Are Scouts receiving merit badges that are not earned?

[brettw777]

Hi everyone. This is my first post to this site. I am really concerned about the troop we are in. After one year of my son being in this troop, I am starting to see why there are so many Eagle Scouts in it. For the boys aged 15-17, over half of them are already Eagle Scouts. At this last court of honor, my son was handed 4 merit badges and he only finished the requirements on one of them! He was shocked and so were we. It seems that these camp counselors (from summer camp) who are all teenagers just sign off on blue cards without the boy even coming close to finishing the requirements and the Scoutmasters do not even question it. In other cases, the Scoutmasters are completely aware of the unfinished requirements and handing out the merit badges anyway. They cut corners on the 1st class orienteering requirement doing it in the parking lot of the church instead of the full mile requirement.

 

First and foremost, a merit badge is only a piece of cloth. It is meaningless unless the boy KNOWS the material. By knowing it, I don't mean he temporarily memorized it long enough to get signed off on the blue card with or without completing the full requirement. He should be able to know it a year later. Second, every Scoutmaster or merit badge counselor should not be giving away any merit badge or signing any blue card unless he questions the boy and finds out exactly what he did to complete the assignment. Imagine a boy getting a first aid merit badge that he does not remember how he got and finding himself in an emergency situation where someone needs first aid. One boy recently got a Wilderness Survival badge after he built his own survival shelter and he did not even spend the night in it (a requirement)! He was even around other boys doing the same thing and still slept in his tent but got the merit badge anyway. Again, over half of our older boys are already Eagle Scouts. Does that sound suspicious?

 

My question to all of you is this: Are you noticing the same thing in your troop? Have you asked your son (or yourself if you are a scout) if there are merit badges on your shirt that you really have not earned or learned it so quickly that you forgot most of it? Please ask your sons this. Ask him if he knows of other boys who have been awarded merit badges that they really did not earn. I want to find out how rampant this problem really is. Thank you.

[King Ding Dong]

You have a lot of valid concerns. The problem is rampant especially in summer camps. You need to realize that the SM has absolutely no control over the merit badge process. None. He can appeal to a scouts honor but that is it. He can report the problem to the district advancement chair, sounds like that is not going to happen. You can also report the problem. Will anything come of it ? Maybe, probably not. At least you have 15-17 year olds in your troop. The chorus will chime in here shortly, with GO FIND A NEW TROOP. Good luck.

[DuctTape]

I still haven't figured out how 15 year olds can BE merit badge counselors at camp. Is there some small print codicil which permits other scouts to be merit badge counselors at summer camps?

[boomerscout]

15 year olds can be mb counselor-helpers. If they talk a good game, their sign-offs are probably accepted by time-pressed adults. For other adults, who don't know how to plan & lead -- something that is easier said than done -- it's a numbers game to make themselves look good and thereby salvage their pride.

 

So, you really have two problems. One is with a poor summer camp; the other is with troop leadership. Your son can redo the merit badges with different counselors away from camp

 

[brettw777]

The problem with finishing up the merit badges with different counselors is finding a merit badge counselor. As you know, there is no database of merit badge counselors on any website that I know of and a local man who is high up in scouts told me it is a continuing problem finding the counselors. Whenever we ask about a particular merit badge counselor to our Scout leaders, we get the "we'll look in to that and get back to you." Nothing.

[moosetracker]

Each council / District does merit badge councilor processing differently.. Some will put it on a web site.. Our district tried it, and had all those on the advancement committee up in arms.. Due to the fact some people do not want their name & contact info on the internet, but also because sometimes it is a parent not a scout that is looking up the MBC and making the phone call.. They like the list in the hands of someone in the troop, and the troop to come up with a good system of how to control assigning MBC's to scouts.. So your son can as the Scoutmaster about what your troops process is. It is best for him not to do all his MB's at summer camp and meritbadge work days.. Those will be the ones he will need to learn how to contact the MBC himself and organize a workable schedule for both them (and probably you as you will need to drive him to it) or find another scout buddy with a parent who will drive..

 

Other then that, although the Summer camp seems to have been way to lenient. You sound like you might be thinking to strictly on the meritbadge process.. The MBC should follow the MB requirements exactly not adding or removing from them.. It is not a requirement for them to KNOW something so well that they remember it for over a year.. If the requirement is to do an experiment, once done it's done.. If the scout can not recreate the experiment the next day, then he can't.. He doesn't need to redo the experiment over & over until it is committed to memory. never to be forgotten ever again..

 

[Brewmeister]

Not a new problem and not unique to your troop. Ultimately you can only control what you can control and trying to do otherwise will drive you nuts.

 

What is your son doing with the badges that aren't completely earned? Ask him what he thinks he should do, if anything, and use it as an opportunity for growth.

[Twocubdad]

I don't buy that SMs don't have any control over the MB process. Bunk. If I knew a camp (or any other) MB counselor were cutting corners that wide, a) I'd be climbing the camp program director's clock and , b) we would not award the badge. I know that's not BSA policy, but sue me.

 

If things are as bad as your OP makes it sound, it's because the leaders in your son's unit are complicit in allowing it to happen at this scale.

 

I would do two things. First, I'd talk to your son. This is an opportunity for a life lesson the value of actually earning things. Here's your chance to guide him to do the right thing. Ideally, he may decide to return the badges to the Scoutmaster and explain to him how/why he didn't earn them. I would mark if up as a win if your son doesn't want to make a big deal, decides to keep the badges but complete the work to the best of his ability.

 

In either event, you need to close the loop with the troop leadership and have conversation with them about standards (advancement and otherwise) and the lessons they are teaching the scouts. The mission of the BSA is to teach young people to make ethical decisions by applying the Scout Oath and Law. Doesn't sound as if your troop is doing a very good job of that. If the leaders aren't horrified to learn of the state of their advancement program AND don't make immediate changes to fix things, then change troops.

[qwazse]

Our troop will not countenance any glossing over of requirements. Boys come home with partials. We're fine with that. Cloudy all week? Nobody earns Astronomy. Too much lightning? Nobody earns Lifesaving.

[brettw777]

I don't buy that SMs don't have any control over the MB process. Bunk. If I knew a camp (or any other) MB counselor were cutting corners that wide, a) I'd be climbing the camp program director's clock and , b) we would not award the badge. I know that's not BSA policy, but sue me.

 

If things are as bad as your OP makes it sound, it's because the leaders in your son's unit are complicit in allowing it to happen at this scale.

 

I would do two things. First, I'd talk to your son. This is an opportunity for a life lesson the value of actually earning things. Here's your chance to guide him to do the right thing. Ideally, he may decide to return the badges to the Scoutmaster and explain to him how/why he didn't earn them. I would mark if up as a win if your son doesn't want to make a big deal, decides to keep the badges but complete the work to the best of his ability.

 

In either event, you need to close the loop with the troop leadership and have conversation with them about standards (advancement and otherwise) and the lessons they are teaching the scouts. The mission of the BSA is to teach young people to make ethical decisions by applying the Scout Oath and Law. Doesn't sound as if your troop is doing a very good job of that. If the leaders aren't horrified to learn of the state of their advancement program AND don't make immediate changes to fix things, then change troops.

Twocubdad, to answer your question, here is what my 13 year old son wants to do. He will not put on the merit badges until we as his parents feel that he has completed the requirements. I am very proud that he feels this way. The problem is that for some of these merit badges, I would not know how to make sure he does complete the requirements without spending a chunk of money on, for example, equipment to build an electricity model, something he should have gotten done at the last merit badge class for that. That was an instructor at Clemson University who was not a teenager and he still did not work on what was supposed to be the boy's hands on participation. I thought each boy was to be questioned about his knowledge of the subject matter and answer accurately before any counselor signed him off on the blue cards but that is clearly not happening. They just attend the class and get signed off. I know the leadership is aware of at least some of this due to the ridiculously high number of Eagle scouts in our troop. Some boys have so many merit badges, they are putting them on the backs of their sashes. My son may do what you suggest and give them back and state that he will would like to get them when he deserves them. The only problem is that I have already contacted the District Commissioner who is going to come to our next meeting to look into the books and merit badge advancements and talk to the leadership. He has agreed to keep me anonymous so I won't be labeled as the "troublemaker" but if my son gives back his merit badges, they will likely know I am the culprit. If nothing is done, I am not sure we will stay in Scouts but might still use the merit badge books for personal learning. I just have no desire to look for a 4th Troop.

 

Moosetracker, I cannot imagine why, if there were an online database of merit badge counselors, they would not even want their email addresses revealed. That makes no sense to me. If a MBC does not want to be contacted, what is the point of him being a MBC?

[brettw777]

Our troop will not countenance any glossing over of requirements. Boys come home with partials. We're fine with that. Cloudy all week? Nobody earns Astronomy. Too much lightning? Nobody earns Lifesaving.

 

I think that is the way it ought to be. It is about ethics.

[ScoutNut]

Moosetracker, I cannot imagine why, if there were an online database of merit badge counselors, they would not even want their email addresses revealed. That makes no sense to me. If a MBC does not want to be contacted, what is the point of him being a MBC?

So, I take it that if you were a merit badge counselor you would have no problem with putting your email address out there for the ENTIRE WORLD to see, and send junk mail and/or porn to?

 

Merit badge counselors CAN be contacted. It is up to the District/Council Advancement Committee to keep a list of current counselors. Some will publish it openly on their District/Council website. Some have a "locked" space on the website that only folks with the correct code can access. Some only have hard copies that can only be gotten from the Council offices by the unit leader (Scoutmaster).

 

I suggest you contact the Advancement Chair for your District (or Council of the DAC does not help) and ask for names of counselors for the incorrectly completed summer camp merit badges. I would explain the reason behind your request as well. Better yet, because they might be leery about giving that information to a parent (not knowing if the parent is trying to pull something shady or not), and because it really is not the parents who should be looking for, and contacting counselors, have your SON, the Scout, contact his District Advancement Chair with the request, and explanation.

 

Just a note - Nowhere, in any merit badge, is there a requirement that the Scout MEMORIZE the material in the merit badge so that he can spit it out verbatim a year later. That is not how it works.

 

BSA requires the Scout to complete the merit badge requirements - AS WRITTEN. NO MORE - NO LESS.

 

[moosetracker]

I don't buy that SMs don't have any control over the MB process. Bunk. If I knew a camp (or any other) MB counselor were cutting corners that wide, a) I'd be climbing the camp program director's clock and , b) we would not award the badge. I know that's not BSA policy, but sue me.

 

If things are as bad as your OP makes it sound, it's because the leaders in your son's unit are complicit in allowing it to happen at this scale.

 

I would do two things. First, I'd talk to your son. This is an opportunity for a life lesson the value of actually earning things. Here's your chance to guide him to do the right thing. Ideally, he may decide to return the badges to the Scoutmaster and explain to him how/why he didn't earn them. I would mark if up as a win if your son doesn't want to make a big deal, decides to keep the badges but complete the work to the best of his ability.

 

In either event, you need to close the loop with the troop leadership and have conversation with them about standards (advancement and otherwise) and the lessons they are teaching the scouts. The mission of the BSA is to teach young people to make ethical decisions by applying the Scout Oath and Law. Doesn't sound as if your troop is doing a very good job of that. If the leaders aren't horrified to learn of the state of their advancement program AND don't make immediate changes to fix things, then change troops.

They don't mind being contacted by scouts, they don't want their info on the internet to be pulled by those outside of scouting.. I know we had a state trooper in our troop who was assigned to the motorcycle gangs in the state.. He didn't want his contact info on a website. Also as ScoutNut stated, people fear the fact there are people out there trolling and fishing for your contact info to either send junk mail or for other purposes..

 

I think though the main reason the Advancement group didn't want the info out there was so that parents couldn't organize and plan out their sons merit badge schedule, or usurp the troops routine on how to the scoutmaster, advancement person and scout come to an agreement on the right MBC for the scout.. Some MBC's the SM does not want working with any of their scouts, so why allow the scout the ability to pick from a list of all MBC's to have the SM tell him that he can't work with the MBC he picked, had already called, and had set something up with the MBC.. Now, you are asking the scout to recall the MBC and cancel..

[RememberSchiff]

Well brettw777 time to get involved and make sure scouts are not short changed. First start small as the model MBC. Set expectations, in writing, up front with scouts and their PARENTS.

 

My name is Bret Maverick, you have asked me to be your MBC for nnnn and here is what we will be doing and what I expect from you. Define your availability. Set class size. Summarize classes and state there will be 3,4,6 meetings to meet the merit badge requirements. You will not accept partials from summer camp, merit badge universities as you need to be sure the scout has actually done the work. Make it clear this is your class not the SM or Council, don't like it, then seek another MBC.

Scouts

1. Read the merit badge pamphlet

2. Arrive on time, in uniform with merit badge pamphlet

3. No prior work accepted, clock starts at first class.

4. This is a hands-on brain-on lab, not a sit on yer butt tune-out class.

5. parents can attend, but not interfere

6. Give me your best work because that is what I am giving you.

...

Fail to do the above and I will provide a partial merit badge card as a parting gift.

Succeed and you EARN Merit Badge nnnn

Welcome to Merit Badge nnnn.

 

The hardest part is dealing with parents whose expectations have been lowered by Council merit badge camps, District merit badge colleges, and yes Cub Scouts. To them, paying $ and attending guarantees a merit badge. Expect parents and scouts to find and promote these quick and easy paths. This is where you need a SM with a pair to say NO. Hey another volunteer opportunity. Don't get discouraged if your class is just your son and his buddy.

 

Step 2: Ask like minded adults to help you with your merit badge classes and hopefully plant a seed that they become merit badge counselors too.

 

My $0.02,

[Basementdweller]

You have a lot of valid concerns. The problem is rampant especially in summer camps. You need to realize that the SM has absolutely no control over the merit badge process. None. He can appeal to a scouts honor but that is it. He can report the problem to the district advancement chair, sounds like that is not going to happen. You can also report the problem. Will anything come of it ? Maybe, probably not. At least you have 15-17 year olds in your troop. The chorus will chime in here shortly, with GO FIND A NEW TROOP. Good luck.

Sure the scoutmaster has some control...

 

Don't go to summer camps with poor councilors and when the feedback form comes out let the Camp staff know how you feel........

 

Do not recommend councilors who are the giveme guys.

 

I have a federal court judge who does the citizenship badges......While the summer camp offers it as well.......A pretty poor job of it I might add. who are my guys going to see????? Since becoming SM I have told all of them no Citizenships at summer camp.