Ultimately, the Girl Scouts said it is relying on parents to be the last line of defense against other kinds of threats online. That's why parental education is paramount, said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. Some may not think twice about letting their kids send links to their Web sites far and wide, or upload videos that show off their schools, homes or neighborhoods as part of a sales pitch. And in the intense competition to increase sales, some youths might let their location or full name slip.
"First, some parents would need to earn a privacy badge themselves," he said. "But you can't treat teens like little adults in terms of their privacy, especially when they're being encouraged to sell no matter what."
December 4, 2014
"The move by the Girl Scouts this week to allow its troopers to sell cookies online has been met with mixed emotions by parents..."
"... officials within the organization and privacy advocates who raised concerns about exposing so many girls, as young as 13, to the potential for cyber-bullying, online predators and other dangers of the Web...."
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21 comments:
Young girls selling Girl Scout cookies is a good way to meet the neighbors. The neighborhood is the problem.
Grade school sent us out to sell magazine subscriptions.
I don't know why.
Girl scout cookies has the same question.
I won't buy unless asked in person.
I wonder if my next-door neighbor is still selling. Hope so.
A lot of lazy-ass parents bring the order forms to work. I refuse to order. One of the entire points of fundraising efforts like this is to introduce kids to the art of being outgoing and trying to be persuasive.
Society doesn't see it that way as much anymore. We've become incompatible with face-to-face presentations.
I think an individual Girl Scout could design a great website, but she would need Steven's and Brian's help to turn it into a real e-commerce site.
I read the quotes in other articles from the Girl Scouts spokeshuman. It was filled with pap like "the scouts will become technologically savvy" as if being a keyboard jockey does that.
I've reached the point with GS cookies where the scouts are basically the slave labor to pay the salaries of the top heavy executive level organization.
Plus, they aren't that good and if the scout isn't directly asking me then I don't buy them.
Is there such a thing as an eighteen-year-old Girl Scout? It would make certain thoughts less... problematic.
I am Laslo.
Geez, why not wrap your kids in fucking bubble wrap for all of their childhood...THEN send them out into the world to be eaten alive?
Good plan, idiot parents.
chillblaine FTW.
Being in a real good mood, I stopped at the GS table outside the supermarket last year, I asked each of the two girls what their favorite cookie was, then bought 2 boxes of each.
I gave the cookies back to the girls and told them to keep them for themselves.
Smiles all around.
Downside was, next few times I went to the store I had to go in and out the more inconvenient door because I was back to my same old surely self and not so generous
I hate that.
And, whenever a solicitor comes to my door I remind them to check Megans Law website for sex offenders in the neighborhood.
You can do it with a smartphone.
I'd still prefer to buy mine in person, but the real problem here is the same old story of hype overcoming reality. Online predators, bullying, etc. is rare, no more common online than in person.
Me, I'm waiting for High-School Cheerleaders Fundraising Car Wash season. I've been a dirty, dirty car.
I am Laslo.
There's an easy, safe way to sell Girl Scout cookies online. The Girl Scout Council sets up an online cookie sale site. You pick your cookies and check off which Girl Scout troop you'd like to get the troop portion of the profits. Individual girls can still sell cookies to their neighbors and friends or outside the grocery store. I am a lifetime member of the Girl Scouts, and I have access to the "cookie cupboard". While I never pitched cookies at work, people who liked them knew I could get them. When I was near the cupboard store, I'd get what my co-workers asked for and give credit to the town where my co-worker was from. When I was a leader, my teen-aged scout troop made thousands of dollars selling cookies, and it was definitely a learning experience, but a 6 year old doesn't need to learn online marketing just yet.
FullMoon, that's a charming story. I'll have to try that when I encounter the girls selling at Sentry in Hilldale.
Boy/Cub Scouts have had online popcorn sales for years. Not a big deal. As Eleanor describes, you buy off a website and designate who gets the profit.
The problem -- and the reason why, even as Popcorn Chair for my son's pack, I didn't promote this -- is that already-expensive popcorn becomes even more expensive when you buy online. Not just the shipping cost. The actual popcorn, pre-shipping cost, is pricier. Count me out.
Now that my daughter and nieces have outgrown Girl Scouts, I rely on my co-workers order forms for my yearly cookie fix. I guess I don't hold the resentments some here do - I'm happy to go a little out of my way. It's a win-win for me and them.
The girls earn merit badges for selling cookies. They would rather have that badge than a twenty dollar bill.
Boy scout popcorn sucks, but the neighbors kid gets my business anyway.
Oh please. It is the parents selling most the cookies, not the kids (at the office, emailing relatives).
Me, I'm waiting for High-School Cheerleaders Fundraising Car Wash season. I've been a dirty, dirty car.
I am Laslo.
Ha - quite a few years ago I was going past the high school and there was a group of girls in bikinis doing a car wash. My "inner pervert" compelled me to get in line. As my SUV was being washed, I could see in my passenger side mirror that one of the girls managed to dislodge a section of plastic window trim. She had a disaffected "whatever" look on her face as she discretely put the molding back in place.
They haven't been allowed to go door to door around here for decades.
I buy a pack of shortbread/Trefoils or whatever they are called now each year. I only see them in front of the grocery stores with their moms.
It's a huge cash cow for the GS - don't think that it's just a cute thing to give the girls experience.
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