New Cadets / Parental Involvement

[TheSkyHornet]

I don't agree showing the "high fly" jobs to recruit kids when they may have no or very little realistic chance of achieving that job. 

For the parents hesitant I would start with validating how they feel and talk about any specific concerns.

To recruit kids, perhaps not. Maybe it's immoral for a volunteer group to do that. It's discouraging to those who don't end up doing that activity, and it causes a retention problem. For the military, perhaps it isn't necessarily right to try and recruit someone to join SpecOps or be an F-15 pilot when they don't have a strong chance, but it sells. It's a balance between recruiting and retention, and it's not an easy job.

I don't like to sell those "epic" futures to potential recruits, but at the same time, when I have a 15-year-old who has a passion for flying and I can market SUPTFC as a future activity, I'm going to bring it up. I'm up front and direct when I say that it's a long time away before that possibility will likely come up, but it's out there if you work for it.

I come from a mindset of thinking "Hey, this is the job and this is what it requires. If a person can't fulfill these basic requirements, of which I have no control over, then they don't stick around." That's just the way it is. People might think that's harsh to say to a 14-year-old, but that's the way it is. You need to do PT, you need to wear the uniform, you need to promote, and if you do that, you might just have some fun and have some great opportunities. But in order to do the fun stuff, you need to do the hard stuff. If a parent can't grasp that, then they're limiting their child from participating.

My greatest concern is having a recruit who really wants to do this and a parent who says "Well, I don't know..." I've met some amazing cadets who have had both parental support and very distant relationships with their parents, but they've put in a lot of effort and did a lot of great things in CAP. But every time we talk about recruiting new people, that subject always comes up: What about "those" parents who are hesitant?

I like your point, though, about addressing those specific concerns. I don't want anyone to think we're going to indoctrinate their kids (and I'll be honest, part of being a cadet is a bit of an indoctrination into this new culture and learning process) or think that we're going to be putting them on a combat-oriented career path. But we have a military structure and this is how we run the program.

Every squadron I come across where the senior members are overbearing parents who babysit their kids, or their parents are constantly involved in making sure their kid gets tended to, I see a huge retention problem. Whenever I hear someone say "My kid was hazed," my mind immediately turns to "Ugh, shut up..." (Probably what everyone thinks when I post  ). Until now, I haven't made that stride to respond to these subjects since it hasn't really been in my lap yet, but with our new recruiting plans and new training programs, I'm trying to prepare myself for what to expect since I haven't experienced it yet, but I know it's out there.

[Spam]

Spam, I guess that's better than me calling my Cadet/ sons "Thing One" and "Thing Two"

My problem with a couple of parents was the absolute dismay and horror when I insisted that Cadet Mommy's Precious Snowflake could not call Senior Members by their first name, and had to learn custom and courtesies. Then, I had the audacity to tell Cadet Snowflake "no".

Has anyone experienced "Mommy's Precious Snowflake"? If so what did you do? I see it is usually the parent's issues, not the Cadet's..

Yes. Unfortunately, she was the DCC's kid. Went to Spaatz at 15, didn't learn a thing about anything. Mommy ended up filing a lawsuit against our 80 year old commander for sexual harassment, and you can imagine how that wound up. She=no longer a member, he=revered commander emeritus.

Basically, she had no checks against her behaviour, the kid. Anytime anyone (me) said anything about her they (I) were hushed up...as in "Do you really want to open this can of worms?"

Spam would like to point out that this must have been in one of Garibaldis old units, and not our current gang of thieves.

Meh
Spam

[Garibaldi]

Spam, I guess that's better than me calling my Cadet/ sons "Thing One" and "Thing Two"

My problem with a couple of parents was the absolute dismay and horror when I insisted that Cadet Mommy's Precious Snowflake could not call Senior Members by their first name, and had to learn custom and courtesies. Then, I had the audacity to tell Cadet Snowflake "no".

Has anyone experienced "Mommy's Precious Snowflake"? If so what did you do? I see it is usually the parent's issues, not the Cadet's..

Yes. Unfortunately, she was the DCC's kid. Went to Spaatz at 15, didn't learn a thing about anything. Mommy ended up filing a lawsuit against our 80 year old commander for sexual harassment, and you can imagine how that wound up. She=no longer a member, he=revered commander emeritus.

Basically, she had no checks against her behaviour, the kid. Anytime anyone (me) said anything about her they (I) were hushed up...as in "Do you really want to open this can of worms?"

Spam would like to point out that this must have been in one of Garibaldis old units, and not our current gang of thieves.

Meh
Spam

Different wing. Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. Like 2002. And I do occasionally refer to your spawn as Thing 1 and Thing 2.