It’s been a tumultuous time for the Boy Scouts of America in recent years. One of the changes that we can wholeheartedly endorse is the greater inclusion of girls and young women in Scouts’ main programs. After girls were allowed to join Cub Scouts last year, BSA is now inviting girls to participate in its main program for youth ages 11 to 17, now known as Scouts BSA.

Although it’s a change to decades of tradition, opening what was once known as Boy Scouts to girls will offer broader options to young women. We hope that the changes will honor the traditions that made the Boy Scouts such a great program for millions of boys while incorporating sensible updates that will help offer skills and experiences to help today’s boys and girls become upstanding men and women.

One such update is dividing the Scouts BSA troops into all-boy and all-girl units, while allowing the youth to engage in the same activities and pursue the same merit badges and ranks. That includes the opportunity for a girl to become an Eagle Scout. Many notable men have been Eagle Scouts, including the first man on the moon. It will be exciting to see the trails blazed by female Eagle Scouts.

We believe there is value for all in the Scout Law that “A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.” Notice how it doesn’t say that a Scout has to be a boy or girl? Helping youth follow these points will surely help guide them toward rewarding adult lives.

Likewise, the overall Scouts BSA experience can be rewarding for both boys and girls. Being able to get outdoors for regular camping trips offers so many benefits for our youth — including exploring the bounty of this great nation of ours. The trips also offer opportunities to learn new skills and build camaraderie among fellow youth.

While being in the great outdoors may not be for all, it’s wonderful to open up these opportunities to girls. Members of this editorial board have family experiences where the boys would go off to camp and learn outdoor skills while the girls would go to Girl Scouts or youth group and do sewing or some similar home-based activity.

Dictating activities based on stereotypical gender roles can and has led to underwhelming experiences for girls. Sure, baking and sewing has its place, but there can be important life skills and experiences in going on backpacking trips, learning knots or fire skills, or helping to build a trebuchet.

We’d like to note that we support the Girl Scouts as well. The Girl Scouts organization has taken tremendous strides over the years to offer girls exciting learning opportunities in fields including business, science, technology, engineering and math. It’s more than just cookies (which are awesome) and it has arguably been a more inclusive program than the Boy Scouts until recently.

Some feel adding girls to Boy Scouts may harm the Girl Scouts. We don’t know what the impact to the groups will ultimately be, but offering more positive opportunities for girls is good.

Ultimately, adding girls to Scouts BSA will help fulfill the Scout Motto — “Be prepared” — on a number of levels. It will help prepare boys and girls to be young adults. It will also help prepare the Boy Scouts organization for the future.

Speaking of being prepared, we’re hopeful for the Boy Scouts’ preparations as it faces a seismic change at the end of the year — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ departure from the program. The departure of one of the largest organizations affiliated with Scouting is prompting a lot of changes, including regional councils seeking new civic and religious groups to charter individual troops and dens.

While some may have viewed participation in Scouting as an obligation, we encourage people to view it as a positive opportunity for their children. Some may disagree with the Boy Scouts’ decisions in recent years regarding its membership, but we feel the core values of the organization remain intact. The group is better positioned today to help all youth, including girls, on the trail to adulthood.