Dad & Lad, Mom & Me - and the single sex parent(s)

[Beavah]

If you happen to have a link to that study I would love to see it. I'm really curious to find out more about how they arrived at that number.

 

By rollin' dice in da back room?

 

It's a lobbyist number, eh? A group whose agenda is advanced by providin' a stark figure. And, like all lobbyist numbers no matter how well-intentioned, it's almost completely bogus.

 

Doesn't change Stosh's point a lick. Even in two-parent Cleaver families, I've sometimes found Mom is da one who likes to camp, not dad. Use a generic name, welcome whomever comes. If yeh really have a reason for making it a "male" or "female" - focused thing, just say "we're encouraging male partners this weekend, but women are still welcome." That's just enough nudge for folks to send a guy if they can, without keepin' a kid away.

 

Beavah

 

[Lisabob]

Yes I completely agree on all points, Beavah.

[Stosh]

"The study was conducted by the General Social Survey (GSS) of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Statistics from both government and private sources clearly demonstrate the bad news: the percentage of kids who live with both biological parents, who remain married, has dropped precipitously from 73% in 1972 to 51.7% in 1998. The view from another perspective is equally disheartening. Twenty-eight years ago 45% of households consisted of married couples with children. In 1998, that percentage had fallen to 26%."

 

This is not the study I was citing, I'm still looking for that information, but this study, even though it is 10 years old, indicates a number far less than the 67.8% of the US Survey. If the trend continued on it's declining scale, in 2008 the number would have dropped another 10-15% all things being equal. So without getting too wrapped up in statistical numbers, it's safe to assume that the majority of kids out there do not live with their married biological parents.

 

While not as dramatic as the study I saw, it still shows an alarming trend that the BSA has to consider with it's programming, expectations, and focus.

 

My apologies for a hasty original post, but the impact on BSA and it's program remains quite a challenge even when considering 10 year old data.

 

Stosh

 

 

[Twocubdad]

Disclaimer: I dropped statistics after two weeks because I didn't have a freakin' clue what they were talking about. But I did pass arthmetic. If 67% of children live in two parent households, but only 7% live with traditional married mother and father with their two natural parents, that means that of children living with two parents only 10% are living in traditional families? That doesn't seem right.

 

My circle of friends must be absolute statistical freaks.

 

On the other hand, I can tell you NORC is either part of or seriously connected with the Bureau of the Census. My father-in-law used to work for the Census and trained and conducted surveys for NORC. He worked for the part of the Census that does research year-round, not just the actual Federal Census every 10 years. Not that anyone cares....

 

 

[Stosh]

Maybe if one were to toss out all the statistics and who created them, maybe we can all agree that an increasing number of scouts are having problems with parent/guardian situations that have an impact on about half the boys we have in our troops.

 

So, does that mean:

 

1) BSA keeps itself a boy program?

 

2) BSA changes itself to a family oriented program?

 

3) BSA keeps it's traditional programming?

 

4) BSA changes it's traditional programming to accomodate the world in which it exists?

 

5) Does keeping or changing harm BSA more?

 

6) ?????

 

Statistics are good for showing trends, not proving facts. Times change so how does one react? I have been camping for well over 50 years. At one time I could camp in a state park and be one of 4-5 units present. Now I have to make reservations a year in advance if I wish to make use of a state park. I have family camped, camped with friends, scout camped and camped with church youth groups. Yet with every different camping opportunity I availed myself with, a different kind of expectation was part of it. When I family camp it is not the same as when I scout camp. When I scout camped as a Boy Scout it is not the same as when I scout camp as a ScoutMaster. I can do many different emphasis on camping, but not at the same time. BSA needs to learn this process. Until BOY Scouts of America becomes Scouts of America, I'm going to assume the program is oriented to the boys and not their families. If one wishes to bond with their kid in a tent, take him camping. My father did and it was great. My father never attended a scouting outing and that was great too.

 

Stosh

[Eagledad]

>>When I family camp it is not the same as when I scout camp. When I scout camped as a Boy Scout it is not the same as when I scout camp as a ScoutMaster. I can do many different emphasis on camping, but not at the same time. BSA needs to learn this process. Until BOY Scouts of America becomes Scouts of America, I'm going to assume the program is oriented to the boys and not their families.

[Stosh]

One needs to pay attention to the flow of the forums. I see a lot of posts with family dynamics being built in by local troops.

 

6 boys and 6 adults attending outings doesn't seem to me to be a BSA activity, it's dad and boys (family) attending many of the outings together and BSA was never designed to be as such.

 

Scout camps now have "family" weeks where the whole family can go when their boy goes although they have to be in a separate area.

 

"Can SM's with no kids in the program be acceptable?" Another nice dig at BSA policy. Why wouldn't an adult without kids in the program be acceptable unless it's a family only program and the parents have to run it.

 

Hovering parents? Sure, they all want in on the program.

 

Parent coordinators? If it's a boy program what's the need of such a position?

 

Need I continue?

 

I joined scouts to get away from my parents. I didn't want them dragging along. This was my opportunity to develop some independence and maturity without any mom/dad hand-holding. Stage Mom's and Little League Dads have ruined a lot of other excellent programs, I would hate to have them get their hands on BSA too.

 

Stosh

[fleetfootedfox]

Lots of tangents to go off on.

 

I think the lesbian/gay issue and the legal guardian issue are two separate issues, and I don't think NWScouter was implying otherwise. If a single mom who wasn't lesbian had asked the questions this woman asked, I would have responded no different to her. We tried to work with her.

 

Also, as I said before this was a Council event, not a pack event, and so the pack had no control over how the event was named.

 

Personally, though, I think that cub scouts tend to be dominated by the moms so it's kinda nice to have a father/son event to get some of the dads involved who otherwise let their wives do all the work.