Recruiting and Retaining Hispanic Youth

[SeattlePioneer]

So Kudu,

 

What percentage of the boys in your troop come from immigrant primarily Spanish speaking families?

[Kudu]

SeattlePioneer writes:

 

What percentage of the boys in your troop come from immigrant primarily Spanish speaking families?

 

At most four to six out of 20 to 30, so as high as 20%.

 

This could be higher in any given year than the percentage of Hispanic sixth-graders: A number of Scouts brought in their older brothers, but Hispanics tended to also recruit their cousins.

 

So their families did work differently than others, but just the opposite of CSE Mazzuca's description: None of them ever expressed an interest in having their grandmothers and baby sisters along on a campout

 

For what it's worth about the universal lure of Adventure: Now that I think back I never recruited any stereotypically fat Hispanics (as in the movie "Up") which do appear in the MSNBC interview with CSE Mazzuca.

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

Http://kudu.net

(This message has been edited by Kudu)

[Eagle92]

Ditto what 'Fish said. When I did Roundups as a De and now as a volunteer, I didn't target one specific ethnic group, I wanted ALL boys in Scouting.

 

But I will admit their are still some degree of racial segregation in my neck of the woods. While it may not be intentional, it is still around. The units are affiliated with churches, and unless your church is a "new church," i.e younger than 30 years old, or if your church is the only one of your faith, then your congregation will usually be predominantly one ethnicity, which is what the units will predominantly be.

 

One of the things I like about my CO is that it is ethnically diverse, and with the exception of the Venturing crew, it's only 2 years old and the old CA didn't do much wiht the church (but that is changing ), both the troop and pack are diverse. In fact the troop is the only multiethnic one in the district to my knowledge at the moment. In two months there will be another troop, but they are 100% Hispanic at the moment.

 

 

And Kudu is right in that the new 100% Hispanic troop currently has brothers and cousins in it at the moment. Again in about 2 -3 months the Webelos will be joining it so it will also be ethically diverse. BUT no matter what ethnicity the Socuts or cubs are, they all want the....

 

...OUTING IN SCOUTING!

 

Yes the CM is already planning on leading an expedition to Philmont in 3-4 years with the troop as he will be with the troop and pack then. And the Webelos have been hearing his Philmont stories some time.

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello Kudu,

 

 

Do you make any special efforts to communicate with ethnically Latino parents whose primary language is Spanish? Do they volunteer as troop leaders as readily as other families?

 

In a Scout Troop, boys are old enough to manage much of their relationship with the troop. In a Cub Pack, I suspect that being in communication with parents and making sure they feel welcome at Cub Scout events is more critical.

 

Personally, I don't see any reason to object if during a recruiting meeting someone provides a greeting and welcome in Spanish and holds up a Spanish language Cub Scout handbook.

 

Doing such things is just a part of helping other people.

 

 

 

 

[moosetracker]

Poor Seattle.. Few are against the language translation (if your neighborhood has the need for it).. Except for a few who feel the book translation is costly.. (Except for the intial translation cost, one book will cost the same to mass produce as the other, and the cost will be made up for in the purchase price, so personally.. I have no complaints.. solely on language translation alone..

 

Your thread unfortunately got highjacket due to one small phrase on your original post..

 

The presenter will be the Council's District Eexecutive for our Soccer and Scouting Program aimed at Hispanic youth.

 

 

I know it was not your intent to discuss the soccer, but that one sentence got our radar anteneas up and gunning..

 

You are more concerned with breaking down the language barrier.. Had that one sentence been omitted, you probably could have kept this post more on topic..

 

 

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello moosetracker,

 

 

I really know next to nothing about the Soccer and Scouting program. Personally, my interest is in conventional Scouting.

 

I understand people being concerned about Scouting being hijacked by such programs.

 

Nor am I an advocate of the immigration history we've had in recent decades.

 

I'm simply confronted by the reality of that immigration, which I can't responsibly ignore. So I'm looking for effective ways to deal with it THROUGH CONVENTIONAL CUB SCOUT AND BOY SCOUT PROGRAMS.

 

If we can figure out how to do that, Soccer and Scouting and other such compromises wont be alternatives some will feel the need to pursue and expriment with.

 

I appreciate your last post, and I keep trying to dig myself out from the kind of misunderstanding you describe.

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello Scoutfish,

 

 

You describe your recruiting efforts to be absolutely without a cultural bias, and you welcome those of any ethnic group who find your program appealing.

 

Well, that's pretty much what I've done as district membership chair since 2004.

 

Unfortunately, my district has quite a few public and parochial schools that are 30-60% Hispanic, and not infrequently White students can be 30% of the students or less.

 

Here's a list of elementary schools in one district. Those who care to can select any of the schools and the "demographics" link on the school page which reports the ethnic composition of the school.

 

http://www.hsd401.org/ourschools/elementaryschools/

 

There are some schools heavily white, and more where whites form a minority. Quite a number where Hispanics compose 30-60% of the student population.

 

Unfortunately I've found that relatively few Hispanic families are attracted by the methods I use, and of those who join a goodly number drop out pretty rapidly.

 

If you don't consider that a problem, then you have no problem.

 

Personally, I do consider it a problem, and I'm looking for ways to be more welcoming to Hispanic families so they will join Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, and stay a part of the program for years.

 

Frankly, I don't know how to do that at this point. I have questions rather than answers.

 

But personally I think we should be asking the questions and looking for the answers. It may be that your unit or district doesn't confront that kind of challenge, but my pack, my district and the BSA nationally DOES face that challenge in my opinion.

 

And I would like to thank those like Scoutfish who have challenged the issues I have raised. They require me to think through the issues with greater care. The more I think about them the more convinced I am that we need to find improved methods to recruit and retain Hispanic youth and families in areas where there are substantial Hispanic immigrant populations.

 

Some may not wish to use those methods. I have no objection to that. I certainly hope we never have membership quotas. But if we learn how to make that appeal effectively, we will charter new Scout units that will serve more youth in areas impacted by immigration. Multi cultural units will be able to expand their membership to serve additional populations.

 

That would be a plus for Scouting, in my opinion.

 

 

 

[Eagle92]

Been thinking, and I have an idea. What churches in your area have a BSA unit AND a Hispanic ministry? Have the BSA folks talk to the head of the Hispanic ministry about either A) getting those kids in the established unit, or B) creating a unit as part of the outreach program.

 

My CO has a Hispanic ministry, and my unit does have a few Hispanic members, not many but a few. But it is somethign to think about...hmmmm

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello Eagle92,

 

That's very good thinking! Taking advantage of existing community or church organizations around which ethnic groups organize might well make extending Scouting into those conmmunities easier and more effective.

 

My Cub Pack has a Catholic Church as the Chartered Organization. One of my problems is that the Cub Pack is not effectively a part of the parish community --- so far anyway. (sort of stuck on the outside is the way I view it). But I can certainly ask if there is a Hispanic ministry and contact them if there is.

 

If such a group were strong enough they could certainly form their own pack, or form their own dens under the existing pack. My bias would be to find ways by which they would feel welcome in the existing pack and could participate effectively in it. A Hispanic ministry could probably help manage that association and make that work better for everyone.

 

Thanks for the idea! I'll ask about that!

[Kudu]

SeattlePioneer writes:

 

Do you make any special efforts to communicate with ethnically Latino parents whose primary language is Spanish?

 

Yes, I always asked them where the library was

 

SeattlePioneer writes:

 

Do they volunteer as troop leaders as readily as other families?

 

Only one occasionally, a first generation single mom. She was a Spanish teacher, the wealthiest parent in the whole Troop. In this neighborhood it was rare to have many parents volunteer, regardless of race.

 

SeattlePioneer writes:

 

Personally, I don't see any reason to object if during a recruiting meeting someone provides a greeting and welcome in Spanish and holds up a Spanish language Cub Scout handbook.

 

Have you actually watched the CSE's Hispanic initiative video?

 

http://inquiry.net/leadership/sitting_side_by_side_with_adults.htm

 

The whole point is to play the Hispanic card to achieve the 1972 Wood Badge goal (which in turn was based on the "Urban Youth" race card) to drum the outing out of Scouting. Really now, is there any other possible meaning to:

 

"Camping is not necessarily a big thing with them, as a matter of fact in some cases it is not big at all... This marvelous passion for family in the Hispanic world. When we say 'We want to take your twelve-year-old son, but you can't come!' [long pause for dramatic effect] we're making a mistake there. We have to engage an entire family..."

 

If the national program is to "recognize these cultural issues and accommodate them" by keeping Boy Scouts out of tents even at TWELVE YEARS OLD, we are not just "providing a greeting and welcome in Spanish," now are we?

 

The Chief Scout Executive is committed to "investing major resources" to recruit 100,000 Hispanics (at least in the first year) who hate camping ("We are deadly serious. We are absolutely serious about this"). If he "invests" enough money to pull that off every year, in ten years we will have a million boys who hate camping. Do you really think we will not be encouraged by the Scoutcraft-hating BSA millionaires to "recognize these cultural issues and accommodate them" with a special rights "No Camping Path to Eagle," as Leadership Development pioneered in the 1970s?

 

SeattlePioneer writes:

 

Doing such things is just a part of helping other people.

 

If you want to help other people, put together a Spanish language presentation for your program "kickoff" that explains to parents that the national Hispanic initiative cheats their sons out of the Scoutcraft program guaranteed to Americans by an Act of Congress.

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

http://kudu.net

 

 

[SeattlePioneer]

As I noted Kudu, if traditional Scouting units did a much better job of recruiting and retaining Hispanic youth, I doubt that the head office would be looking at alternative programs to do that task.

 

Rather than being hostile to the idea of improving the performance of traditional Scouting units with this group, you should be leading the charge in how to improve methods.

 

Frankly, carping and complaining doesn't cut it in my book. I must say I am thoroughly unimpressed to the point of being appalled by your last post.

 

And despite your claims to the contrary, the performance you describe suggests that you have a good deal you could learn, as do I.

[clemlaw]

>>>>>If you want to help other people, put together a Spanish language presentation for your program "kickoff" that explains to parents that the national Hispanic initiative cheats their sons out of the Scoutcraft program guaranteed to Americans by an Act of Congress.

[Kudu]

SeattlePioneer writes:

 

As I noted Kudu, if traditional Scouting units did a much better job of recruiting and retaining Hispanic youth, I doubt that the head office would be looking at alternative programs to do that task.

 

And as I noted, the "head office" has been looking for an excuse to kill Scoutcraft since 1965. Hispanics are convenient. The last time we used race as an excuse to declare war on our Congressional Charter, we lost two million Boy Scouts.

 

SeattlePioneer writes:

 

I must say I am thoroughly unimpressed to the point of being appalled by your last post.

 

Does that mean you are not going to put together a Spanish language presentation for your program "kickoff" that explains to parents that the national Hispanic initiative cheats their sons out of the Scoutcraft program guaranteed to Americans by an Act of Congress?

 

Gee, and you seemed so sincere!

 

I am equally appalled by your efforts. You claim that your goal is to "recruit and retain Hispanic youth into traditional Scouting units," but your keynote speaker will be the "Council's District Executive for our Soccer and Scouting Program aimed at Hispanic youth."

 

You use terms like "carping and complaining" to describe my logic because if you did admit publicly that our CSE's national Hispanic initiative is not only misguided, but contrary to our Congressional Charter, your "Council's District Executive for our Soccer and Scouting Program aimed at Hispanic youth" would boot you out the door.

 

The whole point of the current Soccer and Scouting Program is to dumb the Boy Scout program down to the Cub Scout level by replacing individual Boy Scouts with whole families. In fact your E-mail to this guy uses the term "family" (or "parent') 27 times.

 

SeattlePioneer writes:

 

And despite your claims to the contrary, the performance you describe suggests that you have a good deal you could learn, as do I.

 

Oh?

 

I usually registered 28% of sixth-grade audiences AFTER Crossover (Crossover figures represent the application of the business strategy of our BSA millionaires, as well as the efforts of a local District's professionals and volunteers). What is your percentage?

 

Since you are so interested in recruitment and claim that my performance is low, what do you suggest the national Total Available Youth (TAY) percentage is? 2%? 4%? 8%?

 

The fact that 70% of sixth-graders signed my list and I only registered 28%, suggests that (even at 7 to 14 times typical TAY) there is room for "improvement," but I was only interested in Scouts whose parents allowed them to join without a sales job on the importance of Eagle on a business resume.

 

Let's see you do better.

 

http://inquiry.net/adult/recruiting.htm

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

http://kudu.net

 

[SeattlePioneer]

Kudu,

 

 

Ignoring the ax-grinding you apparently relish---

 

 

 

 

I suggested in my opening post that in such situations, you might consider appointing the bi-lingual Spanish speaker a ScoutParent Co-ordinator, charged with communicating with other Spanish speaking families and bringing them into providing leadership for your unit as a group.

 

 

[moosetracker]

Well with recruiting Adult leaders and the family involvement.. I would think Kudu & Seattle are at different viewpoints, due to SP is in a cub scout program, and Kudu is in a troop that does not need much Adult leadership, because I would imagine his boys take on more responsibility of the troop functions, then most of our troops do..

 

So for Kudu, small adult participation is probably considered a blessing.. Cub scouts though need Adult leaders more so due to the age of the boys, and the structure of the program to include the family (and hopefully ween the boys little by little to more self relience.)

 

I can see the lack of registered Scout leaders maybe being a problem due to many not being legally in the country, but if the Hispanics are suppose to be so "family oriented", to the point they can't do anything without their family in tow, I don't see why they don't at least participate "unofficially"..

 

But then you paint a totally different picture of what Hispanic "family" may mean over Mazzuca's image.. From your image, I see older boys having no time for the cub scout program simply because they are too busy watching the younger siblings maybe even younger cousins or nieces & nephews, while their parents work 2 or 3 jobs. Therefore would they ever have a chance for any type of scouting program after the cub scout age?

 

This tangled mess of a watered down scouting program, may hopefully just stay at the cub scout level. At least one can hope.