Mini Ethnography Report

Sarah Morgan


The four girls sat sideways in their chairs facing the bench at the side of the room, where
the troop leader sat. The two Moms sat farther down on the rows of chairs behind the girls.
Each girl except for two were very different from one another. The two that appeared to be
sisters both wore nike shorts, a long t-shirt and running shoes, both had straight blond hair. One
of the other girls had brown curly hair, wearing combat boots, green skinny jeans and some kind
of vintage army jacket. The last girl wore mens basketball shorts with a dirty T-shirt that
appeared to be two sizes too small. Even though they all went to the same high school, it was
apparent none of them ran in the same social groups. The silence before the meeting made it
apparent that they didnt get along particularly well either. The meeting began with the leader
rambling on about something as the two sisters exchanged a look of annoyance.
Girl Scouts is supposed to be a extracurricular activity with a group of friends. Its
supposed to teach girls about helping the community, how to be a leader, and survival skills,
while being fun and enjoyable at the same time. But it seems as though Girls Scouts is none of
those things for anyone in troop 1356. No one enjoys it anymore, and according to the girls the
only reason their still in Girl Scouts is for the title, and for the rare possibility of getting their
gold, all for the one single purpose of college applications.
In the two back to back booths in American Road Side Burger there were four girls in one
booth and four moms in the other. Lots of chatter came from the booth of adults but it was
almost radio silent in the scouts booth. Every now and then someone would say something as
they were eating but no conversation would come from it. You could almost feel the
awkwardness in the air. Emily said afterwards in an interview I really hate mindless meetings,
It was fun as a kid and then it just got old.
It was weird for me to sit back at watch the awkwardness between them, having been
apart of the troop for so long it was hard for me to not step in and say something. It had started
to become apparent that not everyone got along even when I was in the troop. During my last
year in the troop things seemed to fall apart. Towards the end of last year myself and one of the
girls whom I was very close with, got in a huge fight outside of Girls Scouts. We didn't speak for
weeks and the groups dynamic completely feel apart. Without her and I talking everyone knew
something was wrong but everyone was too scared to say anything about it. Now going back
and observing the groups dynamic I started to realize just how much it really feel apart over the
past year. At this point hardly any of the girls show up to the meetings, all of the seniors are
busy with everything else in their lives and don't seem to have time for Girl Scouts anymore.
Then why even be in Girl Scouts, right? Over the years I, as well as many of the other
girls, have earned tons of badges, awards, pinsect. Our troop used to do fun activities and
camping trips all the time. As we got older those enjoyable activities became more and more
scarce. Everyone used to be Girl Scouts because they wanted to be in it, because they enjoyed it.
Now everyones in it just so they can say that they were in Girl Scouts for 13 consecutive years
and write it on their college applications. Its not in my nature to quit, I do it for the the title, for
the college apps (Emily). However for some girls 12 years is just as good as 13. The two
scouts that quit after 12 years both said it was because they had other things in their life that were
more of a priority for them. They said they had no intention of getting their gold award and
therefore saw no purpose in staying in it. Both girls had an other extracurriculars that they
succeeded in and were more worth their time. For one girl it was marching band, and the other
school newspaper, yearbook, and literary magazine. I respect them for admitting that Girl Scouts
wasn't their priority, instead of being over committed.
The girls that are still in Girl Scours are in it not just because they want 13 years instead
of 12 to put on their college apps but because they all have or had the intention on earning their
gold award. The problem is that the Girl Scout gold award is becoming impossible to earn.
When people think of the gold award for Girl Scouts they immediately think of it as the
equivalent of the Boy Scout eagle award. That however it one of the most false accusations out
there! Colleges don't even really know what a gold award is. Colleges look at the eagle award
as amazing and rank it above or equal to gold, when gold is so much harder. Why put forth all
this effort to get something when Im not even going to be really recognized for it (Emily). Just
like Girl Scouts Boy Scouts have to come up with a large project for the community. Both
awards require a certain amount of hours as well as a sustainability" aspect. Also for both
awards the scout has to present his or her idea in front of the Girl Scout or Boy Scout board to
get their project approved as something that is acceptable for the award. So when you look at it
like that, yes both awards seem pretty equal. It all comes down to what the board approves and
doesn't approve. Thats is where the gold award becomes so much harder to earn.
A family friend of mine recently earned his eagle scout award, he was praised so highly
for have completed it, there was even an article in the newspaper congratulating him on his
amazing accomplishment. For his project he decided he wanted to beautify" his church. He
even had church members sign up to help. He had a great turn out and over the course of a few
weekends they had planted flowers and bushes around the front of the church. Now I don't want
to ignore what he did, I think its great that he put forth the effort to do that and I'm sure his
church will enjoy it for years to come. But did his church really need that? Were they in need?
No. I know girls scouts who proposed projects similar to his to the board and every single one of
them got rejected. It didn't used to be this way but now gold is becoming impossible to earn.
My neighbor is also a boy scout and has successfully earned his eagle award as well. For his
project he ran multiple charitable events and collected used soccer balls and sneakers. He then
worked with a youth organization in Africa and donated them the soccer balls and shoes. He
wanted children less fortunate then himself to be able to play soccer. That is the kind of award
that the Girl Scout gold award committee looks for but even then girls I know who have
presented projects like that have still been rejected. I know too many girls who are just giving up
on the idea of getting their gold award because they feel its almost impossible to achieve. Both
of the senior girls in the troop I observed were trying to earn their gold award to put on college
applications and neither were able to get approved by the Girl Scouts board.
Through my observations, interviews, and personal experience, Girl Scout troop 1356 is
no longer the fun extracurricular activity it used to be for the girls. The girls have grown apart
and no longer get along. The possibility of earning the gold award has become slim to nothing.
Lastly, the only reason the girls are still in it is to possibly earn their gold award and for the title
of being in Girl Scouts to put on college applications.