Is This TX Mom Wrong for Thinking Girl Scouts Should Actually Sell Their Own Cookies?

It’s Girl Scout cookie season in Texas and everywhere else, which means you’ll see young entrepreneurs stationed outside shopping centers, enthusiastically pitching Thin Mints and Samoas. But what happens when the parents are the ones doing all the selling?

A listener sent in a situation that addresses that issue. They submitted it to our “Am I The Jerk” (AITJ) segment and it read:

LET’S DISCUSS:

Now, I get it—parents want to help. But, if parents are doing all the work then their Girl Scout isn’t really learning the skills they’re supposed to learn through cookie sales which, according to the official Girl Scouts website, are the following skills: 

• Skill #1: Goal Setting 
• Skill #2: Decision Making
• Skill #3: Money Management 
• Skill #4: People Skills 
• Skill #5: Business Ethics

In this AITJ situation, it seems as if the young Girl Scout in question wasn’t really getting much people skills done.

“Girl Scouts find their voice and build confidence through customer interactions, developing valuable skills that will help them succeed in school, in business, and in life.” 

This raised an interesting question—should Girl Scouts be required to actively sell their own cookies, or is it fine for parents to step in? The whole point of cookie sales is to teach young girls leadership, responsibility, and basic business skills. If mom is the one doing all the work, is the lesson being lost?

Or, on the flip side, maybe some kids are just shy, have a disability, or are just not comfortable talking to strangers—so does it really matter who is making the sales as long as the troop benefits?

We ask the people of El Paso for their opinion to get a verdict for this listener and it was mixed:

“Not a jerk! There’s a time & a place for the tablet! Get to work girl hustle hustle!!”

 

“Yes, you don’t know if she was taking a break.”

 

“You are the jerk for making a comment. You can think what you want and have your own opinion, but it does not need to be shared.”

 

“Not the jerk as a GS mom my self she has to promote, engage and make sales, Do i help her? Yes does she sit on her Ipad during sales? No.”

The verdict came down to: NOT THE JERK

What do you think? Should parents step back and let the Girl Scouts actually sell the cookies? Or is this just part of the game?

Get our free mobile app

Check out more responses here: