Is it o.k. to take your 8yr old child into a bar to sell cub scout popcorn?
I was the Asst. cub master of my son's cub scout pack and also was asked to be the head of the popcarn sale for two years. Someone gave me the idea of taking my son to sell his popcorn at some neighborhood bars. I was reluctant and curious about this. First, I did not know if scout rules or the law allowed it and was a little worried about safety, but thought that potential sales might be really high. I checked with the scout hierarchy including the cubmaster and district administration and all said there was no rule against it and that it was up to the individual parent to decide. local law says a child can be in a bar with parents regardless of age and time. the law also says the child can be in a bar by themselves if they are conducting business. In our state parents can order alchoholic beverages for their underage children in bars.
I was worried about safety too, so I decided to let him sell with the following plan. my dad would go into a small local bar and see what the crowd was like and let me know if it looked safe. If it did, I would take my son in, have him ask the bartender if he could sell the popcorn to the patrons. Only one bar ever said no and we left. all others said yes and most bartenders and owners would by large amounts and my son averaged about $300 per hour in sales. We always have the popcorn on hand (no ordering), so I had my dad there to go out to the car and get whatever the customers wanted. this way, I never had to let my son be any distance away from me and I stayed right with hm the entire time. H e had so much luck that we went to bars several times and never any later than 10:00 ish. sometimes he sold a lot and we might have stayed a little past 10:00 p.m.
The one bar that did say no to him selling, had a couple of patrons whose sons belonged to our pack. one of them wrote me a very nasty email and demanded me to stop immediately and said it was against laws and rules, that I had been told were not, so I knew she did not do her homework. The Cubmaster took her side immediately even though he said I could do it. It did not take long to get arround the pack and spread way out of perportion. I was ostercized and we changed packs because as many people said "i was a bad parent".
I think this was all rediculous and we were treated poorly. I was breaking no rules or laws, got permission from the scouts, and took safety precautions. I think I have the right to decide how to raise my son and that should have been respected.
please give me your thoughts.
I was worried about safety too, so I decided to let him sell with the following plan. my dad would go into a small local bar and see what the crowd was like and let me know if it looked safe. If it did, I would take my son in, have him ask the bartender if he could sell the popcorn to the patrons. Only one bar ever said no and we left. all others said yes and most bartenders and owners would by large amounts and my son averaged about $300 per hour in sales. We always have the popcorn on hand (no ordering), so I had my dad there to go out to the car and get whatever the customers wanted. this way, I never had to let my son be any distance away from me and I stayed right with hm the entire time. H e had so much luck that we went to bars several times and never any later than 10:00 ish. sometimes he sold a lot and we might have stayed a little past 10:00 p.m.
The one bar that did say no to him selling, had a couple of patrons whose sons belonged to our pack. one of them wrote me a very nasty email and demanded me to stop immediately and said it was against laws and rules, that I had been told were not, so I knew she did not do her homework. The Cubmaster took her side immediately even though he said I could do it. It did not take long to get arround the pack and spread way out of perportion. I was ostercized and we changed packs because as many people said "i was a bad parent".
I think this was all rediculous and we were treated poorly. I was breaking no rules or laws, got permission from the scouts, and took safety precautions. I think I have the right to decide how to raise my son and that should have been respected.
please give me your thoughts.
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