Question for Cub Scout parents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two cub scouts. I like that its boys only. The boys are more comfortable this way. There are girls that attend as siblings and they rarely participate. They go off into their own corner and do their own thing. I'm certain that if I asked my 10 yr old he would say no to adding girls.

Why are the girls there? Would they partipate if someone created a den for them? Seems pointless to just hang out.

My daughter goes because she has to. I can't leave her at home. For cub scouts, I have to stay. I'm hoping that by boy scouts it is drop off.

So if you have to stay, and you have to bring your girls, and other parents do too.... how can your boys say they like that cub scouts is boys only? Obviously there are girls there, just not really doing anything.

Why would it be any skin of their noses if the girls were off in their own girl-only cub scout den at the same time that the boys were in their boy only cub scout den?

Wouldn't that make it easier for you as a parent?

I used to bring my youngest son to my older son's meetings. He would sit on the sidelines with the other siblings and do something else while the Cub Scouts met. Unless your kids are twins or otherwise super close in age, they will not be participating in the same meetings. You might have 3 boys - a Tiger, a Bear, a Webelo - different groups, meeting on different nights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two cub scouts. I like that its boys only. The boys are more comfortable this way. There are girls that attend as siblings and they rarely participate. They go off into their own corner and do their own thing. I'm certain that if I asked my 10 yr old he would say no to adding girls.

Why are the girls there? Would they partipate if someone created a den for them? Seems pointless to just hang out.

My daughter goes because she has to. I can't leave her at home. For cub scouts, I have to stay. I'm hoping that by boy scouts it is drop off.

Cub scouts is drop.off starting around 3rd grade.

Boy Scouts is alomst entirely boy run and you would humiliate your son if you do not drop off (unless you are.a leader or a dad).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two cub scouts. I like that its boys only. The boys are more comfortable this way. There are girls that attend as siblings and they rarely participate. They go off into their own corner and do their own thing. I'm certain that if I asked my 10 yr old he would say no to adding girls.

Why are the girls there? Would they partipate if someone created a den for them? Seems pointless to just hang out.

My daughter goes because she has to. I can't leave her at home. For cub scouts, I have to stay. I'm hoping that by boy scouts it is drop off.

So if you have to stay, and you have to bring your girls, and other parents do too.... how can your boys say they like that cub scouts is boys only? Obviously there are girls there, just not really doing anything.

Why would it be any skin of their noses if the girls were off in their own girl-only cub scout den at the same time that the boys were in their boy only cub scout den?

Wouldn't that make it easier for you as a parent?

The sisters who hang out (hardly any at all if any) are NOT participating in cub scouts.

The boys do not want cub scouts to be coed.

The purpose of cub scouts is to provide single gender education for boys.

Why don't you pull your son from cub scouts and start bringing him to the Brownie meetings with your daughter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two cub scouts. I like that its boys only. The boys are more comfortable this way. There are girls that attend as siblings and they rarely participate. They go off into their own corner and do their own thing. I'm certain that if I asked my 10 yr old he would say no to adding girls.

Why are the girls there? Would they partipate if someone created a den for them? Seems pointless to just hang out.

My daughter goes because she has to. I can't leave her at home. For cub scouts, I have to stay. I'm hoping that by boy scouts it is drop off.

So if you have to stay, and you have to bring your girls, and other parents do too.... how can your boys say they like that cub scouts is boys only? Obviously there are girls there, just not really doing anything.

Why would it be any skin of their noses if the girls were off in their own girl-only cub scout den at the same time that the boys were in their boy only cub scout den?

Wouldn't that make it easier for you as a parent?

DP but that's not how it works. The dens all meet at different times and places so even if there was a girls' den, it wouldn't help with the childcare problem. this is another difference with GS, actually--with GS, the expectation is that you will drop off because they are trying to foster girls' independence. With cub scouts, parents are expected to stay so you end up with a bunch of younger sibs (girls and boys) playing on iPhones or tablets.

Your den is doing it wrong if parents are all staying beyind 1st-2nd grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: My issue is not that I won't step up but rather the way GS forms troops is by school not interest. My DDs troop is interested in arts and crafts not camping. DD and I end up volunteering to go with other troops who are lacking a certified adult. Its fine and it gets my DD the outdoor experience she wants but she doesn't have a troop of friends that share her interest. We've tried to join some of these troops but meeting time/location often prevent it especially if they meet right after school. I can't get my kid to the other side of the county 15 min after school ends.

Does it have to be by school? In our town and Service Unit, troops are just formed by whoever wants to form them. Our troop is a neighborhood troop and has girls from 7 different schools (and homeschoolers).

Could you start your own evening troop that had girls interested in camping?

Where would I find the girls?

On dcum from all these moms who want to force Boy Scouts to become coed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two cub scouts. I like that its boys only. The boys are more comfortable this way. There are girls that attend as siblings and they rarely participate. They go off into their own corner and do their own thing. I'm certain that if I asked my 10 yr old he would say no to adding girls.

Why are the girls there? Would they partipate if someone created a den for them? Seems pointless to just hang out.

My daughter goes because she has to. I can't leave her at home. For cub scouts, I have to stay. I'm hoping that by boy scouts it is drop off.

So if you have to stay, and you have to bring your girls, and other parents do too.... how can your boys say they like that cub scouts is boys only? Obviously there are girls there, just not really doing anything.

Why would it be any skin of their noses if the girls were off in their own girl-only cub scout den at the same time that the boys were in their boy only cub scout den?

Wouldn't that make it easier for you as a parent?

I used to bring my youngest son to my older son's meetings. He would sit on the sidelines with the other siblings and do something else while the Cub Scouts met. Unless your kids are twins or otherwise super close in age, they will not be participating in the same meetings. You might have 3 boys - a Tiger, a Bear, a Webelo - different groups, meeting on different nights.

Yes.

Unless your girls are all in the same grade as your son, they cannot participatr in the same den.

Each level in Cub Scouts is grade specific. Bears, Wolves, etc are all atrached to one grade. So your first grade girl cannot join your third grade son's group, even if it is more convenient to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two cub scouts. I like that its boys only. The boys are more comfortable this way. There are girls that attend as siblings and they rarely participate. They go off into their own corner and do their own thing. I'm certain that if I asked my 10 yr old he would say no to adding girls.

Why are the girls there? Would they partipate if someone created a den for them? Seems pointless to just hang out.

My daughter goes because she has to. I can't leave her at home. For cub scouts, I have to stay. I'm hoping that by boy scouts it is drop off.

So if you have to stay, and you have to bring your girls, and other parents do too.... how can your boys say they like that cub scouts is boys only? Obviously there are girls there, just not really doing anything.

Why would it be any skin of their noses if the girls were off in their own girl-only cub scout den at the same time that the boys were in their boy only cub scout den?

Wouldn't that make it easier for you as a parent?

DP but that's not how it works. The dens all meet at different times and places so even if there was a girls' den, it wouldn't help with the childcare problem. this is another difference with GS, actually--with GS, the expectation is that you will drop off because they are trying to foster girls' independence. With cub scouts, parents are expected to stay so you end up with a bunch of younger sibs (girls and boys) playing on iPhones or tablets.

Your den is doing it wrong if parents are all staying beyind 1st-2nd grade.

With our dens parents stayed and participated from Tiger on up to Webelo 2. If something came up and you needed to drop off, it was no big deal. But for the most part, parents were happy to stay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Why don't you pull your son from cub scouts and start bringing him to the Brownie meetings with your daughter?

Girl Scouts isn't family oriented the way Cub Scouts seemed to be. It was always drop off, and we didn't camp together with families. Just the leaders and the girls went camping - not all the families, siblings etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why don't you pull your son from cub scouts and start bringing him to the Brownie meetings with your daughter?

Girl Scouts isn't family oriented the way Cub Scouts seemed to be. It was always drop off, and we didn't camp together with families. Just the leaders and the girls went camping - not all the families, siblings etc.

Well start making a change. Start bringing brothers to girl scouts so you can have all your activities in one place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why don't you pull your son from cub scouts and start bringing him to the Brownie meetings with your daughter?

Girl Scouts isn't family oriented the way Cub Scouts seemed to be. It was always drop off, and we didn't camp together with families. Just the leaders and the girls went camping - not all the families, siblings etc.

Well start making a change. Start bringing brothers to girl scouts so you can have all your activities in one place.

We don't have the program that boys want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why don't you pull your son from cub scouts and start bringing him to the Brownie meetings with your daughter?

Girl Scouts isn't family oriented the way Cub Scouts seemed to be. It was always drop off, and we didn't camp together with families. Just the leaders and the girls went camping - not all the families, siblings etc.

Well start making a change. Start bringing brothers to girl scouts so you can have all your activities in one place.

We don't have the program that boys want.

Then make GS more family friendly. Have the parents attend the meetings with their kids and allow siblings to come and play on the sidelines like they do at Cub Scouts.

If you have a camp out, invite the GS families to come along. The GS do their camp out activities and the siblings can be entertained on the sidelines just like they are at the meetings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why don't you pull your son from cub scouts and start bringing him to the Brownie meetings with your daughter?

Girl Scouts isn't family oriented the way Cub Scouts seemed to be. It was always drop off, and we didn't camp together with families. Just the leaders and the girls went camping - not all the families, siblings etc.

Well start making a change. Start bringing brothers to girl scouts so you can have all your activities in one place.

We don't have the program that boys want.

Then start making a program that girls want.

Working moms, volunteer to be a leader and host a GS troop that meets in the evening and focuses on outdoor activities and sports.

Our pack is entirely run by dads, and every last one of them works. Why do GS leaders have to only be stay at home moms who have the meeting after school?

Invite dads with woodworking type skills to your meetings like someone said up thread.

Be the change. Fix GSA, don't try to change Bo Scouts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why don't you pull your son from cub scouts and start bringing him to the Brownie meetings with your daughter?

Girl Scouts isn't family oriented the way Cub Scouts seemed to be. It was always drop off, and we didn't camp together with families. Just the leaders and the girls went camping - not all the families, siblings etc.

Well start making a change. Start bringing brothers to girl scouts so you can have all your activities in one place.

We don't have the program that boys want.

Then make GS more family friendly. Have the parents attend the meetings with their kids and allow siblings to come and play on the sidelines like they do at Cub Scouts.

If you have a camp out, invite the GS families to come along. The GS do their camp out activities and the siblings can be entertained on the sidelines just like they are at the meetings.

GS leader -- this is really not the goal of GS. The goal is for girls to learn independence, and they don't do that by having their family there all the time. It's one of the main real differences between cub scouts and girl scouts -- the GS focus on the girls being increasingly independent throughout the grade school program. Many troops do "family camping" trips in addition to "girl camping" trips. But, for instance, with my GS troop, our last camping trip the girls all stayed in one tent together with no adult, and cooked their food by themselves over the fire (one adult supervising). I am also a cub scout mom, and my son sleeps in the tent with me and the food is cooked by the oldest boys in the pack for consumption by the younger boys. The adult-child ratio for cub scout outings is close to 1-to-1, whereas for Girl Scouts it is more like 6-1 or 12-1 (depending on age).
The GS activities usually specify whether "tagalongs" (siblings) are invited or not -- many times they are, but not always. It really does change the nature of the program to have families there all the time.
It should be noted that boy scouts is totally different from cub scouts, as my understanding is that the families totally drop out for boy scouts and it's just the boys. With GS, it's more of a seamless transition, with adult supervision gradually decreasing.

So, while there are things I would change about GS (like the journeys, which are universally hated and mostly ignored)...I would NOT want to change it to be like cub scouts where the families are there for everything.

[Anonymous]

That is not how all cub scout packs are run.

We have been to a couple of Cub Scouts packs in different cities and with tye exception of the very youngest grades it was drop off.

Entire families only went to some camp outs and did not go to most events in the packs we have been a part of (3 different states). There were "family camp outs" but not all of them were family events. Lots of things like rock climbing, visiting a police station, etc were scouts and chaperones only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why don't you pull your son from cub scouts and start bringing him to the Brownie meetings with your daughter?

Girl Scouts isn't family oriented the way Cub Scouts seemed to be. It was always drop off, and we didn't camp together with families. Just the leaders and the girls went camping - not all the families, siblings etc.

Well start making a change. Start bringing brothers to girl scouts so you can have all your activities in one place.

We don't have the program that boys want.

Then make GS more family friendly. Have the parents attend the meetings with their kids and allow siblings to come and play on the sidelines like they do at Cub Scouts.

If you have a camp out, invite the GS families to come along. The GS do their camp out activities and the siblings can be entertained on the sidelines just like they are at the meetings.

GS leader -- this is really not the goal of GS. The goal is for girls to learn independence, and they don't do that by having their family there all the time. It's one of the main real differences between cub scouts and girl scouts -- the GS focus on the girls being increasingly independent throughout the grade school program. Many troops do "family camping" trips in addition to "girl camping" trips. But, for instance, with my GS troop, our last camping trip the girls all stayed in one tent together with no adult, and cooked their food by themselves over the fire (one adult supervising). I am also a cub scout mom, and my son sleeps in the tent with me and the food is cooked by the oldest boys in the pack for consumption by the younger boys. The adult-child ratio for cub scout outings is close to 1-to-1, whereas for Girl Scouts it is more like 6-1 or 12-1 (depending on age).
The GS activities usually specify whether "tagalongs" (siblings) are invited or not -- many times they are, but not always. It really does change the nature of the program to have families there all the time.
It should be noted that boy scouts is totally different from cub scouts, as my understanding is that the families totally drop out for boy scouts and it's just the boys. With GS, it's more of a seamless transition, with adult supervision gradually decreasing.

So, while there are things I would change about GS (like the journeys, which are universally hated and mostly ignored)...I would NOT want to change it to be like cub scouts where the families are there for everything.

In this day and age, with before/after childcare, full day kindergarten, summer camps....kids are used to being dropped off. Maybe kids already have a fair amount of independence as it is. This might be why the Cub Scout activities that encourage parental involvement and allow siblings on the sidelines are starting to look like so much fun to many girls and their families.

Just something to consider. My own boys are out of scouting now and I don't have daughters so I have no dog in this fight.