VOA慢速英语2017 美国女童子军指责男童子军招募女孩（在线收听）

Girl Scouts Accuse Boy Scouts of Stealing New Members

The Girls Scouts of America is accusing the Boy Scouts of America of secretly trying to recruit girls.

美国女童子军指责美国男童子军企图秘密招收女孩。

Girl Scouts President Kathy Hopinkah Hannan wrote a letter to Boy Scouts President Randall Stephenson. In it, Hannan said her organization was upset to learn that the Boy Scouts were talking to young parents about creating programs for their daughters.

女童子军负责人凯西 汉南向男童子军负责人兰德尔 斯蒂芬森写了一封信。信中，汉南表示，她的女童子军听闻男童子军游说年轻的父母，说要为他们的女儿们创建多个项目。对此，女童子军非常震惊。

"We were disappointed in the lack of transparency as we learned that you are… testing the appeal of a girls' offering to millennial parents," she wrote.

我们对于贵组织确实透明度的情况表示很失望，我们得知你们正在试探很多家长，让他们的女儿们参加你们的项目，她如是写道。

Hannan also said in her letter that she thought the Boy Scouts were being dishonest about being only for boys. Instead, she said, the Boy Scouts are creating a model for both boys and girls.

汉南还在信中说道，她过去一直以为男童子军诚恳做事，只招收男生。她说，然而男童子军现在却是男女兼收。

Membership in the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts has declined in recent years. Both organizations have lost more than 1 million members from their highest rates.

无论是女童子军还是男童子军，其生源近年来都有所下滑。两个组织的生源数量与其最高纪录相比下降了100多万。

In answer, top leaders met this month to discuss working together.

为解决这个问题，本月，两个组织的高层领导人会面讨论合作事宜。

However, Hannan wrote that she believed the Boy Scouts had already started to create coed programs that would damage the Girl Scouts.

不过，汉南还在信中写道，她认为男童子军已经开始创建男女同校的项目，而这会损害女童子军的利益。

The letter was first reported by BuzzFeed News.

Decline in membership

The Boy Scouts confirmed in a statement to The Washington Post that it is considering including girls in its organization. However, the organization said it is not doing so to increase its numbers. Instead, it is responding to requests from families who want their daughters to be a part of the same organization as their sons.

男童子军在一份递交给《华盛顿邮报》的声明中确认表示其正在考虑在其组织内招募女孩。不过，男童子军也同时表示，这样做的目的并非增加生源数量，让这些想让自己的女儿参加与类似男童子军的家庭实现愿望。

"The Boy Scouts of America believes in the benefit of single-gender programs," said Effie Delimarkos, director of national communications for the Boy Scouts, in a statement.

美国男童子军相信单一性别项目的好处，在一份声明中，男童子军国家通讯部主任埃菲如是说道。

But, she added, many boys and girls are not in either the Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts. So, Delimarkos wrote, the Boy Scouts are trying to help families by creating programs that fit into their busy lives.

但她补充道，很多男生和女生既不在男童子军，也不在女童子军。她写道，所以，男童子军正在努力帮助一些家庭，途径就是创设一些项目，来与他们忙碌的生活相契合。

The programs aim to “deliver character development and values-based leadership training,'' Delimarkos said.

这些项目旨在培养孩子的性格，并对孩子进行基于价值观的领导力培训，埃菲如是说道。

Some women outside the Girl Scouts have asked the Boy Scouts to include girls.

一些不在女童子军之内的女性请求男童子军招录女生。

In February, after the Boy Scouts announced it would admit transgender children in its programs, the National Organization for Women (NOW) praised the group. It asked the Boy Scouts to honor its promise to “help all children by permitting girls to gain full membership."

今年2月，男童子军宣布其允许变性人加入其项目后，全国妇女组织(NOW)赞扬了男童子军。全国妇女组织请男童子军兑现其承诺，“通过允许女孩加入男童子军的方式来帮助所有孩子。”

NOW said it was inspired by the efforts of a 15-year-old New York City girl, Sydney Ireland, to act like her older brother, who is an Eagle Scout.

全国妇女组织表示其受到了一名来自纽约的15岁女孩的鼓舞，她能像她鹰级童子军的哥哥一样。

Unlike the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts have continued to allow only girls in their programs. They say empowering girls is their most important purpose.

女童子军不像男童子军一样，她们一直都只招募女生参加项目。她们表示，让女孩们强大起来是他们最重要的目标。

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

coed - adj. having or including both men and women

empower - v. to give power to (someone)

gender - n. the state of being male or female

millennial - n. a person who was born in the 1980s or 1990s

recruit - v. to find suitable people and get them to join a company, an organization, the armed forces, etc.

transgender - adj. of or relating to people who feel that their true nature does not match their sex at birth