Merit Badge Advancement at Summer Camp

[Stosh]

Plenty of opportunities at our camp for older ladies and gentlemen. Some work the entire summer, some for just a session or two. We have roughly 50 or so positions reservation wide for the "commissioner staff." They might work in a trading post, or provide additional adult supervision in one of many program areas. They typically do not teach much, that is left to the 15-18 year olds on the staff for the most part. The full-timers usually have a cabin to bunk in.  The folks who come down for session work stay in their own tent village.

Although I'm not retired, 11 years ago, I served a session as a commissioner for one of the outpost programs. The main attraction for that outpost was shooting black-powder rifles. I actually learned a bit, and it was one of the most fun times I've had in Scouting as an adult. And, as a bonus, the food the staff cooked for the supper-time outpost operation was far, far better than what was served in the dining hall. 

 

The teaching staff is the 15-18 year olds?  Isn't that why the camp MB programs are so poorly run and BSA requires MB counselors to be over 18?

 

The older I get the more I conclude that the only value of a BSA summer camp is a place to camp.  At $250+ that's an expensive campsite.

[TAHAWK]

The teaching staff is the 15-18 year olds?  Isn't that why the camp MB programs are so poorly run and BSA requires MB counselors to be over 18?

 

The older I get the more I conclude that the only value of a BSA summer camp is a place to camp.  At $250+ that's an expensive campsite.

The problems I have observed are: 1) the "teachers" don't know all that much about the subject; and 2) there is no time to actually have the candidates pass the requirements.  It's a lose, lose system at many camps.

[Stosh]

@@TAHAWK

 

Awww c'mon, it isn't that bad,  I had one boy who was in the Swimming MB, only got Beginner on the swim test.  Yet when he went to the instructional swim/Swimming MB, he came out of the class with a Blue Card indicating he had only 3 more requirements to get the MB.  Not bad for a kid that can't pass the swim test.

 

And as I mentioned earlier, the entire camp not getting a complete on the Indian Lore MB is a travesty.

 

Every boy in the class did not complete #1 and #4h  then read the requirement for #4  DO ONE of the following.  I guess that one of the week was #4h. 

 

They were given no pre-requirement to do certain things prior to the class and no resources were available in camp to complete it.

 

After looking at the requirements, I'm surprised as to what the class was up to for the whole week.  Some heavy duty requirements there but somehow the boys got somethings done.

Indian Lore merit badge requirements  

1. Give the history of one American Indian tribe, group or nation that lives or has lived near you. Visit it, if possible. Tell about traditional dwellings, way of life, tribal government, religious beliefs, family and clan relationships, language, clothing styles, arts and crafts, food preparation, means of getting around, games, customs in warfare, where members of the group now live, and how they live.
2. Do TWO of the following. Focus on a specific group or tribe. a. Make an item of clothing worn by members of the tribe. b. Make and decorate three items used by the tribe, as approved by your counselor. c. Make an authentic model of a dwelling used by any Indian tribe, group, or nation. d. Visit a museum to see Indian artifacts. Discuss them with your counselor. Identify at least 10artifacts by tribe or nation, their shape, size, and use.
3. Do ONE of the following: a. Learn three games played by a group or tribe. Teach and lead one game with a Scout group. b. Learn and show how a tribe traditionally cooked or prepared food. Make three food items. c. Give a demonstration showing how a specific Indian group traditionally hunted, fished, or trapped.
4. Do ONE of the following: a. Write or briefly describe how life would have been different for the European settlers if there had been no native Americans to meet them when they came to this continent. b. Sing two songs in an Indian language. Explain their meaning. c. Learn in an Indian language at least 25 common terms and their meanings. d. Show 25 signs in Indian sign language. Include those that will help you ask for water, for food, and where the path or road leads. e. Learn an Indian story of up to 300 words (or several shorter stories adding up to no more than 300 words). Tell the story or stories at a Scout gathering or campfire. f. Write or tell about eight things adopted by others from American Indians. g. Learn 25 Indian place names. Tell their origins and meanings. h. Name five well-known American Indian leaders, either from the past or people of today. Give their tribes or nations. Describe what they did or do now that makes them notable. i. Learn about the Iroquois Confederacy, including how and why it was formed. Tell about its governing system. Describe some of the similarities and differences between the governments of the United States and of the Six Nations (the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy).

 

 

The more I look into these kinds of things, the more tempted I am to challenge every Eagle Scout's requirement fulfillment.  I would bet good money, most are not truly earned in the spirit of BSA honesty and advancement expectations.

 

Noticed the little padlock in the requirements and it's there because: 

 

"

This article reflects an official policy of MeritBadgeDotOrg and is protected by an administrative lock. If you wish to edit this article, please discuss your ideas for proposed changes on the talk page, first. Editing or removal of protection from this article may not occur without authorization from a bureaucrat. Thank you."

 

I think that sums it up very well.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Stosh

[John-in-KC]

Admin note:

 

Split from Retirees at Camp.

[John-in-KC]

I'm not a fan of "school" at camp.

 

Summer camp should be time to have fun, to chill, to grow.  Yes, I took a couple MBs each time I was at a resident camp (my 12th, 13th, and 14th year summers were spent on the trail on week long backpacking expeditions).  I only camped my 11th and 15th years.

 

I spent lots of time at the range, lots of time at the pool, but I did earn Forestry and Conservation of Natural Resources.

 

Youth teaching MBs?   Some can be done.  A 15 YO HS varsity swimmer?  It's time for him to learn to teach as well.  HS musicians?  They can teach fifth and sixth graders...

SIGNING OFF ON MERIT BADGES?  Read 33088.  Counselors must individually examine and sign off.  If this is not happening, then leaders need to be talking with Program Directors and Camp Directors.  More than once, on this forum, I've advocated pulling a boy out with a partial instead of letting him get a MB earned crappily, because the counseling sucked.

[Stosh]

Oops, sorry, wasn't paying attention.

 

Admin note:

 

Split from Retirees at Camp.

[Eagle94-A1]

I know oldest had some challenges, specifically he "earned" one MB but didn't do 1 requirement. He wants to really earn it, and I got him the supplies, which was suppose to be covered by the summer camp fee. Yep, more money. And after doing canoeing last weekend, I think some of the guys didn't do all of the requirements. And those that earned Chess MB didn't finish everything, but got it. That chaps my son's hide because he has not done 1 requirement, teach someone chess using E.D.G.E., everything else has been done. Hopefully he can teach some of the new Scouts in December/January as everyone knows how to play.

 

I admit I think summer camp needs to be more fun and less school. I had issues with no free swim being scheduled during the day, and no free boating at all. I rather enjoyed one Scout's solution to going swimming during the day: take Swimming MB all over again. I thought it was great, but I know some adults thought it was a waste of his time. When another one of my Scouts wanted to cancel a MB class that had lots of nighttime activities because he wanted to spend more time doing metal working and being at the forge, I had no problem.

[Stosh]

MB's used to be an option for Summer Camp.  Now they ARE summer camp.

 

When I went to summer camp 50 years ago, no one took MB classes.  But we all participated in swimming, canoeing, shooting sports, scoutcraft, cooked in-site, and did everything as a unit.

 

In the four years I was in scouts, I earned 1 MB and it wasn't earned at summer camp.

 

Seriously?  Teaching chess with the EDGE method?  All my buddies and I played chess and no one even knew what the EDGE method was.  We learned by playing the game....... Maybe that should be the BSA's mission: Learn by playing the game..... Naw, it'll never sell.

[MattR]

I'd add a qualification to this subject. MBs taught by someone that requires certification are usually done well. So, shooting, aquatics, climbing. Those are all good.

 

I talked to some counselors at the camp we went to and these folks were all good and they had a surprising number of older counselors. If they had their choice they would change things and just go do stuff. No discussions, not reports, no class room settings, none of that boring stuff. Build stuff, hike, cook, whatever, and they'd do it 4 hours at a time. This is an unusual camp but they understand. I'm not sure who's pushing the MB metric. Parents? The scouts are just resigned to it. "MBs are supposed to be boring."

[Beavah]

I'd add a qualification to this subject. MBs taught by someone that requires certification are usually done well. So, shooting, aquatics, climbing. Those are all good.

 

Yah, hmmm.... well, they're more likely to be good I suppose.  You'd be surprised.  Havin' done the camp visitation thing, yeh see a lot of different stuff.  It's mostly well intentioned, sometimes super great, sometimes limping by.  

 

BSA certification is fairly cursory in some areas, and more about procedural stuff than workin' with kids stuff.  Climbing I think is hit-or-miss in camps.  It's safe, but yeh don't normally get folks who are real climbers teachin' and lots of things are checkin' off da required number of amusement park climbs rather than really learnin' the skill set.   Shootin' sports falls into that, eh?  Lots of procedural safety, but not always great kid-friendly instruction.  Archery tends to be worse than firearms stuff in many camps.   Swimming and Lifesaving are often da best of the lot (but not boating...).  I think that's because so many youth and young adults have outside experience with swimming/lifeguarding/etc.

 

I reckon da problem is what @@Stosh describes, eh?  Summer camp used to be about campin'.  Along the way, if a few boys got to the point where they merited a badge, that was good too.   Now yeh get this school-like expectation.  Simple fact of the matter is that there are almost no badges where a good-sized group of boys can really learn and be individually tested on all da requirements in the 4-5 hours of a typical MB "class".   It just can't be done.

 

As long as MB classes are da norm and expectation, we're not goin' to be livin' up to our promise of fun and real learning for the boys.

 

Beavah

[meyerc13]

 

Archery tends to be worse than firearms stuff in many camps.

 

I'd agree with this based on my experience.  Camps are all over the board when it comes to the Archery range.  Some are excellent, but some camps do a very poor job of running their archery range.  Last summer I attended a Webelos resident camp at a camp that does one session of Webelos and one session of Cubs at the end of their Boy Scout summer camp program.  At one point I witnessed all of the range staff out looking for arrows on the range, while some Webelos were back at the firing line waiting for their next turn to shoot.  Anyone see the problem with that?

 

Well, I did.  When I was a young Boy Scout and CIT at a Cub Scout day camp, I saw this exact situation.  I was one of the range staff members out looking for arrows, along with my brother (another CIT) and some Cub Scouts.  The Counselor who ran the range decided to come out and help us.  I don't know what the parents were doing (definitely weren't paying attention to their Cubs), but one of the Cubs decided he was done waiting and let an arrow fly downrange, where we were.  Luckily, being a Cub his strength and aim weren't all that great, so the arrow came slithering by along the ground.  We were able to get him to stop before he let a second arrow fly.  Needless to say, since that incident, I'm very observant when it comes to the archery range, especially when Cub Scout age kids are involved.  Most camps do a good job of leaving someone to watch the firing line, but I had to take the counselors aside at this Webelos camp and explain to them why in the future they might not want to do what they just did.  Hopefully they took that talk to heart, because you can only get lucky so many times and eventually someone will get hurt in a situation like that.

 

Edit:  This was back before our camps used compound bows for Cub Scouts... with Compound Bows we may not have been as lucky that day.

Edited August 10, 2016 by meyerc13

[BamBam]

My son went to two camps this summer. One was a council camp with his troop and the other was a "normal" summer camp. He most definitely liked the non BSA camp better. He said that they were at the waterfront everyday for swimming and canoeing. They had water gun fights. The kids were encouraged to bring their water guns because the temps were supposed to be  90+. They did arts and crafts, archery, and had time to read, write, or play games during their free time. There were no requirements to hurry up to complete or merit badge books to go over. There was no "you can't do this because you didn't sign up for it". This was his fourth year of going to this camp and he's already talking about going to the 10 day session  for teens next summer and skipping scout camp because it wasn't as fun,

[Stosh]

And, people, this is how easy it is for BSA to totally work its way out of the market.  They are trying to compete with people on a level they just don't understand.  There's a whole lot of people who don't mind riding the bus instead of taking the limo.