GSUSA, or rather the National administration of GSUSA, has determined that henceforth all girls will be assigned levels according to their grade not their age. In other words, Daisies will be girls who are in Kindergarten and grade 1. Brownies will be girls in grades 2 and 3. Juniors will be fourth- and fifth-grade girls. Sixth- through eighth-grade girls will be Cadettes, ninth and tenth graders will be Seniors, and the Ambassador level will be composed of eleventh and twelfth graders. Although some may not realize it, this is a change from assignment based on age and, like many of the current changes being imposed on the organization, this change does not seem to have been thought through thoroughly.

Among the most complicated of issues that will have to be dealt with is that of a girl who is held back a grade in school. Under the new plan, this child will have to also be "held back" in Girl Scouts, which could also mean leaving her troop. For example, if a child is held back in third grade, she would now be expected to be a Brownie for a third year whereas all of her fellow troop mates would be moving onto Junior Girl Scouts. (This is, of course, assuming that like many {most?} troops hers is a single-grade level troop.)

Off the top of my head, I can name several serious issues that are likely to result in the girl simply dropping out of Girl Scout altogether rather than dealing with them, and an argument can be made that a girl in this situation needs the stability of a troop more not less. First, in a situation such as this the girl is likely to be in need of support and a feeling of success. By tying Girl Scout advancement to grade advancement, GSUSA is essentially saying that a child can also "flunk" Girl Scouts and be held back. In our hypothetical third grader would face another year of Try Its at the age of ten. Personally, I think most Try Its are geared to ages 6-7. By the time my troops reached third grade, ages 8-9, the Try Its no longer held any interest to them.

Another situation that clearly was not considered was that of homeschoolers who don't generally even have true assigned grades. Children in homeschooling families work often work on a year-round schedule and can be working several grade levels above their same-age peers. Although I can easily envision a parent simply advancing her child along with her troop year after year without incident, I can also envision a situation in which a parent of an academically advanced homeschooler could demand that her child be placed ahead of her peers in order to match her "grade." Under the new policy, such a parent should be granted the request regardless of whether the child's social and emotional skills match their academic grade level.

So what do I think is the answer? Choice. No one answer fits all, but girls should be able to stay or advance according to what best fits their needs within a small window. Generally, this is going to be two years of Daisies, two of Brownies, two of Juniors (although I don't think that's best for ANYONE, but that's another column), three of Cadettes, two of Seniors, an two of Ambassadors. Should a situation arise because of being held back, it is really up to the troop leader and parent to decide what is best for a particular child. No policy should exist that could potentially drive a child out of Scouting. Instead, if my hypothetical third grader is held back and wishes to bridge with her troop, she should be allowed to do so. I actually can't even imagine a situation in which the troop bridges all but one girl and then that girl is expected to "redo" a Brownie year, but these new rules could make that a reality.

What happens academically and what a happens Scout-wise should not be bound together.