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Anyone out there ever have an issue with Brownies/Girl Scouts? My daughter was on the waiting list for a year. We moved and, low and behold, she got to get onto the new town's waiting list.... unless I volunteered to be an assistant leader.... which I did.
A month later, I received an e-mail congratulating me on my new "Leader" position. "Wait a minute", I thought, "didn't I apply to be the assistant leader?" Now, here I am the "Leader" and all we need to do now is find an assistant, right? Not so easy. Still waiting.
Now I feel like the "bad guy" because I can't get the troop up and running because nobody else is volunteering to help me lead and I'm not comfortable taking it all on myself (way too much on my plate at the moment).
Sorry, I just felt the need to vent and wondered if anyone else has been subjected to a leadership "bait and switch" situation with regard to Brownies/Girl Scouts or any other organization.
my husband was. We had been trying to get into a boyscout group here for forever....finally, there was a notice up at the boys and girls club for a scout meeting. husband took our son, did all the paperwork, then about a week later, got a call saying he HAD to be the scout leader. He said he couldnt, it just wasnt any where near possible w/our scheduals, and the person told him he had already put him down as a leader and contacted the other parents with that news!!! So hubby got very upset, said NOT GONNA HAPPEN! and the guy told him, 'well, if you dont, we wont have a scout group!" even after trying to explain over and over that it just was NOT something we could do at all, the guy guilt tripped him, and it all fell through...no boy scouts here.
weve been waiting to hear from a girl scout leader for 2 over 2 weeks now for to register my daughtler in to brownies i did hear from the person whose in charge of the area we live in and she said we should hear from the leader in a week to get her register and pay the fee its been now over a week in a half now and havent heard anything from her asigned leader .
Been there, done that. Two years as a GS leader, whew!
Everbody wants their kids in scouting, nobody wants to help by volunteering because their schedules are "too busy". Sure makes you feel like you're being used as a free babysitting service.
We had a small troop and basically I solved the problem by asking each mom to sign up in advance to help at three or four meetings during the year. I let them all know that if there were not at least two adults at each meeting the meeting would be cancelled. Parents were required to walk their duaghters into the meeting room, no dropoffs, so that made it easy to send the girls back home if the "assisstant" didn't show up. I called parents and reminded them when their turn was coming up, let them know what we would be working on and how they could best help.
It wasn't the ideal situation, we did have a few cancelled meetings, and the cookie selling was a definite challenge. OTOH there were some great field trips and camping trips. Most parents were happy to help out, as long as it was only once every month or two.
There were times I thought I was crazy for volunteering to lead, but overall it was worth it. Getting to do something like that with my daughter was a wonderful experiance for the both of us.
weve been waiting to hear from a girl scout leader for 2 over 2 weeks now for to register my daughtler in to brownies i did hear from the person whose in charge of the area we live in and she said we should hear from the leader in a week to get her register and pay the fee its been now over a week in a half now and havent heard anything from her asigned leader .
Maybe you haven't heard anything because the same thing that's happening to me is happening to your "leader". Perhaps someone got roped in and nobody else is willing/offering to help.
Maybe you haven't heard anything because the same thing that's happening to me is happening to your "leader". Perhaps someone got roped in and nobody else is willing/offering to help.
I used to work for the Girl Scouts...about 6 years ago. One thing we really tried to encourage was establishing two leaders for a troop...not a leader and a co-leader. This way both leaders were equally involved and had equal responsibility. Also...it was less likely that the "assistant" would bail out of a meeting. So, maybe it's possible that your GS council is really trying to create that same interpretation of the troop leadership roles.
I am a Girl Scout Leader in Oklahoma. This is a frequent reason people become Girl Scout Leaders. Since it is a non-profit organization it relies heavily on volunteers. Unfortunately, it is rather difficult to get people to volunteer anymore. One thing I do know, if you want your daughter in Girl Scouting, you might have to MAKE the time to help out. Both of my daughters have been in Girl Scouts for years. A Girl Scout Troop is only as good as the Leaders of the troop.
Both of my girls had a hard time getting placed in a troop. We are not "society" people, nor are we "in" in our small town. For my oldest it took my mother (who is an RN) volunteering to be the Level 2 First Aider, for any and all trips the troop wanted to make. She got into the troop and is still in. My mom goes to all her meetings. That just happened to be what that Troop needed at that time, was a First Aider. My youngest daughter was bounced from troop to troop basically learning NOTHING for several years until I got fed up with it and decided to become a Leader. In 2 years she had earned 1 try-it and 1 badge. I don't think so. I decided to take a troop and basically I accidentally got a really good Assistant Leader. I have been with this particular Troop for 3 years now, and I have added 3 more troops over the time period.
Not everyone can do that I know. I basically have a Daisy Troop (5-6 year olds) Brownie Troop (2-3rd graders) that meet together, and a Junior Troop (4-5th graders) and a Cadette Troop (2 Sixth Graders) who meet together. We have a blast, but I will say it is work.
I decided I wanted to get involved in SOMETHING that would further my daughters' futures. I am a SHAM, I can do that since I do have more time. My children are both older, being in 6th and 10th grades. It is the best thing I have ever done, both for my daughters and for myself. I have learned SO MUCH and grown so much...just from Girl Scout Training. I am now a Girl Scout Trainer, I have learned how to teach people to be Leaders. In my opinion it is wonderful. Right now I probably donate 20 hours a week....depending on the week....sometimes more, sometimes less. I also have learned about coordinating events. I put on a yearly Talent Show for our County. It is small, less than 100 girls so it isn't real hard to do. This year we also had a Career Day that I coordinated. It isn't alot of work because I delegated to each troop things to do. One troop brought the refreshments, two troops gave me lists of speakers they knew such as: moms that are State Park Manager, Police Officer, 2 small business owners that are very different businesses, Nurses from LPN up to a Teacher at a RN school, A Council Representative that has been in Girl Scouts for 25 of her 45 years of life, her experiences. All I basically did was set the time, date, reserve the place, and we were good to go.
Is there ANYWAY that you can re-arrange your schedule? What about Grandma or Grandpa? Aunt, Uncles, older sisters?? Basically any adult that can pass the background check can be a Girl Scout Leader. Get creative. Even if you start a troop and just be upfront with the other parents. "I will be on paper as the leader, but we all will rotate 2 or 3 meetings a year." That is better than nothing. You can still have a good program and teach Girl Scout Ways and Values doing just that. It only takes 1 committed person to be on paper and be "The Leader".
Good Luck, and if you become a Girl Scout Leader rarely do you regret it. It is alot of work, but your girls and you will get exactly what you put into it, just like anything else you do.
Last edited by okpondlady; 10-20-2008 at 02:08 PM..
Reason: spelling
This story is very similar to mine. Years ago when my daughters where young, I too was told that in order to accomodate them in Brownies they needed someone to become a leaders assistant. The next thing I knew I was talked into the leader role. It was a lot of work and I took on pretty much everything myself because none of the parents wanted to contribute any of their time. I think the program is a great place for girls to learn some great life skills but it ended up being a place for parents to drop their kids off so they could go and get their nails done etc. I did have an assistant but I didn't get much help. I didn't want to let the girls down so I gave it my all, and I had a full time job at the same time. Any way needless to say I only did it for that one year and found other things for them to get involved in. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it and had a great time with the girls but it is an awful lot to take on if you don't have support.
I got disgusted with the Girl Scouts when my dd was in Kindergarten and wanted to join Daisy's. They had a leader and needed a co-leader. The Leader said she was happy to do all the work if I would just agree to sign on as co-leader and help out a bit. At the time, I was unable to drive across town in the evenings for the required Leader classes and asked if I could do the classes on-line or some other way, which was fine with the Leader. The Girl Scout Office Person said this was not permitted and wasn't the nicest about telling me! In the meantime, some of the other moms started ganging up on the Leader, who had been doing this for several years. They complained about some trivial things and in essence got her troop taken away from her. She was in tears; I felt terrible for her. Also, where I live there are certain cliques and even though some girls are on wait lists for Troops, other Troops might have 3 Leaders because these moms want their girls together. The whole thing kind of soured me on the Girl Scouts. I also wasn't that impressed with the scouting which we ended up trying for a year. Too many activities like Hanna Montana concerts for 6 - 7 year olds and the daughter of the leader we eventually got ended up stealing a bunch of stuff from my dd and when she was eventually caught, not much was made of it - not even a call from her mom...Maybe its just where we live, but I'm questioning the real value of character building the Girl Scouts does. Maybe its more like building Characters (and not particularly nice ones.)
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My experiences, LONG and in book form.
