Parent letters

[River2K]

Our Troop is having a hard time recruiting adults to help on campouts (and other activities) and is considering sending out a letter requiring parents of each Scout to sign up for at least 4 campouts a year or their son/s won't be eligible for campouts. Some exceptions will be considered, but for the drop & leave parents I don't think this is unreasonable.

 

We currently have no "volunteer" requirements in the Troop. Those that do help are overworked and approaching burn-out. I was wondering what other Troops do regarding this subject and what might work or not work. Any suggestions or criticisms would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ken

 

[Eamonn]

I must first admit to never having heard of such a thing.

I am having a hard time trying to understand why a troop would require a bunch of rookie parents to attend camp outs. I can't help wondering if something is missing from the troop program? Sure there needs to be two deep leadership. But all these parents?

As for not allowing the Scouts that parents don't attend I feel this is totally wrong. If the troop needs more leaders it is up to the troop committee to get on the ball and form a nominating committee to select people to join the leadership team. Then get them trained so that they can really be of use. What you are suggesting looks like a sure way to run the troop into the ground.

As the parent of a Scout I don't want a lot of untrained and unchecked people taking my son away. Will all these parents fill out the BSA application form? Will all these people be youth protection trained?

Why not try using the methods that are in place before you try doing it your way?

Eamonn.(This message has been edited by Eamonn)

[Fat Old Guy]

I'm somewhat confused. What sort of help do you need?

 

Drivers? Your parents don't want to drive to campouts?

 

Cooks? The Scouts should be cooking. Tent pitching? Same thing.

 

We've gone from having almost as many adults as Scouts on campouts to the bare minimum, three or four needed to drive. Life is so much nicer. Instead of having a bunch of adults who are looking for things to do, we have a few with one who is an Olympic quality nap taker.

 

 

 

 

[River2K]

The Troop has the same few adults that do everything, from attending meetings to campouts. These are the same few adults that help with fundraisers, provide transportation, attend committee meetings, are MB counselors, provide general help and backup for the Scouts. It's a struggle to get an adult quartermaster, advancement chairman, committee secretary, adult grubmasters & campmasters.

 

It would be nice to have a larger pool of people to choose from in providing the 2-deep leadership on activities & campouts. The Troop has few adult leaders that like to camp and backpack. Most backpacking trips have only the bare minimum of adults.

 

This idea came from local sports programs that require a certain level of parent participation for support.

[Fuzzy Bear]

I required all parents to help with at least one event or one project per year. This was adapted from the old one hour per week method of adult Scouting. It expands the range and resources and allows support when needed.

 

FB

[mk9750]

We use a method similiar to Fuzzy. We have two activites each year we do to support our Charter Organization, for which youth leadership draws up a schedule that includes each boy and an adult member of his family. It's up to the family to find a replacement if they cannot help.

 

For all other needs, we ask that each family volunteer for at least one activity each year. Most do more than that, but we do have the ocassional parent who never seems to be involved. We've developed a small trick for handling this. At our Court of Honor, we ask all parents to stand up to be recongnized and thanked by their sons. When the round of applause is over, we run down the list of tasks and activities for the prior period, asking for those who helped with each activity to sit down with our thanks. When we've gone through everything, those that are standing almost always seem to find us at the social to see where they can help next time. The very few who don't we figure we're better off not seeing anyway.

 

Eamonn is right - If you need more fomal assistance at campouts, or in duties that the committee is responsible for covering, it is up to the committee to recruit and see to the training of these people. But they are all volunteers. Some arm twisting (or perhaps some type of reinforcement, positive or negetive) may be needed, but I think it's wrong to require this.

 

Mark

[Eamonn]

It is a fact that sending letters to people asking for help rarely if ever achieves the desired results.

Selecting Adults to help with troop functions can be hard but is not impossible.

You need to sit down with the leaders and the committee and make a list of what you really need. Be as specific as you can be. Write down on paper a job description for each job.

At the next gathering of parents such as a Court of Honor hand out the parent talent survey, with pens!! Make sure everyone has a survey and that everyone turns one in.

Thank everyone for completing the survey.

Have the Troop Committee form a Nominating Committee. Using the information from the surveys and the knowledge that the committee members have for each "Job Opening" that you have, select the person who has that talent.Then select two committee members to be the recruiters. They make an appointment to meet with the person that has been selected. They need a face to face meeting not a phone or an E-mail. Armed with the job description they meet with the person and inform them that they have been selected to help with whatever and this is what the job entails. The people visiting must be on their toes and not willing to take no for an answer.They must also be willing to pull out another job description. Sure the guy who works in the bank might be the guy selected to be treasurer, but he might be a lot happier working as the quartermaster.

This is a lot of work. But if you are serious about getting the right person for the right job this is the way to go about it.

Eamonn.

[CubsRgr8]

BSA has only one requirements for a boy's parent/guardian to fullfill if he wants to be a scout in a troop. It's not money, a good singing voice, volunteer hours, nor even moral support. All that's required is their permission - a mere signature - one time only, on his membership application. There's certainly nothing wrong with asking each family to provide some sort of support each year. But I would never make it a requirement which could end up excluding a scout from any activity.

 

Now, here's an idea that might help. Have the PLC review, revise and finalize its next six month plan immediately before the next Court of Honor. Have the PLC make a presentation of the plan, stressing that it's their plan. Next, the committee chair speaks to the assembled parents - oh, so briefly - about the adult support needed to make their sons' plan a reality, with a couple of committee members in the back, ready to sign people up for the various supporting roles when the CoH is done.

 

No pressure (Mark, you were kidding, right?), but hopefully a heightened awareness of their sons' dreams and the many easy ways they can make those dreams real.

 

[EagleInKY]

GR8 idea from CubsRgr8.

 

I don't think a letter will do any good. I would turn it over to your committee to work on recruiting some more volunteers. One-on-one invites work better than a letter solicitation.

 

As for general adult leadership, our troop asks every new scout's family to provide one adult to serve for one year either on the troop committee or as an Assistant Scoutmaster. What we've found is that most want to continue their service after the initial year.

[Chippewa29]

My troop used to have the same problem. It was a couple of adults doing pretty much everything. Our former SM always whined and moaned about no one ever helped him. However, he was a control freak and everything was his way or the highway. He also had done a ton of training (basically, everything our council offered) and made himself seem like the end-all, know-all of Scouting. Parents in the troop were put off by two things. The first was that they wouldn't have a say in the troop, but were merely there to do what the SM said. They also felt like they would have to put in tons of hours and take months and months of training. You won't find many people willing to do either.

 

Something you need to ask yourself is if the leaders doing most of the work are presenting the troop as an open place where everyone is welcome. In the past, parents didn't feel welcome in our troop, even if they wanted to help.

 

Everyone is busy. If people think they will have to donate many hours every week for a long period of time, then they will not commit. Initially, ask them if they can put in an hour or two on a temporary basis. Once they realize its actually kind of fun to help out, they may volunteer for bigger things. Or, they may just occasionally help out on smaller things. Either way, the troop wins.

 

If you want to get them camping with you, let them know how much fun they'll have. The adults have almost as much fun on campouts (if not more) than the Scouts. We've gotten to the point where we have parents come out to camp during the day just to hang out with the other adults while their sons are having fun with their patrols. If you are going to be close by, invite the parents out for dinner (or lunch or whatever) so they can observe what the Scouts are doing. While they are there, they'll see how much fun they can have and how relaxing it can be.

 

You'll always have parents that don't help out, but with an inviting attitude and helping them swallow a small bite will gradually (emphasize that) get you more and more help.

 

Also, something I found while recruiting Webelos is that it is very important to see what the parent's attitudes are like. There has been a couple of times where I realized that the parents just wanted a babysitting service and wanted us to cater to their kids. I stopped recruiting those dens. On the other hand, I've met Webelos leaders that had great attitudes (as well as the other parents in the den) and have made a huge effort to recruit them.

 

Good luck with continuing to build up your troop.

[River2K]

The usefulness of this forum is incredible! Thanks to all for the feedback.

 

The idea of having the PLC assist in recruiting adult help is a great one. I will give that more thought and present it to them.

 

We do have a curmudgeon in the Troop that runs people off. He is our COR and knows it all (he told me so). Really, he is very knowledgeable and can organize any kind of event. He is our biggest asset but at the same time offends those that are sensitive. He is only part of the problem though. If the committee were functioning correctly he wouldn't have as much influence as he does, which goes back to getting good people. It's hard to break this endless loop.

 

I'm also a believer that (good program)=(good turnout), which translates to fun. Fun for Scouts and adults. That's where my focus has been but things seem to continue downhill.

 

I realize our problem is multi-faceted and there are no easy solutions. I may rethink the "requirement of participation" in our parent letter.

 

ken

[Fat Old Guy]

I don't like the idea of requiring parents to be involved. Like many things in life, it sounds good but can lead to disaster.

 

How will the exceptions be determined. Obviously Scout with a single parent who works weekends can't provide a parent for campouts.

 

What about the kids who need Scouting and you don't want their parents around? We had a kid like that. Neither parent really gave a hoot about the kid. They liked him to be in Scouts because it freeded up their weekends. Without Scouting he would have never been around an adult who cared about him. If we had a rule that required parental involvement, we would have lost him.

 

As it is, he stayed in Scouting through high school, joined the Navy, and is seeing the world. Not surprisingly, he stays in closer contact adults from the troop than he does with his parents.

 

 

[boleta]

I'm with FOG here. You need 2 adults for Youth Protection, maybe 4 on a high adventure trip- 2 to go with a possible injured scout and 2 to stay with the main group. Otherwise, the scouts have more responsibility, teach each other more, and do more with fewer adults.

[FScouter]

The thing about volunteers is that they dont always volunteer. They must be asked. Parents dont volunteer because they dont always know exactly what it is they are volunteering for.

 

Eamonn has excellent ideas. Prepare a clear written description of exactly what it is you want from your parent. It will help you better understand too what it is you want.

 

Then, dont ask for a volunteer to step forward. Step forward and ask the person you want. Theyll be flattered that you want them specifically, for an important job, and not just anybody that happens to raise his hand.

 

[Fuzzy Bear]

F.B.'s Rule of Paw.

 

I know you want it done all at once but don't, so a letter is just that, all at once, like magic. Take it one parent at a time and one job at a time. It is best to start with the new parents. Befriend each one and request help with one project or one activity. The goal is friendship not work but the two can happen in close proximity. Set a goal of two years to change the direction of the lackahelp disease.