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Tuned out parents


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I am needing advice for a friend who is a leader in a different pack. Her cubs parents attend the den meetings but are so busy visiting one another or texting that they are a distraction to the boys, and are of no help keeping the boys on task. The parents have been told what is expected of them (at the first of the year). They were asked to be attentive for their last meeting while the boys earned their whittling chip. This den leader has not been able to get through to the parents. The advice I am finding is all for parent involvement at the pack level. I am looking for advice to share that is geared more at the den level.

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I have had this issue. I hand them the book and volun-tell them to do a section of the achievement in front of the den :-) . You need to prep something but it goes like: "Bob, please tell the boys about honesty. Here is the book for the character connection. Thanks!" They basically can't say no and they do it without complaining. I think their boys like it too.

 

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Have specific tasks for the parents to do at the meeting. First make sure whatever your activity has the Cubs hands on doing the activity. Then get the parents involved: " John, could you give out the X, parents make sure your scout is doing Y."

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How is a parent texting distracting to the scouts? I could see being annoyed that the parents are not paying attention but not distracting. If the parents are talking to each other and it truely is distracting then you stop the meeting until they shut up.

 

If the issue is really have scouts that do not stay on task and their parents don't seem to care. You need to determine is it really all of the scouts and all of the parents?

 

It seems like most dens has one or 2 scouts that wants to be the center of attention. It can be challenging to get through the agenda. I have seen this come across as 3 different parent styles: boys will be boys, parent wanting th den leader to be the one correcting the kid (they want the kid to here it from someone else), parent actively correcting the kid. If it is the first 2 the den leader needs to take charge but first they should look at how they run the meetings.

 

Things to consider:

- Are the tasks in the meeting too long to keep an average boy interested for that time period

- Do you have you meetings on school days? Do the meetings end up being a continuation of school work? Are they inside?

- Set expectation every meeting. This isn't just behavior expectation but tell them what you are going to cover. Requirement A, game, Requirement B.

- Do the den leader think that the scout is going to find the meetings interesting?

 

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What age are we talking here, Tigers (where parents are required to attend) or older? And what is the meeting area, is there a separate parent "waiting room" that they could use, or is everyone pretty much clumped together?

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What age are we talking here' date=' Tigers (where parents are required to attend) or older? And what is the meeting area, is there a separate parent "waiting room" that they could use, or is everyone pretty much clumped together?[/quote']

 

The OP mentions whittling chip, which I beleive is now earned as a Bear or laterr. (up until a few years ago you could earn it as a wolf)

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As a Tiger Cub Den Leader, I make it a point that most den activities NEED the participation of the Adult Partner for the boy to complete the activity. It's rare that we even get chairs out for people to sit in --- both the boys and parents are pretty much constantly engaged in den activities and there isn't time for sitting around or chatting.

 

One of the reasons I do the Tiger program is to get boys and parents in the habit of behaving in the Cub Scout way. So that tends to carry on as boys and parents go on to Wolf, Bear and Webelos.

 

 

 

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