Parent Freindly Guidlines

[Scoutfish]

Not sure what you'd call it actually, so I'll call it "Parent Friendly Guidelines" for now.

 

Okay, as part of the adult leadership, I have a Cub Scout leader handbook, G2SS manual, rank guidlines, and various books of policies and guidlines as well as activity books, Academics,rank books and Cub's rank books, etc...

 

I can reference pretty much whatever I want as it may pertain to me. But what about parents? Is there or have you ever created a smaller, shorter parent friendly book?

 

We do hand out program guides to all new parents, but that is more of a "what we are about" and parent expectations kinda book.

 

Okay, let's be more specific....

 

A while back, I read off and handed out awards at a pack meeting to the Cub Scouts for popcorn sales. I do not work on the committee or group that handles popcorn. Our CM has an unexpected thing come up and called me an hour before the meeting to se if I would hand out the awards and give recognition. That is my only involvement with this.

 

So about 15 minutes before the pack meeting, a mom comes up and asks if her son would get a prize for sales. Then she tells me that they have "sold" over $500 worth of popcorn, already handed it out, but have not collected or turned in one cent yet.

 

I told her that I had nothing to do with the popcorn, but handing out prizes as listed on a piece of paper as prepared by somebody else.

She pushed and pushed, so I said:

 

" If I had to guess, then no! Not until the money was turned in, but that is only my guess."

 

She got mad, mubled something aboutme, the CM and popcorn, and walked off.

 

You'd think it would be obvious that the mom/boy needed to turn in the money first, but then again, you'd think alot of stuff was obvious. LOL!

 

I have read other comments from time to time about who the money belongs to, who should handle what, who is owed what, and other interesting things such as advancement, rank, awards and badges.

 

Maybe a mom or dad thinks that their child is owed something or that their child has been wronged...when in actuall policy, everything is working great and right on track.

 

Seeing as your explanation just won't do, is there a guide book available or one you created?

 

 

Just saying because it seems that you can say policy all you want, and repeat it several times, but a handful of parents think the pack or troop just absolutely owes their kid something wether it be prizes, money, advancement or a badge.

 

Your thoughts? Your ideas? What you/ your Pack/ your Troop did already

[Twocubdad]

Alright, fish! Now you're on to something.

 

I think a concise parent's guide for each program would be an excellent idea. We often tell parents their best resource was their son's handbook, but adults should be given a guide written more from their perspective and heavier on the mission, methods and philosophical basis of Scouting.

 

I always thought that all parents should take Cub Scout Committee position-specific training or the SM/ASM position specific. You've enrolled your son in a program which is going to envolve potentially hundreds of hours a year for 10 years -- you would think parents would want to invest one day to learn more about the program.

 

Actually, our troop's sort of fallen into this. Several years ago we began doing a 90 minute class for the Webelos parents during the Webelos campout in the fall. The whole session is organized around the eight methods, plus a ninth section, "Troop Business" which covers stuff like dues. It's not all theoretical. For example, under the Outdoor Program we go over the gear new Scouts will need and suggestions for saving money on it.

 

We had a syllabus/scripted for the presenters which one of the parents noticed and asked for a copy. The next year, we fleshed out the outline and now give copies to all the new parents. It's now included as part of the troop handbook. (If anyone wants a copy, PM me with a real email address.)

 

Don't expect, however, that something like this will avoid the problems such as with your popcorn salesman's mom. If your including stuff at that level of detail you've way over-shot your target. No one will read it.

 

[Scoutfish]

No, I wouldn't specifically adress popcorn money dues, but stuff like what pass acounts mean and where money goes in relationship to scout raised vs pack/troop raised/ concil raised, etc.

 

Things like why your son was elected by the troop to serve in a POr while mine was not ( specifically such why my son does not haave a garanteed right to be on a POR but has to earn it).

 

I read stuff along the lines of : "Why wasn't my son voted to OA? The SM needs to tell OA to let him in!"

 

You know...an explanation of why it doesn't work that way. In the case of popcorn sales, you don't get a garante of earning your rank badge either...even if you sell $4,000.00 in popcorn.

 

 

Stuff like that. Know what I mean?

 

 

[Twocubdad]

Who was it who said, "it's hard to fix stupid."

 

 

"Popcorn prizes are awarded based on money turned-in."

"A Scouts has to be voted into the OA by a majority of the troop."

"Patrol Leaders and Senior Patrol Leader are elected by the Scouts."

 

I will guarantee everyone of those statements was explained mutiple times. It's not that parents don't know or can't understand this stuff, they don't want to understand because they're P.O.-ed at the results. Your popcorn mom was embarrassed her son wasn't going to be recognized because SHE didn't push to get the money in on time and was looking to deflect her lapse onto the pack. Otherwise, once you explained the policy to her, she would have calmed down and taken her seat.

 

I had a Scout move to another troop because he wasn't elected SPL. Of course he waited three months until his parents could gin up another excuse that looked better. He ultimately became SPL of the new troop, but probably six months or a year later than he would have been SPL in our troop.

 

This sort of stuff isn't about a lack of information, it's about people being childish and wanting their way all the time. You're not going to fix it with a manual.

[ScoutNut]

For information specific to the den you are a leader for, BSA has put in the front of every Cub Scout Handbook a Parent Guide that explains a bit about BSA, and EXACTLY what their son's Cub Scout level is all about, including all about what they need to earn, how they need to earn it, and how the parent is involved in all of that.

 

For information specific to the Cub Scouting program in general, BSA has a number of literature resources that can be found online, and at Council Scout Shops. One of those is the "Cub Scout Parent Information Guide".

 

For information specific to the Boy Scout Troop Program, A parent should first read their son's Boy Scout Handbook. It explains EXACTLY what your son needs to know.

 

For information on the Boy Scout Program in general, BSA has a number of literature resources that can be found online, and at Council Scout Shops. One of those is "Orientation for New Boy Scout Parents".

 

Parents can also sign up at BSA's MyScouting and take any of the online trainings.

 

For UNIT specific information, that is up to the UNIT COMMITTEE to put together. Many units have a unit guide, which explains unit specific info, which they give to all new families.

 

For fundraising events, like popcorn, the fundraising Chair should create a flyer, with ALL information pertaining to the activity, and make sure every Scout, and Scout family, in the unit receives it. Updates and/or changes should also be communicated to the entire unit.

 

In the case of your popcorn prize distribution, Were you the ONLY Pack leader at this particular Pack meeting? Where was the Popcorn Chair? Where were the others members of the popcorn committee you mentioned? Where was your Committee Chair? Any of the above would have been a better choice than a brand new assistant leader who had zero knowledge of the whole thing.

 

BSA recommends that units run an annual Parent Meeting to explain the program, and any unit specific things to the unit families.

 

Since you are a brand new den leader, and not a committee member, I would recommend you concentrate on the boys in your den, and leave the business things to the Pack Committee which is responsible for them.

 

[Scoutfish]

You know, I didn't think about where the Popcorn chair was or any member of the committe .

 

Honestly, I didnt mind reading off the prize list and handing out the prizes, because at that point, it was really about recognizing the Cubs for their efforts.

 

Usually, our Cm does it, but some new law, or maybe her boss decided she had to have a real etate license ( she is not an agent - but I don't know what she does)about a week before the meeting and they just found out the class dates the same afternoon as the pack meeting.

 

Really, all I did was read off a name, say how much they sold in a dollar amount, hand them a prize, shake their hand, tell them "Great job!", and kick them off stage!

 

Another member of out leadership hinted that I was probably specifically asked because it might be something to do with the CM wanting me getting used to speaking in front of a crowd, but that's never been an issue for me anyways!

 

I'm the guy who will wear a pink tutu and pink tights with work boots and flannel shirt in front of everybody for a laugh during a skit if need be!

 

But anyways, I didn't talk about anything to do with the popcorn program or any other info...just a list of who sold what and handed them a prize!

 

Then I stepped down and we discussed much, much important stuff like buying buggle gum...bazooka zooka bubble gum!

 

 

[DYB-Mike]

Scoutfish, I had mentioned in other posts that our Pack had created a Parents Handbook.

 

It covers programmatic items such as the Aims of Cub Scouting, ranks, belt loops, activity pins, the uniform, badge placement, and so forth.

 

It also covers Pack-specific topics such as leader contact information, web address (which has many useful links for further information), general Pack Meeting times and location (parents are instructed to look to their boys Den Leader for Den Meeting times and locations), dues, annual activities such as the Pinewood Derby and Blue and Gold, and other activities we have done so parents know what to expect. There is also a section on parental responsibilities (shall I say obligations) to the scout and the Pack.

 

We added some instruction based on experience. For example, there is a section on how payment for special activities works and clearly states that if a parent signs up a scout for an activity they are responsible for payment if the scout drops out at the time of the event and the Pack cant get a refund. We nearly got stuck for a couple of hundred dollars in one case, but fortunately worked it out.

 

Another section concerns leaving the Pack. We ask that if a boy drops out the parents give us the courtesy of notice and the reason why. Weve had many cases where boys disappear and we cant get a hold of the family to find out why.

 

As an aside, the Handbook was one of my Wood Badge ticket items. This goes to my (and others) point about having some experience under your belt before taking Wood Badge in order to identify the needs of your unit and formulate ideas to address those needs and (hopefully) make things better.

 

As it was pointed out, producing such a Handbook would be the responsibility of the Pack Committee. It would be impossible to produce a document to cover all potential situations. The best solution would be to document clear lines of communication within the Pack, point out who is responsible for what, and provide links to sources where certain topics are discussed in more detail. Encouraging parents to take training is an excellent suggestion, unfortunately for us were still struggling with trying to get parents to volunteer for leader and Committee positions and to get them to come to the Committee Meetings.

 

YIS,

Mike

 

[Basementdweller]

We offer a new Scout Parent welcome folder. It includes, medical form, sample boys life, map to the scout shop and hours of operation, Calendar of den, pack and events, A welcome to scouting handout that explains the structure of scouting, Helpful information sheet that includes all of the leaderships phone and email addresses.

 

Before camp outs we review an abbreviated version of Youth Protection for the parents.

 

But an actual Pack Parent Handbook is a good idea. Guidelines are a good place to start.

[Oak Tree]

We do a pack handbook as well. I think it's a good idea. Highlights some important things, and documents some pack-specific things.