Girl Guides is Getting a 21st Century Makeover

Girl Guides to get badges for coding and app making in 21st century makeover.

Girl Guides has been known to challenge outdated gender stereotypes by offering (even decades ago) girl guides the opportunity to learn about being an air mechanic or electrician.

Girl Guiding has announced a major revamp or its “badges” programme; the different activities that guides take part in, in a bid to bring them up to date for today’s young women and girls.

The charity is asking the public to use social media to suggest the badges they would create using the hashtag #Badge goals. The idea will be considered during the development of the final badges.

So far, around 15,000 girls have been involved in putting forward and testing ideas such as app design, blogging, chemist, be yourself, festival goer, space, costume design, entrepreneurship, upcycling and speaking out.

The new activities and badges will be set around 6 themes; skills for my future, have adventures, be well, know myself, express myself and take action, and the programme will first be launched in summer 2018.

As a young girl I was a girl guide and fondly remember the organization as a great way to learn and grow with others my own age. When my daughter was in girl guides, I became a Girl Guide leader. I am excited to learn that Girl Guides are revolutionising the programme.

It is about making sure they appeal to as many girls and young women as possible, and making sure they are as relevant as possible.

Traditional activities such as exploring, camping and hiking remain popular, but there is a growing demand to include hi-tech games like geocaching, where GPS technology is used to create an outdoor treasure-hunt trail.

The last time the Girl Guide programme was overhauled was in 1968, and since then either ‘individual badges’ have been introduced or changes have focussed on one age group at a time.

Girl Guiding has always changed as the lives of girls have changed since it was founded over a century ago, introducing ground breaking badges for girls from the start such as Air Mechanic in the 1910s and Electrician in the 1930s.

The charity aims to attract new members from all backgrounds with the refreshed offer so even more girls can benefit.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/05/18/girl-guides-to-get-badges-for-coding-and-app-making-in-21st-century-makeover-6645408/

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