Scouting, Volume 38, Number 10, December 1950 Page: 9
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"Breathes there a Cubmaster with soul so dead,
Who never to himself has said:
SOMEDAY I'M GONNA GET TOUGH ON PARENTS!"
<4^ "OUR PACK was going downhill fast," a Cubmaster wrote
^ in the other day, "mostly because our Cubs' parents were
what the airlines call 'No-Shows.' They seemed to have the idea
that one night a month we operated a free baby-sitting mill for
fry between the ages of eight and ten, and that if parents showed
up it would somehow spoil things.
"One night during a Pack Committee meeting the Scoutmaster
of the Troop in our school came in moaning about his parent
problems. 'If the parents aren't interested,' he told us dismally,
'neither am I!' We put our heads together then, and decided there
was only one way to tackle our problem realistically: GET
TOUGH!
"Out of this bull session came a set of standards. Parents and
Cub Scouts would abide by these standards, we agreed, or be
dropped. Here are the highlights:
1. Parents to attend Pack meetings monthly.
2. All mothers to occasionally assist Den Mothers in conduct-
ing Den meetings.
3. All dads to take part in Sunday walks and cookouts every
other month.
4. All parents to help their sons with Achievements and
Electives. (We added a deadline here for specific Achievment —
one Achievement per year.)
5. For the Cub Scouts themselves: Regular attendance,
prompt payment of dues, steady Achievement progress, and
daily living up to the Cub Scout Promise and Law.
"We sent copies of these standards to all parents, together with
a business-like letter, telling them in a polite way that we
weren't bluffing. Then we sat back to await the next Pack
meeting.
"The big night arrived. The parents of thirty of our forty-five
boys showed up. (For us that was sensational.) The parents of
six more had bona fide excuses. That left just nine Cubs whose
parents didn't respond at all. Those nine boys we took a deep
breath and dropped. Parents of six came around before the
second Pack meeting — on our terms.
"It's a little too early to tell yet whether this system will be
the permanent solution to our problem. So far, though, the
parent response has been phenomenal, and complaints practically
non-existent.
"We have been careful, of course, to make exceptions where
a boy's parent is ill or working or out of town. It's the Canasta-
loving, TV-happy 'Don't-Cares' we're in business to blast out
of their easy chairs. And so far business is just dandy!
"One question, though, keeps nagging at us. Our GET TOUGH
operation is paying off — in a fat 90 per cent of the cases. But
what about that other 10 per cent? I mean the kids whose papas
and mamas just won't play ball no matter what. Don't these
boys need Cubbing worst of all, and aren't we supposed to be in
business to serve them? And are we serving them if we drop
them? "Just how tough CAN you get, anyway?"
(<
A
5
-FRONT LINE STUFF-
This department is aimed to help
you rid yourself of headaches.
Tell us your problems, and we'll
see what can be done to help.
Now, what do you think of the
Leader in this month's article?
Is he too hard on parents, too
tough on the boys? Does a GET
TOUGH policy justify the means
— dropping the boys whose
parents stay home? Would you
try it? Let FRONT LINE STUFF
hear from you on this — and
your own favorite — solution for
the Unit Leader's number one
headache: parent disinterest.
FOR ALL SCOUTERS
DECEMBER, 1950
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 38, Number 10, December 1950, periodical, December 1950; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth313169/m1/11/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.