Scouting, Volume 99, Number 5, November-December 2011 Page: 20
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# WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Help Wanted
Ideas from the field: Looking for leaders.
Scouter S.B. needs
help—literally. Plenty
of boys want to join
the Cub Scout pack
at his church, but few
parents are willing to
serve as leaders. He
wants to know how to
engage uninterested
parents.
SELL THE SIZZLE
When pitching the idea of
becoming a leader, I tell
parents it's about more than
just the boys' experience; it's
about the leaders' experience,
too. I have made many new
friends I wouldn't have met if
not for Scouting; my fellow
Scout leaders have become
some of my best friends.
Cubmaster R.B.
SALEM, ORE.
NEXT QUESTION
FOOD FIGHT
We have a Scout with very poor eating habits, and
his parents are enabling him to continue eating in
this manner. On numerous outings he has collapsed,
partly because of his lack of adequate nutrition.
Our leadership is in agreement that he cannot be
allowed to participate in our more rigorous activities.
What can we do to make this Scout's parents
understand the seriousness of this situation?
B.P.
BOWIE, MD.
WE WANT YOUR SOLUTIONS! Send your answer to What Would You Do?, Scouting
magazine, P.O. Box 152079, Irving, TX 75015-2079. Responses will appear in Scouting's next issue. We
also solicit new questions and pay $50 for each one used in this column. Submit responses or a new
question electronically, or view selected responses from past columns, at scoutingmagazine.org.
COMBINE AND CONQUER
Many parents are concerned
about the time commit-
ment and about working
with energetic young boys.
Encourage interested parents
to pair up and share the lead-
ership role. New den leaders
should ease their workload
by asking all parents to teach
at least one badge require-
ment and to host at least one
den meeting a year. Asking
parents to attend all den meet-
ings and outings with their
Scout helps new den leaders
with crowd control, as well.
Troop Committee Member A.M.
BATAVIA, ILL.
JUST ONE THING
Ask parents individually—not
in a large group—if they can
do one thing. Can they trans-
port Scouts to the park or
make the den or pack news-
A
letter? Can they help man
the attendance table at pack
meetings? Can they provide
refreshments? Can they help
the Bear leader? Can they
teach crafts? If they help with
one small thing, eventually
they see that it's not really
that hard.
And always say thank you.
Recognize your leaders or
helpers monthly—especially
those who do once-a-year
things. If parents see others
are appreciated, they will
want in, too.
Chartered Org. Representative P.A.
FERNANDINA BEACH, FLA.
OVERCOME OBJECTIONS
Address the concerns that
may be holding back a parent
from volunteering. Discuss
the available training, espe-
cially online training, and
have handouts available with
local training schedules.
Show a copy of the Den &
Pack Meeting Resource Guide;
underscore that the guide
has den and pack meet-
ings planned out so that
preparation and planning are
minimal. Show a copy of the
Cub Scout Leader Book and
demonstrate its usefulness as a
handy reference for answering
Cub Scouting questions. In
short, tell them, "We'll teach
you how?'
Unit Commissioner S.E.
HURST, TEX.
THREE IDEAS
First, at a mandatory parent
meeting, have a flip chart on
which an eagerly awaiting
youth can write down sugges-
tions for programming that
parents would like to see. Ask
them if they have anything
that they can do to help.
Second, find out what
specialties the parents have.
Those are areas that you can
tap into. Third, have everyone
raise their hand to questions
like "Who likes to do crafts?"
Then point to them and say,
"You're it!"*
Unit Commissioner M.P.
FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C.
20
SCOUTING * NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 99, Number 5, November-December 2011, periodical, November 2011; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth299176/m1/22/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.