Can a parent act as a MB counselor for their child?

[acco40]

A parent may be a MBC for their son, may give them a Scoutmaster Conference and may sign off their Boy Scout Handbook - if they are an approved MBC, Scoutmaster or approved leader.

 

Now, a wise Scoutmaster, the gatekeeper to assigning Scouts to MBCs, should take into account the parent factors, MBCs within the troop factors, MBCs outside the troop factors, etc. and make the assingment as they see fit.

[Bob White]

Oh for Pete's sake John there are just as many bad scoutmasters out there as there are bad MB counselors. The difference is the counselors are a lot easier to weed out.

 

If you think a counselor isn't doing their job communicate your reasons with the Advancement committee. It is their job to approve counselors not yours.

[BadenP]

Once again Bob you missed John's point completely, only if there are no other mb counselors available should a parent counsel their own son. I too have seen incidents where parents passed their kids through who had not even come close to completing the requirements. In one case the parent was a scoutmaster who passed his two boys all the way through Life in less than a year. The turmoil this created internally in the troop resulted in the troop folding. This is not a matter of whether it is allowed or not it is a matter of keeping to the requirements for a badge which many parents seem to turn a blind eye to when it involves their own kid. Integrity, honesty, and trustworthy seem to go out the window in many of these cases. You can't look at everything in scouting through rose colored glasses Bob, which you seem to do frequently.

[Bob White]

BadenP writes "only if there are no other mb counselors available should a parent counsel their own son."

 

That statement is not supported in ANY BSA policy or procedure or found in ANY BSA document or training.

 

It is not within your authority or responsibility to alter the advancement policies based on your person peccadillos.

 

If you believe any councelor is not doing theoir job correctly then your responsibility is limiuted to reporting them to the council advancement committee to make a determination.

 

It is not your job to approve or deny who can counsel a merit badge, and the BSa says that any approved counselor can councel ANY scout. And you cannot alter that with your personal opinion regardless of what you feel your personal experiences have been.

 

 

 

 

 

(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[BadenP]

(This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[Bob White]

(This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[evmori]

(This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[Eamonn]

From the link OGE provided

 

Fast Facts for the Merit Badge Counselor

"A merit badge counselor can counsel any Scout, including his own sonalthough this is discouraged in order to offer a Scout the chance to meet a diverse group of outstanding adults."

 

As I see it there could be reasons why a parent might be the Counselor.

On our District List of Counselors there are a few MB's that only have one name listed as being the Counselor for that MB.

While having the parent act as the MBC is not the best idea I kinda think it's better than denying the Lad the opportunity, just because no one else is able to do the job.

It is up to the Advancement Committee to approve MBC's. Surely if the committee felt that someone wasn't trustworthy they wouldn't approve him or her?

If they found out he or she wasn't trustworthy they would remove them.

Is the system perfect? Do some bad apples slip through?

I kinda think we all know the answers!

Eamonn

 

[evmori]

Well, doesn't the Scout get the MB counselor information from his SM? And the SM can give the Scout a counselor other than his parents.

[Bob White]

You would hope that an adult scout leader had better things to do with their time than manipulate kids for their own personal reasons.

 

The role of the SM with merit badges is to make sure the scout has the name and contact information of an approved and registered councselor. A parent can be an approved and registered counselor and is approved to councel their own son. If the scout wants to work with a specific approved counselor there is no reason for him not to.

 

[John-in-KC]

E said:

 

"On our District List of Counselors there are a few MB's that only have one name listed as being the Counselor for that MB."

 

That is, in my mind, the only reason on the planet a SM should allow a Scout to have his own parent be his MB Counselor.

[evmori]

If the scout wants to work with a specific approved counselor there is no reason for him not to.

 

I would agree unless you know this counselor is a "rubber stamp" counselor.

[FScouter]

If the counselor is truly a "rubber stamp" counselor, or otherwise unqualified to serve, you would be doing all boys in the district a favor by notifying the district merit badge dean of the problem so the offending counselor may be either trained or removed. It's a little selfish to circumvent bad counselors only for the benefit of the select few boys in a particular troop.

[OldGreyEagle]

Ed, is it not true that if you "know" a merit badge counselor to be a "rubber stamp" counselor and you have unequivacal proof, that the correct course of action is not to steer boys away from him, but to get him removed from the list of approved counselors?

 

So, you and the scout are perusing a list of Camping MB counselors, and the scout says, hey, look Mr Smith is a counselor, I want him to council me. And you say, well no Billy, I dont trust him, he doesnt do a really good job, and Billy says, oh, but he is my Dads best friend, bummer.

 

If you know that a MB counsleor is not doing his duties according to Hoyle, are you not required to report this? Just a thought

[evmori]

FScouter & OGE,

 

Yes I would give there name to the proper people to have them removed as MB counselors. But until I was sure that was done, I would not let a Scout use them.

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10