Scout parents-do you attend meeting w/your child?

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

My son went through cub scouts. In our pack, tiger and wolf dens were required to have a parent there.

For my sons group, when they hit Bear it was recommended that parents go but not required.
It made it easier on the Den Leader when other parents were there to help so either my husband or I usually stayed to help.

 

[poohguys]

I was DS's Cub Scout Den leader from Tiger through Bear. DH took over at Webelos and is now Scout Master for DS scout troop. In cubs it was nice to have one or two parents around to help out, but they were not required to stay. Parents do not stay at the Boy Scout meetings.

DS was in cubs in our town. Now we are in the next town over for Boy Scouts. Visit a few other cub packs near by to see what they are like. I think most people just stay with the one in town out of convenience and because that is were most other kids their child knows are.

 

[crazelion]

We was in the cub scouts we stay.
Weblos I start to drop him off.

Boys Scouts drop him and keep going until he call me pick him up. He does all projects by himself now.

Now only time go with him is when do our end of year trip and our mini trip.

There is no way h@ll I sending him to New York City without mom.LOL

 

[cybrkitn]

I don't know if this is a BSA requirement, but for DS12 it was required that one of us stayed with him when he was a Cub Scout. Once he became a Boy Scout, it was no longer required. Just drop him off and pick him up when he is done.

Cub Scouts is different than Boy Scouts in that the Cubs do things together as a group and the parents are involved with their son(s) progress along the Cub Scout Trail. Once the child moves up to Boy Scouts, the Scout now does things on their own with little help from the parents. They are there to help encourage their son now instead of helping them achieve badges and belt loops.

Having a parent stay for Cub Scouts may have to do with the age of the children as well as the amount of den leaders and helpers that are there to help assist them.

 

[mom2rtk]

My husband and I were leaders but really didn't have issues with this. Our meetings were in the school cafeteria. The boys gathered at one end with us and the parents who stayed hung out at the other end chatting. We pulled everyone together at the end to go over upcoming activities.

I do see that having parents sitting next to each boy would get in the way of some of the interaction between boys. Have you asked the leader about this?

 

[jodifla]

Our Cub Scout pack always said that it was a family activity, and one parent needed to stay. Our den leader even requested that our Webelos parents stay so we kept the boys on track and were in and out in an hour.

At Boy Scouts, parents just drop and go for the most part.

 

[DopeyDame]

Wow - this is all really interesting. My only experience is with Girl Scouts, which as others have said is definitely not normal for parents to stay with the girls during meetings, even at the Daisy and Brownie level.
My son is in K now and we are strongly considering having him join cub scouts next year, but I'm a little hesitant now. What's the logic behind having parents there at all the meetings and so involved? My impression of scouting (again, from 12 years of Girl Scouts, and with no knowledge of BSA at all...) is that one if it's major benefits is to instill independence and confidence. I'd rather my son get a lot less done, but be doing it on his own and forming relationships with other boys.
So what am I missing? What's the benefit of having a parent there the whole time for the younger boys?

 

[DawnM]

No, in fact, I didn't even sit there when my boys were Tigers, however, I am always on the property.

Our rule for parents in cub scouts is that a parent must be on the church property and not leave.

Boyscout parents can leave, but most don't. Many of us have scout responsibilities (Dh is a scoutmaster assistant and I am the Awards Chair.) And we sit in the main room and chat too.....

 

[shoney]

Wow - this is all really interesting. My only experience is with Girl Scouts, which as others have said is definitely not normal for parents to stay with the girls during meetings, even at the Daisy and Brownie level.
My son is in K now and we are strongly considering having him join cub scouts next year, but I'm a little hesitant now. What's the logic behind having parents there at all the meetings and so involved? My impression of scouting (again, from 12 years of Girl Scouts, and with no knowledge of BSA at all...) is that one if it's major benefits is to instill independence and confidence. I'd rather my son get a lot less done, but be doing it on his own and forming relationships with other boys.
So what am I missing? What's the benefit of having a parent there the whole time for the younger boys?

I had to chuckle at this. No one warned me!

My only experience was the 2 years I did brownies and girl scouts as a kid. (I didn't like it, but that is another story)

I did know mom's in the area that were involved with Daisy's. Their meetings were after school in the cafeteria. 20+ girls and 2 leaders and no parents in sight.

Cub scouts parents were expected to stay at both den and pack meetings. Both were held fairly late for my son at the time. (until 9:30 at night)
Den meetings were at someone's home.

I was glad when my son wanted to quit. I had no interest in being a cub scout!

I can see where it may interest some, but it was not for me at all! If I would have looked into it a bit more, I never would have signed up.

 

[DJinPA]

Keep in mind that the Den Leaders are volunteers and the larger the group is the more help they need. They are limited in their ability to discipline (and frankly, don't want to be in that position). Often kids with various learning disabilities or special needs are put into the scout program without the den leader having any knowledge of their needs, nor any training in a specific area. It is difficult to make only that one parent attend unless they volunteer, so they may ask all parents to attend. Also, they need to have two adults in all situations and take that very seriously. So, if a child is acting inappropriately (language, hitting), they need at least two extra parents there if a child has to be removed from the room. Again, the den leaders are volunteers taking a lot of time to plan for den and pack meetings and then teach the kids and make progress with kids who are on many different levels (and often have been in school all day, so they want to keep it fun!). I agree with others, that if you don't like this pack, find another . . . but if you stay, please appreciate the volunteers!

 

[DopeyDame]

I had to chuckle at this. No one warned me!

My only experience was the 2 years I did brownies and girl scouts as a kid. (I didn't like it, but that is another story)

I did know mom's in the area that were involved with Daisy's. Their meetings were after school in the cafeteria. 20+ girls and 2 leaders and no parents in sight.

Cub scouts parents were expected to stay at both den and pack meetings. Both were held fairly late for my son at the time. (until 9:30 at night)
Den meetings were at someone's home.

I was glad when my son wanted to quit. I had no interest in being a cub scout!

I can see where it may interest some, but it was not for me at all! If I would have looked into it a bit more, I never would have signed up.

Meetings until 9:30 at night for the cub scouts?? My kids have been sound asleep for an hour by then!
This thread is really helpful. It's given me a lot of questions to ask for next year before we make any decisions.

 

[shoney]

Meetings until 9:30 at night for the cub scouts?? My kids have been sound asleep for an hour by then!
This thread is really helpful. It's given me a lot of questions to ask for next year before we make any decisions.

We actually stopped going to the pack meetings because they were just too late. They started at 8pm and ran until 9:30 pm. tons of over tired boys was not pleasant. Even with parents there, it wasn't very organized.

the den meetings were earlier, around 7pm to 8 or 8:30, but that was still passed his bedtime at the time!

 

[Jedana]

We actually stopped going to the pack meetings because they were just too late. They started at 8pm and ran until 9:30 pm. tons of over tired boys was not pleasant. Even with parents there, it wasn't very organized.

the den meetings were earlier, around 7pm to 8 or 8:30, but that was still passed his bedtime at the time!

DS's den meetings ran 7pm-8pm, and the pack meetings ran 7-8:30. The pack meetings, though, usually included some sort of event---one month, it was the 501st Squadron, and they came in with the CM in space cuffs; another month we had a trapper come up, with taxidermied animals, and he talked about nature, or the Coast Guard, Police or Fire departments with some of their big "toys" (once it was a CG helicopter!)... (just to give you an idea of the types of things we had going on).

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

We have a son who just joined scouts and I am wondering if this is typical. Parents are required to attend all den and pack meetings with their son. The boys have their parent(s) sitting beside them, ready to help at a moments notice if their boy needs help with whatever the project is for the week.

My son is in a Bear den, but this happens in all dens regardless of age.

Is this the way your scouts does meetings?

The only experience I have with scouts was girls scouts back in the 80's. Meetings were never done with parents. We even went camping without our parents, just with the troop leader and her assistant.

How does your pack/den do meetings?

I don't know how the boy scout troops do it here because I don't have sons, but my girls were in girl scouts. The parents only stayed at the meeting if they were background checked by the girl scout council otherwise they had to leave.

 

[jodifla]

Wow - this is all really interesting. My only experience is with Girl Scouts, which as others have said is definitely not normal for parents to stay with the girls during meetings, even at the Daisy and Brownie level.
My son is in K now and we are strongly considering having him join cub scouts next year, but I'm a little hesitant now. What's the logic behind having parents there at all the meetings and so involved? My impression of scouting (again, from 12 years of Girl Scouts, and with no knowledge of BSA at all...) is that one if it's major benefits is to instill independence and confidence. I'd rather my son get a lot less done, but be doing it on his own and forming relationships with other boys.
So what am I missing? What's the benefit of having a parent there the whole time for the younger boys?

A group of 1st grade boys typically operates totally differently than a group of 1st grade girls, to be blunt. Then you add in the whole pack of 40 or 50 so elementary age boys in one room, and it can be pandemonium. It really took more adults to keep the group focused and on task. And some of the tasks are working with tools, which you definitely want adults on hand for.

Unlike so many other activities, Scouts really focuses on the art of being a boy and then a man. So many useful skills that aren't found in other groups.

Support fades as the boys grow up. My son joined as a Bear (third grade), and to see the amount of growth in that den as they all got their Arrows of Light and crossed over to Boy Scouts was astounding. But it's a process that takes time and guidance.

Another huge difference in Boy Scouts I found is that by the time they move from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts in 5th grade, the Boy Scout troops are entirely run by the boys, not the adult leaders. That was quite different than the Girl Scout troops I was involved with.

And I'll echo what a PP said, that volunteers are what's needed to make Scouts run. You can't just drop your child and go and have your child get the extensive experience a Scout troop can offer. It takes a great deal of parent power to do the programming, handle the awards, research trips, etc.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

Keep in mind that the Den Leaders are volunteers and the larger the group is the more help they need. They are limited in their ability to discipline (and frankly, don't want to be in that position). Often kids with various learning disabilities or special needs are put into the scout program without the den leader having any knowledge of their needs, nor any training in a specific area. It is difficult to make only that one parent attend unless they volunteer, so they may ask all parents to attend. Also, they need to have two adults in all situations and take that very seriously. So, if a child is acting inappropriately (language, hitting), they need at least two extra parents there if a child has to be removed from the room. Again, the den leaders are volunteers taking a lot of time to plan for den and pack meetings and then teach the kids and make progress with kids who are on many different levels (and often have been in school all day, so they want to keep it fun!). I agree with others, that if you don't like this pack, find another . . . but if you stay, please appreciate the volunteers!

Thank you for pointing that out! Some parents just don't get it. I was working all day and usually exhausted by our 6:30 meetings. I needed help with 9 rowdy boys! Since I was the only one willing to volunteer, I had no choice but to make parents stay. It's not allowed to only have one adult there. I'm lucky the parents in our dens never complained about it. It is sad that people won't join due to this, but it's impossible to please everyone. The volunteer has to do what works for him/her. If someone doesn't like the way things are run, then I highly recommend that person volunteer. You can then have more of a say in how things are done. Of course you can always join another pack where things are done differently.