Merit Badges and Scoutmasters

Joe Connole

Revise

I've been working on a special summer session of our normal merit badge classes here at the museum. I ran into some issues this past week with scouts wanting to take the Personal Management class that is this Saturday. Unfortunately they had to pull out here at the last second because their Scoutmasters refused to give them a blue card. The rational of the Scoutmasters happen to be that the boys were "too young" to take the merit badge.

The BSA policy is that all boys who are registered members of the Boy Scouts of America and are in the Boy Scout program can take any merit badge they want whenever they want. These Scoutmasters are indirect contradiction to BSA policy and unfortunatley the parents are unwilling to go against the wishes of their son's Scoutmaster.

I think we need to make merit badges a key point in the training of Adult Leaders. Otherwise, we need to find a way to make sure Scoutmasters cannot deny the Scout the opportunity to take a merit badge.

I believe a Scoutmaster should have the right to voice his disapproval, but he should not be allowed to refuse a blue card to a Scout wishing to take any merit badge.

Idea # 761Boy Scouting, scoutmaster, merit badge, personal management

Comments

dlajoie 4 months ago

Regarding the BSA policy on every scout can take any M/B anytime they want I believe a little reality needs to be taken into effect. There are boys that are very immature to take some merit badges at ages 11, 12 and even 13. As a fifteen year retired scoutmaster I saw some scouts that truly would be wasting there time and the counselors time with personal management and the other three month required M/B's. With 120 plus badges to pick from the scoutmaster can make strong suggestions for one badge over another. A good example is the old enviromental science badge that required eight hours of observation and a report at summer camp. there is no way that most 11, 12 or maybe 13 year olds had the will or maturity to do any of that badge which means they get a partial which means they have until their 18th birthday to finish, give me a break everyone knows that does not happen. Maturity and desire are lacking more in the early years of scouting than the middle or later years. Maturity will be there but desire may still be lacking until very late. there are some scoutmasters that will overstep their role and yes parents will go along because they do not want to rock the boat but for the most part 98% of the scout masters have the youth best interest in mind when they tell a scout not that badge but what about this one. Give the scout master some credit as they are in the trenches and are proud when they have an eagle scout court of honor.

jotoro 4 months ago

As a past Scoutmaster I feel that it is a scoutmaster's job to remove barriers to success, not to create them. It would be appropriate for a scoutmaster to coach and counsel a scout on what challenges lie before him, but it is not appropriate to prevent the scout from trying.
It would not be a waste of time for a scout to try something and not succeed at it. He could just try it again until he gets it. Many of my most remembered lessons in life have come from first attempts at big challenges.
I earned my Eagle badge when I was 13 without any parental support, and I was mature enough to do it at the time. Scoutmasters and district leaders who feel that they need to step in and prevent a scout from advancing too fast are hurting the program.

Joe Connole 4 months ago

As the program now stands a scout has the right to work on any merit badge he wishes at any point in his Boy Scout career. A Scoutmaster has no authority to decline a blue card on any one of his scouts. He may disapprove all he wants but it is ultimately not his place to deny the boy his blue card.

I am an Eagle Scout and I earned the rank at 14 years of age meaning I worked on all these "difficult" merit badges at a very young age. I have likewise met college students who are unable to do the Personal Management merit badge. Maturity is a vague word that often times does not have a place in this kind of conversation. A lot of factors go into maturity and just because one scout is 11 and another is 16 doesn't mean that the former is less mature than the latter. In fact, if we want to discuss who is more likely to complete a 3 month project it has been my experience a 11-13 year old is far more likely to complete the project in a timely manner than a 16 year old could ever hope to do.

I appreciate the idea that you suggest. But when it boils down to it, the BSA made the policy on merit badges because there is no 100% way to prove one way over the other. When a scout couldn't begin work until they were a first class you had individuals who didn't agree on this issue. All I am suggesting is that Scoutmasters fall in line with official BSA policy and not go off the deep end and take the program into their own hands.

sthanson 4 months ago

There are a few situations which should require a prerequisite. Swimming already specifically says the Scout must pass the First Class swim test. Orienteering SHOULD state that the Scout must have done the Orienteering hike required in First Class requirement 2 BEFORE he begins work on the Merit Badge.

Liz Johnson 3 months ago

And no boy should take Woodcarving (Finger Carving) until he has earned the First Aid Merit Badge. This was something we strongly suggested in our troop.

Post New Comment

Categories