Momleader 65 Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 Our pack pays for the leaders to attend training. Essentially the leaders are requested to attend, complete it and submit a photo of their training cert and we will reimburse them (had to do this after a swathe of them years ago blew it off and we couldn’t get refunds) Now we need leaders to attend Balloo and Univ of Scouting (new crop of leaders) and there is sooo much whining about it. We even include their lunch for Univ of Scouting. who has a winning idea to get the grown ups to go? Link to post Share on other sites
OaklandAndy 70 Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 I found that giving them a purpose helps. From what I've seen from other units, a leader gets trained and then what they learned remains with the card they hold and doesn't go any further. Whenever I have a leader, or trying to encourage a leader, to go to training, I have them use what they learned right away. Whether it's leading a segment with the scouts or even the adult parents. We, too, pay for our leaders but that's never going to be enough if I don't tell them how that training will benefit them, the unit, and how they are going to be using it soon after the training is completed. Another thing we do is we sign up and pay for the leaders at the meeting rather than rely on them to do it themselves. This usually eliminates excuses like "I forgot". Link to post Share on other sites
Tron 82 Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Just nag them. Every time they ask a simple question that is addressed in training point out how they would already know it if they did training. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
BetterWithCheddar 125 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 It would be nice if the district or council set up a parallel activity for scouts while their parent is being trained. Any onsite training, round table, etc. is a tough sell to my wife. Most parents either need to be working, taking care of the house, or spending time with their kids. The only reason I'm talking about Scouts online with internet friends right now is because everyone in my household is still sleeping. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
InquisitiveScouter 1656 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 (edited) On 1/27/2024 at 7:05 AM, BetterWithCheddar said: It would be nice if the district or council set up a parallel activity for scouts while their parent is being trained. Any onsite training, round table, etc. is a tough sell to my wife. Most parents either need to be working, taking care of the house, or spending time with their kids. The only reason I'm talking about Scouts online with internet friends right now is because everyone in my household is still sleeping. During our district Klondike Derby, I offered a one hour training class to adults, through five sessions during the day, while their Scouts were making the rounds to their stations. Got 21 adult students, and great feedback on offering it while they were already in attendance of another event that did not require their participation or constant supervision... (in a warm place, btw ;P) Edited January 28 by InquisitiveScouter 2 Link to post Share on other sites
BetterWithCheddar 125 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 3 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said: During our district Klondike Derby, I offered a one hour training class to adults, through five sessions during the day, while their Scouts were making the rounds to their stations. Got 21 adult students, and great feedback on offering it while they were already in attendance of another event that did not require their participation or constant supervision... (in a warm place, btw ;P) That is the way. 🙂 Below are two hypothetical conversations between my wife and I: Conversation #1: BwC: I need to go to camp on Saturday for some adult leader training. Mrs. BwC: I don't think so. Conversation #2: BwC: I need to go to camp on Saturday for some adult leader training, but they have some outdoor activities planned for the boy. Mrs. BwC: OK, when should I expect you home? 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites
AwakeEnergyScouter 247 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 That first conversation is why I haven't made it to any in-person training. It's not that I don't see the value, it's that my non-scout partner doesn't, at least not compared to having to run the household all by themselves. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
SiouxRanger 491 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 On 12/27/2023 at 1:47 PM, Momleader said: who has a winning idea to get the grown ups to go? Who cares? Go to the local bait shop, get a dozen nightcrawlers, take them to "training." Make the night crawlers sit through the entire training program. CAUTION: open the lid so they can hear. (No bathroom breaks.) Present them to the untrained adults at the next troop meeting(s) advising the untrained adults present that their contribution to the education of their children is equivalent to that of the "trained" nightcrawlers. There is an anecdote of President Lincoln, in the presence of some Senator, was "blacking (polishing his boots.) The Senator, watching Lincoln polishing his own boots, remarked, "President Lincoln, you polish your own boots?" (Thinking, how demeaning for the President of the United States to have to polish his own boots. (Has he not a servant?)) Lincoln replied, "Yes, Senator, I polish my own boots. Whose boots do you polish?" Translation: If parent does not parent their own child, someone else will do it-and just who will that be? (And why would a responsible parent leave such an important task to CHANCE?) Ask parents if they have the wits of a nightcrawler…and if not, do they have any nightcrawlers they'd recommend to take over care of their children… Leadership is not about shaming parents regarding their responsibilities. But about drawing parents' attention to the good they can do to raise, educate, their children. Somewhere, in my personal notes, as my last child attained age and moved out, I wrote, "My time of pouring me into you is over." And it has been so. The window for a parent to inculcate the parent's knowledge, ethics, principles, ethos, traditions, family history, etc…, ends much more quickly than one can imagine. On 12/27/2023 at 1:47 PM, Momleader said: Our pack pays for the leaders to attend training. I've never let my unit pay for anything relating to my participation as an adult. I am there for my children and as an adult leader for all the other Scouts. It is my contribution for my community. I purchased top quality gear for our Philmont Treks all at my expense, and I own it, and most importantly, I have custody of it-I wanted to KNOW the status of that gear at all times. A gear failure on the trail is a huge issue. Even at that, $400 total, our crews had no gear issues. There is this concept, some make it their religion, Be Prepared. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
curious_scouter 134 Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 My take on how to get adults to do things hinges on viewing life through the lens of three virtual bank balances: Time, Money, and Social currencies. You may have to draw down the balance of all three accounts for certain activities. Everyone has different balances in these accounts. Some may have more Money but less Time, enabling them to financially support others. Those with more Time but less Money invest their time to help without incurring costs. Social currency is spent when actions create hardships for those close to you. Balances in these accounts can only be changed or restored through some form of investment or sacrifice. To maximize adult participation, minimizing spend from all three accounts is crucial. Activities aligned with existing commitments, avoiding charges, and minimizing additional time investment create a winning combination. Adding to the balance through good planning would be a MAJOR victory, although I'm pressed to give a good example of how. Maybe having training at a destination non-scouting members of a family would enjoy spending the day/weekend? The cost from these accounts is personal and highly variable. You can't assume others can shoulder the same burden from any given account as you can. And even if they could, we should always be "thrifty" anyway and try to minimize the spend. For example, an activity falling on Mother's Day could be a major Social Currency withdrawal for some families, valuing togetherness on that day. Meanwhile, others might see it as a day of rest, making an empty house a net deposit in the Social Currency account. Understanding these dynamics helps tailor activities for broader participation. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
rallybug 14 Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 We have a similar/different balance to go through in our family. Me = Assistant Cubmaster and now an ASM/Trail to First Class role Wife = Wolf DL and Treasurer Eldest son = just crossed over to Troop Youngest son = current Wolf We have to balance taking the boys on two different nights, I've had to do extra training online for ASM which hasn't been an issue (slow work day = online training complete 😄), I need to do IOLS which has just been canceled for May in our Council (enext one is October - brrrr), wife wants to do BALOO but all but one of those has been canceled and not sure if she can go to the last remaining one yet. I'm doing RSO training coming up, I will be going on the Troop camps, we'll be going on the family camp... I can foresee that when our youngest crosses over in three years time, my wife will change registration to the Troop and probably take up a committee role there. Add in the other activities (homework, karate for one kid, coding for another, plus family gatherings etc) along with both of us working, we have to do a lot of balancing. Link to post Share on other sites
DannyG 69 Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 You can lead them to training, but you can't make them take it. We are lucky to get leaders YPT and Position Trained... University of Scouting is even harder to sell. It's the ones looking for square knot awards who go. BALOO is required for a Cub Scout outdoor event (ie. camping). If you don't have a BALOO trained leader, your Pack can't go camping. Our Pack camping trips are always a hit. So that's how we got adults to go. Our district got smart by holding BALOO/IOLS at spring/fall camporees. So adults are already there assisting the campout. Might as well send them to training. On 3/7/2024 at 1:08 PM, rallybug said: I need to do IOLS which has just been canceled for May in our Council (enext one is October - brrrr), wife wants to do BALOO but all but one of those has been canceled and not sure if she can go to the last remaining one yet. I'm doing RSO training coming up, I will be going on the Troop camps, we'll be going on the family camp... You don't have to do BALOO/IOLS in your own council/district. So if it isn't available locally, look around. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
OaklandAndy 70 Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 On 3/7/2024 at 1:08 PM, rallybug said: I need to do IOLS which has just been canceled for May in our Council (enext one is October - brrrr), wife wants to do BALOO but all but one of those has been canceled and not sure if she can go to the last remaining one yet. Not sure where your location is, but Daniel Boone Council is holding both IOLS and BALOO, same weekend, April 12-13/14, at Camp Daniel Boone. https://www.danielboonecouncil.org/BALOOspr24 https://www.danielboonecouncil.org/IOLSspr2024 Link to post Share on other sites
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