Cyberchip for scout rank. How to handle?

[njdrt-rdr]

Our council gave me the answer of have them do the 5th grade level and present their findings to a boy scout patrol, leader, etc since they are no longer in cubscouts. Nobody in my troop knows anything about the cyber chip yet.

[Tampa Turtle]

Yes I understand that there is a need for a Cyber Chip but the recharging requirement seems pretty lame (I have a 17 and 16 year old and have seen some pretty objectionable things in their search histories) BUT how come you can get a Fire m'n Chit and Totin Chit at 10-1/2 years and never really get that re-upped?

[Stosh]

...because the warm fuzzy feeling one gets from thinking they are properly monitoring others' behavior out-ranks the issue of safety.

[meyerc13]

I work in information security for a Fortune 25 company.  To be fair, information technology changes much more rapidly than fire building technique or proper knife/axe safety.  So I can almost understand needing to 'recharge' the Cyberchip.  That is, if they actually changed the material regularly, which I'm not sure they do.

[Stosh]

When it comes to computers and technology, I found out way back when I was a Computer MB counselor that they were majorly a day late and a dollar short.  The BSA "MB experts" were so Luddite that I quit teaching it.  Even without the MB, kids were miles ahead of the MB material.

[Krampus]

I work in information security for a Fortune 25 company.  To be fair, information technology changes much more rapidly than fire building technique or proper knife/axe safety.  So I can almost understand needing to 'recharge' the Cyberchip.  That is, if they actually changed the material regularly, which I'm not sure they do.

 

First, the "recharge" topics are pretty lame and deal only with stranger danger stuff or things like Cyberbullying, Digital ethics, Digital literacy, Inappropriate content, Online privacy, Sexting, Unwanted sexual requests.

 

If BSA really wanted to prepare the kids -- especially the older kids -- they'd talk about data security, backing up files and devices, password management, texting and driving, etc.

 

Thank goodness you only need to earn this silly award at Scout and Star.

[qwazse]

I work in information security for a Fortune 25 company.  To be fair, information technology changes much more rapidly than fire building technique or proper knife/axe safety.  So I can almost understand needing to 'recharge' the Cyberchip.  That is, if they actually changed the material regularly, which I'm not sure they do.

I dunno. It might be worth figuring out what in a smart phone has incendiary/sharps potential.

[Tampa Turtle]

This new requirement was quite mocked by boys of all ages do the 're-charging'. More scathing than the typical mockery. One Eagle called it another meeting of the 'Weekly Boy Scout Homework Society".

[El Commandante]

Grade is what governs in this case.

There is s discussion here:

http://www.meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Talk:Scout_rank#Cyber Chip and the Scout Rank