Parent Coordinator

[Bob White]

Can you be specific, or at least not so ambiguous?

 

What part of the explanation of the ScoutParents role that I shared from the ScoutParents Guide even hints at an adult lead program?

 

Where in fact does it say ANYTHING about them leading scouts?

 

Where does it say ANYTHING about them leading the unit?

 

Your fears are completely unrelated to the facts of the program.

 

 

 

 

 

[Gold Winger]

"Scouting provides a time-tested structure that helps bond parent/child development through group and individual activities, recognition and advancement."

 

I'm confused. I thought that Scouting was a time for boys to grow and learn. Now it is a program for parents and children to bond.

[evmori]

I'm confused, too. I thought kids quit because the unit program sucked! Now we find out they quit because of no parental support! Which is it? Or is it both? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Bob White]

GW

You have perhaps forgotten that "Scouting" is not just Boy Scouting, but is a growth process that begins at age 7 in Cub Scouiting.

 

Is it your opinion that growing and learning and having a positive relationship with your parents is mutually exclusive?

 

Do you have evidence that Scouting does not do the positive things mentioned in the passage you selected?

 

Do you believe that developing a positive relationship with ones parents is not a part of growing and learning?

 

 

 

 

[evmori]

I'm gonna take a stab at these!

 

Is it your opinion that growing and learning and having a positive relationship with your parents is mutually exclusive?

No they aren't mutually exclusive. Has anyone suggested as such?

 

Do you have evidence that Scouting does not do the positive things mentioned in the passage you selected?

I don't think this has ever been suggested of inferred.

 

Do you believe that developing a positive relationship with ones parents is not a part of growing and learning?

This is the same as the 1st question, just reworded.

 

I am not advocating, nor do I think anyone one else is, that parents not be involved in their kids lives. What I am reading is these new positions for parents are really not necessary & could be more trouble than they are worth. I guess the upside is these positions aren't required yet.

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[Guest OldGreyEagle]

I will take a shot at it, although I know I am going where angels fear to tread.

 

Ed and GW, both of you are rather outspoken as to the ever increasing roles parents take in their childrens' lives and wish it would stop.

 

I think I have it right. And now there is a position for units that would be the specific person that parents would contact for information about scouting, their child and other sundry things. I see the Parent Coordinator as the one who explain why the adults camp 100 yeard (300 feet) from the patrols. They are the ones who explain why having mommy cook breakfast, or do the dishes is not helpful. I am reminded of the fried chicken scene in "Follow Me Boys" where Vi heaves the fried chicken and cake in the creek because Lem "Forbids" her to feed it to the boys, because the boys have to learn to do it themselves.

 

Now, you may argue that such a position is not required, not needed, surperfluous and just nuts, and that is your right. But it may also help keep the parents out of the Scoutmasters hair, and for that it may be valuable. I know some scoutmasters who do scoutmasterin' quite well, but don't relate well to adults and have little patience with adults who try to short circuit the methods, I see the parent coordinator as the person who address that while the scoutmaster does his/her thing

[evmori]

Yes I am OGE. Reason - I don't feel we need to toss more adults into the mix to try to fix a perceived problem. If the SM and ASM's & CC are trained properly, there is no need for this position in Boy Scouts. And how much ya wanna bet, the parents who will sign up for these new positions will be unable and/or unwilling to attend training!

 

To me, it's a little scary!

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[Stosh]

There is a very thin line between parent involvement and parent interference.

 

After 35+ years of youth work, this line is not always honored. Just ask any youth counselor, youth worker, coach, teacher, pastor and scout leader how this works. Soccer moms, Little League Dads, and stage mothers are becoming the rule not the exception and from an earlier post on clingy parents interfering in the operations of a summer camp to the point where they had to have a fulltime person handling the hassles, it's just around the corner for Scouting.

 

Boy Scouting is not a family organization. I'm thinking YMCA/YWCA organization would better fit their situation as would their local churches. However, BSA is a boy/youth organization supported by parents.

If a parent wishes to take on a BSA leadership role, that's great, but they need the background checks, references, etc.

 

It is my perspective that this once independent parent organization has pressured BSA to influence their program on the national level and will not extend it into the units. I'm thinking BSA is on a slippery slope that may not benefit the boys in the long run.

 

Stosh

[Guest OldGreyEagle]

I think the tendency for adults filling in these positions to attend training will be dictated by the tendency of the associated CO to require or not require training. In that regard, they will be as trained as the rest of the adult in scouting.

 

I dont see this as a legacy position, once filled, there is no going back. With the right person I think it could be great, with the wrong person, it would be a disaster. Then again, this is the same result one would get with any adult position in any organization. The right person will be a great fit, the wrong, horrible. If the position is filled and it stinks, then dont refill it, or find someone who can do the job, just as you would with the Scoutmaster, Committee Chair, etc.

[Bob White]

"Boy Scouting is not a family organization"

 

I think that is a terribly short sited view. I don't think anyone can deny that parents can play a very inportant role in a scouts level of poarticipation, his attendance, his advancement, his embrcing and application of scouting values.

 

The ScoutParnets program is an effort to make sure that these influences are positive rather than negative.

 

I assk again, due too your failure to respond, What specific element(s) of the passage I shared from the ScoutParents Orientation Guide do you see as harmful to scouting or to a unit program.

 

Where does it say that the Scoutparents are involved in taking over youth responsibilities?

 

Where does it duggest that the parents are to take over Scoutmaster responsibilities.

 

Your fears seem firmly based on things that the ScoutParents program isn't about, and you are ignoring what it tells you it is.

 

 

[Gold Winger]

Okay,. You're absolutely right. As usual.

 

If BSA has adopted this program, it must be a good thing and by expressing contrary thoughts we are demonstrating ourselves to be disloyal Scouters. (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[Bob White]

Having an opinion is easy, having an informed opinion takes effort that some posters seem unwilling to invest.

 

Where is you evidence that the ScoutParents program has any of the elements that you seem so concerned over?

 

You have yet to identify a single fact about the program that is related to your phobias.

 

You were provided with the definition you sought, and yet you have avoided addressing a single element from it or explain how it would be devastating to what you view as the scouting program.

 

 

 

 

[NJCubScouter]

I agree with portions of what several different people have said.

 

"Parent involvement" is great when it is channeled into the specific positions in the unit, including the specific committee functions. The idea of parents encouraging their son's participation and advancement is great too, but this already happens in many families -- not all. I'm not sure how a ScoutParent program and coordinator is going to make this happen any more than it happens already.

 

As for encouraging people to volunteer for positions in the unit, again, this already happens and I am not sure how a designated Parent Coordinator position is necessarily going to enhance that. In my son's troop, the CC and SM, and others, spend some of their (our) time trying to sign up other parents. I am happy for those of you here whose units are fully staffed with adult leaders and committee members, but my son's troop is not, nor is his former Cub pack at the present time. (In fact the pack came very close to collapsing two years ago, due mainly to a lack of people being willing to leaders/committee members.) While numerically our troop has more than enough registered adult bodies, there are certain specific jobs, such as activities coordinator, treasurer, and fundraising coordinator, that have proven very difficult to fill on a stable basis by someone who is actually going to do the job. These are jobs that cannot be done by the boys -- they are specifically designated by the BSA as functions for adult committee members to perform. These functions are currently done by a combination of the CC (who by my count currently fulfills at least two and a half committee functions including CC), and various ASM's. It would be great if someone could successfully recruit good people to do these jobs so that everybody else could get back to doing their real jobs in the troop. But here's the irony in this new program/position: What makes anyone think that we are going to be able to recruit a Parent Coordinator to recruit other volunteers, when recruiting people is the problem in the first place? If we were able to recruit someone to that position, I'd much rather have that person learn the joys of tour permits, reserving campsites, managing signup sheets, etc., and become the activities coordinator. This new position may throw the problem into sharper relief, rather than resolving it.

 

OGE, I think your idea of a Parent Coordinator as sort of a "guide" for parents to take the burden off the SM is a great idea, but that does not really seem to be what the BSA is doing here. Our troop essentially has that function shared by several people (including me) on an informal basis and I think it works well enough.

[Bob White]

Which is probably why the program was field tested for two years prior to being released nationally. The units that used the program should marked improvements in youth membership retention, and recruitmemnt.

[evmori]

You have yet to identify a single fact about the program that is related to your phobias.

 

And other than spouting the company line, Bob, you have yet to list any single facts about this program that relate to your opinions either!

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10