Girls Cannot be Denied Access to The Boy Scouts of America

First, I would like to apologize for the late response and start to the third round of this debate, although I am equally happy that I did wait, as I would like to address one of the comments in this debate. This comment comes from lucasdufton and I would like to quote a few points form this user's comment. Point 1: "the scout association clearly no longer has a strong goal or expectation toward boys to fight and even if it id [did] wouldn't it be better to have both men and women join the army" - I would first like to correct that the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of America are different associations that both have spent over a century creating and correcting a curriculum that is more focused on each gender. Yes, there are similarities between the programs, but overall, they are very different. Point 2: "Any physical differences between boys and girls at that age wouldn't be as prominent as someone without one leg yet a boy with one leg would be allowed to join boy scouts. Imagine if they separated black and white people there would be roars of racism, yet it is commonly excepted into society for young girls and boys to be separated." - The BSA is a program for boys who are between the ages of 11 and 18. Saying that there is no difference between boys and girls of those ages is nieve and assuming that there would not be consequences of combining the two genders is even more so ( see: https://www.frc.org...). As of 2015, 46% of high school students and over 60% of high school seniors have reported having sexual intercourse (see: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org...). - Additionally, I would like to add that the BSA program does and has not segregated by race, physical ability, or mental ability so long as there is no threat of safety for the other youth. Point 3: "As a child I was friends with both boys and girls and I saw no differences outside of social norms like how my friends who were girls would prefer to paint there [their] nails, but we shouldn't separate children based on the way society makes them, like we shouldn't separate different races simply based of [on] the cultural differences in society." - (I am going to combine this last point with the focus of my final point as I am running low on remaining characters). I would like to start by asking you a question (along with everyone else who may be interested): In your youth (between birth and the time you turned 18), were there ever times that you only wanted to be with just boys or just girls? It is not wrong to want to spend time exclusively with others of your gender and actually healthier to do so in parts. This leads me to my final point. Giving boys (and girls. This point applies to the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of America) a time and place for them to associate with their gender is not a crime against humanity in any way. Studies in the school setting show that while in a single-sex classroom, both genders performed significantly better then when in a combined classroom (see: https://www.stetson.edu...). While neither the BSA or GSA programs are the same as the classroom, I would like to add two additional sources to support this, one from the GSA, which shows the benefits that girls receive in the single-sex setting of Girl Scouts (see: www.girlscoutshh.org/content/dam/girlscouts-girlscoutshh/documents/GSRIResearch/GSRI_ImpactStudy_ExecutiveSummary_2017.pdf). Additionally, I would ask that my opponent and anyone dedicated enough to this debate look through this article (https://www.deseretnews.com...). Although it is classified as an "opinionated" article, there are many claims that are supported by statistically and factually proven data that I would have covered in my final point, had there been more room to do so. The main point I would like for those reading to notice starts at the paragraph "It turns out gender segregation in education..." and ends at "Meanwhile, the BSA is hardly alone in its decision." I would like to take a bit to acknowledge my opponent's point of boys and violence. While it is a very valid point, I would like to address the fact that this was a study done on preschool children, which are much less mentally progressed than teenagers. By the teenage years, boys are much more mature and have gained the knowledge of what is and is not socially acceptable (such as acts of aggression), which is what preschool-aged children are developmentally learning. A large thank you for everyone participating or who has read along on this debate and a special thanks to my opponent for being so civil in this debate (as I have been physically assaulted in a public place debating it) and bringing points to the debate I hadn't expected. Trevor Drayton Eagle Scout- Troop 52