I joined Jack&Jill as a Pooh in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.. or Tulsa.. lol actualy I'm not quite sure anymore. Anyway.. at the time my parents were married however in 1994 they divorced and we moved to Maryland, I didn't know until recently that the only reason why I was able to join the Montgomery County Chapter was because I was previously in the OKC Chapter. When they found out my mother was divorced they treated her very differently. I never noticed it until she told me about it. But I think that childness was only kept between the mothers. The kids I grew up with in Jack & Jill are my best friends in fact 8 of us ended up going to school together in the AUC :)

So would you place your kids in J&J?

Honestly, I don't know. I know my mother put me in J&J because we lived around all white people and she wanted me to grow up around "people like me" but I dont think I'd have that problem when I have kids (should God bless me with any). I have many reasons to dislike J&J and just as many reasons to love J&J but I don't want my personal experiences to determine wether or not I want my kids to experience it. Lol I read your question hours ago and this is the best answer I could come up with lol "I don't know". I wish I could be a liiiiittle more helpful though! I'll make sure to let you know when I finally come up with an amswer :)

L2S,
You don't have to let me know. I wasn't asking out of personal interest in J&J. I was just asking to be asking. I would hope that I would be able to expose my children to positive role models simply through the neighborhood in which I live. I don't go for private schools, J&J or any other orgs wherein my kids wouldn't be exposed to "everyone" - the good and the bad. I was and I turned out fine. If I do say so myself. :)

...at $400/ hour for your legal advice, you turned out real fine. :p:)

Thats a good way to look at it! I think being in Jack&Jill did expose me to being more active in my community though, outside of the school requirements a lot of my friends have not had much experience with volunteering and I think it helped me develop my leadership skills and it helped me pick a career, so for that purpose J&J was really helpful to me. But as far as meeting positive people and making friends... you dont need J&J lol

TonyB,
You're nuts...but you already know that. If I was even getting 50% of the money brought in from that 2000 hour billing requirement, it would be a tad bit more equitable. Hmph.... But that's another story for another day. Back to the grind....

SC

L2S,
I hear you and agree that it is good for kids to do community service. Hopefully, some of my own will rub off on the kids...whether they like it or not. :)

I think if kids find a way to serve their community that is fun and helpful at the same time, they'd be more willing to do it. My first time doing community service was tutoring 3rd graders for the George B. Thomas Learning Academy and I liked it so much that I did all through high school then signed up for a similar program in college. I think once kids find their niche or realize that they actualy are making a difference, they'd stick with it and not see it as a chore. :P

What's wrong with being exposed to both? :confused: You have to interact with all kinds of people, whether personally or professionally so wouldn't it be important to have "flexible" social skills?

I'm so mad the spammer used a DC cultural icon (Mumbo/Mambo Sauce) to represent itself!

An anecdote, I had to attend J&J stuff one weekend, and go to Boys/Girls Club after school. Group Ellaanopee was all a bit much for me, and Group Exwhyzee needed a punching bag...

Needless to say, the young people at that time that became my friends, still are my friends to this day...

from the blog:

I think the "pros" are fact and the "cons" are opinion. I read the blog. I think this person's experience has been somewhat limited. The Jack and Jiller's that I've met run a gamut of different personalities which include introverts and extroverts.

Wow. It seems like that person has a lot of negative thoughts about a club for kids! I'd love to hear the hate he or she gives to sororities and fraternities.

I've heard nothing but good things about Jack and Jill from people who actually did it; it sounds like a great thing for a lot of middle and upper-middle class black kids, who are so often the "Only" in their school, neighborhood, or teams/clubs. So often, when those kids spend time with cousins or other black kids, they get accused of "acting" or "talking" white. (Once, I was accused of "sneezing" white. No lie.) I think as more blacks enter the professional class, things will get better for the kids--I know that my niece and nephew aren't the Onlys to the extent that my sister and I were.

I dont agree with these cons at all...

Jack and Jill exposes members to ONLY the same type of Black kids.
> Actually. No. My chapter had us do massive amounts of service in the most torn down areas so I was exposed to many "types" of black people.

Jack and Jill creates a false sense of what Black America is, more so America in general.
> Not at all. And if you rely on Jack and Jill to define what Black America is then maybe you need to do some soul searching elsewhere.

Jack and Jill sponsors invite-only events, thus at an early age, children are not taught to “play nice” with other Blacks
> I strongly doubt, if you joined J&J at an early age, that you even know about the invite part. Also, Jack and Jill is non profit and gets most of its money from dues and charity events. It makes sense that you would invite a certain "type" of person because you want your organization to flourish. I dont mean to sound ignorant but if J&J had open membership, anybody could join, and it could jeopardize the organizations financial stability. Im not saying I agree with the principal but that is just the way it is.