Girl Scouts Teaching The Wrong Lesson By Banning Online Sales
from the unfair-competition? dept
Way back in 2002 and 2003 we discussed how the Girl Scouts of America prohibit selling their infamous cookies online. It seemed strange back then, as the entire purpose of the program is (supposedly) to teach the girls entrepreneurship skills, including "personal responsibility and how to manage money." I hadn't heard much about it since then, but here we are in 2009, and once again, business-savvy Girl Scouts are running into trouble selling cookies online.Some have argued that since it's supposed to be about doing something in your community, selling online goes beyond that -- though, I'd argue that an online community can be just as much of a community as a local one. Anyway, in the case described in this article, the sales were limited to local residents anyway -- but the Girl Scouts are still upset about it. Mainly, the argument seems to be that it's somehow "not fair" for the other girls, but if the goal is to teach kids entrepreneurship skills, telling them that some big organization is going to make sure to keep others out of your market isn't exactly sending the right message.
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Filed Under: cookies, girl scouts, online sales
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Bully
Why not? Isn't that exactly what's happening in real business situations all the time? (Patent, Copyright and Media bullshit.)
And man, it sucks.
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Then you posted your comment....and it all came back to me. Yes...my daughter did pound the pavement in our neighborhood....but honestly, most of the cookies sold came from me bringing the sheet to work.
That said...I still think the internet should be offlimits...and here's why. One great domain, and one great site...and in theory, one troop could dominate online sales for the whole USA. By keeping it offline, it's a more distributed sales, spread more evenly over all the troops. And yeah..if that requires your daughter to come begging to Dad to bring the card to work...I think that's just fine.
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If the girl scouts want to reinforce personal communication, then require at least a phone call confirming the order be placed to the customer. Require personal delivery of the cookies (accompanied by mommy or daddy of course cause what pedophile wouldn't want little girls knocking on his door)
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I think delivery should be left up to UPS due to the pedophile thing. When you or parents go door to door...it's very controlled. You send your kid into known neighborhoods. Online, and you never know where the kid has to deliver.....
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-Unless you live in America.
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All age ranges sell the cookies. How many 7 year old's could set up a site and sell cookies? How many 15 year old's could? What happens in the real world is that the parents set these things up, and that is exactly what girl scouts don't want.
They want the girls doing the work, not the parents. It is the same with those folks who bring in the order forms to work. What does the child learn if they don't put any effort into it and dad brings in the form to work and sells 200 boxes? What does the kid learn? That daddy will take care of everything?
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So if I flunked out of high school, I shouldn't pressure my kids to stay in school and get an education? Because, after all, it should be about what they want to do, not about my unfulfilled dreams. I'm guessing you've never raised children.
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I want my kids to succeed (or I will when I start having them) so I will try to give them the knowledge and the tools as early as possible. If that means teaching them web development before most other kids know how to write poetry then that is what I will do. However, I will draw the line at pushing them to the point where they don't get to enjoy being kids. I would never want to take that from them.
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Teaching skills like Pjerky mentioned (great idea, by the way!) is not about forcing a child into a particular profession or area of interest. It is about teaching them how to know what they want, how to enjoy work, how to innovate and think for themselves, etc.
And yes, every parent should have the dream of raising healthy, successful children, and raising them should be about fulfilling that dream.
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Ironically they are teaching them a lesson about the real world.
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In pure business terms, each girl is given a license to sell "in person only", the territory being their own contacts, and the marketing must be word of mouth.
Online sales would be selling outside of their territory. That territory belongs to the central girl scout office.
As for the Boy Scouts, I think you will see that their online activities are handled and operated by the main office, not by one single scout and his parents somewhere.
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Yep, and every scout is given a Identification Number that they can distribute. Entering this number on the sales web page insures that scout gets credit for the sale.
Sales can occur online and are managed centrally.
Individual scouts can still market independently and take advantage of the online sales capability.
I get my popcorn.
Everyone wins!
The Girl Scouts can't do this why?
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But sadly, this is the way it is. If you get too successful, then you have to worry about the government coming in and ruining your work.
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400,000 web sites spring up selling cookies. Some offer better shipping than others. Others are more professional. But unless they start the Girl Scout porn, there's no big differentiator that can exist.
I'll agree with the organization on this one. And most importantly it doesn't matter if the organization is right or wrong, the rules are there. One of the goals of the scouts is to teach that rules exist and should be followed. Those that have broken the rules should be punished as any other rule infraction would be punished. They took an unfair advantage by breaking a rule.
And we then come back to the soap box derby of the boy scouts. The entire process is to teach kids some real world experience, maybe gain some technical skills. learn teamwork, and learn how to be winners and loosers.
NOT how to get your parents to pour a lot of money and time into the project.
Money doesn't buy everything. It's actually done a good job of buying disillusioned kids though.
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I have a couple issues here...
2. They say its "not fair to the other girls." But we all know that its the parents that do most of the selling anyway. If Heather's daddy works for some big company in a corporate office and Meghan's daddy is a small business owner with 4 employees who's gonna sell more cookies?
Perhaps its time the GSA moved into the 21st century. By selling online these girls are making more money for the GSA. They're not making a dime on this (unless of course they're the really smart ones that are marking up the prices). Additionally, they are keeping themselves safe by not wandering the streets selling cookies, and they are learning 21st century business tactics. If these girls really want to get with the times one of them should try suing the GSA!
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Re: I have a couple issues here...
2. No one ever said the playing field would be perfectly even. The main goal here, though, is to keep the cookie sales local, which is sensible.
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It's about public speaking
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Low Tech
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Re: Low Tech
Um... No.
The "point" of both organizations is summed up in their respective mission statements:
The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.
Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
The knot tying, fire making, wilderness survival, etc, etc, are tools these organizations use to teach their chosen core values and to make learning them fun. They are not "the point".
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It is all in who you know and how you can modify the rules in your favor. If you can't compete mom and dad will buy up your cookie assets and you'll get a bonus anyway.
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It's about fund-raising
Now, you say this instance only involved local sellers. That may be, but allowing it sets up what we like to call a gray area. It would require individual review of each situation to determine whether they are servicing only local customers. It would also require some sort of occasional check to ensure they haven't started cheating the system after initial approval. Considering the Girl Scouts just laid a bunch of people off, I don't think that is where they want to spend their labor. It's easier and, in the current climate, more fair to just have the blanket policy.
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Selling Online
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Feasible?
I would much rather put up a site to sell cookies than take my daughter door to door in the cold, but let's be rational here.
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Smaller Boxes This year..
Instead of a case of Thin Mints lasting a full year (as it did last year), I'll probably go through them in less than 6 months.
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franchise
This being said, it would be reasonable for the main office to set up a web-page that allows people to support their local troops. For one reason their are people who work odd hours and never get the opportunity to buy cookies. I for one have not seen a single Girl Scout selling cookies in the last two years, and I would love to purchase some cookies.
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Responses....
I wholeheartedly agree. Having worked over 10 cookie booths with our Daisy Girl Scout Troop (ages 5-6), I have personally seen the impact cookie sales can have. One of our girls started out not even speaking in troop meetings and now she can ask adults she does not know (at the booth with parents present) to buy cookies and tell the customer the total amount due.
Now certain members of certain troops (read depends upon who you are and who you know, fairness be dammed) get to camp out in front of highly trafficked businesses like grocery stores,gas stations and wally worlds.
This is not true in all instances. Our local Girl Scout Council has online sign-up for these cookie booths. We have a great “cookie mom” and she signed us up for a lot of cookie booths.
I also point out to my daughter that this is how we are going to pay for the activities we have scheduled. I think it’s a nice lesson to learn that you have to earn money in order to buy or do certain things.
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Former Seller
My parents refused to just take the order forms to work and sell for us. They made me write a note that had my sales pitch on it, and then the would distribute that in the mailboxes at work (this was in the 90's before e-mail took off). It forced me to make the effort to get the sales. The majority of my sales came from door to door sales. I started to try and find ways to innovate at an early age. If I had the ability to create a website back then, I would have jumped on the opportunity.
It could be beneficial to have a website even for door to door sales in cases where people are not home or they said now the first time around. You could leave the website and pick up some sales.
Just my two cents....
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Infamous Cookies?
Why are Girl Scout Cookies "infamous"?
I and everyone I know really like Girl Scout cookies.
"That Thin Mint embezzled my life savings!"
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Also with the way kids are getting snatched up by pedophiles these days, I would rather my kids sold them online. Then they could stay home and be safe.... on the internet YAY!!!!
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Best post on this site in a long time. Bravo.
As for the majority of the rest of the comments? Get a clue, then a life.
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Girl Scout Cookies. Crummy, or just Crumbly?
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Ross
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Really a brand issue
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What about the HFCS and transfat in the cookies?
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bleh
Majorly disappointed.
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