Boy Scouts Officially Allow Girls to Join Ranks

The Boy Scouts are officially open to girls, the organization confirmed Friday.

Now called the Scouts BSA, the Scouts are open to boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 17.

"I could not be more excited for what this means for the next generation of leaders in our nation," the group's chief scout executive Michael B. Surbaugh said Friday, according to CNN.

"Through Scouts BSA, more young people than ever before — young women and men — will get to experience the benefits of camaraderie, confidence, resilience, trustworthiness, courage, and kindness through a time-tested program that has been proven to build character and leadership."

The Cub Scouts, a program for younger children, began accepting girls in its ranks last year. More than 77,000 girls have signed up, CNN reported.

The Girl Scouts of the USA is no fan of the Boy Scouts' move, however. In a statement Friday to CNN, it said the "benefit of the single-gender environment has been well-documented by educators, scholars, other girl- and youth-serving organizations, and Girl Scouts and their families."

In 2017, the organization ripped the Boy Scouts for allowing the opposite gender to join its ranks.

"It's a potentially dangerous and bad idea," a Girl Scouts spokesperson said.

The Girl Scouts do not allow boys to join.

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