DD wants to do different interest badges at Brownies, but can’t AIBU?

[TheLoveOfBrownies]

DD is 7, started Brownies in September and recently done her promise.

She did Rainbows for a year before that.

The interest badges that are done at home, DD wants to do different ones to the ones offered but Brown Owl keeps saying she can’t, she can only do 1 interest badge per term and she must do the badge suggested by Brown Owl, Rainbows was the same, she was not awarded any interest badge she did that was not the one suggested. So for example she wanted to Animal Lover, Drawing, Fruit and Veg, Nature, Recycling and Book Lover at Rainbows and they made her do Construction, Agility and Family Tree.

It feels really restrictive and not in the spirit of Guiding, especially as I as her mum am giving up time for her to do the badges outside of the meetings.

I’ve offered to pay for the badges and was told they can’t stop me but they won’t be verified or given out in her meetings, I offered to help with the meetings, and was told yes but they have a programme they follow so can’t change the badges they offer, I even offered to have a small group of the girls and do an interest badge with all of them but was told no, it has to be the badge for that term only.

DD loves Brownies so I won’t take her out but it does feel unfair that the interest badges are supposed to be pick and choose and we don’t get that option.

I’ve heard the other Rainbows and Brownies Groups locally are the same and don’t let you choose your interest badge. So changing groups won’t help.

It just feels a bit restrictive, surely she should be able to do 2 badges per term (1 each half term) at least? Especially as we've been told that there will no sleepovers or camps until at least October 2022 so she won't get those badges towards her theme awards either.

AIBU? And are all Guiding groups the same now?

It's a long time since I was in Brownies & Guides, and then a Brownie leader, but we were all encouraged to do as many badges as we wanted. You simply informed the leader what badges you were going for and as long as you provided the evidence of completing the tasks - you got the badge! In fact, anyone who successfully completed a more challenging or unusual badge, was celebrated so as to inspire other girls to challenge themselves. There were always girls who had arms full of badges and it made you want to do more.

I don't know what it's like now, but in my guiding years, the whole point was to encourage personal independence and self-confidence, to gain skills, to challenge yourself... if they are stifling that then to me that seems very wrong and completely against the whole ethos of guiding.

What's the point of having all those potential badges if you can't actually get one that specifically interests you, or that you are already good at? My dd got the dancer one as she already did dance classes and had passed exams. Her dance teacher signed a form to certify that she met the requirements, and she did a little demo at a Brownie meeting and that was that. She was awarded her badge no problem.

I'm a rainbow and brownie leader and as others had said this is completely wrong. It's actually making me cross that some units are run this way and would put off a very eager brownie.

If the other local units are the same, then you can complain to the county commissioner or HQ - www.girlguiding.org.uk/making-guiding-happen/policies/complaints-policy/complaints-procedure/ Feel free to DM me if you need help finding who your county commissioner is.

My daughters must started brownies, we've been given no information at all. I haven't got a clue about the badges, don't even know what they are doing this term. Not been told to get the book etc
She went to rainbows for 3 years before this and it was the same there. No communication to the parents and my daughter was too young to tell me. Covid did me a favour as we couldn't go. We ended up doing zero badges ourselves

My DD goes to Brownies and can do any of the interest badges she wants at home, it was the same at Rainbows.

@alfagirl73

It's a long time since I was in Brownies & Guides, and then a Brownie leader, but we were all encouraged to do as many badges as we wanted. You simply informed the leader what badges you were going for and as long as you provided the evidence of completing the tasks - you got the badge! In fact, anyone who successfully completed a more challenging or unusual badge, was celebrated so as to inspire other girls to challenge themselves. There were always girls who had arms full of badges and it made you want to do more.

I don't know what it's like now, but in my guiding years, the whole point was to encourage personal independence and self-confidence, to gain skills, to challenge yourself... if they are stifling that then to me that seems very wrong and completely against the whole ethos of guiding.

The OPs unit leaders are doing it wrong

Could she just do the activities? Like drawing, science ect without getting a badge? Just enjoy doing the thing with you at home? You could make her a badge if you really wanted. :)

I've emailed the District Commissioner to see if it's just our unit or it's locally and to ask why.

Hopefully get a reply.

@Hubs456

Could she just do the activities? Like drawing, science ect without getting a badge? Just enjoy doing the thing with you at home? You could make her a badge if you really wanted. :)

She's desperate to try and get Bronze/Silver/Gold, thats the whole fun of it to her, I will talk to the commissioner and see what she says, there is another district nearby so if its a district thing then I'll see about moving her out of district.

Ex rainbow leader here. They’re doing the new programme wrong and that isn’t how it works. DC should fix it, but it might take HQ. you might want to move to scouts.

Who would be a volunteer and give up their time for this hassle. Either accept their rules or join a different brownie pack.

@Viviennemary

Who would be a volunteer and give up their time for this hassle. Either accept their rules or join a different brownie pack.

But they're not following the programme properly. Being a volunteer doesn't mean you can do whatever you want

And if you'd read, it's actually ZERO bother to the leaders...

@Viviennemary but the Leaders aren't delivering the programme the way they are supposed to. In fact they are delivering it against the ethos of the organisation so the OP has every right to raise this as an issue rather than just going along with it.

Just imagine if you'd sent your kids to football club, and you'd paid for them to have training and play matches, and they actually didn't offer any matches...but every other club in the UK did.

Oh, and all the other local clubs don't play matches either.

Oh, don't like it...go to another club 20 miles away, because after all , they're just volunteers...

Would you be happy with that?

I would be looking at other units for your dd.
Our brownie unit (and guides rangers and rainbows) are run by the same cohort of leaders. They deliver the programme by the book (literally) and are always encouraging the girls to crack on with whatever badges they want to do (interest) with regular badge boob reviews because they are all working toward their gold awards. Dd1 got her hold well within her time before she moved up to guides last year.

Reminds me I must start organising dd2 for her gold.

YANBU, that’s not how the program is intended to work at all!

A unit near me had a girl complete every single interest badge, her leaders supported her and were proud of her achievement, as they should be!

Skills builders she can only do what the unit is doing that term (we give them the choice between the two options for a particular theme)

Unit Meeting Activities obviously are whatever activities the leaders run for the unit.

But the whole point of interest badges is for girls to choose ones that INTEREST them! some girls may not do any, some will do one or two, some will do one for each theme so they can get the awards, some will do loads. And though the current program is new, interest badges have never been limited the way your leader is describing! In the old program we might do one with the whole unit, some leant themselves better to that than others. But girls could always do more themselves at home.

Tbh I would try and speak to the district commissioner for your area, they can have a word with the leader to make sure they understand the program properly. If the leader is just being bloody minded then your best bet is to try and find a different group tbh

Then you need to go higher to the county commissioner. This can't be right, surely?

Interest badges are just that, they do badges which interest them. They can do as many or as little as they want, there are no restrictions. I would be speaking to the district commissioner.

Agree, if the district commissioner won’t help and all local units are the same then go to Division or County. This shouldn’t be happening!

It's a long time since I was a Brownie/Guide, but remember having badges "examined" by someone other than the group leaders. Always a formality, but I had to explain what I'd done/learned to someone who led another unit or was some other approved person by the leaders.

Is that still the case and could that explain what's going on? That they are struggling to get people to look over what the girls have done?

@Viviennemary

Who would be a volunteer and give up their time for this hassle. Either accept their rules or join a different brownie pack.

I don't think you understand how this works. Volunteers don't have the right to invent their own rules. Just like employees can't.

It's the volunteers who need to accept the rules of the organisation they signed up to. If implementing the programme they voluntarily signed up to isn't for them they can leave.

Some people are ridiculous. Being a volunteer doesn't mean you get to act like the unit is your kingdom.

@MLMshouldbeillegal

It's a long time since I was a Brownie/Guide, but remember having badges "examined" by someone other than the group leaders. Always a formality, but I had to explain what I'd done/learned to someone who led another unit or was some other approved person by the leaders.

Is that still the case and could that explain what's going on? That they are struggling to get people to look over what the girls have done?

It really isn't that complicated, the badges are fairly straightforward.

For example it might be something along the lines of... Grow something from seed and plan a bumblebee garden. So you'd have to show some sort of evidence that you grew (for example) some cress. You could do that by making a video, creating a collage, doing a presentation, taking photos, writing a diary and drawing the plants etc (however the girl wants... hence Girl Led) and then she might draw a picture of her bumblebee garden, be it with paints, crayons, on the computer...or she might write about it etc. Then when she thinks she's completed it, just show the leaders.

It really isn't a burden for the leaders...

And a unit not doing sleepovers/ camps for another year is just being shit. They are allowed already and have been able to since September without the excessive Covid measures that were being obstructive to that point (and only really suitable for older girls being independent in small groups). Some units are more active than others which is fair enough as different units have different resources, but to put a year's limit on it when all else is viable is crap. If it is a practical issue such as leader avaliability, then it's unlikely that they'd be forecasting that to be resolved in Oct 2022

It's not shut to be cautious about running a trip or residential at this time. Unlike scouts girlguiding has taken a straightforward system and introduced a 12 week minimum for leaders to get permission for a residential.

I'm a keen trip and residential leader, but I'm on my knees with work, family and caring responsibilities. I don't have a stable team of volunteers and I'm on my own for every aspect of outside meeting planning.

I've run 3 trips since we went back face to face and got a sleepover in February. I'm doing it for the girls but I'm doing the paperwork and planning at 11pm because that's the only time I have. Scouting work in groups whereas the unit team are pretty much on their own.

I'm planning the sleepover but have been open that if the numbers rise like they have been or I'm not feeling safe or it could impact my caring responsibilities I'll cancel.

I'm a scout leader, so no idea how Girl Guides runs. But if any of our scouts do an activity that covers a badge outside of scouting then we tick it off.

Eg. Dance classes, gymnastics, counts towards physical recreation. We have a scout who is an amazing artist, so he got his art badge by showing us his work, and we did some with the troop as well.

I used to be a Beaver leader, and the same rules applied there. Any badge they wanted to work on at home we were happy to award with some proof they'd done it.

Obviously we have a programme we run termly but we are always happy to spare some time for scouts to show off anything they want.

The only rule we had for interest badges, is you couldn't do them "by accident"

Let's pretend there's a badge called "learn a new skill". And you'd started gymnastics,and had just learnt how to do a backup. You weren't allowed to just flip through the book and go "oh well I l learned to backflip last month I've earned that badge".

You'd have to do it the other way round. See that the badge exists, check the clauses, then resolve to learn the new skill (even if it is a backflip in gymnastics).

Kind of made the girls take it a bit more seriously, and consider their choices, rather than a way to 'blag' their way to an award.