Summer camp MB counselor age requirement

In searching for something on scouting.org, I came across this statement regarding merit badge counselors that piqued my interest.

The same qualifications and rules for merit badge counselors apply to council summer camp merit badge programs. All merit badge counselors must be at least 18 years of age. Camp staff members under age 18 may assist with instruction but cannot serve in the role of the merit badge counselor.

I started teaching badges at camp on my own at age 15 (actually, 14, but don't tell anyone), signing off blue cards - the whole nine yards.

Does anyone have experience with a camp that actually follows this rule? Do most camps just ignore it? Or do they fudge it, by having the 15+ year-old instructors teach the class and the 18+ year-old area directors sign off?

At the camp I worked, Scouts taught the classes, but the particular Program Director in each section signed off any paperwork.

Any age person can teach, but the person who tests and approves the work must be 18 or older and a registerd merit badge counselor.(This message has been edited by Bob White)

jmwalston,

Did the area directors oversee the skills testing/assessment for each requirement, or did they just sign the blue cards based on what the instructor told them?

Bob White,

I read the "assist with instruction" line to mean that staff members under age 18 can't teach solo. That would be instructing, not assisting.

In my case, I spent most of the day with the instructors, but I was the Field Sports Director (now Shooting Sports). And in the case of the Rifle and Shotgun Shooting counselor, he was a Sergeant in the USMC. However, I'm sure the Aquatics Director didn't have that ability, as the camp had a pool and waterfront that were in use all sessions. The other Directors had all of their instruction in a designated area used just for those programs.

Or do they fudge it, by having the 15+ year-old instructors teach the class and the 18+ year-old area directors sign off?

Right in one.

At our summer camp, a program area director signed the blue cards, but in many cases, a much younger Scout actually led the classes (Indian Lore, Safety, Nature, etc). I thought our boys were short-changed in some of them because of the young, less-experienced class leaders (a Scout only slightly older than the attendees). It was a lot of reading from the book.

Back when I was on staff,(1980), I taught the merit badges for the scoutcraft area at camp. I was 16. I tested the scouts. When I was satisfied thet they knew their stuff, I initialed the bottom of the card. They took it to the program director, who was over 18, for his signature. As far as I know, he simply looked for my initials and signed. no retesting or review.

Prof.

I was an Ecology Director for two years while I was in college. I think a diligent director can do a good job in making sure instructors are proficient in what they must teach.

I made each instructor turn in a outline of what they would cover each day for each of their merit badge classes. I would also make them go over the requirements with me during staff week. During the summer I would take every available opportunity to observe the classes they taught to ensure quality.

One instructor I even had removed to teach at the Craft Lodge because he was not capable of teaching Ecology subjects well.

At the end of the week my staff stamped my signature on the cards.

" At our summer camp, a program area director signed the blue cards, but in many cases, a much younger Scout actually led the classes (Indian Lore, Safety, Nature, etc). I thought our boys were short-changed in some of them because of the young, less-experienced class leaders (a Scout only slightly older than the attendees). It was a lot of reading from the book. "

If you read the autobiography of Prof. E.O. Wilson, a Distinguished Eagle Scout, Distinguished Professor at Harvard, popularizer of the term 'biodiversity", 2 time Pulitzer Prize winner and listed by Time Magazine in the mid '90s as one of the 25 most influential Americans, you will learn that he says that his entire career in studies of nature, etc. started in 1944 when, at the age of 14, he was Nature Director of his Scout camp because all the men were at war. I somehow suspect that the Scouts who learned from E.O. Wilson weren't short-changed.

If the younger instructors were just reading from the book, that's one thing. However, at the age of 14-15, I was an instructor in Junior Leader Trainings, etc. I took it VERY seriously and tried to do an outstanding job. With proper motivation, training and enablement, I would imagine that many of these younger staff members would do so also.

I'd agree with you on that, NeilLup. You've got to like what you do to work at camp. Camp instructors are, for the most part, extremely highly motivated and interested in their subject, and no matter the age are good teachers. (Though I still cringe to think of the hash I made of teaching Basketry as a CIT - having never woven a basket myself.)

My original question was sparked more by trying to figure out why the rule exists in the first place, if a decent sampling of camps out there aren't following it.

If the only thing that the "official" MBC is doing is signing off on an "assistant's" work, and not personally checking that each Scout has met the requirements, then the rule isn't working - making a heck of a lot of MBs across the country technically invalid.

In our council camp, any staffer can teach a class and the director signs the cards.

While our summer camp experience was generally outstanding, I did observe this one weakness. I thought it unusual for Space Exploration to be offered at camp. But I thought maybe there was a Scouter on staff with a particular interest in this area. If that's the case, then great!

My first-time-at-summer camp son loves anything to do with Space and signed up. Turns out the "Counselor" was a 16 year old staffer with no experience in the area whatsoever. He was assigned to be the Counselor, and the Area Director signed off on the Blue Card.

I have to say the staffer did ensure that my son completed all requirements, including the pre-requisites. All was done correctly. What was lacking was for my son to have the experience of working with someone who is an expert in the field. I think that is a very import part of the Merit Badge process. Otherwise, why not just let us Scoutmasters be Universal Counselors?

It's all part of the marketing for camps to offer as many badges as possible. But I think they do a dis-service to the boy and to the program.

At our camp we have under 18 year olds teach classes (my son was among them) and the 18 year olds sign the cards. They keep the level of teaching up by giving small rewards to those who had high evaluation marks at the end of the week. Some don't approve of this method but it worked. We also had a teacher trainer come in during staff week to give a seminar on 'how to teach a merit badge class'. It helped us to find new ways to teach Citizenship in the World! We had complaints about this and that but few about the actual teaching.

I was Handicraft Director one summer and all my staff was under 18 but I was right there with them and could observe how they taught their classes. One of them did so well (he's 18 now) that he will probably be the director next summer.(This message has been edited by elfdream)

What was lacking was for my son to have the experience of working with someone who is an expert in the field.

I would presume most camps are like ours and this just isnt going to happen. Now, you may find an exceptional naturalist, leatherworker, shooter, or Scoutcrafter, etc but that won't be the norm. Most staffers are 15 to 17 year olds that have just learned the topic during staff week. The instructor may get a crash course on the topic and an outline of what to do each day, but that usually happens in the last couple days of the staff week at the same time theyre trying to get a million other things done like skits, songs, and camp preparation. My sons first year on staff he taught three merit badges he didnt even have himself. Yes, they were typically first year merit badges, and as the summer went along he became very proficient at the topics. By the end of the summer he was as close to an expert that a youth is probably going to get.

Otherwise, why not just let us Scoutmasters be Universal Counselors?

I have seen both sides of that: as a Scoutmaster of a troop in camp and as a Scoutmaster that has two or more of my Scouts working on staff the past couple years. The Scout staffers teaching the MB are learning and growing no different than instructing a skill at a troop meeting to his home troop. From the Scoutmasters point of view, we want our Scouts in the class to get the maximum experience, and we get frustrated over the instructing quality level. From the staffers side, I see boys come back from camp staff having grown incredibly. So I guess Im saying both sides are growing from the camp experience. If you go to Jambo youll see the expert professional adult teaching merit badges, which is an awesome experience - if you are going to Jambo to earn merit badges, that is.