Membership Decline Reasons

[perdidochas]

Delivery pizza on a campout?

 

And to think, I was annoyed with my son's New Scout Patrol because they had scout cooked hamburgers and S'mores for dinner.

 

 

[GernBlansten]

Before Dale, public schools held the largest number of cub pack charters. After Dale, they were forced to disassociate. Lucky packs found non-public charter orgs to sponsor them. Unlucky ones, disappeared. Before Dale, it was simple to start a new pack at a new school. The council simply called the principle. Now it requires a lot more legwork and commitment from already overworked parents.

 

To think that this constriction in easily accessible and maintainable charter relationships didn't have a negative impact on growth is to say the least, fascinating.

[Eagle92]

Ordering pizza on a campout out?!?!?!?!?!?!? What the heck and why didn't the SPL say no dice top that one?

 

MAKING Pizza in a Dutch oven on a campout.... MMMMMMMMMMMMM

[boomerscout]

"Ordering pizza on a campout out?!?!?!?!?!?!? What the heck and why didn't the SPL say no dice top that one?" our SPLs were with the rest of our troop on a different activity & location. The New Scout Patrol is the one/only adult led part of our program. The Scouts stay in the NSP until they complete Tenderfoot. Unfortunately, our two more experienced Scouters had sudden work conflicts, and the boys were in the hands of recent Cubs adults. Oh, well

[shortridge]

One thing I've seen locally is an emphasis on recruiting Cubs - not as much for recruiting Boy Scouts. Local troops don't have much of a marketing strategy - I can think of one or two in my district that actually bother to send in writeups to the local papers about their activities, treks, awards, etc. (It's free publicity, people!) They leave it in the hands of the DE, for whom it's much easier to start a pack than a troop.

 

In talking about parental volunteers, I think the complicated structure of the Scouting leadership really confuses people and hurts involvement. You go to a Scout Night with your kid, and there's the District Executive up there talking. You naturally assume he's in charge. But he then shunts you off to local Packs, which have people called Masters and Leaders, and they talk about Districts and Councils and Commissioners and Roundtables and Committees - it can be very bewildering to a newbie. They might sign their sons up, but consider the structure too cliqueish and complicated to get involved in themselves.

 

Compare it to sports. You have a coach who's in charge. Parents have clearly defined roles that everyone knows - "team mom," candy-bar-sales-coordinator, scorekeeper, water cooler schlepper, etc. Simple and easy to understand. (And adults don't have to buy expensive uniforms to help out!)

 

All the comments about shying away from the outdoors and nature are spot-on. I live near a popular state park that has an ocean beach and hundreds of acres of dunes and wooded trails. The beaches are packed every summer; the trails are not.(This message has been edited by shortridge)

[Eagledad]

>>To think that this constriction in easily accessible and maintainable charter relationships didn't have a negative impact on growth is to say the least, fascinating.

[OldGreyEagle]

Gern, you wrote something that perked my ears, and if you understand that, you are smarter than I, anyway you said:

 

"...from already overworked parents"

 

And just Gern, I sorta hear this thing many times, people are so busy today, peoples schedules are so full, etc

 

Horse Hockey, This would seem to make my father and the other men who came home from WWII as men of leisure who had not much to do but volunteer and do good deeds, the good deed doers of the past and oddly enough, I dont remember that at all.

 

My father worked a lot of hours, the most I got to see him was on Vacation and Scout Campouts. My mother was raising 4 kids without cable and microwave. All the fathers in the neighborhood worked long hours, when I started to caddy at the local Country CLub I was amazed to find men who had days off in the middle of the week and they played golf, no one on the block did, they worked and took care of their homes, that as all time consuming.

 

I do not buy people are busier today than my parents and grandparents, I do buy people today are a whole heck of a lot more selfish with their time and energy and are self obsessed with a me first and screw you mentality.

 

Again, not picking on you Gern, but your comment brought this out in my mind

[DYB-Mike]

They might sign their sons up, but consider the structure too cliqueish and complicated to get involved in themselves.

 

Ive heard from acquaintances who are members of the committee that runs one of the youth baseball leagues in town that things can get pretty complicated and heated there are well. I guess the scouting observation that its all fun until the adults get involved holds true in youth sports as well.

 

BP, I wouldn't brush sports off so quickly as not playing some factor. Youth sports have become far more expansive than they were back in the day. Kids start younger, there more opportunities for play (inside and outside of school), and more team sports to choose from. I have talked with some that think youth sports have become far too serious and demanding, sucking the fun out of it and leaving time for little else. Couple all that with the perception of sports as cool that is encouraged by many adults and the media. If lost membership due to sporting conflicts is affecting our Pack it must be affecting others as well.

 

YIS

Mike

 

[GernBlansten]

OGE, I don't disagree.

But when BSA had a good relationship with public schools, they had ready made charter organizations. Teachers could be recruited to help out (sure didn't hurt their relationship with the boss!), resources made available. With the decision to abandon that relationship, now it was thrown back on the parents to run the show. Teachers can still volunteer, but less likely. All supposedly busy (read selfish) parents need is another excuse not to get involved and having to do it all might be the straw that breaks the back.

[Eagle92]

Concur with DYB, depending upon sport and age, there can be up to 4 different leagues in one sport, andas mentioned earlier, the coaches wan thtem to "specialize" in one sport. I heard one parents getting so into a particular sport for their kid that when the son wasn't accepted into the specific league locally, she drove him 55 minutes away to have him try out for that team. I hope the practice is longer than the round trip drive.

[GernBlansten]

My daughter is falling into the sports trap now, and the mileage on my cars prove it. "off" season volleyball is much more important the HS VB and it ain't cheap. Teams compete for the best players with promises of Olympics or scholarships. Its pretty cut throat. Your daughter doesn't make the top team, you shop her down the line until she makes one. That team may be in the next town or further. Come HS VB season, and its a mix of skills and rarely are they as good as the road teams. My daughter is probably a 3rd tier travel team player, but she's a varsity starter in HS and only a sophmore.

 

My brother in law is going through the same thing with is daughter, only basketball. They drive 60 miles each way to practice.

 

Luckily, number one son didn't do sports until HS and had plenty of time for scouting. He doesn't now, but did before he was 16.

[BadenP]

Sports vs Scouting has always been a hotly debated issue. The fact is that many youth and their parents see sports as a free ticket to college, then to the pros if the kid is good enough. Even if that is a misperception on the part of the youth and parents it still is their reality and a major reason why scouting will never be able to trump sports.

[JoeBob]

Argh the sports!

 

3rd Grade son = Year round tennis, Basketball, lacrosse, and dropped swimming and baseball.

4th Grade daughter = Year round tennis, tennis camps, tennis leagues, two basketball seasons, and is dropping volleyball, baseball, and swimming.

 

The wife and I laughed at our overscheduled friends and swore we'd never get that way. From kindergarten on, we always had somewhere to be.

 

At what age did you start sports? They start at lot earlier now.

Both of mine want to spend time hunting with me in the Fall, but they haven't enough time to practice, much less have a free weekend to actually go to the woods.

 

Scouting loses to sports, and the saddest thing about that is that Scout skills and character will have a much longer service life than your free-throw percentage.

[GernBlansten]

I think you have to be pretty dedicated to your chosen sport by the time you are 10. Same time as a boy would make the decision to cross over to boy scouts. If you don't, you will not have the opportunities to play in HS or college, at least varsity level. Unless you are super talented or in a sport that doesn't have much competition.

[Horizon]

I just picked up 4 boys in the 8th grade. My older Scouts convinced their buddies to join up due to the shooting sports and ski trips that we offer - that was something different to them. I think that we can find some great Scouts if we look beyond the local Packs.

 

I am thinking of a having a "bring a buddy" campout this year, with some Scout skills in evidence and a lot of fun as well.