Entire den a no-show

[Daped01]

We started off our year of den meetings last night and for the most part it went off without a hitch. We have an extremely strong Tiger cub den, our Wolf and Bear dens have seen new scouts and appeared to be happily engaged and having fun, as much as you can for the first meeting of the year. However we had 1 boy/parent from our Webelos show up. That includes WI and WII. I cannot figure out why. Communications went out just fine, everybody had notices in plenty of time. Posters have been hanging in the schools, articles in the local newspaper etc.

 

I don't want to be this cynical, as its not really in my nature, but our Webelos leader from last year (who was also the cubmaster i took over for) stepped down as leader suddenly a couple weeks before school started. It was not a big deal to me as I had anticipated that happening and had a backup leader in place (who would have been an asst den leader had he not stepped down) Could he have told the families something unsavory that made them all want to drop scouts?

 

Or, is there somewhere else I should start looking first? Should I even be worrying about it after 1 meeting? I hope i'm not making a mountian out of a molehill, it just kind of floored me that 1 out of 8 kids showed up.

[CalicoPenn]

I think your first step is to take some time this evening and weekend to call the parents of the no-shows to see what's up - no use worrying about it until you know you have something to worry about.

[Sidney Porter]

How active were the Webelos with your summer program?

 

I would have you new den leader reach out to th families and introduce him(her)self. The den leader should be able to read what is going on. You could do it but I in my mind it makes more sense to have it coming from the new den leader.

[qwazse]

See if you can get together with the new DL and make those calls. Use speaker-phone if possible. That way you can both know what's happening instantly. And let the parents know you're backing your DL. He or she says "Hi __, I'm just callingto touch base. I'm with CM Daped01 on speaker. We missed you and __ last night and wanted to make sure you all are doing well." That way there's a little bit more respect conveyed.

 

It could be as simple as the school had a one-off evening meeting, or that you all picked a bad night because all the boys signed up for something that night every week. You need to find out so you can determine how to best adjust.

[SSScout]

CP, SP, and Qwazse have the right idea. Communication. I would add, plan a fun meeting for the next time, say a hike/picnic/nature center visit (earn a pin?) and find out who's still in the game.... and get a chance to talk to the boys and parents and find out what's up.

[Daped01]

Thanks for the input guys!

[Faith]

How did it go? I've managed to have a pretty successful den for the past year or so now and like everyone else here, communication is essential. I talk to the parents at least once a week, meeting or not, to let them know what's going on, what to expect, etc. At first I was worried I was bothering them too much so I flat out asked them. I didn't have any object to my calls (or texts with info) and we went from 4 regulars Tiger year to 12 regulars Wolf year (and we're double that now before the upcoming den split.)

[Daped01]

We haven't heard any info back yet. We have a committee meeting tonight, I will at least mention it there to gauge their thoughs. Also our first pack meeting is this sunday. If we have a large number of no-shows again we will start investigating further. I have been extremely busy with work projects the last 2 weeks as well and that has eaten into my available time.

[Daped01]

well we made contact with most of the parents of the Webelos Den. And the word we heard back was not good. They in fact were not continuing on with scouting, some told us flimsy stories on how they are involved with other activities (activities they have been a part of previously during scouting, and have very little interference with scouting) and others said last years program caused them to lose interest. So.....my focus is on putting on the best pack program I can for the rest of pack. And working with the webelos den leader to try make scouting as positive (fun) as possible for the two new WEB II scouts that have signed up with fall registration. in hopes they will want to cross over into the troop after blue and gold!

[scoutergipper]

We had something similar happen to almost an entire Pack here a couple of years ago. Lots of pretty flimsy excuses - we attributed it to the lack of change to the leadership standards based on the school where this Pack was located. Taking your kid out of Scouting is one of the only legal forms of child abuse.

[Daped01]

its very disheartening. even though I know I shouldn't let it, its been eating me up inside the past few days. I just need to keep telling myself that our strong tiger cub den, and our wolf and bear dens that have seen increased numbers are the future of our pack! I feel bad for our troop though that were looking forward to having them scouts cross over to join the troop.

[qwazse]

Well that does stink. But what you can do at the end of the year is give the troop the contact info of your former cubs.

Once they've all finished 5th grade, their troop boys might want to just give them a call and extend an invite.

[packsaddle]

DO NOT (and I can't emphasize this enough) allow something like this to eat you up inside. Step back and become more objective. DO NOT take this kind of thing personally...it is NOT your failure but rather the failure of others and you should not shoulder any of the burden of blame. If you don't take my advice you will flame out quickly and exit bitterly. I've seen it happen.

Always remember that the people who failed these boys are OTHER PEOPLE, not you, and that you have virtually no control over what they do or what they fail to do.

Instead, take pride in the good things that YOU have done. Experience the joy of the cubs that you serve. Watch their faces, their expressions, their discoveries, their own personal joys. Take pleasure in the fact that you DO serve them well. You can't save everyone but you can tend to the ones you have at hand, especially your own family.

[Stosh]

One cannot change other people, only themselves. One has the choice, are they going to waste time trying to do that which is impossible to change or focus on what they can. If one has a good program then people will notice and at least check it out. Dragging young people kicking and screaming into a mediocre program can be a difficult proposition.

 

Stosh

[Sidney Porter]

This is your first year as CM so you were not responsible for last years program. It sounds like the previous CM was also the Webelos den leader (personally I don't think people should be both a den leader and a CM, the CM should be focusing on the the overall program but that is another thread) you said he resigned and you had his replacement ready. So it sounds like you knew there were issues.

 

So maybe they did quit because they were bored with the program. I think that it is easy to have disenchanted Webelos. Lets face it if the program does the same thing every year it is their 3rd or 4th time doing it. The excitement of pinewood derby is not the same for a tiger as a webelos (although a webelos can get much more interested in building and understanding what makes a car fast). Do you always go to the same resident camps we rotate between 3 camps. 2 in council 1 out of council that way it always seems new.

 

At your camping trips last year was only one activity planned for the entire pack was it geared for the younger scouts or the older scouts? We try to plan mutiple activities that are age appropriate, even if it means the pack is not always together. Was the previous leader trained and take advantage of the ability to do Webelos camping? I think that the Webelos camping is great especially if it is a pack that only camps 2 or 3 times a year this way it is still interesting and new from the Webelos and it is something that makes them special.

 

I actually think that the Web 2 age is sort of no man's land. They are done with what cub scouts offers but not always ready for boyscouts. They are aslo at that age where sports become more interesting and the practice schedules increase. It is also the age where a lot of kids start to play instruments. So there are other activities that are drawing their attention. Personally I think you see some Web 2 that are just looking to finish the program.

 

But like others said if the complaint is about last years program then it is not about you. But you should look to see if those complaints are valid from an older scouts perspective and see if you are repeating those flaws.

 

Good luck.