Inappropriate Topics at Guides

Janepig

It's a long time since I moved from Brownies to Guides but I didn't last all that long in Guides because I didn't like it. What I found was that nearly all the girls already there were in comprehensive school whereas I was still in primary school and the difference was noticeable, they were so much more grown up than I was. They would talk about what they'd done in school, etc... and I just felt completely left out. I hated it.

Jx

Dunroamin

Janepig wrote: »

It's a long time since I moved from Brownies to Guides but I didn't last all that long in Guides because I didn't like it. What I found was that nearly all the girls already there were in comprehensive school whereas I was still in primary school and the difference was noticeable, they were so much more grown up than I was. They would talk about what they'd done in school, etc... and I just felt completely left out. I hated it.

Jx

I remember it much the same - all those teenagers wanting to talk about boys, music and make up - none of which interested me in the slightest.

thehappybutterfly

When I was at Brownies I remember one of the first things I learned from a girl in my Six who everyone sort of looked up to was the signal to display to a boy which says "I want to s&&g you". I reckon we must have been about 10 tops? Horrifying really. And this was 30+ years ago.

Person_one

Dunroamin wrote: »

I remember it much the same - all those teenagers wanting to talk about boys, music and make up - none of which interested me in the slightest.

I only went to guides for two weeks, but most of the girls were 10-13, they seemed to leave as they entered teenage years and guides wasn't really cool anymore.

I went to scouts instead, and it was much the same, the boys stayed longer.

peachyprice

Janepig wrote: »

It's a long time since I moved from Brownies to Guides but I didn't last all that long in Guides because I didn't like it. What I found was that nearly all the girls already there were in comprehensive school whereas I was still in primary school and the difference was noticeable, they were so much more grown up than I was. They would talk about what they'd done in school, etc... and I just felt completely left out. I hated it.

Jx

Yes, this is how my DD felt at first I think and she was in the last term of yr6, if she had been in yr5 I don't think she would have stayed. Luckily there were 4-5 girls in yr6 that did activities together. She loves it now she's at secondary school though.

Person_one wrote: »

I only went to guides for two weeks, but most of the girls were 10-13, they seemed to leave as they entered teenage years and guides wasn't really cool anymore.

I think this is why they try to get them in at 10.5, I don't think as many would go from Brownies to Guides once there were at secondary school, as you say it's not very cool. But great for my geeky DD

maman

cte1111 wrote: »

Children have their tenth birthday in year 5, my daughter's birthday is in September so she is one of the oldest in her year group. She waited to go up to Guides until after her friend's birthday.

That's right. It's because girls have to leave Brownies at their birthday rather than at the end of school year that there can be such a discrepancy in ages.

peachyprice

maman wrote: »

That's right. It's because girls have to leave Brownies at their birthday rather than at the end of school year that there can be such a discrepancy in ages.

No, they don't. They can leave any time, birthday, end of school term, random date. It's up to each pack to decide when their leaving time is as there is no official time or limit (it used to be 11).

Ours ties in with the end of the school term at which they are 10.5.

GlasweJen

My brownies go up when they're ready, we remove them from their six at age 10ish and form a sub-six known as the OAPs (we only do this if there are 3 or more). We have a few guides projects that the girls work on when the rest are doing badge work and when they decide as a group that it's time to move up I take them to a session, sit with the guiders to watch how things go and then 2 weeks later they have a leaving party and I see them when i help out the guides.

This works for our pack and it's been done this way for at least 16 years when I was a brownie at the same pack.

Other packs have a set age, some go by school year and others leave it up to the individual brownie.

peachyprice

Aw, that's a really nice way of doing it Jen. Unfortunately we have three Guide packs so ours usually end up going different ways, which is a shame, DD was the only one who went to Thursday Guides, so she went alone, I'm sure she would have been much happier if Brownies had an OAP club!

Ours leave at the end of term, the summer leavers have their leaving ladder at summer camp, christmas leavers get one of the starring roles in the panto, the easter leavers are a bit hard done by as there isn't anything 'big' going on at that time.

Dunroamin

Person_one wrote: »

I only went to guides for two weeks, but most of the girls were 10-13, they seemed to leave as they entered teenage years and guides wasn't really cool anymore.

I went to scouts instead, and it was much the same, the boys stayed longer.

There used not to be many things you could do until you were old enough for youth clubs at about 15, so it was Guides or nothing. I think I lasted about a year.