CNN did a story on the shortage of leaders:
The problem exists mainly in areas with a fast-growing demand to join Girl Scouts and where volunteers are difficult to find, said Girls Scouts spokeswoman Ellen Christie in New York. Councils in sparsely populated areas and in large urban centers like greater New York and Los Angeles have girls on wait lists, Christie said.
About two years ago, one of the Calblog twins joined Girl Scouts. I was and still am very impressed with Girl Scouts, so this year the other twin joined and I became a leader. I like it a lot and we will probably be in Girl Scouting for a long time. They plan to be assistant leaders when they are old enough (15 or 16) and full leaders after that.
Now I have a full volunteer plate. I generally have a half dozen time-intensive, ongoing commitments and every year, I swap some out and add new ones. So I have been through a lot of volunteer organizations. One problem that the Girl Scouts have are the training requirements. First, the orientation interview, then Topics and Traditions, then training for the level of organization (Daisy Leader, Brownie Leader) and then 3 levels of camping training. Each course takes 2-3 hours, plus FIrst Aid and certification in CPR. The camping and the level training have to be redone every couple of years. Plus there''s a minimum 3 hours of cont. training every year just in case you somehow manage to get all the rest in in your first year. Add to that the regular meetings (plus planning and coordinating with the girls' parents) and the monthly Service Unit meetings and the cookie sales.
I have a co-leader who's been around longer than I have and very helpful parents. That's the only way I manage it. I am not surprised there's a shortage of people who can spare the time even if they have the desire.
I realize the benefit to all this training (especially in the camping area), but a lot of what we learn is repeated in the manuals and I could read it all at my convenience in half the time. Do Boy Scout Leaders have this much training? Very few of the other activities, if any, have this level. I teach Sunday School and there is required training but not as much and the written materials have the required background and references to other sources if there's something you don't know.
Until they address that problem, I don't think the shortage will be solved.
Posted by Justene Adamec at January 13, 2003 05:12 PM