Webelos; Book Signing . . .

[BSA223_CT]

Have had several instances of parents getting a little ahead of the group and signing requirements for the badges. My understanding from what it says in the Webelos book itself is that This should be reserved for the person who teaches that particular badge activity, not the parents.

 

Anyone have clarification? I'd rather not have a small group of boys getting badges the other don't, especially when they will all get around to them in time.

[Quixote]

The WDL or his/her assistant is supposed to sign off on requirements for webelos - the way our den did it was the parent would initial indicating they thought it was complete and the WDL would review it with the scout in question - if he didn't know what he should have known after completing the task, the parents' signatures were erased by the boy and he had to do it over again - assuming he really did his best before which was usually not the case.

[ScouterPaul]

Sender,

Quixote is correct. The book needs to be signed by the WL, Assistant or designated person. On badges such as aquanut I've accepted the signature of a swim instructor or life guard.

 

You stated that you didn't want a small group of boys getting badges the others don't. My thoughts as a Webelos Leader is that I want my Scouts to work on activities at home with their parents or at school with their teacher. I test the Scout on what he has worked on and if he meets the requirements to the satisfaction of the leadership we sign off. I had one Scout earn his Showman Badge by working with his band teacher at school who signed off on his book. The Webelos program is a transition program between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. I try to get the Scouts to start taking the initiative and work on their own.

 

Good Luck

 

Paul

[Quixote]

Another aspect is to recognize those individuals who are working hard with immediate recognition - it sets an example for the other boys to follow as well as giving positive feedback. There's nothing wrong with a boy taking the initiative - as ScouterPaul points out, your job is really to help transition them from cubs to scouts.

[scoutmom]

Here's another situation....

 

Let's say, hypothetically, there is a large Webelos Den (say 13 boys) and instead of splitting it up, the Den has 3 Leaders. All the Leaders have son's in the Den. One of the Leaders' sons has received (not necessarily earned) many more activity pins than the rest of the den. At one Pack meeting when this boy received 6 activity pins, he turns to his mother and says "How did I get all these?" Some of his Den mates recognize that he gets pins no one else has gotten and are feeling resentful and question the validity of his "earning" them. How would a pack, parent, fellow Den member handle that one? Any ideas?

[Quixote]

I would suggest that dad's not be the authorizing signature - that one of the other den leaders sign for the boy, but there's nothing against the den leader dad signing off.

 

My son even now can't remember how he got Citizen even though he went over it in his den, went to see a trial and meet with a municipal judge and met both the mayor and the governor as well as raising and lowering the flag at school for a week as well as other items I don't remember. Kid's don't readily remember hard work, they only remember the REALLY fun things like going to baseball games, etc.

 

 

[evmori]

I agree with Quixote. Since this den has three WL, I would have one of the other leaders be the one who signs off on the pin. Similar situations will come probably come up if this dad becomes a Boy Scout leader.

 

Ed Mori

Scoutmaster

Troop 1

[Mrs H]

If a boy brings a book signed by his parent or even brings a notebook or other documentation of an achievement, one of the leaders sits down and discusses the activity with the boy. This is not a test but provides an opportunity for the boy to exhibit a basic knoweldge of what the activity was. (Some ambitious parents sign books when the boys have no idea what the requirement was. In this case we ask them to go home and review the information so that they can tell us later).