What to do with a parent who is in cub scouts to cause problems???

Question

As the Committee Chair person for our cub scout pack, I am truely stumped on what to do. We have a tiger cub parent who seems to be in scouts just to cause problems. She complains about everything we do. Her son has made it to 3 out of 19 functions ( Pack & Den). She REFUSES to have her son participate in any fundraisers or Community Service Projects. Her son does not wear his uniform for anything that we do. She has been verbally abusive to den leaders, Cub Master and Committee Members...including myself. I do not know what to do anout this parent. I have been told to just "ignore" her and hopefully she will not bother with us at all. However I believe it is time to take these issues to our local BSA office. Does anyone have any ideas on what to do?

Answer 1

You need to get in touch with someone at your local BSA office and talk to them about the situation and they will tell you how to handle this parent.

Answer 2

This may sound harsh but I would simply exclude her from the pack. Her son will suffer but if as you say he has only been to three out of 19 events then I don't think it is fair on all the other boys and parents to have to put up with a troublemaker.

Just ignoring her is weak. You must confront her and at least threaten exclusion before anything else.

Answer 3

Definitely take the circumstances of verbal abuse to your local BSA office. Have dates that this has happened, who was involved/witnessed such, and details of exactly what was said. Very important that you have these *exact* details when you go to the BSA office to report verbal abuse.

However, her son shouldn't be punished for her behavior. It's probably not his fault that he has made it to just 3 of 19 functions and that he doesn't wear his uniform. This isn't an issue you should bring up to BSA as a complaint but, rather, as a concern -- you want him there more often, right? Could another parent volunteer to pick up this child for events?

Do not engage this woman otherwise. For anything she says, the calm response is "I'm sorry you feel that way. I hope you will put that complaint in writing and let the local BSA office know your concerns. Here is the address." If there are children around, you can add, "Let's keep the kids as our priority and not ruin their day/evening." Keep repeating these statements, again and again, in a calm manner. Stay calm. Don't take her bait. She's *dieing* for you to.

And consider coming up with something for her to do. Giving complainers responsibilities often shuts them up.