Troop Policy??

[LongHaul]

Looking through some old posts, I'm new to the forum,I came across something that stopped me cold. POSTED FRIDAY FEB 08, 2002 BY YARROW UNDER RE: PALMS YARROW WROTE:

"My question stems from my boy's interest in badges. He is 12 and so not really ready for an Eagle any time soon, but by the time he gets there he will have a great deal of badges. He has earned all but 2 Eagle required badges ( they must be done within the troop by policy) and many more within the troop,....."

 

No one jumped on this? Isn't it National policy that earning Eagle required badges within the troop is NOT encouraged? Isn't the concept to get the boy to approach people not currently known to him (Registered Merit Badge Counselors of course) to seek information and counsel? What would the Scoutmaster do if the boy asked for a merit badge blue card to work on the badge in question with some counselor outside the troop? Refuse to issue the card? Some things I've seen in the posts indicat that many subscribers are hot on the "you can't change the requirement" topic. How did you miss this jem?

 

 

[MomScouter]

I have never heard of such a policy. In my troop there are many Eagle badges counseled by those within our troop. If that was not the case, chances are the boys may have trouble finding counselors, as our district listings are outdated by several years!

[evmori]

As far as I know (and I could be wrong) there are no requirements as to who the merit badge counselor is other than the counselor must be registered with the BSA. Having a Troop policy that restricts a Scout to using his home Troop counselors doesn't seem right to me.

 

I am a merit badge counselor for 10 badges & I have signed off many of the Scouts in my Troop on their requirements. The one thing I won't do & don't let the other adult leaders do is sign off on merit badges for their own son.

 

Ed Mori

Scoutmaster

Troop 1

[Bob White]

Sorry to disagree Ed but the Advancement Policies and Procedures manual specifically states that qualified and registered MB counselors may counsel any scout including their own son or other relatives.

[KL Wisconsin]

Our Council has a policy of limiting a merit badge counsellor to a maximum of 7 different merit badges, no more than three of the 7 being Eagle required merit badges. I think this kind of restriction does help insure the scout is working with different counsellors as he moves up the ranks.

[Bob White]

If what you say is true then your council advancement committee has exceeded their authority as eztablished in the Advancement Committee Policies and Prodedures manual.

 

The manual actually recomments that recruiting Merit Badge counselors who are qualified to do numerous Merit Badges within a catergory is recommended. It also states that there is no limit to the number of Merit Badges a single scout is allowed to complete with the same MB counselor as long as the counselor is qualified in that area.

 

The number of of counselors a scout sees before Eagle is far less relevant than the quality of the instruction he receives. Besides it would be rare, to say the least, that any single MB counselor would be legitimately qualified to to counsel every required Merit Badge.

[jmcquillan]

LongHaul,

 

Do you have a direct link to information that would support the statement that BSA policy says that earning Eagle required merit badges within the troop is NOT encouraged? I did a quick websearch and only found a reference by the following statement:

 

"Working with a merit badge counselor gives Scouts contact with an adult with whom they might not be acquainted. This is a valuable experience. The Scouts could be shy and fearful in this new situation, so the counselor must see that the counseling session is relaxed, informal, and friendly."

 

That statement would indicate that merit badges can be earned within the troop, for the counselor may be someone in the troop that the Scout does not know. I couldn't find anything specific to encouraging Eagle required badges to be earned outside the troop. Anyone else have that information?

 

 

[sctmom]

The troop my son joined has the same "policy" as Ed. If there is anyway to avoid it, parents do not sign off on their own son. I agree this is best. It helps the boy learn to work with other adults and avoids any possible issues of "unfairness".

 

 

[Bob White]

The BSA supports the use of the troop having it's own list of registerd and qualified MB counselors. What is not encouraged is the use of the troop program for merit badge instruction, with a few exceptions.

 

The reason being is the troop meeting has other purposes. The reason for 119 merit Badges is so that each scout may choose their own path of advancement and not reach the ranks by a cookie cutter method, where all scouts in a troop have the same merit badges and MB experiences.

Troop meetings are where boys learn to lead and are introduced to skills that they will paractice and use in order to advance. it was never meant to be a merit Badge classroom.

 

This type of scouting is often seen in troops who falsely make the attainment of the Eagle Scout Rank the ultimate goal of scouting. It is not and was never meant to be.

 

The problem with group instruction is that it often leads to group testing and evaluation. The Advancement Policies states specifically that all testing is to be done on an individual basis.

 

The troop meeting should introduce a Merit badge and perhaps lead scouts through a requirement or two in a hands on activity. Then the scouts can be told that, if they are interested in continuing toward the Merit Badge, theycan see the Scoutmaster for a blue card and contact information for an approved MB counselor.

 

This entire process is found in the Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures manual, published by the BSA.

 

I hope this helps,

Bob White

[Weekender]

I think it would be much easier to have MB counselors from outside the troop if our council did a better job of keeping current lists. I don't know about the rest of you but the council I am in is terrible in this respect. Very few of the listed counselors still wish to be contacted and I'd be willing to bet there are at least a couple who have passed away and are still on our list. Now I know that some peoples response to this is "...well why don't you do something about it"...My only response to that is "I've run out of 1 hours per week and that is why we have paid people on staff" (IMO) Not a great answer, I know, but it's the honest one.

 

[jmcquillan]

"The problem with group instruction is that it often leads to group testing and evaluation. The Advancement Policies states specifically that all testing is to be done on an individual basis."

 

One wonders how this can be, in light of the standard "group" merit badge instruction associated with just about every BSA Council Summer Camp? I would agree that individual testing is best, but would also argue that individual testing at summer camps, while desirable, is not reality.

 

[Rooster7]

I agree with the troop policy (no parents as MB counselor for one's son if others are available). However, I only agree with one of the rationals presented...to encourage the boy to work with other adults (this is a good reason). If a troop employs it for the reason of "avoiding unfairness", I think it sends the wrong message. We tell a Scout he is trustworthy, then we employ a policy that says he or his parents cannot be trusted. This is a contradiction. If a particular parent proves to be untrustworthy in this regard, then we should remove the parent from the position. Otherwise we should practice what we preach.

 

[Bob White]

One wonders how this can be, in light of the standard "group" merit badge instruction associated with just about every BSA Council Summer Camp? I would agree that individual testing is best, but would also argue that individual testing at summer camps, while desirable, is not reality.

 

The lack of individual testing at your summer camp is less a comment on the valitity of the BSA merit badge methods and more a question of the quality of instruction allowed at your summer camp. Remember there are hundreds of summer camps in the country and most follow these rules without any problem. The summer camps my son has attended have been very good at following these requirements.

 

Please be carefull of setting your own advancement policies as stated in several of these posts. No unit has the authority to do that. The BSA is very specific about the primary rule of advancement which is, ALL advancement policies are set by the BSA and no unit, individual or committee can alter these rules in any way.

 

bob White

 

[AdvanceOn]

You might want to check out this link regarding merit badge counselors --

http://www.meritbadge.com/bsa/info/policy1.htm

 

The council in which my family is involved has put a limit on the number of merit badges an individual can counsel as well as the number of merit badges a scout can earn from one counselor. This is in direct opposition to the BSA policy, but that's what it says. I've put that link here as well.

 

http://trfn.clpgh.org/seneca/images/mb.pdf

[jmcquillan]

The lack of individual testing at your summer camp is less a comment on the valitity of the BSA merit badge methods and more a question of the quality of instruction allowed at your summer camp. Remember there are hundreds of summer camps in the country and most follow these rules without any problem.

 

I do not doubt that there are summer camps out there that have sufficient staffing to provide the individual attention necessary during merit badge sessions, and testing. I've seen at least 3 that would qualify. But I also know, from personal experience, having visited 27 summer camps in my years in Scouting, that the staff available is more often than not, insufficient to do justice, as defined by individual attention, to the needs of the badge. It's not just "my" summer camp.