Girl Scout Insurance and the Liability of Leaders

At some point most Girl Scout leaders are told that the $25 registration fee includes insurance.  However, I've learned over the years that many Girl Scout leaders do not understand what this insurance covers or how it works.  This post is an attempt to explain it.

For the record, I am not an attorney, nor do I give legal advice.  I'm a paralegal and gained some of this information working on a case in which my local council and a leader were sued. The example I use below is totally different from what happened in my council.  

What Happens When a Girl Scout Gets Hurt?

Luckily, most of the time, when a Girl Scout gets hurt, the troop first aider gets out a band aid or some ice, gives the girl a hug and sends her on her way.

The Problem With Parents

In both my own experience as a fifteen year Girl Scout leader and the things I read on Facebook groups for Girl Scout leaders, I've come to the conclusion that Girl Scouts can't decide what to do with parents.  While BSA insists that their youngest scouts have a parent or other adult participate with them, GSUSA discourages extra parents at meetings.  While Cub Scouts do family camping, GSUSA (or at least my council) requires any adult spending the night at a Girl Scout camp be registered and background checked, and, in general, discourages family camping except at special events.  While Daisies in my council are required to have an adult spend the night with them, once they hit Brownies, troops are encouraged to take only the required number of adults.  The trip training for leaders taking older girls on trips of three nights or more states that only the adults necessary to meet ratios attend, even if that number is two--which in my opinion is unsafe for the adults.  

On the other hand, a frequent complaint on leader Facebook groups is the lack of parental participation.  Whether they are complaining about difficulty finding co-leaders, or not having a cookie mom, or not getting things turned in on time, leaders seem to want more from parents in general.

Potter and Snacks

My troop is Daisies and Brownies and most of the Brownies have been with me for three years, the Daisies for one, though I picked up a couple of new girls this year.

Over the summer I send out a survey to the Brownies and asked them to let me know which badges or journeys interested them.  Pottery and Snacks were two that got a lot of votes.  During the summer, our cookie event was a trip to a pottery painting place and all the girls enjoyed it, so I thought it would be a good way to start the year.

Though I have Daisies and Brownies, I try to keep the whole group doing the same thing.  If you review my posts from last year, you can see how I related a lot of Brownie badges to Daisy petals.  Well, try as I might I couldn't figure out how to relate these badges to un-done petals or Daisy badges, so my Daisies will get fun patches, and my Brownies, badges.

While I was having my initial parent meeting I had play doh (from my supply stash) on the table for the girls.  I also gave them some coffee stirrers and told them to make me something.  Once I was done with the parents, I had each girl grab a ball of play doh and I showed them how to make a pinch pot.  They all tried it with the play doh.  I then collected the play doh and passed out air dry clay (bought at JoAnn's with a 50% off coupon) and the girls made pinch pots which I then put away to dry (we have a Girl Scout storage room at church).  After sending the girls to wash, and clearing the tables, it was time to work on the Snacks badge.

Daisy Digital Game Design

The Digital Game Design badge is the second in this year's set of "progressive" Coding for Good badges.  Like the Cybersecurity and Robotics series, the badge pamphlets for these badges show three badges rather than one, and, rather than giving a choice of three activities for each requirement for each badge, they simply give age-appropriate background information on the badge topic.  The VTK plans are clearly lesson plans, not just groups of activities related to a topic.  

The badges were sponsored by codeSpark Academy and while the VTK plans are "unplugged" and do not require the use of a computer, the materials provided to the leaders include a file about codeSpark Academy and which of its games related to the various badges.  

According to GSUSA's Badge Explorer, the requirements for the Daisy Digital Game Design badge are:

Explore how video games can make a difference

• Explore tools used to develop digital games
• Plan a maze game
• Build, test, and improve your maze game

When you've earned this badge, you'll know how video games are designed.

Below are the steps in the VTK plans: