Eagle732 27 Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 I think loosing Scouts on occasion is normal, families have a lot going on, priorities change, and sometime they just loose interest. If you see a trend or a group leaving or considering leaving then you might have an internal problem that needs to be addressed. Other than that, just do the best you can for the ones who stay. Don't take it personally. Link to post Share on other sites
SeattlePioneer 144 Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Hello jamist, Not being a big Pinewood Derby fan, I take somewhat the opposite approach you do. I make a PWD car each year that I use when I do recruiting in schools and when promoting PWD in packs. But my PWD car has not been a woodworking project. I just use the basic block of wood. I paint it, then look through some Cub Scout literature and use decorative cutouts that I glue on as decals. Stick the wheels on and you are done! Some parents (quite a few, probably) just aren't going to be up to a wood wroking project. What I promote is the simplest possible way to do a PWD car. And it still looks pretty good! Link to post Share on other sites
Austinole 43 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I know exactly how you feel. I recently lost one cub and it's not easy to take. I "kinda" have lost several now that baseball season has started up. Like LisaBob says, "You can't reorder other people's priorities for them." Link to post Share on other sites
Philzer 11 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I feel you on this one jamist, I use to take it personal as well when losing scouts. Like most on here, that have spoken from experience, it isn't the scout's lake of interest the majority of the the time. Its the parents lack of it, some have issues as stated that prevent them from attending, others just don't want to invest the time to the program for their child. I use to get excited with the recruitement of new scouts but as the years pass not as much. We get 15 new kids on recruitment night, maybe 10 will join but by years end lucky if 2-3 stay. Like most who try to compete with sports, I learn to just let the child and the parents know we'll be here once their season is over. Some return others don't, it's hard not to take it personal, cause it is only human nature. Just keep plugging along is the best thing I can suggest. Good luck.... Link to post Share on other sites
Snow_White 10 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 To give you a bit of perspective... My son's den recently "graduated" out of the pack. All 10 Webelos in the den earned the Arrow of Light, with 8 of them crossing over (4 each to 2 different troops). Five years ago, he started in a Tiger den of 10. Of the 10 who got Arrow of Light, only 4 were original members of that Tiger den. It was always sad to see someone leave the den, and there were various reasons - moving, sports, lack of interest. But somehow, new boys kept coming along. During the 5 years, the den size varied from a low of 9 to a high of 13. Unless you have reason to think that there is a problem in the pack that is driving people away (and it doesn't sound that way from what you have posted), continue to focus on providing the best program you can for the boys that want to be there. And let them get the word out to their friends! Link to post Share on other sites
AnnLaurelB 10 Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 As a new CM, this is encouraging to me. Not that we lose kids, but that if we know in our hearts that we are providing the best quality program that we can provide, then we have done our job. I was my son's Tiger leader, and there were only 3 of them. One kid quit halfway through because he comes from a tag-team each-week-switch dual-household. Somehow between the two parents, they could never remember from week to week that Cub Scouts was on Monday night, EVERY week. It wasn't us. It was their life situation. But man! I hated that he dropped out! The other kid made it through Tigers because his grandma brought him when the mom flaked. This year, she told her daughter, "No. You need to do this with him." But the mom wouldn't so we lost him. Again, not our fault. I'm running this thing the way I would run activities on a cruise ship (I often say I'm the TourGuide/CruiseDirector/RingMaster). You can show up and have fun, but if you don't that's okay, too. We can't force people to participate. Link to post Share on other sites
jamist649 10 Posted April 8, 2011 Author Share Posted April 8, 2011 He came back. I can't beleive it, but he came back. Mom said he just "didn't want to do" PWD...Strange, but OK. He came to the last meeting all decked out in uniform and I felt the urge to pick him up, toss him in the air and holler. I REALLY hate losing Scouts...in case you didn't catch that. LOL Link to post Share on other sites
Snow_White 10 Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Glad to hear it. Thanks for reporting back to us. (I'm always kind of disappointed when situations get brought for discussion(and speculation), and then you don't get an update on the outcome from the OP.) Link to post Share on other sites
kari_cardi 10 Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Good for you! Link to post Share on other sites
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