skerns123

My family watched this film and loved it. Another great film for girls and families that received little press is "Rabbit Proof Fence." It is a true story about aborigine girls in the 1950's who are taken away from their village because they are half aborigine and half English and sent to a school to teach them to work in English homes. They escape several times and try to find their way over several months and hundreds of miles back to their village. An excellent film!!!

I too am having trouble with the emphasis from our council on getting college age girls to help. I have been a boy scout leader and girl scout leader for many years and while it is nice in theory, it just hasn't worked well for me for the following reasons: 1. The college age kids are too unreliable. They forget to show up or can't make many meetings because of a wide variety of reasons. Last week at our monthly leader meeting a college girl showed up looking for a troop to help with. When a leader who meets on Friday evenings asked her to help, she said she couldn't because she might not be able to find a parking space on campus after the meeting was over. She also said she would not drive any girls anywhere because she didn't want to take the risk. So you are back to Mom's organizing the program and providing transportation to field trips, camping, etc. 2. Many do not have skills to work with kids since they have little to no experience working with children. Not all - a few are good but the majority I have worked with don't have any idea what kids can do or how to keep order. 3. The turnover is high. Young women move and change jobs often. Then you are back to square one looking for someone to help. I think most girls leave the program because of lack of consistent leadership in the troop - either the leader leaves or quits or is terribly disorganized and the girls lose interest. In our council, the most successful troops have had the same leader or leaders for a long time. These leaders offer a consistent and well organized program and they communicate what is going on with the girls and the parents on a regular basis. They meet regularly and often. Sometimes I think the paid staff of the girl scout organization don't live in the real world and forget to use common sense or allow us to use common sense. They micromange everything.

I was a cub scout and boy scout leader for my son and have been a girl scout leader for 7 years. I don't recall ever seeing anything about "don't ask, don't tell" or Planned Parenthood during all of that time so I don't know what the big deal is. Our girl scout troop meets at the girl scout lodge and isn't sponsored by anyone. You also do not have to spend all your money each year by the end of the year. We have been saving our cookie money since the girls were in Kindergarten for a trip to Savannah, GA which we will take next summer. We have troop dues paid by each girl in September to cover meeting activities, badges, mailings, etc. Each girl takes turns bringing a snack to each meeting. If you do carry money over from the year, you just have to indicate what it is for ( savings for trip, summer activities, etc.) Girl Scouts offers a wide variety of activities. You can tailor the program to your troop and their interests. Don't worry so much about a little negative press. I don't know of any organization that is perfect or doesn't have some negative press at some time about something.

I am working with a tour company and we have ghost walk, dolphin cruise, trip to Tybee Island scheduled. They have also suggested a couple of hotels and some restaurants. Before we confirm hotel and restaurants, I was hoping some other leaders could advise on good or bad experiences with hotels and restaurants so we don't make the same mistakes. Thanks.

Next summer I am taking a group of 12 year old Junior scouts to Savannah. I am in the midst of booking air, hotel, and tours. Already have reservation at Heritage Center. Any advice for good hotels, restaurants, and tours? Things to avoid? Good Advice? Any help or input from leaders and/or girls who have been before would be appreciated.

Thanks for your help. Yes we had let my son try and handle this problem on his own for a couple of years; however, it has gotten worse and it is very difficult for a 14 year old boy to discuss and resolve problems with an adult who has a bias against him for reasons we don't fully understand. Last week my husband and my son went to the troop meeting and met with the scoutmaster and another commitee member for an hour. My son explained his frustration with what has been going on for a long time. The scoutmaster continued to tell him that other boy resent him for being smart and rich. This is completely out of line and untrue. One - he can't do anything about being smart and he is not a smart aleck. And two - he is not rich, and the scoutmaster has no idea about our personal finances which have nothing to do with our son. This week we visited two other troops and saw recent former members of my son's troop at these other meetings. Obviously he is not the only one having problems with the troop. It appears the best thing for him to do is transfer but I am leaving that up to him. I plan to go to the committee meeting tonight to discuss what has been going on.

Need some advice about handling conflict with scoutmaster over our son who is constantling being denied leadership opportunities and advancement opportunities. The leader is constantly telling him to slow down in earning advancements so that he doesn't tick off the older boys who haven't earned them yet. He is also receiving comments about being a rich kid whose parents are pushing him. We are not rich and we do not push him. He is just a kid who is well organized and likes to complete his requirements in a timely manner. We are supportive but have never done any of the work for him (I don't see how you can when the kids earn the badges with a merit badge counselor or at camp and merit badge days). Recently I lost my cool when our son was not nominated for any leadership positions after a comment was made by an adult supervising the nominations that he could not have a leadership position because he never came to campouts. This is a boy who came to almost every campout from 5th to 8th grade. In 9th grade he was in the marching band and was unable to attend any fall campouts. He as attended two of the three campouts offered since the fall. He is also involved in church activities which occasionally conflict on the weekends along with an occasional family activity. My son is so discouraged and hurt by the comments that he is ready to switch troops. Should he switch? Should we talk to the committee?