Girl Scout Cookies: Your Child’s First Unpaid Internship
When we think of Girl Scouts, we often imagine young girls learning valuable life skills while wearing their iconic green uniforms. However, there’s a less charming side to the organization that deserves scrutiny: the annual cookie sales.
A box of Girl Scout cookies costs $6.00. The local troop only gets 21% of their troop funding. All other funds go to the national organization (which provides zero funding to local troops) and the rest to bakers and transportation. None of it goes to the child who put in the work.
These sales campaigns share similarities with unpaid internships, where individuals work for free with the promise of gaining experience. You may earn a prize here and there, but it is nothing in value compared to the money you brought it. Girl Scouts has become a cookie company that benefits from unpaid child labor.
As a former Girl Scout, I remember the excitement of cookie season. Yet, reflecting on the experience, it’s clear that it was far from beneficial. Despite making thousands of dollars in cookie sales, our hard work was rewarded with a single-day trip to Great America, worth around $25. In the process, we skirted child labor laws and learned little of real value.
Proponents of Girl Scout cookie sales argue that they teach important skills such as responsibility, human interaction, math, debate, sales, and charity. However, this overlooks a critical fact: the cookies are not the Scouts’ products; they belong to the Girl Scouts organization. This means that the profits largely benefit the organization, not the individual scouts who put in the effort.
Many parents do most of the selling through online orders or workplace pitches, undermining the notion that the girls are gaining meaningful sales experience. In my case, I spent weekends sitting in the hot sun outside a grocery store while adults handled the money. The financial reward for my efforts was minimal compared to the time and energy invested.
The Girl Scouts organization operates in a way where the bulk of the profits go to the top, and those at the bottom — the children — do the bulk of the work for minimal reward. This model can be exploitative, teaching kids that their labor benefits an organization rather than themselves. It’s a setup where the primary product is less about cookies and more about unpaid labor.
Instead of participating in what amounts to an unpaid internship, there are many other ways for children to learn valuable skills while actually keeping the fruits of their labor. Here are a few alternatives:
Baking and Selling Their Products: Encourage kids to bake cookies or other treats and sell them. This teaches entrepreneurship, product creation, and direct profit management.
Lemonade Stands: A classic option that teaches kids about business operations, customer service, and basic accounting.
Mowing Lawns or Yard Work: This is a great way for kids to earn money, stay active, and learn the value of hard work and community service.
Crafts and Handmade Goods: Kids can create and sell handmade crafts, learning about marketing, production, and sales.
Tutoring or Teaching: Older children can tutor younger kids in subjects they excel at, reinforcing their knowledge while helping others.
While the Girl Scouts organization may have noble goals, they exploit children’s labor for minimal rewards. The next time you justify your Girl Scout cookie order with “well it goes to a good cause”, remember $1.26 is actually going to your local troop. The rest goes to the Girl Scouts corporation. Instead of teaching kids to work for less than minimum wage for an organization, we should encourage them to engage in activities where they can directly reap the benefits of their efforts. By exploring alternatives like baking, lawn care, or lemonade stands, children can learn valuable skills, earn their own money, and gain a true sense of accomplishment.
Photo Credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/girl-scout-cookies-and-booze-the-full-nester--852376666973840008/
