After years of selling cookies the old-fashioned way, the Girl Scouts are about to go digital, bringing their sales to the internet. The move to allow troopers to have a digital presence and sell cookies online was announced recently by the national organization, and has been met with mixed emotions by parents, officials within the organization and privacy advocates. Concerns include exposing so many girls, as young as 13, to the potential for cyber-bullying, online predators and other dangers of the Web. Some say the idea is long overdue: How can you teach entrepreneurship to a generation of young women without developing their digital skills? Others are worried about encouraging so many children -- there are 2.3 million Girls Scouts in the country -- to court friends, coworkers of parents, acquaintances, and other consumers through Web sites that have little organizational supervision.
A Girl Scouts spokesperson said that only a girl's first name would be part of her custom site -- similar to a seller's page on eBay. Her last name, location and other identifying information won't be listed by default. The organization also made sure that all customer and scout data is encrypted. Girls won't be required to set up Web sites, but those who do will have to take a pledge for online safety, plus lessons on issues such as cyberbullying and dealing with strangers online. Of course the most important thing will be for parents to monitor activity and keep talking to their daughters about online safety.