Question About The New Requirements For Merit Badges

[Hunter Ledbetter]

I have a few partials that I started a while ago when the requirements were different. I want to finish them but I don't know if I need to just finish the requirements that were needed when I started taking the merit badge or if I have to do the new requirements as well. I have a lot of partials that could be finished in about 5 minutes or so (I am really bad at procrastinating) but there were some new requirements added for a few of them and I wanted to know if I had to do those ones also.

[RememberSchiff]

Welcome to scouter.com

 

First you need to find a Merit Badge Counselor for each respective partial merit badge.

 

The official answer lies here

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/guidetoadvancement/themeritbadgeprogram.aspx

 

7.0.4.3 What to Do When Requirements Change

The current annual edition of Boy Scout Requirements lists the official merit badge requirements. Once new or revised merit badge requirements appear in this publication, which is released each January, any Scout just beginning work on a merit badge must use the requirements as stated there.

If changes to merit badge requirements are introduced in a revised merit badge pamphlet after the January release of the Boy Scout Requirements book, then the Scout has until the following January 1 to decide what to do. He may continue—or begin work—using the old merit badge requirements and the old pamphlet; or he may switch to—or begin work—using the new requirements and the new pamphlet. Unless it is otherwise stated in the merit badge pamphlet, Boy Scout Requirements, or official communications from the National Council, if a Scout chooses to use the old merit badge requirements and pamphlet, he may continue using them until he has completed the badge.

There is no time limit between starting and completing a badge, although a counselor may determine so much time has passed since any effort took place that the new requirements must be used.

[qwazse]

Congratulations on having such fun scouting you want to keep at it.

Wrapping up those partials is a good idea.

How that's done is up to your counselor. So, if it is a badge you started last somewhere, the counselor may let you use the requirements that were in effect when you started. If it's been a few years and you only completed a couple of the simplest requirements, the counselor might rather you use the new requirements.

 

So, bottom line: it depends.