Re: "spirited kids" in group settings

bizby40 wrote: 
All these posts about difficult children and the challenges their
parents face in public (and I've been there done that some
with my daughter, though not to the extent that some of you
have) got me thinking that this would be a good place to ask
a question.

Our Wolf Den has 8 boys, 2 of them are rather "spirited."
By that I mean they have trouble sitting still or being quiet,
and they don't take direction well.  DH came home quite
frustrated from the last den meeting because these two
boys (who are naturally best friends) disrupted the meeting
to the extent that it was difficult for the other boys to
participate, and for the leader (we trade off running meetings,
so this was not the den leader, just that meeting's leader)
to run the meeting.

I don't know the families well enough to know if either of
the boys has been diagnosed as, or is under suspicion of
ADHD, but I know that they are troublesome in school
as well.  And I had to deal with one of them for 4 straight
days at Cub Scout camp (again without a parent present)
and it was a real challenge.

In the Tiger year there is a requirement that each boy have
an adult present.  That is no longer a requirement in the
Wolf year, but we all do still stay, except for the parents
of these two boys.

What should we do? 

Two things:

1)  Look at what you're planning for meetings.  Do you
    have unreasonable expectations?  Are your meetings
    not active enough?

2)  Ask the boys' parents for help.  Tell them that it
    seems like Bob and John are having a hard time
    participating in the group and ask if they have
    any suggestions for getting them more tuned in
    to the group proceedings.  If they profess
    surprise, ask them to stay for a meeting so that
    they can make some suggestions, based on what
    they see.

Best wishes,
Ericka
.

Loading