BellaOnline Forums Family Girl Scouts vent: disappointing experience as Troop Leader

I am a new user here, but would like to share my frustration with my Brownie Troop Leader experience. I attended a meeting announced on a flyer sent home in my third grader's folder, offering a Q&A about scouting and opportunities to join. At the meeting the recruiter shared that she only just had begun this job and had never been a Girl Scout herself. She then told us that there was a need for volunteers to lead the Troops if we were to have our daughters in GSA. I loved my time as a Brownie and Girl Scout and was sad to think that I had gotten my daughter's hopes up for nothing, so I volunteered even though I work full time and have a special needs child that demands alot of extra time. I have never regretted a decision more. I have received no support, get a different answer each time I contact the Council Office and my emails by and large go unanswered. I had a five hour 'training' session in which I learned more about liability and waivers than leading a Brownie Troop. To top it off we received no cookie training and have been overwhelmed trying to sort things out on our own, leaving the girls without our attention on their Quest, where IMO, it belongs. I have never been so fed up with anything and am intears over both the rude treatment from Council and the poor experience I am sure the girls are having. I then found out there is already a Brownie Troop in place at my daughter's school in which she might have been placed. Has anyone else had such a tough time getting involved in scouting? I now understand why Girl Scouting is 'endangered' as the recruiter put it........

I wanted to add, after rereading my post, that I really wanted to share with my daughter and the other girls the wonderful experiences I had. I intend to keep working hard to make it all gel, but wish so much that I didn't feel 'cut loose and flying blind'.

First, I would like to thank you for being a leader. It can be a difficult and thankless but rewarding job. Second, dealing with councils can be extremely frustrating. They do seem to concentrate on the rules, liabilities, etc. The problem with many councils is that there have been staff reductions, less people doing more work, and frequent changes in staff. So here are some tips to help you. 1. Get some help. Get your co-leader(s) to help you out with both planning and running the meetings. Is she crafty? She can plan crafts. Is she organized and detail oriented? She can keep the finances/paperwork, with your oversight. Find her strengths and use them. 2. Get some help part 2. Talk to your neighborhood/service unit head and see if there are some older scouts that can help out at meetings. Many of the older girls need to help out younger troops to earn badges. They can teach girls the promise and law, camp songs, play games, help with Try-its, etc. 3. Get some help part 3. Attend your neighborhood/service unit's monthly leader meetings. You will get information but more importantly you will meet other leaders. Introduce yourself and get to know the more experienced leaders. Ask if they would be willing to answer your questions. Get their email and phone numbers. They are a valuable resource and know how to navigate the sometimes turbulent waters of scouting. 4. Take a breath. The girls are probably not having a bad experience and you are being overly critical of yourself. If you are looking back at what you did and comparing, you are not being fair to yourself. We tend to make the past better than it actually was. If you are having fun, the girls will too. 5. Schedule the meetings to work for you. Do you meet weekly? Every other week? once a month? It might be less stressful to meet less often but for longer periods of time. 6. Google is your friend. Seriously, there is a load of info about scouting on the web. Forums like this can also help even of just to vent. Hang in there! It will all work out!

I'm sorry you are having such a hard time. I've been a leader for many years and I've noticed the trainings now are not what new leaders need or want. I reccommend you find an experienced leader in your area to be your mentor. Do not rely on the Council personnel. IMO they usually have no actual Girl Scout experience and they do not stay on the job long enough to aquire a real understanding of what troops do. Go with your instinct and you will do great. And remember to ask the girls for their opinions. It is their troop. Hang in there.

I am so sorry you are having this experience. This is the same way I began in Girl Scouts 9 years ago...attending a recruitment to get my daughter in Girl Scouts. The important thing is to remember why you want to do this: for the girls! Be sure to share with them as thier leader the fun you had in Girl Scouts and plan lots of fun for them. They will love you for that.

I hate that you have a bad council. Where are you? Try to find a veteran leader than can give you tips, or just email me. I have been a leader for 9 years. My daughter started as a daisy and is now a cadette so I have done many things over the years. Now I am the troop leader and I am a council trainer so I could probably answer any question you have unless it is council specific. You may need a local leader to help you also.

Hang in there. It will get better.

I remember my days as a Brownie leader. I was new and signed on to be a leader. Although there was no formal training that I recall, the more experienced leaders helped guide us a lot. Then there were some workshops as well. If you do not have help and good plans, it can be an overwhelming experience. I was not working at the time and could give it a lot of time. (There were two co-leaders in this with me at the time.)

I hope you will be able to make this work. Scouting can be so much fun.

I was a Girl Scout Leader here in Florida. I loved it, but I had the same experience - no one wanted to be a co-leader, so I was on my own.

While I loved doing things with the girls (and a couple of parents helpd out), I was almost overlooked by the whole council. I stopped when my year was up and did not re-sign up.

This is all very interesting. I live in a very rural community and my daughter is starting kindergarten next year. I was talking to a co-worker who is very involved in Girl Scouts, but her daughter just got her gold award. I was asking about daisys, but with only about 10 girls per grade, there has been talk about no one stepping up to be leaders. I gave them my number because Girl Scouts was such an important part of my childhood. With this discussion, I am at least prepared for some of the difficulties I may run into if I am a leader. Thank you! And remember why you are doing it, you're doing it for the girls, I'm sure.

First of all, I would like to say that I am sorry that your experience was not a good one. Our Service Unit is somewhat helpful, but they do not listen to the needs of the leaders. IMHO. Most leaders want to interact with other leaders of their level and share ideas. Since this does not happen very often, I frequently just pick up my mail at the meeting and go home. I am in my thrid year of being a Girl Scout leader-two Daisy and this year Brownie. I have an advantage that I am a teacher by rade and have been for twenty-four years. The lack of support I received just motivated me to put on my teacher hat and treat each meeting like a classroom setting. I do my own thing. I do not sell cookies, so that headache is gone. You do not have to sell them. I have moms who volunteer and a great co-leader. I am not responding to self-promote. But your experience, and my own, is the reason I started my Girl Scout Leader blog. Since I do not know how to do UBB html, I cannot give you my blog link. HOwever, I write at Infobarrel and have the dozens of Girl Scout article there, as well as links to my blog. Hope this helps!

It can be frustrating. I'm new to Girl Scouts (Kindergarten Daisy troop) and have spend a lot of time asking (again and again) for things from my service unit. For example I *still* haven't been able to get the letter I need to open our troop bank account. But, frustrations aside, I think I'm helping to make a difference in my daughters life and a difference in the lives of the other girls in our troop. For that I am willing to put up with my frustrations. I also try to remember that you have to go a ways up before you hit paid staff. Being a full time parent, a full time worker to pay the bills, a home owner, school volunteer, and a leader for Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts I can certainly appreciate when other folks hit a limit of how many hours they can squeeze out. I hope you are able to stick it out. It is so worth it for the girls. I've been involved with Cub Scouts for longer (since my son is older) and it is truly amazing and rewarding to have watched our group of boys grow from little kids to boys taking more and more responsibility for themselves. The opportunity to help my daughter and our group of girls do the same is a gift that I wouldn't trade for anything. -Dan