New Merit Badges

[sctmom]

Dedicated Dad,

My point in bringing up quilting was only an example of that some real men do sew and still maintain their manly ways. But boys do need to learn a few things about sewing, some may want to pursue it more outside of scouts and should not be made fun of if they do. I agree that having a sewing badge would not go over well in our society, and most boys don't have the patience for it.

 

The Barbie Doll Maintenance really didn't deserve a response. Girl Scouts don't even talk about such. They do talk about dolls as hobbies, including fixing them up to give to less fortunate children. Girl Scouts spend a lot of helping Girls find their talents and teaching them to stand up for themselves and be proud of being a Girl. They also discuss how to get along with boys.

Many Girl Scout troops are very active in outdoors in camping, hiking, conservation, and sports.

 

Even on similiar badges, Girls and Boys have a different way of earning them because Girls and Boys learn differently. It's whole different approach. I have Webelos Den, I know they can't sit still and listen for 3 minutes..lol. They are constant motion, as they should be as 10 year old boys. They have to have their hands busy, so if I don't give them something they will find something to do! I worry about the few boys I have seen that don't want to get dirty, find bugs, go outside, or shoot rockets & catapults.

 

 

[Dedicated Dad]

I think etiquette classes run jointly with girls would be the most effective way to do this. Thoughts? I think this would be the wonderful. And dont give up on the cotillion, I did it and my sons doing it currently and loves it. I see no problem with polite supervised female interaction with the intent of educating for the social graces. Courteous should be expanded to merit badge standing.

 

 

[Dedicated Dad]

What is it with my Edit Message feature, I cant get it to work? It seems as complicated as that insidious machine in our kitchen that you put plates and silverware in and when you turn it on it makes a humming sound like hmmmmm, Ill never figure that one out either. I see OGE use his edit feature all the time and mine keeps saying not a valid account, what am I doing wrong? And yet Im always left with one too many articles or the absence there of and dangling modifiers galore.

[OldGreyEagle]

Dad, you do need to put in your username and password, and even them sometimes it doesnt work anyway. Besides, using the edit feature just broadcasts the fact I cant type, as if you couldnt tell

[yarrow]

Too bad some folks feel they have to worry about feminizing boys or masculizing girls. I have worked with Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and found by in large the boys like the same activities that the girls like and vice versa. The Girl Scout and Boy Scout programs are designed a little differently but for the most part the men participating in our troop with our boy youth are wonderful men and appreciate all the opportunities that teach a boy something useful. Life management skills would fall in that category.

[KoreaScouter]

An etiquette merit badge? I don't mean to be contrary, but it seems to me that many of the social skills you're referring to are simply a byproduct and consequence of upbringing. Are we being surrogate parents? I'm grateful for the engineer who taught my son the finer points of surveying for his merit badge, because I certainly wouldn't have been able to. But, I can and should teach him manners (and we have, by the way).

 

With all the activities competing for our Scouts' time, shouldn't we spend the scarce Scouting time on outings and activities they can't do at home?

 

Perhaps we're blessed being overseas in the military; our kids don't need ethnic and cultural diversity or tolerance shoved down their throats -- they live it every day. My kids' school classrooms, troops, soccer teams, and playgroud gatherings all look like Benetton ads. It's all they've ever known, and it's perfectly normal to them.

 

With over 120 badges, is there any Scout who can't find 10 electives he'd be interested in earning? Do we need more badges, or can we make some of the existing ones more relevant? I agree with other writers who argue that the Swimming badge is geared more toward competition than survival, that Personal Management is more financial than personal. How about Auto Mechanics requiring an explanation of the difference between bias-belted and radial-belted tires -- when's the last time anyone bought a bias-belted tire?

 

One man's opinion: if an etiquette merit badge were approved today, and it wasn't Eagle-required, it would be very undersubscribed (and what the heck would the thing look like? An upraised pinky?)

[andrews]

> An upraised pinky?

 

With a teacup in hand!

 

Brad

[scamp]

This thread is a great idea. New merit badges are best initiated from us, Scouters in the field working with the boys. A leader in our council, who happens to be an avid hunter and outdoorsman, is submitting a Hunting merit badge to national, which should be happening very soon. He has some great ideas and has worked closely with the council advancement committee. Even though I personally do like hunting, I think his merit badge has a lot of, well, merit, and it will be embraced by many.

 

ScoutMom, I think your idea of a social graces-type merit badge is great! I, too, tried to initiate the idea of a troop meeting focused on good table manners and etiquette, but didn't get very far. I'm glad to see others are doing it. Our local paper recently ran an article about a college level business class being exposed to the same thing -- how to conduct yourself in an up-scale restaurant, at a meeting, etc.

 

I like to call these things "life skills." How to write a check, how to cook a meal, how to iron a shirt or sew on a button. Let's face it, mom isn't always going to be around to do it. How to treat a girl, how to meet new people and make small talk at a party, these are the things our boys need to know to succeed after high school. Unfortunately, many of them don't seem to be getting this instruction in the home anymore. A psychologist whose name has just escaped me, recenty published a book about "life skills" in different social classes (i.e., income levels). She believes that the reason many people have difficulty getting off welfare is that basically, the business world is "middle-class" and some people just don't have the social skills necessary to succeed in that world (but they may have good survival skills for their world). If you are interested in her work, I will look it up.

 

Anyway, thanks for listening. Great merit badge ideas: Competitive Swimming, Gourmet Cooking, Life Skills, Hunting, what else? Let's make sure we take the steps to make our ideas known to the "powers that be."

[sctmom]

KoreaScouter, Your children are lucky to be taught manners at home. Not all of scouting is for the children of the involved parents, but for the boys whose parents don't teach them these skills. Maybe the parents were never taught life skills or maybe they don't see the importance of learning them in order to work in the factory for the rest of your live.

 

By the way, I just spoke with someone who is ex-military, who said that every sailor must know how to sew on a button and sew on a patch because it's hard to find a tailor when you are sea.

 

I know the younger scouts won't care, but tell the older ones how many females they will impress and they will be all ears to find out what you are talking about. They will impress girls they date and the parents of those dates. After discussing hunting with the dad, they can discuss the finer points of cooking with mom.

 

[le Voyageur]

Good topic...

 

Here's my thinking

 

Consolidate:

 

Coin and Stamp Collection badges into the more general Collecting Badge.

 

American Heritage and Indian Lore into a Living History merit badge

 

Bring back the following: Stalking

 

Restructure the following

 

Cycling: open it up more so that scouts can explore the many different genres of this sport...for example, BMX, Single Track, Downhill, Adventure Cycling, Touring, Commuting, Road and Velodrome racing to name a few....

 

Climbing: an option for alpine climbing would be nice for older scouts who would want to experience a higher level of challenge. The badge needs to add anchor and pully systems into the requirements.

 

Change the following:

 

Orienteering to Path Finding, adding a Land Navigation option (GPS, UTM co-ordinate system, etc.)into the requirements.

 

For a new merit badge I would like to see...

 

Wilderness Rescue -introduces the older scout (14+) to the fundlementals of back country rescue work. Since this would also include basic river rescue, the scout would need Swimming, Lifesaving as well as the First Aid merit badge.

 

 

 

[FScouter]

There are a number of comments here regarding the subject of manners and etiquette.

[buffalo2]

Nice to see a bit of serious interest to this thread...

Would like to see a map-making component attached to Orienteering MB.

Search and Rescue would be pretty cool as well

And we're missing a bet if we don't pay some attention to upgrading some of the Technology series! Are you ready for Robotics?

Might there be interest in breaking out the Engineering MB a bit?

Or maybe consider adding some optional tracks ie, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil; trying to stay somewhat generic and engage an interest rather than just add requirements?

[ASM1]

You people have too much time on your hands. And sctmom, why did you buy your son a PINK Easy Bake Oven? please don't tell the rest of his troop.

 

We have American Heritage, how about Ammerican Culture, or American politics? It seems the youth of today has not clue who our fore fathers were, and the political system they put in place for all of us today. American Heritage only touches on these and stays the course of American History.

 

Our politcal system today is complex and our scouts our future leaders. They need the foundation to know thier jobs when they mature.

 

Just a thought. And my 14 year old son make an awesome standing rib rost for our Christmas feast last year and didn't care which side the forks went on. It was fantastic.

 

ASM1

[scomman]

I think the computer merit badge needs to be seriously looked at and redone. Their also should be more requirements on installing hardware in it.