaged let alone learn and experience something they can apply in their lives. I would like to respectfully advocate for a return to the 50+ badges we had when we were juniors including the return to neutral badge background of blue or gold. The pink background on the junior badges makes most of the girls feel that it is too "princessy" and stereotyping girls. I would love to see badges that promote a multitude of skills and that encourage girls to try non-traditional things as well.
While Girl Scouts played a big part shaping the person I am today; I 'm sad to say that I feel a major disconnect with the organization as whole today. You see, growing up I had a severe learning disability that made it hard for me to understand written direction, mathematics, reading, etc. I learned many skills, such as: social skills, how to adapt in situations, starting a campfire, understanding how things work, and the list goes on and on. I learned these skills mainly from camping and earning 100+ interest project patches from Brownies to Seniors. (No Joking!!) I'm very proud of all the patches I earned. And I beam with pride when I look at my Silver and Gold awards on my faded blue sash.

If I was a Girl Scout today...well I can't say I would be one in this era. Why you ask? Emphasis on STEM and the lack of camping opportunities and
interest project patches. If there's a way to include STEM in camping, please then try to. Bring back interest project patches. I wouldn't understand
STEM and what's the purpose of a Journey. I could understand the fun and learning while camping; with a little help from my parents explaining my
badge requirement to me. I would follow the steps, complete & check off my badge requirements for each patch I earned. I felt accomplishment and
pride for each one I earned. Because I did it myself. Because there were a lot a things as a child I couldn't do myself.
I would encourage GSUSA to rethink their mission, retool their program objectives, and stop selling camps. Enhance the camps you have and find ways
to fund your camps. I feel for these reasons and many others, Girl Scouts will not exist in the future. This is not only what I fear, but what also what I
feel in my heart. I will ALWAYS bleed green till the day I die. Go back to your roots that Juliette Gordon Lowe planted. A tree without it's roots will wither
and die. I ask you, will GSUSA wither and die like a tree without its roots?

I not only agree that the current skill badges available are very skimpy, I also believe that many merit badges should not be exclusive to certain age levels. There is no reason older girls should not be encouraged and rewarded to explore painting, digital photography, letter boxing, etc. I have girls attending Girl Scout sponsored events to learn programming, engineering design, maps, orienteering, etc that receive no awards or recognition. Many Girl Scouts have received bronze, silver, and gold awards for outstanding efforts before journeys were introduced. Journeys add nothing to the award experience or outcome. Girl Scouts is girl-led, but the new programs has made it girl-limited, and it is becoming increasingly girl-left. Additional comment: We have a multi-age troop K-8th this year and growing most in the middle-school age group, which is when many leave scouting, because we minimize journeys and emphasize skills and outdoor experiences. We only do the minimum journeys necessary to qualify for leadership awards. Both adults and girls find journeys to be tedious with a "schoolwork" feel. Everyone in our troop prefers activities for which there are no badge recognitions such as knife skills, knots, fishing, winter sports, biking, etc. Furthermore, I have never understood why the current badges are so limited to a single age group. Yes it makes sense for archery to only be available to older girls for safety. The badge was just introduced, but for cadettes only. Why can only brownies earn recognition for painting or photography? Why can only juniors earn recognition for geocaching? My daughter attended a council sponsored program for Juniors and Cadettes and spent an entire day at a local business coding a we page, but her appropriate age-level badge is netiquette, a web-coding badge is not available for two more years. It makes no sense, and it's very expensive and impractical for those leaders who take on multi-age troops to have all those books. I would like to see the national program offer badges similar to patch programs where there are basic age appropriate requirements for each group and extending requirements for older girls.

Jouneys are horrible and the girls don't like them eithe
I would not only like to see a return to more camping and out door skills, but some girls like sewing and other traditional persuits. I taught my sons and my cub scouts sewing. I did a sewing workshop for Juniors, Brownies, and Daisys. Not one of the levels could earn a badge for designing an outfit, choosing their fabric, pinning a pattern, cutting the fabric, and learning both hand stitching and machine stitching.
My girls dislike the Journeys so much that we decided not to do them. They would rather earn skill badges and participate in programs sponsored by local businesses.
Older girls want to try different things and the journeys are not giving them that. These girls feel like they are doing the same thing for meetings on end and it’s like school work. They want fun and hands on activities which the journeys barely give them unless you are working on the "It’s your Planet" series. You need more for them or you will ultimately loose them.
The girls need to be able to have more badges to choose from. There is not a lot that interest them now. We do need to focus more on outdoor skills. We need to get back to basics / traditions.
Girls do not enjoy doing the Journey...they feel it's too much like school, I have HS girls...they enjoy doing badges. We also need to bring back the old leadership components for doing the Gold.
Get rid of the Journeys. My troop pretty much disbanded because of them. They are hard to understand, the girls look at them like homework, they are hated. Badges were fun, social, could be some in the meeting setting, concrete and understandable, esp for girls who may have some reading difficulties. I did three Journeys with my girls. I looked and read and researched and most of all I adapted in order to help the girls understand. The hours I put into it, as a VOLUNTEER, no less were insurmountable. I could go on and on about how awful I think these Journeys are. Thank God my daughter is 21 now and my current troop disbanded, because I really can no longer tolerate what has become of GSUSA.
I was a camp counselor. The outdoor programs were a major impact on my life. It makes me sad my daughters will not have the same.
More time should be spent outside then inside for hours doing the journey.
The Journey stories are juvenile and boring for the girls.
I support more outdoor activities for Girl Scouts across the USA. I believe that the profits from the sales of outdoor programming materials should stay at the local council and be spent on supporting the local camp properties.
Girls don't stay a part of the program when it is too hard to achieve the Rigid standards currently in place. I think at this point Girl Scouts are competing with other activities and extracurriculars to be involved to the extent that you want them to stay in the program.
Please!
The girls need and want more badges. The girls don't like the journeys. Why continue to force upon them something they dislike. Membership numbers are down, a change is in order. Bring back the badges.
The concepts of the Journeys are good but some of the expectations just are undoable, they need to be condensed. By the time the girls finish, they don't remember how it started. Too many books to keep track of and the Girl Guide is cumbersome to haul around.
Many girls find the journeys boring, a lot of the WOW! Brownie journey is taught at school and I don't feel that what they learn at school should be reiterated at scouts, we should be teaching them skills that they don't learn at school. The Senior Car Care Badge asks them to talk to experts and do research there is no hands on, high school girls should know how to check the oil and other fluids, change a tire, even calculate miles per gallon for a trip.
Having led girls at all levels in two countries, I can say that the Journeys are the least popular aspect of GS. Given that they are a gateway to earning the Awards, and they so much replicate the educational processes of the PYP/MYP/IB curriculum, my girls always wonder why they have to do more 'homework' to even start an award process. I hope their status in the program can be adjusted.
The girls hate the Journeys. Don't make the whole program revolve around them. Our troop lost a lot of girls because following the current program is basically school review. BTW, most of you leaders are volunteers and most are not teachers. Don't make us reteach what they're supposedly learning in school. And why do the Silver and Gold Award projects have a sustainability requirement? The program may add that element to try to change the world to the better, but when girls see their brothers in Boy Scouts doing essentially "service projects" to earn their Eagle Award, it tells them they need to do that much MORE to receive less recognition for their efforts. Seriously, look at the BSA. They've figured out a practical program which covers boys from 11-18 which is more respected. They aren't constantly revamping their badges and program essentials every few years. Look at their registration numbers for Venturing - that's where our girls are going! I'd like to see the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts recognize each other and be supportive. I have Scoutmaster Dads who take their Boy Scouts on High Adventure trips who can't help take their daughters troops for a weekend of camping because they haven't taken the Girl Scout leader camping training? It's frustrating to hear the Girl Scouts don't recognize other legitimate programs training. My daughter is almost 11. We are only sticking around until she's 14 when she can join Venturing with her brothers. She's lost the desire to stick it out through High School, and I don't blame her.
I want there to be more outdoor activities and community service hours.
I would also like it to have the leaders guides to be more user friendly. With more steps in how to hold the meetings and how to encourage the girl led philosophy in the meetings rather that have a bunch of nonsense that has nothing to do with the meat and potatoes portions of the Journey's. We are all busy but we have volunteered because we want to help lead our girls into the laws and values of Girl Scouts. Keep it simple for us. Also, with regards to both the Girl Guides and Journeys, please have is clearly stated which part of the law the badge is addressing. This makes it easier on leaders when the girls ask us and helps us to better help them guide themselves in the direction of the law it pertains to and for us to have the confidence that we are showing the correctly.
We need to go back to basics!!! Go back to badges please. And thank you! :-)

The metal awards should demonstrate longevity in the GS program. They should not be attainable in less than a 2 years of membership. Also, practical skills like Lifesaving and First Aid should be a must. Financial literacy NOT relating to cookies, but relating to credit cards, student loans, savings, etc., MUST be made part of the high school program! Additional comment: Practical life skills need to be a part of our program - now more than ever. Also, a girl should not obtain a Gold Award without things like CPR/FA, Lifesaving, Finance (NOT the current program that orbits cookies!), Cooking, Networking and Communications, practical life fitness and diet (there are WAY to many obese leaders out there - sorry, but true!) Leadership (via an ongoing process of leading younger scouts, not a one-time meeting or stint as a program aid!) and real investment in the Girl Scout program - not a 1-2 year stint to earn the Gold award because it looks good on a college application.
We want to do great enriching events and activities with our girls but Journey complicates it so much that we wind up doing very little. Sad.
The girls enjoy earning badges for skills learned, there should be more badge variety for each level. Some of the available badges are interesting and creative; however that is not for everyone.
I have lost interest in being a leader, I have lost two co leaders and am losing girls due to the focus on the Journeys. We do not like them and miss the traditions of Girl Scouting and the badges. There are not enough interesting badges, girls want variety. We have struggled to even do one journey at each level and really do not want to be forced to continue to work on something the leaders and girls dislike, just so they may pursue their Silver award next year.
The girls should be learning leadership and outdoor skills! Many of the badge requirements are too fluffy. We should be raising strong women. It seems as if the GS focuses on a 1950's image of a woman cooking and sewing.
I was at the Atlanta Convention when the girls made their dislike of S2B loud and clear. Today's girls and leaders are just as discouraged with today's Journey program. Listen to the girls of today and yesterday. All the successful women currently in Congress, business, medicine and all the other profession learned leadership by being leaders and mastering skills. The Journeys were supposed to give every girl the same or similar GS experience, instead they are obtuse, poorly written, neither age appropriate or grade level appropriate, and for the first time in my nearly fifty years of GS I am left wondering just how to keep girls interested in the material. Now there is a book for leaders telling us to customize the Journey. Isn't this the exact opposite of the original intention of the Journeys? Neither leaders nor girls need nor want overpriced poorly made books which are trendy and fad driven. Substance will retain both leaders and girls not glitter, sparkles, bright colors and glossy pages. Girl Scouts is in danger of becoming an after school club to enrich academics. We need to get our hands dirty changing a tire, planting a community garden, hiking a trail to waterfall, building a bookshelf. It should be a requirement that every older girl be first aid and CPR trained. I remember a news story about a troop of Boy Scouts whose camp was hit by a tornado. There were injuries and the road was blocked by downed trees. Instead of sitting around discussing what to do they sprang into action. They established a triage site with the boys who had first aid training. Other got together with power tools and began clearing the road out. That is what our girls should be able to do. One Outdoor Journey and badge per year? Why? We had incredible array of outdoor badges already? They did need some updating. The wheel did not need reinventing it just needed a new tire.
While we need strong leaders, we need those leaders to know SKILLS and be able to DO things, not just take charge. This is such an important part of Scouting!
Please stop partnering with antifamily organizations! Please make camp possible for every girl! Then we have leaders for tomorrow not radical activists!
The journeys in general feel like a waste of time. What is supposed to take 10 weeks can easily be covered in 1 or 2 nights. I feel the girls are lacking the skills we once learned as scouts. Give us more skill building patches that they can earn. Even my daisies and brownies would much rather go out and learn a skill than sit, talk about feelings and other non sense, and be bored. My Co leader use to be a teacher and even she is confused as to how these journeys are supposed to make sense or help our girls in the real world.
I think parts of the porfolio works but the Journeys are a beating. We have not found a single level (Brownie, Junior or Cadette) where the girls truly understood what the Journey was asking them to do without my co-leader and I pulling it apart and trying to explain in alternate ways. Makes it a lot more work on the leaders and the girls quite frankly have been bored with the Journeys.
Additional badge choices would make the program more interesting to girls and broaden choices for volunteers. Some girls run out of journeys and need more interesting work to accomplish and continue to build their skills.
I would love to have our girls doing more outdoor-and skill-building work. The Boy Scout handbooks are filled with so many useful real-life skills - but girls should be learning to do the same things. The Daisy Journeys felt too much like school - "draw a chart to show how people are like birds." I also loved the format of the old Girl Scout handbooks. I wish we could go back to the handbook model rather than the binders.
The Journeys are so involved they scare people. Even as a Daisy leader.
This is a sound request from volunteer program staff that work directly with girls (I.e., leaders).
Please ha he the focus off cookies. Girl Scouts should be about more that cookies.
Amen..
The Girl Scout program is too much like school curriculum. Many of the same things are taught in school. Girls want to do new things, not things they already do in school.
Stop with "fundraising" restrictions at the troop level!
I prefer you delete entirely any Journey requirements for all of the awards.
Badges are what the kids want - old fashioned and new topics both. And with better more traditional designs. My juniors only want to do green badges and abhor the purple!
The new program is terrible. It's fluff and boring. Go back to some of the old patches. Bring THOSE back.
I dislike Journeys. More outdoor skills badges needed.
Next we need a disclosure of where the money is going! 600 dollars for camp for an organization that sells more products nationally then many other for profits!!!
I would also propose adding more badges then just outdoor to each level. and I do agree I'm lessening the emphasis on journeys per level to increase the the interest of each girl and her personal preferences.
The program is not designed to retain older girls and their interests.
Journey should NOT be required for girls to earn their metal award. This is a barrier that was created by GSUSA and should be eliminated. Additional comment: My girls hate the journey programs. And so do i. They take up so much time that could be spent doing other activities. My troop didn't get to start their bronze & silver awards this yr bc we couldn't get the journey done fast enough. Now I have girls that will never earn the bronze award. How sad is that? All bc of these journeys. To top it off we are constantly turning to patches and badges from other councils and outside organizations bc there is little interest in the badges GSUSA offers. GSUSA you know registration numbers are low! And you know why....we have told you. If you want to keep GSUSA from going under maybe you should start listening now, before it's too late

The girls really need more skill badges like there were years ago they get very tired of doing the journeys because they are so involved that you can't really focus on anything else.
I don't why it has been done but it seems that the program has been dumbed down. The girls in my Jr. troop are bored with the new badges. They would rather work on some of the old badges. They engage the girls mo
GSUSA needs to support and strengthen the Outdoor Program as a means to support Girl Scout Camp Properties. Thank you, (name removed) Additional comment: Please seek and listen to the girl feedback on the program. If volunteers are not implementing the Journeys correctly, additional and improved training at the Council level is needed and the Council's need support to adequately train the volunteers. Thanks, (name removed)
We definitely need more skill building badges. I was recently disappointed to see no sewing or art badges for my new cadette troop. There was a comic art badge but this is to specific. I could also imagine Juliette Gordon low being very disappointed that there were no skill badges to promote sewing. Thank you.
We did journeys and found the girls were less interested in them. Would love more outdoors incorporated and a less expensive buy in for program materials.
We need more choices to keep our girls involved, find ways to increase involvement
Please focus on badges over Journeys. And give a non-Journey way to get the highest awards, because Journey's end with a Take Action project already.
As being a Girl Scout from Kindergarten through graduation, Girl Scouts has changed dramatically with the last over haul. I am now a leader, I was a girl only 6 years ago, the journeys are extremely complicated for younger girls. A lot of the traditions I grew up with are no longer a part of the badges or joirneys. When I was a junior girl scouts there was close to 100 badges. Today there are less than half. With most of the lessons you will use future in life left out. There is no learning about car care or outdoor activities.
The girls love the badges and the opportunity to make your own badge. They do not understand the journeys and we struggle through them so they can work towards silver and gold. These are HS girls who understand the value of leadership and taking action but the journeys befuddle us as a troop and diminish their GS experience given their limited time to participate. They want more outdoors!!
Our girls are easily bored with the journeys the way they are currently set up & much prefer we find the retired badges & work on earning those. Their biggest complaint is that it is too much like homework.
I resigned as a volunteer troop leader because the process of leading a troop after the program redesign had become so complicated. GSUSA lost several good scouts and leaders in my area to new American Heritage Girls troops that go back to focusing on basic skills.
As a leader and Girl Scout camp director, I can tell you the girls feel like the journeys are schoolwork. Fun, choices, and memories are what Girl Scouts used to be about - not a ton of badges for the cookie sale but not a ton of other choices.
My daughter is a Gold Award recipient. She and I both would like to see less emphasis on the Journeys and more skill building badges. The Journeys are a poor prerequisite for the highest awards.
I've been a Girl Scout for over 25 years, a leader for 17, and my 3rd daughter is in High School and still a girl scout. But this program is not what it used to be, and I wont encourage it for my grand children. I hope you fix it.
I've been a Girl Scout for 20+ years and this is my first year as a Daisy leader. We have a troop of all Kindergarten Daisies. We are working on a Journey but it is so much like school work it only keeps the girls' interest for about 10 minutes at a time then we need to switch and do activities where they are more active and engaged (crafts, games, songs, etc.) The Daisy Petal activities seem to go a bit better with our girls and I think that is a well designed and attractive looking part of the program. When I was a Junior there were plenty of badges to choose from including an entire World of the Outdoors and almost all the badge requirements involved hands on learning. This generation of girls has even less opportunity than ever before to spend time enjoying outdoor activities. I feel strongly that it is a core part of Girl Scouts mission to encourage and promote outdoor activities. Many activities can be adapted for girls who have limited access to outdoor space. Many of my happiest memories from scouting were made while camping with my troop or at Girl Scout summer camp (14 summers as a camper and staff). 20 years later my friends from scouting are still my good friends, even though we are scattered all over the country and some overseas. And those of us with daughters are now your current generation of troop leaders. We want to get our girls outdoors having fun. It would be nice to have some badges and recognitions to represent that. By the way I'm happy to see Girl Scouts encouraging girls in other areas, especially STEM fields and robotics. I just hate to see it come at the expense of the traditional outdoor programs.
Not a fan of the journeys at all. Would like to see more emphasis on the outdoors and emergency preparedness.
Please allow our program to uphold our original intentions and values. STEM programs are wonderful and should be incorporated into Girl Scouts- but not at the cost of losing our originally intended purposes. STEM programming should enhance our program and be an alternative opportunity within the main scope of Girl Scouting, not replace our unique mission.
I and my girl (2yr brownie and 4th yr scout) don't like the Journey books. We prefer the badges. I also think having the girls do different badges before earning their awards is a better option. For instance they could earn one from 3 or more categories to help get a better idea of what they would want to do for a service project. Categories like environmental- all the earth, recycling and stuff badges. And other stuff. I think that would get them a better feel for what they feel strongly about.
Go back to badges, my girls hate the journeys, hard enough to keep them in scouting as it is! I’m a Ambassador leader, with 9 girls in 12th grade. I THINK I know what I'm talking about.
I say to go back to making GIRLS THE FOCUS of our existence and NOT a BUSINESS! I loved the idea of tradition, my Mom and I earned many of the same badges. Times change and we may need to adjust for change, but we have forgotten the crux of what Juliette started and thrown tradition out the window!
While the girls do seem to find some areas of the National Program Portfolio interesting , they spend a good amount of time working on older program activities or just non-program related activities. Please rethink the goals of the current program. And if and when you change them ....please no binders. They are poorly made, bulky and the girls don't want/use/keep them. The journey books fall apart and we do not encourage the girls to purchase them. So sad, I have my GS books from the 70's-80's and my mother's from the 50's. These new books will never hold up.
My girls do not like badges that resemble school work. They want to learn fire making, wilderness survival, jack knife skills, hiking, rock climbing, etc.
I really pray this can happen. The journeys aren't working. I have worked really hard at loving them. Our girls miss the badges.
My daughter's favorite thing about girl scouts was being able to camp out and to learn new things about nature. Hands on experiences not studying books. Journeys took a lot of that away and with children with learning disabilities it made that part of girl scouts no enjoyable. However my daughter will graduate out of girl scouts this year something a lot of girls no longer do.
If you are going to sell the license rights for manufacturing products, why not do something that doesn't compete with Girl Scout Cookie Sales......like recreate the Robert Kaufman cookie fabric. We can make our own advertisement by designing quilts, clothes and other useful items. It compliments our cookie sales rather than competing with.
I have gone from a troop of 18 to 5.
I'd rather just get rid of the journeys and have more badges offered!
More programs back to the heart and soul of the Girl Scout programs as Julliette Lowe meant. Get MBAs out of the planning and get dedicated Girl Scouts back into advisory positions. Journeys really don't work well Abroad and the Financial Legacy with cookies simply is out of the question considering that we cannot get cookies. While leaarning about financial management, I think that a program that has a third of its program working on consumerism is the wrong way to lean. GSA should be supporting more get-outside and learning more skills that are being set aside for tech and consumer thrusts. the girls LOVE doing things with their hands, Learning how to do things that are not taught in School like first aid, sewing, cooking and most important getting outside and doing real camping. They LOVE LOVE LOVE camping and Learning the appropriate skills. This is what they are loosing in modern life, they are not needing to learn how to shop or use a computer, this happens anyway a School and at home. I have felt something is VERY wrong with the current thrust of Journeys and badges not only how few, but more, how dumbed down they all are. Check out the Boy Scout badge work and our old badge work, kids learned many things from these. Additional comments: 1) I am in a troop in Athens Greece and the financial legacy badge work related to cookies does not apply to us and others abroad with no access to the cookies. Please change this emphasis and make it more broad, include other badges or ways to teach the girls about financial care taking and responsibility. 2) It has been very hard to use journeys in Greece. Also, the new badges are dumbed down, don't encourage exploring outdoor life and have WAY too much emphasis on capitalism, ie cookie sales (which we can't join in because we aren't near an army base) so a third of the program is a waste and I think, giving the wrong messages.

Dislike the Journeys, they are too involved and are too geared to groups instead of Individuals!
The program needs to put more fun and "hands on" ideas back into play. Girls spend too much time on book work already. They join Girl Scouts to be with their friends and have fun. When it is no longer fun, the girls leave. The declining membership numbers certainly show this. Bring back more outdoor and fun badges.
Girls want an outdoor journey.
I too am a firm believer in badge work, outdoor adventure, and community service. The year that we completed the 4th grade Journey, took forever, more than half of all our meetings, and in the process, I lost girl scouts interest and they came away 'bored' and feeling like they were in school. Please stop the Journey requirements for Bronze, Silver. And Gold Awards. The books are costly...it feels to myself and my parents that GSUSA is a all about bringing in money by mandating these requirements for the awards. Thank you.
It's about time!
Loss of girls switching to alternative programs is directly connected to the lack of programs offered by GSUSA.
While my girls do not hate the Journeys, they are too much like school and too similar to each other. The diminished quantity of badge offerings is disappointing, especially to older girls. They do want to spend a lot of time earning a badge, but are just not finding badges that they are interested in.
My Cadettes are disappointed in the small number of badges available to them, and love to look to the retired badges for other activities. They love being outdoors and learning outdoor skills—and they love to have badges to show what they've accomplished. Please, look at the retired badges—update where needed and bring them back. Let's give girls more opportunities to explore the things that interest them. And while we're at it, can we rename the Eating for Beauty badge? The subject matter is good but the title goes against everything we are trying to teach them about accepting themselves for who they are!
Something needs to be done on a national level or the Girl Scouts organization is going to die. I have participated in three separate councils and all 3 were struggling.
Our girls are hungry for badges that develop actual Life skills like we used to have. The current badges especially for older girls are limited and not as fun to do as they used to be. I feel we lose girls to the lack of variety in our badge options to really step outside their comfort zones to learn new things. We need more options to get the girls to try new things and have fun. Girl Scouts needs to be fun again.
I'm saddened by the loss of the traditional values I learned in GS while I was young are gone. The Journey's, while have a good message, are not exciting to the kids, just more book work without physical action. As a leader, I've tried to make them fun, but they tune out. I'm also saddened by the lack of patches. Maybe I wouldn't have to purchase so many "fun" patches from other vendors if I had more choices for accomplishment patches.
The journey program does nothing to help busy leaders. Please help us help our girls by providing us with the tools we need. Cut your losses and dump journeys!!!!' Please!!!!!!!!!!
I would love to see the badge programs that were active in the 80's come back. More Merit Badge style.
Bring back the traditional Girl Scouting activities -- the outdoor skills are so fun for the girls. The Journeys are TOO much like school work. They are terrible. The Studio 2B badges for older girls were awesome & I am sorry you have done away with them. That is the format that older girls like. The majority of leaders I have spoken with refer to the journeys, as "those dumb journeys..." at the start of any conversation. You need to have leaders & girls contribute to these decisions!!!
We need to go back to original try its and badges. Girls are quitting because it isn’t fun anymore. And go back to the original Girl Scout levels that Juliette Low made: 1 year Daisys, 3 Years Brownies, 3 Years Juniors, 3. Years Cadettes, and 3 Years Seniors.
I got tired of waiting and my girls were suffering. I quit the Girl Scout program after leading my girls for 6 years (even though I am a lifetime member) and joined with them in American Heritage Girls instead. Their program is much like the GS program used to be and it is what girls want these days, not a bunch of liberal feminist material to sit and talk about. They want to get out and DO and have a wide range of topics to choose from.
As a Girl Scout ambassador, I have been very disappointed with the direction girl scouts has taken. I have been a part of and loved girl scouts for 13 years. Yet looking at the badge book and other activities for my age group is heartbreaking. We have about 6 badges available - almost all of which have something to do with "typical girly things". This isn't what Juliet intended us to turn into. We NEED a change.
The National program portfolio should include not only more outdoor opportunities but also skill building ... sewing, crafts, etc for a wider variety of learning.
I like these ideas. I also would like to add to them. CHOICES are so important for girls. We need more badges of all kinds updated (tweaked!) and available for all kinds of outdoor program, plus more subjects - think STEAM, (STEM plus the Arts), science, music, conservation, and more. Girls have many interests, and Girl Scouting should allow them to explore all of these. We also need to support leaders and girls with great information about quality Outdoor Program in Girl Scouting. As Journeys are the current GSUSA Program for girls, I support the addition of an Outdoor Journey as soon as possible to the current Journeys, to allow girls to get outdoors more and also explore traditional Skills, STEAM, and camping, plus conservation. It would be MUCH more hands-on, and include many more Outdoor and Skills badges. This kind of official outdoor program available SOON (think: next year) would greatly increase retention, and usage at our wonderful Girl Scout camps. Plus, as the Girl Scout study, "More Than S'mores" tells us, girls DO want to get outdoors AND go camping. Plus, as we know, it's SO good for them. After that? I think we do need to de-emphasize the Journeys AND get back to a Girl Scout program that makes it easier for the girls and leaders to concentrate on what the girls want to do. Have them be optional avenues for girls, NOT required. I believe a badges-based program, with Outdoor Skills badges included, plus an emphasis on the outdoors, would greatly enhance Girl Scouting, help attract membership and create a leader and girl-friendly activities and FUN. One direction to explore: let's examine the Worlds to Explore book (an older and very popular Girl Scout program) and update it. Let's have all this new badge and book information easy to access too, and available in many formats. AND have it be inexpensive for girls and leaders. We need a LOT more excitement and adventure in Girl Scouting. Getting back to what Girl Scouts do best - - helping girls have FUN - - is a GREAT way to do that. Juliette Low was very much ahead of her time. The missing ingredients in Girl Scouting that helped to make leaders around the world can be added back in. It's what makes Girl Scouting special!
Make Journey's optional and bring on more badges that are fun and give the girls a chance to try something new (learn a new skill) vs meeting state educational requirements.
Stop focusing on the Common Core of Education. When the girls are in Girl Scouting, they want to have fun. They DO NOT want to feel like they are back in school. Maybe, just maybe, you should have pared down the amount of legacy badges instead of revamping the entire program.
Similar to the Boy Scout model, require skill proficiency to advance to the next level
Something needs to be done! This is unendurable.
Journeys are more like home work and girls are not enjoying them. Forcing to complete a journey, which is basically making then spend money, sold not be a requirement for any award. Community service should be the only requirement.
Girls want to be outside! They don't want more school work. Hands-on is the way to go.
Do away with journeys, or incorporate the badges within them and not make them two separate books. Make everything in one book.
More focus on outdoor skills and GS traditions please! We need more events like GAM and Tambu! And less focus on business, finance, & selling! I looked through the Cadet badges and so many of them look like schoolwork. That's not how to attract girls into scouting! Running events builds leadership skills. Having older girls partner with younger troops on events allows for knowledge transfer. Keep the GS summer resident camps, they are awesome!
We miss the variety of the interest badges that were previously offered. It encouraged the girls and adults to try other things. On of our favorites was the Junior Car Care badge. The Journeys are ok but I agree there is too much emphasis on them. I would love to see more interest badges come back.
The girls hate the journeys. It is quite possible that none of my girls will go on to complete a Gold Award due to the journey requirement. They want to do fun things that are not like school. They get plenty of reading and discussion in school. They want smaller, immediate and variable activities. They want to be outdoors.
I also want books like the cub scouts 1 book per level with all badges and journeys in them. Space for notes etc. Also if it says to make a first aid kit. Directions for the first aid kit. I hate having to look things up in the boy scout books for girl scouts.
Your membership is down not due to lack of volunteers but lack of interest in the program. They want more exciting things to do and learn. They get enough discussion at school and don't want to participate in GS if all they are going to do it school like things such as the journeys. We need things we can do at the meetings instead of researching outside of the meeting please.
I have some children's with learning disabilities. Journeys are way to challenging for these kids.
You are trying to create an enormous group of political activists instead of building character in girls.
Girl Scouts now is not the Girl Scouts of my youth. These amorphous journeys and lack of badges make planning incredibly different. Leaders like specifics, and make those specifics sltuonga girls need to learn.
I love Girl Scouts and treasure being a leader. I realize that scouting has to keep up with an ever changing society, but I feel like we are losing sight of the traditions and values that drew me to feel so passionately about introductions scouting to my daughter and her friends.
Thank you for putting this together. It disheartens me to see the organization I love slowly wither away.
Leadership skills are not learned by practicing "project planning." Leadership skills come from the confidence gained by learning new skills (badge work) and becoming an expert in an interest area.
I began Girl Scouts as a troop leader and product manager and have been Service Unit manager for 3 years. I began a few years before they changed from the traditional badges. The new very limited and visually "too juvenile" looking badges were a big disappointment, most seem to be created to do at home even. That defeats the purpose of a Girl Scout troop meeting/outings. I loved the traditional and outdoor life part of scouting but found the journeys to be pretty much a joke and none of our leaders and girls enjoy doing them. I tell mine to just get the "point" of the journey process....but the content of these journey books go from cheesy, to irrelevant, to controversial. In my opinion, they should even be removed altogether from the programming. The other HUGE disappointment is the lack of emphasis on outdoor life and loss of camps due to cutting back to inappropriate spending of the organization for the most part. I, my girls, and our troops love girl scouting but are becoming increasingly concerned about the direction it's taking.
I have a cadets/senior troop. In trying to teach my girls some outdoor skills I am forced to find resources on the Internet, most from Boy Scouts. I can't even find a decent diagram of basic knots in the current curriculum. Survival skills are on the rise across the country, Girl Scouts need to keep up or go back to basics because they used to be in the curriculum.
If changes are not implemented, I'm afraid the girls will lose interest. Our Cadettes prefer badge work as it relates to REAL life skills!
My girls love scouts - absolutely love it. However, when they see the dozens of badges that used to be available compared to the few now they feel disheartened. Of course it's not just about the badges. However, badges are a clear and easy way for the girls/troop to guide their own path with an adult as a mentor.
Every girl does not want to be a leader - leadership grows as skills are learned and develop. Skill building badges are essential - especially outdoor skills.
We need to get back to being the place girls came to get what they couldn't get anywhere else. All we are now is an school program.
The journeys are exhausting and the girls get bored. They love badges and the steps it takes to do them. The requirement of journeys for the higher awards is a ridiculous step GSUSA has created so troops have to do the journeys no one wants to do. While I can understand that it took many people, much time and even more effort to come up with these, Journeys are liked by few and do not really provide for a leadership experience. I did way more as a girl scout with a badge book and a great leader. This is also the main reason it is really hard to get volunteers. Girl Scouts is about teaching girls real life issues and obstacles, while showing then how they can be better humans, and strong well rounded individuals.
All badge requirements per level in one book. Prefer the prior Interest Project book that encompassed all older Scout levels.
Please return the program to what THE GIRLS want! Additional comment: I am a mother of 2 Scouts, Leader of 2 Troops and a SU Team member. I have lost many many girls die to the school-like nature of the program. Make it fun again!

Less business more life experiences!
I have never signed any petition before in my life, but I feel this is so very important. You have covered every aspect of my concerns, and I so hope that GSUSA is listening.
The girls do not really like the Journeys. Please go back to more of badge earning ideas. The girls liked to learn about something then move on to the next. Focusing on one subject for months only makes the girls think of school. The Younger girls are not happy with being at school for another hour or so.
Bring back all of the Outdoor Badges & traditional Girl Scout Outdoor programming!
Journeys are too much like school work and take too long to earn. They should not be mandatory for bronze, silver and gold awards.
Girl led should mean girl choice and the present program portfolio gives girls very few choices. Journeys are too restrictive and too much like school work.
The journeys are painful! They take to long and the girls loose interest. Not to mention some of the steps to me seem a little pointless. I skip all journeys until we have to do one to earn the bronze. I don't know of any other leaders that like the journeys. Cheers!
The binder is disposable. I would love to see the Girl Scout guide return to the book style as in the 70's. The badge options, songs, lessons, stories. Simple and permanent!
I have been to 3 world centers, and there is so much GS traditions out there that have just fallen by the wayside. Journeys take away so much from badge work. As a leader, I do not like them at all, and the girls do not either. We have lost so many girls due to lack of excitement. Girl Scouts is not meant to be an extension of school. They want to look forward to Scouts and doing and learning new things. Not sitting down reading Journeys. They complain all the time. I just hate to make them to something they do not like. I had a few girls not want to do Journeys, so they did not care about the Silver Award, which broke my heart. Something has to be done. We have changed so much. I have been a leader for 12 years, the old handbooks were great. The new ones are bulky, clumsy and just a mess. All badges should be in there for the price, we should not have to buy additional copies due to Journeys. The girls need to get out and go, not stay and read. I would love to see a full overhaul and the new handbooks, journeys and bring back some of the tradition that made Scouting what it is. It worked for many years, why change it, update things but leave them alone.
I was a leader for 17 years to 2 troops both went all the way to the Gold. I did a lot of outdoor activities with both troops. During my 17 years here's what I found, the girls who stayed involved in Girl Scouts the longest were the girls who enjoyed outdoor activities, got their PA, CIT l & CIT ll training and volunteered at summer camps, with the exception of 1 girl who spent her summers taking college courses and did not get her Gold Award, but stayed involved in Girl Scouts until she graduated from High School. Additional comment: Please let the girls go back "outside" to play!!!

Please develop alternate prerequisite paths for the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards. Please remove the journey prerequisite for other leadership, mentoring awards. Please be attentive to economic stresses faced by most young families. Make materials for the Portfolio available for download at very minimal cost. Work to make the journey materials far less wordy, far easier to follow, more practical, more concise, much less like school curricula, more inclusive of skills beyond "people skills," and feasible for an individual girl to complete. Or ditch the journeys. Make a record keeping piece for a girl so that she can record everything she earns from Daisies through Ambassadors. Maybe a revision of the fold out piece currently in the Girl's Guide. If the current way of producing badges is kept, then make the Girl's Guide binder with larger rings so that the additional badges will fit in it. Revise Safety Activity Checkpoints so its requirements are more feasible to meet. Additional comment: We must have alternate prerequisite paths to the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards that do not include journeys. Daisies need options beyond the petals that are short-term, age appropriate, and easy for volunteers to implement. The leadership awards for Juniors and up need to be untied from the journeys. Girls are eager to be mentors to younger groups, but the requirement that such mentoring be tied to journey accomplishment is killing the girls' enthusiasm to work toward today's awards. There can be no delay. The ship of the Movement is in trouble.

We really need to get back to some of the basics that Juliette Low believed girls needed to know. I would like to see many more outdoor skills, survival skills, practical skills in badges. These are the things that develop courage, confidence and character and allow girls to become leaders. Troops spend so much time on Journeys and GS feels too much like school.
We need to challenge our girls to keep them in a program the boy scouts have badges like oceanography, engineering, electricity, etc we have jewelry, science of the heart etc. We need to offer more badges.
So after 3 years it's time to re-vamp again huh?
You are allowing our girls to miss out on so much. Girl Scouts is supposed to be inclusive, meaning no one is excluded, but that is just what we are doing by only pushing leadership and stem. Excluding those girls who have no interest in those areas. Don't get me wrong, Stem and Leadership are great. But at least give those girls with little interest other options, not just fluffy badges like games, eating, flowers, jewelry. Open their world.
I would also appreciate a "handbook" for new leaders with information regarding traditions in Girl Scouting and ways to run a meeting, etc.
Making the highest awards easier by having less requirements is not the answer. So I do not agree with that part of this petition. However, the Journeys are written in such a non-specific ambiguous manner the 'requirements' to earn them are inconsistent and subjectively interpreted. Setting the goals to be accomplished in both the badges and the journeys should be looked at carefully. Bring back more of the skills badges like sewing and cooking. Too much emphasis is centered on selling cookies.
While change can be good it is not always for the better. Too much of what Girl Scouting is was cut out of the program. I am not a fan of the dissected Girl Guide Book. More thought should be put into what girl Scouting is about instead of revamping a whole program to attract more girls to scouting...that did not join.
The girls really like the old badge programs and the diversity of subjects they offered. They want more skill based badges. Less "homework".
Include ALL badge work in ONE guide... don't make us pay additional for "journey packs" that don't really work with the journey.
I agree to all points above. The journeys need to go or at least be revamped to emphasis less "homework" and more doing. Do not REQUIRE them at any level nor tie them to the Bronze, Silver or Gold awards.
Let journeys be a choice not a mandated thing people half ass due because they have to.
We must to get back to the roots of Girl Scouts if we are to maintain the interest of the girls and support from volunteers. The Journeys feel like "homework", but not "learning" to the girls. They are a huge source of stress and frustration for volunteers. The Journeys are not girl-lead they were the result of a mandate from a grant donor. I realize GSUSA has a lot of money and resources invested in the Journey programs. but it is time to redirect our emphasis for the future of Girl Scouting in the USA.
I was a girl scout until I graduated from high school. I personally enjoyed all the different badges and it made my experience more well rounded. The journeys are nothing more than additional school! WE NEED to differentiate ourselves from school or we will continue to lose girls!!! Bring back badges and outdoors- don't forget the core!!
Our troop completed journeys in middle school and our girls really lost interest in Scouting, I feel, because of the required Journey work. We no longer had the time to work on badges and skill building, things that our girls considered more fun. Please minimize the emphasis on Journeys!
As long as Journeys continue to exist, I am a proponent for the development of a new Outdoor Journey. I have signed this petition because the fact is, the three current journeys in the National Program Portfolio are at best difficult to use (by new leaders especially) and do not, in their printed form, include sufficient emphasis on outdoor programming, which I believe is absolutely vital to our Movement's future. A new, well-developed Outdoor Journey would do much to meet the objectives of this petition. I also support the development of additional skills badges in all areas, but especially in the area of outdoor programming.
Journeys have really taken away from the meaning of Girl Scouts and the Girls are leaving. Journeys need to go away and bring back the idea of TRYING lots of different things. Instead of Journey books that kids have NO connection to or want, SO THEY LEAVE !!
I agree 100% with this petition. We, the volunteers, are on the front lines and see what is happening to our membership. We need to rethink the changes that were made to our program and get back to the way Girl Scouts used to be. Juliette Low said it best..."Listen to the girls they know what to do". They want a return to the program which emphasized badges and the out-of-doors and did not have such emphasis on the journeys. Listen to the volunteers and the girls!!
The amount of leader preparation necessary for Journeys is ridiculous. While I like the Take Action part that does prepare them for their higher Awards, the Journey book is too much like homework and takes the guts of a school year to complete. Read: BORING for girls and TOO MUCH WORK for leaders! Go back to a greater variety of badges that can be completed in a shorter time period to entice girls from all walks of life, and build Take Action projects into each of them. What about reviving some of the old badges and signs with updated requirements? We absolutely need to get these girls away from their computers and devices so bringing back the outdoor badges! Forget about the charms that break, fall off and get lost, go back to all fabric badges! SIMPLIFY!
The Journeys have been a disaster from start to finish; girls don't need more schoolwork and navel-gazing. Cutting the number of merit badges to today's tiny number, and making the merit badges that are available all about the same things, have limited future possibilities for our girls - and aren't we about enhancing their futures? Given a choice between today's program books and the 1970s or even 1950s versions, I'd take the earlier ones in a heartbeat; they offer a progressive program based on skills and a fantastic variety of badges available to earn. Asking girls who are not Girl Scouts what they want with endless focus groups is not the way to run Girl Scouting; we show them what we offer, what we have offered for over a hundred years, and girls will join. We don't need to chase trends; we set them.
Please eliminate the journeys and add more badges.
I miss all the old badges. The new patch designs look very childish. I have never liked the journeys - too much like school work. The girls want to have fun not read, they do enough of that in school. Additional comment: I agree, the girls don't like the journeys and neither do the leaders. Journeys are like school work. Bring back all the old badges where the girls learn new skills. I have no problem with the girls learning leadership or doing community service, but can do without the doing the journeys.

Daisy Journeys: I tried and failed to do Three Cheers for Animals. I never attempted Welcome To Daisy Garden - no way I could keep a garden alive during a Chicago winter, lugging it up and down the steps to a church basement twice a month. The Journey books were such a disappointment. Anything that can be more hands on and less abstract for Daisies and Brownies would be welcome. Stick to the GS Promise and Law, and help us to experience the outdoors more.
Please minimize Journey or get rid of it.
Bring back the program used in the 1990' that emphasized leadership skills and community service. Initiate Badges that give the opportunity to learn new skills and bring back the joy of being a Girl Scout. The Journeys Program has turned away and continues to turn off girls and leaders.
The idea behind the journeys was probably a good one, but it seems to have fallen short. Obviously changes have been made to the program over the years, and it looks like it's time for another one.
1. There should be one source for new leader training. A step by step walk trough to make sure that everyone gets the required training's and access to the same core concepts for all girl scouts leaders or volunteers. 2. Every council should have similar rules across the country. 3. A 1 stop electronic publication of resources (GSUSA, GSUniversaty, Council Page, Local Membership) and people to contact (a electronic girls scout yellow pages for leaders, council and above).
These changes are sorely needed, not just to retain girls in the program, but to retain leaders. The lack of support caused by these needed changes contributes the most to leader burnout! Without leaders, there are no troops!
Did all Journeys this year for Daisy, Brownie, Junior and Cadette Levels, the girls repeated saying (""this is like school"") I beg them to be patience as we were encouraging them to go for their summit award. Very difficult program. I have been a leader for 17 years and was a girl scout thru high school as a child. Please change the program away from the journeys, they are not fun!
The comment I hear most often from my girls is that they don't want to do the journeys because it's just like schoolwork and most of the material has already been covered there. The badge requirements need to be reworked to be realistic. In theory, the requirements are great. Logistically, some of them are a nightmare. We also need a better mix of badges that can be completed within meetings by leaders versus ones that require field trips or special guest speakers.
I fully support this petition.
My daughter was fully committed to her Girl Scout career but with the changes our girls lost interest. We tried every spin we could and the only thing that worked was getting the old badge books out and working on them. The girls gave up getting badges to wear proudly to work on things you deemed - not outdated and irrelevant to girl scouts. Now we are an underground troop that works on old badges and camp out 6 times a year, but by the new standards - they are not a troop anymore. Thank you for telling these girls they have no home in your organization and what they want doesn't matter. Luckily they still have parents and leaders that care enough about them to take them in a safe and forward direction which we learned from the old program.
The girls and parents want more badges like we used to for skill proficiency.
I have no objections to Journeys per se. I would like to see more outdoor programming included and additional pathways to higher awards, such as a Journey OR 5 badges.
Why fix it if it "ain't broke"? Scouting in the 70's and 80's was an amazing experience, where I felt confident, accomplished, and important. Today's program: All about cookies and "book learning" (journeys).
I was told in my training's Girl Scouts is no longer about cookies, crafts and camping. My girls want crafty things to do. Survey the girls and ask them what they want. The journeys stink. The girls don't learn anything from them and they are boring. If stuff doesn't change girls are not going to stay. You need to make it fun for the girls.
Do these things and I will enthusiastically support this organization again. Lately all of the frou-frou crap has me wondering what I will do with my own daughters. Don't get me wrong. I loved growing up a Girl Scout and I still love and cherish all of those that I know through Girl Scouts. But all of the changes that they have made over the last decade or so are NOT good. Take it back to "Where Girls Grow Strong" and bring back the traditions. And most of all CAMP CAMP CAMP!!! I mean, take them camping - let them get dirty, pitch tents, cook over a fire - not just attend a summer day camp! Girl Scouts is about learning skills, about showing girls that they can do anything boys can, and about having fun while they do it! It's about encouraging independence and experiencing all that life has to offer. When I trained to become an Outdoor Camping Specialist, our Council told me that girls were not "old enough" to go camping until they were Junior Scouts. JUNIOR SCOUTS?! I started camping as a Kindergarten Daisy - that year we did a weekend in a church building. We did not sleep outside, but we cooked our own food, spend time in sleeping bags and away from mom and dad, and had a variety of experiences that were loads of fun! Our first outdoor camping trip was the following fall as 1st Grade Brownies. From that point forward we camped at least once every fall and every spring, we worked on badges and learned a lot of really great things. Those are my most cherished memories of Girl Scouts! Studio 2B came out when I was a Senior, and I hated it. It felt too much like school, and I had no interest in charm bracelets. There are plenty of places for girlie girls who like cute, silly things. Girl Scouts was supposed to be for those of us who want to get down and dirty and not feel like we have to wear pink and charms just because we're girls! Take it back to what it was. Cut the crap. Keep it simple. Model it after the Boy Scouts - Boy Scouts is what I want for Girl Scouts. Badgework and camping - THAT is Girl Scouts.
Retention of older girls is important, and the journeys are not cutting it. I am keeping some girls because I spend time finding old badges to earn, they hate the journeys, and only do them so they can compete the medal awards.
We need more diversity in the badges, and more choices. While some of the old IPPs were in dire need of updating, the girls enjoyed the wide variety of subjects to choose from which benefitted our many girls' different interests. And they were certainly more challenging than the current badges. Two more things: Please bring back badges for Ambassadors, and regroup the Cadettes through Ambassadors again. Breaking them up limited their choices, which changed from year to year.
There are No more “fun" badges! Sewing, baking, knife skills, hiking, camping, jewelry making, candle making, etc. now it's a lot like school. The girls are bored. I am bored. Earn badges or have fun. You can't do both anymore.
The girls do not like the journey program it is to much like school work to them.
Incorporate more outdoor activities please.
Girl Scout for 9 years, Leader for 17 years. The badges teach skills more in depth with actual doing. The Journey's are more discussion and information based, which the girls don't seem to retain. The badges are building blocks of progression for mastering skills that they will use as adults. Additional comment: As a Girl Scout for nine years and leader for 17 years, I am very disappointed in the future of an organization I love so much. The badges are the foundation of Girl Scouting. Learning something in Brownies and expanding your knowledge and skill through each GS level are essential to becoming a well rounded adult. The Journeys are too much discussion and not enough skill building. It's great to learn about Bullying, but, by having badges that focus on the same topics from level to level, as they get older, the girls are learning better skills.

The badges in the past had requirements for every skill level at each Girl Scout level, so if a girl started camping in Brownies, she could learn more skills as an Older Girl, or if she started camping as an Older Girl she could learn the basics and move forward.

My biggest frustration is that GSUSA appears to have no regard for leaders who love this organization, and works with program writers who have not had the GS experience. I have seen this in action as both my daughters participated in the Journey forum when GS was writing the It's Your Story (3 Cheer to Animals) and (Bliss). The woman who was writing one the Journeys had no GS experience of her own, either with herself or a child.

For GS to go forward, I would love to see a smaller handbook like the one we had in the early 70's when I was a Girl Scout that had all the information and every badge in the same book and the girl could check off the badge requirements they earned. The current books are to big and bulky, and the information is so dumbed down. With a smaller book, the girls can take their own badge books with them to activities and places, and be able to throw them in a back pack and go for a hike and work on a badge and also learn about something on their own. I can't tell you how many times, we would start one badge and go on an outing and this would lead to a second badge because we had the badge book with us. The girls were learning skills and keeping track of their own requirements. Now that is girl led, not leaders tracking each scouts activities.

The Girls, especially older ones would like to have more badges to earn, like the way it used to be before the Journey's.
Are girls quit being as active when they had to do the Journeys.
Bring back all the badges. You can add Journeys but we need the badges as well.
I would also like to see badges have a progression to them. The new outdoor badges at least add some progression in outdoor skills, but I would like to see a far more comprehensive path of progression. A skill needs reinforcement and development that is age appropriate, currently the only progressive badges are a few legacy badges, financial literacy, and cookie badges. There is FAR to much emphasis on cookie sales and financial literacy. 4-6 badges per level focus on these two skills out of only 26 badges. Girl Scouts seems to push girls into being little cookie selling money making machines for councils. If that is a primary goal of Girl Scouts, be honest and say so. Don't hide it under the guise of learning financial literacy.
How about making training reciprocal? Set national standards for training , and then allow each council to accept training done in any council that meets those standards. If states can do this with teacher certification, why can't Girl Scouts? I did not forget how to do things when I moved from Indiana to Arizona, so why should I have to retake training? Reciprocity could go a long way toward easing the problem of leaders not being able to receive needed training when they need it.
I feel the journeys lead troops to specific service projects and take away the girls true creativity in serving their community. Also my girls are not interested in the "book work" quality of the journeys. Our founder wanted the girls to develop skills. Please bring back traditional options like sewing or homemaking. Gsusa shouldn't be about only creating leaders but fostering well-rounded girls who are confident in their ability to learn and master a variety of skills. Also the dearth of outdoor badges is shameful. If GSUSA is hell bent on keeping the journey program at least add an outdoor strand.
Please return the emphasis to teaching girls skills rather than careers. Scouts should be learning to do things right now, not learning about things they might be able to do as adults.
Please make better badges for our girls and get rid of these stupid journeys.
As an advisor to an IRG who offered little to no help from the local council the addition of more merit badges would make it easier to allow my IRG to feel like more of a girls scout and to learn the skills that will allow her to grow as an individual. The Journey program is near impossible for individual scouts to complete due to the need to have a troop with connections to other troops, something I lack as a first year advisor. On top of that the requirements for the Journey program along with the girl scout merit badge program are poorly written. It is hard to understand the learning outcome that I need to facilitate, the steps to gaining the merit are so vaguely written that I am unable to tell my scout what she needs to do for each requirement to be checked off. I want to have my sister be involved in girl scouting and I want to continue to advise her so that she has the opportunity. Unless the program changes to give her more opportunities as an individual it feels like she is not wanted or valued as a scout and there is nothing more unexcusable than that.
I have been a leader most of the time since 1988, The girls today do not have the time or the willingness to do a journey. I have Daisy, Brownies, Jr and Cadettes. The older girls do not like the journeys, but they do love to do service and badges.
I have lost far too many girls because -- in their words -- "it's too much like school." Fix what's broken, please. Acknowledge the girls' needs and wants and support the volunteers desperate to get what they desire.
Personally, I like the journeys. I have had to attend many classes through GCNWI in order to get comfortable with them. Council and Service Unit.offers group events to complete Journey. It's a good program that can be tweeked but not scrapped.
The journeys are badly conceived. My girls want more badges.
I was VERY VERY disappointed when all the C/S/A IPP's my girls were looking forward to earning, were taken away from them! I lost 7 out of 10 girls immediately, especially after introducing them to these terrible Journeys! All ten had earned their Bronze and were planning their Silver. They ended up, the 3 I had left, not earning their Silver because of these Journeys! The 2 I have left now, had no interest in earning Gold either because of the Journeys. I don't know what the h*** your program people were thinking!! They obviously weren't!! How did they think they could get more girls or even retain membership with this program?!? My 2 girls are Bridging to Adult this spring, and are so happy to be leaving this disappointing program. They believe GS will not exist in 5-10 years. I have to agree! Especially if you don't bring back the true tradition of scouts. Juliette, I believe, would be so upset My favorite program was the '...Worlds...', it made sure you were earning from a balanced variety. There's no variety at all now! When newer leaders ask us veteran leaders "Is there a badge for that/this?", our answer is "There used to be. Sorry." Start listening to the majority, quit being in denial that you messed up this time, and bring it all back!!!
I have three troops daisy to cadette. All of them prefer the older badges and enjoy more outdoor skill based activities.
I hope you will consider this request seriously. I am a music teacher and would like to help my girls have the opportunity to have more badges. (I"ll even offer to help you design one, if you wish. I have a M.M. from Juilliard). As a Girl Scout I had wonderful camping experiences and am disappointed that my students don't seem to be quite as lucky. I went to Round-up in 1965 in Idaho.......performed as a song leader, in fact. I shouldn't have to explain how wonderful that experience was for a soon-to-be music major. How many 17 year olds led thousands??? Loved every minute!
My council is great and I think they have excellent workshops for the girls, but it would be amazing to implement these changes. I would love to see less of the journeys and more traditional badges and traditions, outdoor skills activities and more emphasis on camping and how it helps develop leadership skills. Note however that I am also in favor of more science, engineering, and business skills in the badges; just not in the form of journeys. I would love to see the old in the front road along with the modern subjects. I think journeys are a distraction from achieving that. Thanks!
I have tried, at 3 levels, over 3 years to make Journeys enjoyable for the girls. As they grow, they do not like them! We miss the good old days of scouting-camp, camp skills, songs and badges...not journeys!!!
I agree with these requests. Please help us strengthen love for this organization.
Although the journeys are a great guide for leaders, I believe there could be a better system in place than put less preasure to complete a book!
Bring back Girl Scout camps!
We like badges were we learn and do! Outdoors, crafts, careers. Fix this mess!!!!
Make the Gold award not so hard to earn.
1.most of the journeys the older girl feel are to dry and material covered they have no interest in. I have polled the 5 older girls troop in my area and they do not choose to do them.They forgo the higher awards because of the journey requirement. They would rather have badges that they can do. Ambassadors feel the few badges offered to them are not interesting or challenging. More badges need to be oftered They still do sports, cook, and performing arts of all kinds. They are excited to see the outdoor program coming back -No outdoor badges. Also they feel the badges are to easy (this is their thoughts). As a 32 year leader I have seen a lot of the traditions go by the way side-It will be great to have them back- Girl Scouts troop (# removed) Cadettes, Seniors, Ambassadors
The girls think that the Journeys are more like school work than anything.
I have young girls and we need more badges that teach them HOW to do things not just stand around and read books to them etc. I currently do this on my own but something more structured for the leaders who do not or cannot do the planning on their own would be wonderful. We hear about dropping enrollment and I truly think it has a lot to do with the program itself.
Bring back badges that have the girls do things/ learn things on their own to earn the badges. The badges have evolved to a lot of fluff and no substance.
I don't think the Journeys work to build leadership. My girls think they are too much like "school".
The take action projects some are to difficult and need to be eliminated from the journeys. Showing others ex) ways to save water or energy is fine. Make the journeys easier to do and easier to understand. Add A lot more badges to every level. Make Girl Scouts fun again and not like being in school. More hands on less book work stuff.
Our troop spends a lot of money on fun patches because at the level my troop is at the patches are a big importance for the girls.
Journey's emphasis is way too much. The girls don't even enjoy the journey's!!! It's like doing chores or homework to them. They prefer to do the individual badges.
Bring back the retired badges! Or create new ones along the same lines.
More Badges!!!
I have been a Girl Scout leader for 8 years. My girls were so upset when so many badges disappeared. Girls say there are not enough badges anymore and don't offer the variety that the old ones did. I presented them in a way that the new program badges were going to be new and excited so that was all them.....
Add skill building badges for Ambassadors. Additional comment: Girls need to be able to spend more time doing and less time talking and reading (they do that all day at school). Girl Scouts needs to be a FUN place where they can explore their interests and explore a WIDE variety of interests. Currently my girls do all of this but as a result are not earning many of the current awards - thanks to old awards and books they can still get guidance to help shape their explorations and occasionally I can even find old badges, IPs, and awards for them to earn. Bring back the variety that use to be one of the hallmarks of the Girl Scout program

As a mentor to older girls, I have heard many comments from them about the current programming that is available to them. Some comments I have heard include the following questions: 1) the journey program is a joke and childish. Who thought this was a good idea? How are they supposed to teach us anything so we are better prepared to go toward our awards? How are they supposed to teach us leadership? Why does everything have to be rewritten in order to be used? We don't want to do "sit and do schoolwork” during our troop meetings. We want to had fun and learn new skills. 2). Why were all the badges/IPs taken away from us? The ones that were left have been dumbed down and we don't want to sit around and talk, write in journals, or interview people all the time. We want choices! 3) Why were the badge shapes changed for the different older girl levels? They look stupid. The different shapes make our vests/sashes look like a mess and nothing fits together. Who thought this would look good? 4) Did no one talk to any of the girls about what they were interested in, or wanted from their Girl Scout experience before "they" made changes in programming? Or did those "experts" just talk to each other or talk to non-scouts and decide "they" knew what all girls wanted and liked? 5). Where is all the outdoor program choices we used to have? What about learning to survive outdoors and in emergencies? We used to have badges that taught us skills we could use the rest of our lives. 6). Does no one care about the older girls anymore? Everything is geared toward the younger kids now and how to get more of them registered.

These, among others, are concerns I have heard since programming was changed and the girls are not happy. How do I answer their concerns and
questions? How do I keep them engaged and excited about being a Girl Scout, when I have the same questions and concerns? Bring back the badges
and IPs that were taken away and give the girls the choices they used to have at each level. Not every girl wants to be a CEO of a company. Not every
girl has the same interest as others around her. Each child, and adult, is an individual with individual interests, strengths, and talents, and the current
program does not have the flexibility for those differences. Please listen to the membership......they are the ones being impacted by this current
programming disaster.

The Girls really desire a return to simple badges. My oldest was a Brownie the as the Brownie try its were retiring. That year, our troop, who had done one Journey already, was given a choice in doing the WOW Journey, or more Try-Its. The result was unanimous. They wanted the badges, not the journey. Every day I feel the same way. These girls need badges, not Journeys. My Cadettes feel the Journeys are ridiculous and boring if we follow them as written. Making them interesting takes far too much time and effort from a leader who has to think of creative ways to re-write the programs. Badges are fun, interesting, and give the girls real skills. The leadership will come with the badges, just bring them back. Leave one Journey per level, if you want, and bring back all the badges with them. It would be the best of both worlds and allow girls real choice in their girl led experience.
The girls feel the Journeys are too much like schoolwork. They want more to return to the badges. They love the variety, especially the outdoor skills. None of the troops and leaders I have been in contact with like the Journeys and do what they can to minimize working with that program. Give us back what made us love scouting before you lose more leaders and girls.
While I appreciate the obvious work put into the Journeys programs, Girl Scouts from my council send a resounding cry that "it's too much like school work!" The scouts want to learn skills that are not taught in school, that they can put to action in their daily lives. The badge program satisfied this need before Journeys, and continues to do so. More outdoor skills! More philanthropic focus! Let's truly make this a girl-led program, with scouts having say on what they want to do and putting it into action.
More hands-on, skill-based badges that can actually be led by a troop leader and completed in a meeting or two, please! Less talking, more DOING.
I also believe the Girl Guides need to be completely revamped. What happened to the information on basic skills, such as campfire building, first aid, etc. Cadettes - Ambassadors don't need to rehash over and over the history of GSUSA; they don't care how many Councils there are or where they are located. They want to develop skills.
I fully agree with the above. If you have a program that requires anything like the Volunteer Toolkit, you have a failing program. Throwing more money at it will not make it better.