Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
User Journal

Journal bethanie's Journal: On my honor, I will try... 34

Journal by bethanie
I went to my first Girl Scout Leader meeting last night.

That's right, folks. I am going to be set loose on a pack of 5- and 6-year-old girls. Be afraid, be VERY afraid.

In any case, this meeting last night was supposed to be a chance for passing out introductory/beginning of the year forms for the Leaders. Well, I was the only brand-new one there, so I'm sure it was more confusing for me than anyone else. I'll rely on my instincts and razor-sharp intellect to be able to figure out what the hell I'm doing later on.

But before we got our materials, they needed to do some "quick QSP training." Not familiar with QSP? Think again. It's a magazine sale fundraiser from Reader's Digest. And that "quick" training? Took almost TWO HOURS.

Did I mention that Daisy Scouts aren't allowed to participate in these kinds of fundraising sales? Right. So that was really important for me to attend.

But seriously, I have some problems with this fundraiser. First of all, it's promoting further sales of resource-wasting paper magazines. It seems to run counter to the part of the "Girl Scout Law" that promises to "use resources wisely."

And then there's the whole part of how much money is actually being raised through all of this effort expended to sell magazines. The training coordinator very proudly and enthusiastically informed all of us that "if [we] have 10 girls sell 5 subscriptions each [our] profit will be $107.50!!"

So let me get that straight -- 50 subscriptions (ranging from $10-?? each) gets us.... about $2 per sale?

Seems to me that for the effort involved (not to mention the time & energy spent administering the program!!), we could raise a lot more money on our own, without providing a free sales force for a publishing company.

Hell, if the 9 women there at the meeting last night had spent the time making & baking stuff for a bake sale instead of figuring out which codes to fill into which boxes and what rewards are offered for how many sales, we could raise a buttload more money!

It's interesting that even on the QSP website, their best sales pitch for why you should choose their crap to sell ISN'T how much money you'll be raising. It's how easy the program is to administer! HA!! Now THAT'S a laugh!!

The whole thing smacks of a racket -- and I got the distinct impression that none of these other women had *ever* stopped to question whether this kind of sale was worth doing or not.

*sigh*

Sometimes I wish I could just go into something and NOT feel like they're doing it all wrong. Now, I recognize that I am WAY overly critical, and that I do now know everything. But I also know that I'm not completely wrong about this shit. And doesn't anyone use their fucking BRAIN? Apparently not, when it's just so easy to do what everyone else before you has done.

Oh, one other interesting bit -- the Daisies *are* allowed to collect addresses and send them into the QSP folks. We collect 7 addresses and send them in, and our council [NOT the troop, mind you -- just the council, which is like the district-level administration center] gets $2. Now, I've done a little work in direct marketing (i.e., mailing junk), and that sounds like a *very* competitive price for sales leads. To rent a mailing list of $300 names, if memory serves, cost a good $500. So yeah -- $.29/name is gettin' off CHEAP.

If a Daisy Scout collects and sends in 7 addresses, she gets a "participation patch"!! And the trainer acted like -- WOW -- this was something that was REALLY worth all that effort.

And I can see that this is another problem I'm going to have with Girl Scouting. I was kind of appalled to watch & listen to the Service Unit Coordinator (the Head Bureaucrat for our local area) brag on how easy it was to earn various pins and other insignia, as if those pins and insignia were the entire POINT of the exercise! She also brought up how important the "Friends" fundraising is (I think that's just outright donations collected) -- that "those pins we got at the conference we all attended last year? Well, we're the only ones who got those, and I can guarantee you that there was some 'Friends' money that went to pay for those!"

Sorry, but I would rather have gas money to take the girls on a field trip or art supplies or books & uniforms for them. I don't need pins to show how "involved" or "committed" I am -- the point of being in Girl Scouts is to serve the girls, not glorify oneself with the number of decorations earned.

Is this an issue with other folks involved in scouting? Is the whole point *really* just to collect patches and pins? I thought it was the *experience* that mattered the most, and the badges and whatnot were just symbolic of the actual accomplishments and achievements.

Yeah.

So I may not quite fit in with the Scouts. I don't think they're quite used to people who... think for themselves? question authority? rock the boat? I doubt I'll be making many friends. People who criticize the establishment as much as I'm accustomed to probably aren't too inclined to join up, are they?

Regardless of that, I'm in it for Kiddo -- to get her around other girls and do some fun stuff. We'll just have to see how that part works out.
This discussion was created by bethanie (675210) for no Foes, but now has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

On my honor, I will try... More

On my honor, I will try...

Comments Filter:
  • If you're up to the amount of work that would be involved, maybe you could start your own neighborhood organization that does the same types of activities, but the administration of it is far more sane.

    The hardest part would be selling it to other parents. Not entirely sure you'd get a lot of recruits going around saying "The leadership of the Girl Scouts is insane, come join me instead!"

    But you're smart - you could figure something out if you felt it was a worthwhile endeavor :-)
  • (semi-) Instant rewards is the name of the game.

    "For the experience?" Please. Takes too long. Sad, but true for the majority of kids[1] in the society we live in today. Go learn to shoot a bow/row a boat for the sake of the experience? Without the belt loop[2]? That's unpossible!!

    That said, even with all the BS, scouting is a worthwhile organization. If they have it in your area, you might want to check into the "ventures" program, too.

    [1]Cue "Kids these days" quote, with the surprise ending that it

    • Belt Loops are not 'right below a merit badge', if I am reading you correctly. They are a simple form of recognition in Cub Scouting mostly for participating in some kind of athletic activity, be it baseball, basketball, archery, etc. They do have academic belt looops as well for such things as science, chess, art, etc. At least in our Pack the majority of belt loops earned are of the athletic variety.

      BSA Venturing program is a co-ed 'high adventure' program for youth 14 and over. I don't think Bethanie
      • Belt Loops are not 'right below a merit badge', if I am reading you correctly. They are a simple form of recognition in Cub Scouting mostly for participating in some kind of athletic activity, be it baseball, basketball, archery, etc. They do have academic belt looops as well for such things as science, chess, art, etc. At least in our Pack the majority of belt loops earned are of the athletic variety.

        All I can tell you is that's *exactly* how it was explained to me by my son's den leader. For instance, m

        • Ahh your son is a Webelos I take it then? You just had me a bit confused with the term 'merit badge'. Merit badges are a Boy Scout only term, they do not exist in Cub Scouting, of which the Webelos (typically 4th & 5th grade boys) are a part of.

          So your son earning the swimming belt loop indicental to getting his aquanaut activity pin makes sense. A number of Webelos activity pins have a 'earn belt loop X' as one of their requirements.

          • Yeah (Webelows), I thought I'd said that, but on looking back at my first post, I see that I only said that Webelows didn't have such a thing in my day (Webelows was as far as I went. The plan if for my son to stick with it).

            Re: Merit Badges vs Activity Pin. I'm sure you're right, though it seems to me that they were called merit badges when I was doing cub scouting. When I think about it, though, the den leader did refer to "pins". And, what I actually GOT back in the day WERE pins.

            NOW I'm going to have d

            • Circa 1985, the Webelos (sp??) received activity pins. Not sure if they were called that, but that's what they were. Pins that went on the three braids worn on the... Right shoulder?

              Merit badges have been badges since at least the 1950's when my father was a boy scout. Continued into the 80's, when my half brother was a scout, and into the 90's, when some friends were scouts.

              • Webelos (sp??)

                Yes, it's Webelos, which is not a plural, but a name. A long time ago it stood for the combined ranks Wolf Bear Lion Scout, but now it just means "We'll Be Loyal Scouts".

                And yes, the pins went on the yellow ribbon of the badge, which was worn on the right shoulder. The Arrow of Light, if you earned it, went IIRC above your pocket; adults who earned it got a special knot to wear.

                FWIW my whole family was hugely into Scouting. I'm thinking of sending the Confessor and Gloriana to the Germa

              • Circa 1985, the Webelos (sp??) received activity pins. Not sure if they were called that, but that's what they were. Pins that went on the three braids worn on the... Right shoulder?

                I think it happened earlier than that. I picked up a few of 'em in 1982, and I don't think they were talking about them back then as something particularly new.

                The "belt loops" for Cub Scouts thing that someone else mentioned is something I don't recall (though the Boy Scouts had something similar that you needed for the

  • ...why they do the things they do in the Girl Scouts. When I was a wee lad, many moons ago, I never sold a damn thing in the Boy Scouts. BSA was 90 percent outdoor activities / 10 percent social stuff, like the boxcar races. Money? Pay your dues, bub, buy your own uniforms. None of this door to door cookie crap.

    BSA gets United Way funds in most areas...why not Girl Scouts? Why can't the Girl Scouts spend their time camping, hiking, etc as well? Boy Scouts are about building character through love and stewar
    • Um, the Boy Scouts was created to prepare young men to serve in the military. Lord Baden Powell found that the men in the British military were woefully unprepared for the rigors of military life, particularly in terms of survival skills (bear in mind the locations the british army was serving at the time...). He created the boy scouts to rectify this situation so new soldiers coming in to the army would already be proficient with these basic skills.

      It's basically a para-military organization.

      Mind you, I
      • Not sure how familiar you are with Survivor. But the contestants are allowed to bring one item. Most bring a photo of a loved one, or some crap like that. My father has said since day one that he would bring a copy of the Boy Scout handbook. I gotta agree with him. I was paging through the current version, and it's still got tons of good mountaineering and survivalist stuff in there. And the first half (crap like an 'Internet use' merit badge) can be used to wipe your arse.

      • That's true of the original British boy scouts, but the BSA's mission is totally different. Uniforms and a semi-military structure is used to instill discipline and self-confidence, but there's no expectation that it's to be used as a pre-military prep organization. Keep in mind that the BSA really took off when Teddy Roosevelt was in office, so his focus on conservation and the outdoors was a huge influence on American scouting.

    • ...why they do the things they do in the Girl Scouts. When I was a wee lad, many moons ago, I never sold a damn thing in the Boy Scouts. BSA was 90 percent outdoor activities / 10 percent social stuff, like the boxcar races. Money? Pay your dues, bub, buy your own uniforms. None of this door to door cookie crap.

      The troop I was in over in Germany (Troop 156 in Landstuhl...don't know if it's still around or not) often had a funnel-cake booth at OWC events and such. IIRC, some of the profits went to the t

    • None of this door to door cookie crap.

      Noooo! MUST HAVE COOKIES!! :-)

    • I've been getting the feeling that GS is trying to meet the needs of the lowest common denominators, including disabled girls (both mentally and physically) and socio-economically. To assume that the families of these girls can pay for uniforms and other fees intinerant in scouting, apparently, is a no-no.

      I'm all for private charity and fundraising so that more disadvantaged people can take part in the same activities at the same level as everyone else -- but I don't see the point in raising money for its
  • I think you are absolutely right to question this.

    What happens if your troop Just Raises Money, without involving QSP? Is that allowed? If so, what's the target? If working with QSP is mandatory, then there's something seriously wrong.

    I just looked around to find some corporate info on QSP. I found 'em, and looked at their "About Us" page. [qsp.com] You know what? There's nothing "About Them" on that page! The sole comment on their corporate structure is "QSP is a subsidiary of The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.,
    • I really appreciate your rant, and I agree with you. I think that teaching a skill or a craft would be time MUCH better spent & invested. Hell, even a lemonade stand would give the girls a better idea of the elements involved in running a business.

      I am going to find out who the appropriate person to contact about this is -- I am not going to argue about it with the little fish in my own local pond, as I'm certain they have NO say in the matter.

      They may not like that this is coming from one of their
      • With regards to your sig: "I make milk. What's *your* superpower?"

        When I first got involved with my finacee, her son was 4. He'd do the usual naughty 4-year-old stuff where she couldn't see him, she'd call him on it, and he'd holler "How did you know?!" Those adults around who were *not* his parents told him this was due to her "Mom superpowers" which, among other mysterious abilities, let her see through walls. Being 4, he bought it.

        Shortly before his sixth birthday, and a couple months after his sister wa
  • we did in my Boy Scout troop growing up was selling candy bars to raise money to help pay for us to go to summer camp at the local Boy Scout reservation. And it looks like now that the candy fundraiser is under the QSP banner, but when we did it, selling $1 candy bars the money was split just about 50/50 between the company and our Boy Scout Troop because of the volume we sold.

    But Boy Scouts, we were all about doing stuff. Fund raising, yeah, once a year only. The rest of the time, we better be camping so

  • Yep (Score:2)

    by turg ( 19864 ) *
    That's the way those fundraising products go, not just magazines (selling chocolate bars, whatever). I think that selling the Entertainment coupon book is one of the best deals for fundraising. With the Toronto edition (IIRC) the charity gets $6 of the $32 price (more at higher volumes) and the book pays for itself if the purchaser uses at least two of the thousands of restaurant coupons (which are good for over a year).
    • There are fundraisers that earn 50% for the seller.

      I've seen Dutch Mill Bulbs done for La Leche League -- everything is $5 (which is a little bit more expensive than Wal-Mart or Lowe's Despot, but not much) and the NFP keeps $2.50 of every sale.

      People will blow $20 on bulbs at the drop of a hat.

      ....Bethanie....
      • Heck, if you really want to get creative (and they're old enough) teach them to import their own products. Head on over to http://www.alibaba.com/ [alibaba.com] and research a number of products which are presently hot sellers (eg: mp3 players). In conjunction with an experienced and knowledgable adult, choose the best product. Then get the money to buy a quantity of them (eg: 100) and resell them at market price. So people get something they might want and the margin is pretty good.
  • I've been a Cub Scout leader for about seven years now. The only major fundraising our Pack does is the yearly popcorn sale, which provides about 95% of our yearly budget. The other funds come from a small cake auction in the spring, donations (we have a couple parents that work at Wal-Mart who are able to get $100-$250 a year for the Pack from the Wal-Mart foundation), and maybe a car wash or Pack yard sale.

    What happened to GS Cookie sales in your area? That is the only fundraiser that GS here in my par
  • As a leader, you have a lot of say in what kind of troop you have. I quit Girl Scouts after fifth grade because my troop did Jack. Shit. I think we did 2 things in the two years I spent in that troop that were outside of the church in which we met. (The troop that I wanted to be in was full, so I was stuck in this one.)

    Meanwhile, my nieces are 13 and 17, and they are still in Girl Scouts. My sister leads at least one (if not both) of their troops and they actually get to do a lot of really fun stuff.
    • I was a GS, too, from 1st grade through 5th (we moved and didn't have a troop where I moved to).

      So I have a question for you -- if it can vary so widely, and all it depends on is the leader, then why bother to be involved in Scouting as an organization? Why not just form a co-op and go it alone?

      FWIW, I believe that this area does this magazine sale, a calendar sale, AND cookies. I have no idea why there's so much effort spent raising money -- but I'm going to ask.

      I have no qualms about refusing to take
      • Because there are some things that make it worthwhile to be a part of a larger organization. The camps, for one. I went to a GS horsebacking riding camp for two summers in elementary school and absolutely loved it.

        Also, the badges are fun. It's nice to have an organized plan for learning a certain set of skills, and, while I'm sure you could do it on your own, I think the GS badge system does it pretty well. (At least the ones where you have to complete a certain set of tasks. They have since added a l
        • From what I understand, non-GSs can attend those camps, as well. For a fee, of course.

          And I agree -- the *earning* of the badges is what I remember GS being all about. I dug up my old handbook, and it's full of GREAT ideas of activities to get girls invovled & educated about how the world & their communities work.

          Actually, my first thought was that they'd make GREAT homeschooling curricula. :-)

          As far as the cookies go, yes, they are wonderful. But it's been 3 years since I managed to hunt down
      • So I have a question for you -- if it can vary so widely, and all it depends on is the leader, then why bother to be involved in Scouting as an organization? Why not just form a co-op and go it alone?

        To avoid the personal liability you might incur if a child is involved in an accident, for one thing. In our BSA council all boys (and registered adult leaders) are covered under a council insurance policy if someone is hurt during a scout outing (campout, day trip, etc.) Cost is $1 per year per scout/adult.

  • Dunno (Score:2)

    by ryanr ( 30917 ) *
    I got kicked out of Cubs for eating a brownie.

    But seriously, yeah, that particular fundraiser sounds like a waste of effort. As a parent, I'd generally be happy to donate $100 to keep my kid from doing door-to-door stuff, that sucks.

    My church's scout troop has an annual spaghetti dinner & cake auction fundraiser, and that takes care of most of their budget for their year. They are also subsidized by the church. And private donations. Our troop is pretty well supported, I guess.

    But yeah, for $100, th
    • Kudos to that! Fundraising has become a business in itself and the margins, frankly, suck. Bethanie, you are one smart Girl Scout Cookie yourself... make a bake sale; have a pancake breakfast... show them how much better they can do! ~CL
  • then again my parents never noticed me unless i was in trouble ;) and we moved all the time cause dad wouldn't work at a major coproration or for the government, he would only work at small banks and S&ls (bad call with the S&Ls)

    oh well, like i say my parents could done a lot better job raising me even if i was the 4th child...

    by the time they realized all i did was sit and watch tv, i didn't care to run around and do things outdoors anymore, and was too out of shape to find anything active enjoyabl

Slashdot Top Deals

We all live in a state of ambitious poverty. -- Decimus Junius Juvenalis

Close