She should now stand by

[SamSpade]

As soon as the parent found out that they would have to give some level of effort and be involved in their kids activity, they turned in to vapor.

Yes and no. There's an element of truth to that in ANYTHING kids get into, especially youth sports - and THAT, parents are famous for not helping out. And I'm talking EVEN SHOWING UP TO WATCH. Every parent I know has seen this - soccer practice, kids get dropped off. Parents don't help coach. Swim practice - parents drop them off and pick them up. Me, I'm just too damned nosey and I think the coaches wish I would just let them do what they do.

When my son was in Cubs - all of the parents were there for the entire den meeting, sometimes both parents. Five years, they were always there. Boy Scouts, not as much but partly for another reason - the number one point made to us was that BOY SCOUTS was boy LED. There's a lot of parent buy in and need for support - and it takes some great adult leadership to teach the boys how to run their meetings, plan their outings and campouts. It was a real struggle for me to join my son in Boy Scout camping and see him have a hard time with putting up a tent - and the other parents cautioned me - "what do we tell Scouts who need help? --- Ask a Scout". I had to sit there and watch him go to other boys for help.

And we've always had LOTS of parents helping out - and some do enormous amounts of work. Yes, their job would be so much easier if more were involved. I'd say the biggest need the Scouts have in adult leadership is the breadth of coverage for merit badge counselors. There's just so many badges for which, there's no counselors. I'm a counselor for a few things, but if a kid wants to earn say, Farm Mechanics - who's going to do that?

 

[SamSpade]

What you aren't a babysitting service ? I saw that more than once as a Scout leader.

Yep, that happens. Usually those Scouts make it about a year. If that.

 

[SamSpade]

I've seen it too. My thought is that the groups existed to promote social interaction with like-minded people. Today, that's all done with social media. No need to dedicate hours of personal time, no need to buy expensive uniforms. A few minutes here and there on your phone keeps you in touch.

There's that. But it's been declining since before that. And while the discussion here keeps returning to Scouts and such - I've seen this across the board especially in adult groups. People just aren't doing it anymore. And I can see the societal damage it's causing, but I can't guess why people aren't choosing to get involved.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Yep, that happens. Usually those Scouts make it about a year. If that.

As a kid I wanted to join scouts so badly. My parents told me no, didn't really know why till years later. It was due to the parental involvement, my dad worked shift work, two weeks morning, two weeks afternoon, and occasionally night shift, he also worked OT to give my mom and me a better life. I was the only boy on my street my age, I did play baseball, but so did the girls and my dad took turns with the neighbor taking us to practice and umpiring games, nobody on the street to share the scouting duties with.

 

[SamSpade]

As a kid I wanted to join scouts so badly. My parents told me no, didn't really know why till years later. It was due to the parental involvement, my dad worked shift work, two weeks morning, two weeks afternoon, and occasionally night shift, he also worked OT to give my mom and me a better life. I was the only boy on my street my age, I did play baseball, but so did the girls and my dad took turns with the neighbor taking us to practice and umpiring games, nobody on the street to share the scouting duties with.

I was in Scouts growing up - but there were NO OTHER PARENTS involved other than the Scoutmaster, who only had a small child and oddly - zero skill or ability in anything you'd consider for a Scoutmaster, No athletic ability, no outdoor skills. He didn't know anything and he was the only one.

He did manage to rope the mayor for MB Counselor for Citizenship in the Community - with whom I met for that badge.

I quit after First Class. Advancement was coming too easily, and I got the impression he was just rubber stamping everything. I kept getting pleas of "You'll be the first Eagle Scout from (my town name)" and my answer was, if all I have to do is phone it in, it doesn't mean anything. It just came too easy. Never went to Scout Camp, I don't remember any overnight camping. Perhaps one or two hikes.

My Dad was busy running the Cub Scout pack with my brother, and prior to that, Indian Guides. He was my coach on every athletic endeavor I tried. As bad as I was, I got the frequent remark that I was only on the team because of my Dad, when the truth was more, my Dad was there because of ME. As a ball player, he was better than average, but he was a tennis star in high school.