sign off requirements completed

[lynn07]

Question: Who is allowed to sign the scouts handbook indicating that he has completed that requirement other than the scoutmaster and assistant scoutmaster? Are committee members, unit commissioner, SPL?

[ScoutNut]

Who ever the SM designates.

[lynn07]

thank you. So the SM may approve certain members of the troop, or a unit commissioner, to be able to sign off say a swimming requirement for 2nd class.

[Bob White]

Scoutnut is correct. The Scoutmaster is responsible for designating, and maintaining a list, of those approved to sign-off on advancement requirements and at what level. For instance the Troop Guide might be approved to sign Tenderfoot to First Class requirements but only for members of the New Scout Patrol.

[Eagledad]

>>only for members of the New Scout Patrol

[Bob White]

Hi Barry

What I said was that the Scout master slects who can approve advancement requirements and under what conditions. An example given in the Scoutmmaster handbook is that the Scoutmaster could approve the Troop Guide to approve T-1C requiremenst for the New Scout Patrol.

 

It is up to the Scoutmaster who he selects and under what circumstances. AS a Scoutmaster I approved some Patrol LEaders to approve certain advancement requirements within their Patrol and others could not. That is how the program is designed.

 

BW

[raisinemright]

I've been under the impression that a parent may not sign off on his own son's book, (even though said parent (me) is ASM) Is that a scout rule?

[molscouter]

No, it's not a Scout rule, but it's a good one to keep to avoid the appearance of being too easy or too hard on your own son.

 

Now, I admit I have signed things in my son's book. I'm the advancement coordinator, so I have all the records of who's been on what activity, etc. So I have signed the 2nd Class 5 activity and the 1st Class 10 activity type stuff. He's either been on them, or he hasn't. But nothing that would require any form of judgement on how well he did something.

[Bob White]

That to is at the discretion of the Scoutmaster. The scout program does not address that issue other than giving the SM the authority to make the decision and maintain a list of those approved.

[eisely]

In our troop we typically state that a parent cannot sign off. In our briefings for new parents we emphasize this to help them make the mental transition from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. We also authorize designated senior youth to sign off on various requirements. That is an important part of developing youth leadership.

 

Having said that, situations will arise where a parent is directly involved in an advancement requirement, such as Family Life merit badge. The parents should not be the MB counselors for their own son, but the whole idea of the MB is to introduce youth to the idea that families are units with mutual duties and responsibilities.

 

For some specialized MBs a parent may be the only counselor around. In the past when I have participated in canoeing expeditions, I worked with the boys to learn and pass the requirements for Canoeing MB, including my own sons. I did this with the full knowledge and approval ahead of time of everybody concerned, including the District Advancement Chair.

[Bob White]

"The parents should not be the MB counselors for their own son, but the whole idea of the MB is to introduce youth to the idea that families are units with mutual duties and responsibilities."

 

Actually, the BSA advancement policies specifically approve of a parent counseling their own son. You do not requre the permission of anyone, other than being a council approved merit badge counsleor for that topic. In fact the BSA has no problem with you counseling your sons for as many merit badge for which you are an appproved counselor.

 

The thought that the scout loses something by learning from a parent, especialy learning about a topic or topics for which his parent(s) have a knowledge and passion is a myth.

 

Any approved counselor can counsel any scout on the topics for which they have council approval.

 

 

 

[Lisabob]

Just had a conversation about this very topic with my son last night. I'm a MBC for the citizenship badges and we have several scouts who have contacted me to start work on one of them. I asked my son (one of these scouts) to work with a different MBC instead of with me. I had to laugh because he actually *wanted* to work with me! (Rare moment these days, he's 13 after all). But we talk a lot about politics, citizenship, and gov't at home as it is and he already knows my views and thoughts. I figure it would be more interesting and probably more challenging for him to work with someone else, whose insights would be fresh to him. Plus, esp. with these Eagle-required "school work" badges, it is just too easy for some people to assume favoritism when a parent counsels their own child. I'd really rather not deal with that. As long as there is another competent adult available, I'd prefer he work with them instead of with me - and I'll counsel their kids too.

 

On the other hand I am the only counselor in our council for the American Cultures badge. If my son wanted to earn that one I guess I would be happy to work with him.

 

So Bob White is 100% correct in what he has stated, but like many parents, I still prefer not to sign off on requirements for my own child.

[John-in-KC]

To me, when EagleSon was a youth member of the program (he's aged out now), letting someone else counsel him was a chance to leverage the Adult Association Method.

[Bob White]

Are parents not adults?

[eisely]

Useful input from Bob White as usual.

 

The fact that the BSA policies do not prohibit parents from counseling their own sons, does not mean that encouraging or letting parents counsel their own sons is a wise policy. I have seen and read about too many situations where parents were involved in questionable sign offs with major consequences to think that encouraging the practice is a good idea.

 

Putting basic controls in place removes temptation. Minimizing parents' signing off for their own sons is such a control. We are all human and vulnerable to temptation to fudge things from time to time.