I need help.

[coldnote]

I apologize if I am posting in the wrong place.

 

I'm trying to sign my son up for cub scouts. I went through the beascout website. I received an email that my application was received, but that was several days ago and I have had no response whatsoever. It gave me a tracking ID number, but when I go to the website to use it, the site is incredibly, incredibly slow - and I can find no link or anything anywhere to use the number to check the status. I tried to use the search bar on the site, and all I get is error messages. I signed up for an account days ago thinking I could track the application, but still, I find no place to do so.

 

I visited the website for the pack near me and found contact info. I sent off an email to them - also several days ago - with no response.

 

I've even used google search to try to find a link to track my application status, but nothing, anywhere. I'm completely lost and don't really understand how people are supposed to sign up for this. If anyone can help me or point me in the right direction, or even tell me its normal for this to take so long, I'd really appreciate it!

[Papadaddy]

You should call the Scout office for your Council and ask to speak to the District Executive for your neighborhood. He/she should be able to help you. If you don't know what Council you are in, let us know where you live (city/state) and we can help you.

[Polaris]

First of all, let me apologize for the individual that has not contacted you through BeAScout.org. (If you spend enough time on this forum, you will soon realize the IT systems set up by National BSA do not work well.) You sent an email to a local volunteer. You need to understand that the leaders at your local Cub Scout Pack (group) are volunteers and they may be on vacation or they aren't great at checking and replying to emails. It is also possible the Pack's leadership may not have updated their "PIn" on BeAScout.org and your email went to a volunteer that is no longer active with the group.

 

Obviously, we want your son to join and experience the family fun in Cub Scouting!

 

May I suggest you contact your local Council (regional Boy Scouts of America professionals that help out local groups of volunteers). You may be able to locate your local Council with an internet search of Boy Scouts of America and your largest local city's name. Once you find the phone number, let them know your son wants to join and ask for names and numbers of local Pack leaders (Cubmaster or Committee Chair, etc.) and call the individual.

 

Most Cub Scout Packs are chartered (partnered) to local churches, school PTOs and civic organizations. You may also try and call the local churches, etc. and see if they have an associated group.

 

I understand your frustration. Our first phone calls to the recruitment leader listed the the reader board at my son's school were never returned. It took awhile to get connected, but with a little elbow grease, we are in! Good Luck!

[coldnote]

Thank you for the replies. I'm trying not to be frustrated about it. It is what it is. I just didn't know if I should be pushing harder or just wait it out! I do know what council it is, it was listed on the pack website, so I will give them a call in the morning.

 

if anyone can answer one more question - and this one is pretty petty - It asked what grade my son is in. He's on summer break now, so what should I put? The grade he just completed, or what he is going into? It's a silly question, I guess it will be sorted when I call, if I can get through.

[Sentinel947]

Thank you for the replies. I'm trying not to be frustrated about it. It is what it is. I just didn't know if I should be pushing harder or just wait it out! I do know what council it is, it was listed on the pack website, so I will give them a call in the morning.

 

if anyone can answer one more question - and this one is pretty petty - It asked what grade my son is in. He's on summer break now, so what should I put? The grade he just completed, or what he is going into? It's a silly question, I guess it will be sorted when I call, if I can get through.

I'd say grade he is entering.

[Twocubdad]

Unfortunately, you've picked a tough time to try and join a Cub pack. At best, packs go to a once-a-month meeting schedule during the summer and some don't meet at all. Plus you're dealing with leaders vacation schedule in trying to get a phone call.

 

As said before, try to contact your local Scout office for a referral to one or more packs in your area. If you have the opportunity to visit with them over the summer, great. If not, many packs and councils have their big recruiting drives just after school starts. Here, all the packs have a common recruiting night at the local schools. You get a chance to meet leaders of several packs and make a decision about which one to join.

 

But here's my real advice -- have your son ask around with his friends while you talk with their parents. The number one key to being happy with a pack or troop, staying with the program and being successful with it is being in a unit with your friends. Go where his friends are or at least where he knows people.

 

To your question, go with his grade this fall. Most packs "move up" at the end of the school year, not the beginning of the next. Cub Scouting is grade based, so if he's a rising first grader he will be a Tiger; a rising second grader, a Wolf, third grade a Bear.

 

And sorry about BeAScout. From a curmudgeonly old Scoutmaster, it is a ill-conceived attempt by BSA to drive membership recruitment from the top down. Unfortunately, joining a Cub pack is a bottom-up process. The problem is your son doesn't join "Cub Scouts." He will join "A" local Cub Scout pack. There is no reason for you to complete an application on line. Find the pack you like, one where your son has friends and the leaders there will help you with the membership process and application.

[coldnote]

Unfortunately, you've picked a tough time to try and join a Cub pack. At best, packs go to a once-a-month meeting schedule during the summer and some don't meet at all. Plus you're dealing with leaders vacation schedule in trying to get a phone call.

 

As said before, try to contact your local Scout office for a referral to one or more packs in your area. If you have the opportunity to visit with them over the summer, great. If not, many packs and councils have their big recruiting drives just after school starts. Here, all the packs have a common recruiting night at the local schools. You get a chance to meet leaders of several packs and make a decision about which one to join.

 

But here's my real advice -- have your son ask around with his friends while you talk with their parents. The number one key to being happy with a pack or troop, staying with the program and being successful with it is being in a unit with your friends. Go where his friends are or at least where he knows people.

 

To your question, go with his grade this fall. Most packs "move up" at the end of the school year, not the beginning of the next. Cub Scouting is grade based, so if he's a rising first grader he will be a Tiger; a rising second grader, a Wolf, third grade a Bear.

 

And sorry about BeAScout. From a curmudgeonly old Scoutmaster, it is a ill-conceived attempt by BSA to drive membership recruitment from the top down. Unfortunately, joining a Cub pack is a bottom-up process. The problem is your son doesn't join "Cub Scouts." He will join "A" local Cub Scout pack. There is no reason for you to complete an application on line. Find the pack you like, one where your son has friends and the leaders there will help you with the membership process and application.

Thanks for the advice. I don't think he has friends, which is a big reason I wanted him to do this. I think he gets along with everyone - I've seen pictures of his class and somebody even had an arm around his shoulder at the valentine's party - but I don't think he has "friends". He always tells me he just swings at recess and sometimes comments he doesn't hang out with anyone. I don't know if that is just his perception, or truth. He just doesn't seem to pick up on social cues/norms sometimes, although it has improved as he's gotten older. But it's just another reason I think something like this would be great.

 

I figured we would just go with the one near us. They seem to be active (based on what I have seen on their site) and have lots of leaders. He is entering 4th grade in August. I'd like him be a scout for at least a few years.

[ScoutNut]

Just to clarify something - you did NOT send in an application for your son to become a Cub Scout. You filled in an online form to receive more information. Heaven (or Hell) only knows where this information goes, or when/if they will get read/acted on by anyone. Traditionally, e-mail dumps do not get cleared out in a very timely fashion.

 

The BeAScout site gives you your local council contact information which includes name, address, and phone number. You can call your local council for further information. They should be able to pull up contact information (Cubmaster name/phone) for the Pack you are interested in.

 

The BeAScout site also shows the name of the Chartering Organization for the Pack.

 

The Chartering Organization is the community organization which "owns" the BSA Scout unit (Pack / Troop / Team / Crew / Ship). You can do an online search to find contact information on the Chartering Organization, and then call them to get information on their Cub Pack.

 

Since your son is going into 4th grade, he will be a Webelos Cub Scout. Hopefully, whichever Pack you choose will be active during the Summer so you, and your son, can get to know the folks. Find out if the Pack will be attending any Council Summer Camps. If at all possible, I suggest you get your son to Summer Camp. It will be a great, fun, introduction to Scouts, for him, and you!

 

[perdidochas]

This is probably the worst time of year to join Cub Scouts. MostPacks will be starting up again in August/September. I think this is about the best age for your boy to start. Webelos is the most fun Cub Scout rank.

[Faith]

Our pack is actually recruiting right now (or did a few weeks ago) to try and draw in members for summer camp, our water event in July and to start in with our pack meets in the fall (right now what we do over the summer counts as the rank they 'entered' at the beginning of June.) Definitely follow the advice given here, reach out to your local council (or if you know even more specifically where a local pack is chartered), see what you can find out and let us know how it goes! Wish you and your son the best of luck and hope he enjoys it.

[AlamanceScouter]

Hey Coldnote, have you found a Pack yet?

[coldnote]

No. I don't understand. The one near me is active. Their website shows events throughout the summer, and new content has been added since I first created this thread. But they seem to ignore any attempts at contact. I had figured at this point I'd just be on the lookout for them at school in the fall.

[King Ding Dong]

No. I don't understand. The one near me is active. Their website shows events throughout the summer, and new content has been added since I first created this thread. But they seem to ignore any attempts at contact. I had figured at this point I'd just be on the lookout for them at school in the fall.

If you know where they meet try contacting them, such as the school. Unfortunately what can happen is a email address can be set up for contact and as leadership changes that responsibility does not get transferred.

 

Try and get a phone number or call your local council and explain your problem. They should be able to put you in touch with the Unit Commisioner who may have better contact information.

[qwazse]

No. I don't understand. The one near me is active. Their website shows events throughout the summer, and new content has been added since I first created this thread. But they seem to ignore any attempts at contact. I had figured at this point I'd just be on the lookout for them at school in the fall.

Sometimes websites are great at putting barriers between real people who should be getting together.

Your son would be old enough to start on Webelos (that's basically the last two years of cub scouts). So if there is anything particular on the site pertaining to Webelos (or specifically Webelos I) that may be the person to contact.

Definitely keep an eye out at school. But, also, don't hesitate to look into packs who meet a little further away. This can be a slow time for any pack, but if there are community parades (for example the fireman's carnival in our community is this weekend), take your boy to them. Keep an eye out for boy scout uniforms. The idea here is just to get your boy to meet other scouts. Even if they are older boy scouts, they might have a connection to their old pack. And if not, hopefully they'll be friendly enough that your boy will be encouraged by this.

[Scouter99]

Just to clarify something - you did NOT send in an application for your son to become a Cub Scout. You filled in an online form to receive more information. Heaven (or Hell) only knows where this information goes, or when/if they will get read/acted on by anyone. Traditionally, e-mail dumps do not get cleared out in a very timely fashion.

 

The BeAScout site gives you your local council contact information which includes name, address, and phone number. You can call your local council for further information. They should be able to pull up contact information (Cubmaster name/phone) for the Pack you are interested in.

 

The BeAScout site also shows the name of the Chartering Organization for the Pack.

 

The Chartering Organization is the community organization which "owns" the BSA Scout unit (Pack / Troop / Team / Crew / Ship). You can do an online search to find contact information on the Chartering Organization, and then call them to get information on their Cub Pack.

 

Since your son is going into 4th grade, he will be a Webelos Cub Scout. Hopefully, whichever Pack you choose will be active during the Summer so you, and your son, can get to know the folks. Find out if the Pack will be attending any Council Summer Camps. If at all possible, I suggest you get your son to Summer Camp. It will be a great, fun, introduction to Scouts, for him, and you!

Online applications via BeAScout are in beta in my Council. My unit hasn't had any, but it's an option (not default) in the BAS pin on myscouting.org and can be enabled by the unit. Youth it goes right in, adults still need a CC/CoR sign-off.