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melissalb:

Somehow when you registered this forum tied your account to my e-mail address. Now every time someone posts in this thread I get an e-mail saying "Hello melissalb, so and so has responded to a thread you are subscribed to..."

Could you please check your account info and put your e-mail address so I don't get your e-mails?

Thanks,

Mark

Apparently a new member signed up with a user ID of: melissalb

I don't know why, but my e-mail address has been tied to her account and everytime someone posts in a thread she's been in I get an e-mail notification. I really would like this to stop. Who do I need to e-mail that can take care of this?

Thanks,

Mark

This thread is kind of like watching an Episode of American Chopper... people arguing due to boredom and/or ego.

Let me ask for clarification, because this was an issue that delayed a scout from reaching 1st Class for a couple of months...

when this scout had completed all the other First Class requirements he had attended 6 separate troop activites AND 5 campouts. The Scoutmaster believed that only 3 of those 5 campouts could count as troop activities since the requirement says, "three of which included camping out." So this scout was stuck at 9 troop activities during a two month period where the troop didn't have any other non-camping special activities.

It is/was my belief that the "three of which included camping out" is a minimum requirement, and as such any additional camping activities should also count.

Do you guys only count 3 campouts or do you allow additional campouts to count towards the 10 activities?

PS... Please don't flame me or question my character/integrity (Beavah)... I am simply asking for clarification.

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As our troop's "merit badge coordinator" it has been my job to try and recruit as many qualified counselors as possible for the badges where we didn't have someone in the district. The SM defers to me to help the boys find a merit badge counselor. Because my son has worked on a lot of merit badges I have been able to meet with these counselors and I have a good idea who to send the boys to and who is difficult to schedule.

I encourage all of you to get as involved as you can with the merit badge counselors. Anytime I meet someone with a unique skill set that would be great for a counselor I tell them all about the particular merit badge and try and get them excited about the prospect of scouts learning something about what they do. Once you get them excited and talking about something they have a passion for, then it's much easier to get them to sign up to be a counselor.

There is an 85-year-old man at our church (CO) who loves sailing, but is too old to go out by himself any more. He donated his sailboat to our troop. He wasn't able to be the counselor for SMALL BOAT SAILING, but he happily agreed to teach me how to sail. Once he got me up to speed I was able to become the MB counselor. This worked out great for everybody.

Some merit badges are logistically difficult without outside resources... Horsemanship, motorboating, climbing, shooting, etc. These are great badges to work on at summer camp. However, I have worked very hard this past year to come up with a counselor/plan for these badges so that going to camp wasn't a limitation. One thing we did was get a local stable owner to become a Horsemanship merit badge counselor. Likewise, you could get a scuba shop owner to become a counselor for Scuba Diving. When I approach these people, I let them know that being a merit badge counselor can be a new revenue stream (albeit small) for the future. It helps their business and it helps the Scouts earn a badge they might otherwise have to do at camp or miss out on.

Anyway, these are some of the things I've done and my thoughts on building a better merit badge program in a troop.

My son is 13, a Star Scout, and has earned 42 merit badges so far. He is also making a run at earning all merit badges. Probably 2/3 of his counselors are in-town, but not necessarily in-troop. One thing I've noticed is that some of the merit badge counselors my son has called haven't worked with anybody in years. I get the impression that most troops are using in-troop counselors and some of these older counselors are no longer used.

The YPT requirement for MB Counselors is fixing to cause our District MB counselor list to get cut in half.

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I got the e-mail with these requirements from our District today. In bold letters they indicated that the YPT requirement also applies to MERIT BADGE COUNSELORS. If this is the case, I think it will be difficult recruiting new MB counselors that aren't already involved in Scouts some way. We'll see.

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There has been a minor change effective January 1, 2010. It doesn't actually affect anything, but the nomenclature is different. For Star, Requirement 6e has changed... It now reads 1, 7a, and 7b (outoor skills) and NO LONGER includes 7c (requirements a & b were combined, and c was changed to b). Anyhoo...

While a Star Scout, use the EDGE method to teach a younger Scout the skills from ONE of the following six choices, so that he is prepared to pass those requirements to his unit leader's satisfaction.

Second Class - 7a and 7c (first aid)

Second Class - 1a (outdoor skills)

Second Class - 3c, 3d, 3e, and 3f (cooking/camping)

First Class - 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d (first aid)

First Class - 1, 7a, and 7b (outdoor skills)

First Class - 4a, 4b, and 4d (cooking/camping)

I've discovered that my feelings on advancement are different from many of the people here. However, I think it's good to have a plan... one that is flexible and can be modified based on changing tastes and circumstances.

My son read an article about a scout who earned ALL of the available merit badges. Now my son wants to earn at least 100. We sat down and talked about what he would need to do to make that happen. Then we made a plan. We looked at the requirements for all the merit badges and divided them into categories... badges to work on at camp, badges to work on during the summer (personal fitness, personal management, family life), badges that he needed to save money for, etc. Then he listed the first 50 badges he wanted to work on in an order that made sense based on what was needed for each badge. He started this plan at the first of March. At that time he had 4 merit badges. Since then, he has earned 14 more. He has them lined up 1-50 in the order he wants to work on them. When he finishes one, he goes onto the next one. When he reaches 50 he'll re-evaluate and create his list for 51-100. My only BIG input into his plan was where to place Eagle required badges so that he would have the badges he needs at the right time to advance in rank.

The interesting thing is when he tells non-scouter types about this they think it's great. The scouter types all scream, "that's horrible, no scout should to that, that's not what scouting's about!" Well, why not? Isn't Scouting about learning new things? How many new things would you learn if you successfully completed 100 merit badges?

HE HAS MY FULL PERMISSION to take a break any time he wants to. We agreed that if if stops being fun, then he'll lay off. No big deal.

I don't agree, however, that you should NEVER push a scout. Some people in general are just not self-starters, but will happily do things you ask them to do. Every person is different, so thinking about the future and making a plan can definitely help someone get headed in the right direction.

A lot of the conversation in this thread is discussing "when did the scouts join, who are the scouts, are you related to the scouts..." None of these are requirements for advancing in rank. I am a "by the rules" kind of guy (my father is a judge). If the rules say a Scout may advance after completing XYZ requirements, then I believe it is contrary to the BSA guidelines to make it harder to advance.

A scout would not be in a position to advance to Star if he had not already demonstrated proficiency in camping, first aid, basic swimming, etc.

All three of the scouts in question have a minimum of 18 nights campout experience. Two of them have over 20. Our troop is VERY active in scouting activities, just poor in the execution of Board of Reviews.

I had an hour long talk with the CC last night and he has agreed that BORs should be handled by the Advancement Chair. That will be announced at the meeting Monday night. I've talked to the Advancement Chair and she believes BORs should be handled on an "as-needed" basis. I am thrilled with this outcome as I believe it conforms to BSA Guidelines and is fair to Scouts who want to advance.

Keep in mind that not every Scout cares about advancing. I have a mother upset with me right now because I arranged for her two sons to cook on a campout this weekend to meet the requirements for their Camping merit badge they are taking at Summer Camp. For whatever reason, she's upset that her kids are being "forced" to cook. Whatever. If my legacy in this troop is making it possible for kids to advance who actually want to, then I'm okay with that.

Vicki:

I totally agree with your stance on "artificial hurdles"

Monday night there is an "all adults" meeting to clear the air. The advancement chair and I both agree that it should be her call as to scheduling BORs and we will push to make it that way. She's said she doesn't have a problem with having two other committee members over to her house to do a Board of Review if one is needed outside of normal meetings. That's the kind of adult commitment that I was looking for.

Having a new Scoutmaster and new CC in one year is hard. Too many personalities all trying to exert themselves at once.

"What is your position in the Troop, as a registered Scouter?"

I am an Assistant Scoutmaster, registered and trained. I will be attending Wood Badge this Fall.

One of the interesting things about Scouting is the wide difference of opinions. I am of the opinion that Scouts should be allowed to advance as quickly as possible. I realize not everybody feels that way and some of those reasons may be valid. I will say that my son has earned 15 merit badges already and is definitely a go-getter.

Thanks everybody for the information. I agree it is simply not worth the risk of losing an Eagle badge over trying to get the BOR done a few hours early. The fathers of the other two scouts talked to me today and they are also upset, but it is what it is.

There are 3 boys all in this same situation, one of whom is my son, yes.

"What's the Rush?"

Two answers...

1.) He's already waited four months to advance, how long do you think he should have to wait?

2.) This is the Centennial Anniversary of Scouts. If you haven't been made aware, the rank insignias this year are unique... they say Star Scout 2010, Life Scout 2010, etc. The Scout in question really likes these badges and wants to earn them. In order to earn the Life 2010 badge, he has to be Star 6 months. Well if he doesn't make STAR by June 15, the likelihood of him getting a LIFE Board of Review between December 15 & New Years is remote. Our troop generally takes off for Christmas.

The Scout in question has made absolutely no demands on anyone. He has simply requested a Board of Review as he is supposed to do. To assume he is being unreasonable or not Star material is ignorant of the facts. Adults on an internet forum really should't make assumptions about Scouts they've never met.

Let me ask another question... who is responsible for scheduling the Board of Review? It seems to me this should be the job of the Advancement Chair. If the advancement chair can call two other committee members and ask them to show up for a BOR, it's a done deal, right?

In our troop, the Committee Chair is scheduling BOR's by full committee vote. That just seems overly complicated to me. BSA mandates that Board of Reviews will be held, so a committee can't vote not to not have them.

If I were in charge of Advancement, I'd try and pull together a Board of Review whenever a Scout needs one. It's honestly not that hard to get three people in a room together. I have never been more frustrated in my life than I have been trying to get adult leaders to put their pettiness aside and help out a bunch of kids.

In our troop we have a Scout eligible to become Star on May 25th. He has completed ALL the requirements for Star except the 4 month commitment. We have a regular meeting where a Board of Review can be held on May 24th. Is it legal to have the Board of Review on the 24th, and then advance the scout to Star on the 25th?

Our troop committee believes that it is impermissible to have the Board of Review until ALL requirements have been met, including the 4 month requirement. I am looking for a definitive answer yay or nay, and any supporting information from BSA that I can point to our Committee chairman to confirm or contradict his ruling.

It wouldn't be an issue except that there won't be another board of review for 3 months and I hate to see this scout have to wait 7 months to reach Star.

I've tried to very objectively look at my involvement in all of this to see if I am the problem. I don't think that I am... I am simply trying to promote that the troop/committee abide by BSA rules, help scouts with their goals, and get out of their way.

This year our troop has a new Committee Chair, New Scoutmaster, and mostly new committee members. There has been a mad scramble by many of the adult leaders to try and get things done "their way." Four of these parents came from another troop that they couldn't get along with. It's apparently a pattern for them. One of these parents has two sons in our troop who have advanced VERY slowly. She has said privately to other parents that she doesn't think it's fair for other boys to advance before her sons because they've been in the troop longer. This is the same lady who said in committee that she thinks my son is advancing too fast. I've always believed you're not really paranoid if you can prove they're out to get you ;-) My concern now is that even when my son gets his BOR, this lady will be on the board and vote against my son out of pettiness.

I have also heard the argument in this thread and by parents in my troop that I must be pushing my son, and this is my goal. That is simply not the case. My son read online where one Scout in NY earned every merit badge and told me he wanted to be the second. I asked him what his plan was for doing that. He laid out how he wanted to earn merit badges and I told him I would help him anyway I can.

The thing that is frustrating is that people make assumptions about motivation who have never talked to my son. None of the adults in the troop have asked my son what his goals in scouting are and what does he want to achieve. About 2 minutes of conversation could save tens of tens of e-mails back and forth and sniping behind closed doors.

The reason I asked about the committee meetings being open is because I saw where people were talking about others without having the correct information. A Scout is Trustworthy, so making stuff up in committee is a failure by the adult leadership to live up to the Scout Law.

There's not any question I'm being the Papa Bear protecting my cub here. My son is having trouble getting the committee to schedule his Board of Review to advance to Star. I've talked to enough of the other adult leaders to know that there is some animosity because my son is advancing as quickly as possible while the other scouts are not. This is because there is a fundamental difference in philosophy in the troop...

The committee chair tells all the parents when their scout enters the troop that if the scout will earn 4 merit badges at summer camp and 3 merit badges at merit badge college, that their son can be Eagle in 3 years without having to spend a lot of time working on merit badges. I don't really like that plan and my son has chosen to work on merit badges on his own (as I feel Baden Powell intended). The Committee Chair and the SM both seem to think it's cool when a big group of Scouts all advance at the same time... they think it looks cool at the Court of Honor. My personal feeling is that it makes an individual achievement look like a group reward.

Anyway, I'm just venting. I try and do everything I can to help the boys achieve their goals, not the other way around.

Thanks for your input everybody. I have it on good authority that the CC was trying to prevent one particular problem parent from attending the meeting and raising issues from the past. If he had told me that instead of the arrogant response he made I would have completely understood.

My concern is that my son was singled out for discussion in that meeting. In the past 3 months my son has earned 9 merit badges. Of those 9 badges, I was the counselor for two of them, Photography and Cinematography. In both cases, I am the only registered counselor in our immediate area. I ran a television station for 8 years and I am currently a professional photographer... My son will tell you that he got more than he bargained for taking those two merit badges, as I made sure he knew the material front to back and back to front. There is a mother on our committee who's sons have been in scouts for over 2 years and have only earned 5 merit badges each, all from summer camp and merit badge college. No one will tell me exactly what she said, but she at least brought up the question of the legitimacy of my son earning those badges. So, in knee-jerk response, the committee passed these "rules"

1.) No parent can counsel their son for a merit badge unless it is in a group situation.

2.) A merit badge counselor may counsel no more than 7 merit badges.

These "rules" are in direct violation of the merit badge counselor guidelines in the Advancement Committee Guide Policies and Procedures (No. 33088).

My son has worked really hard as his goal is to earn 100 merit badges before he's 18 (he's 13 now). He may or may not actually do that, but at least he has a goal and a plan. The parents of the "slacker scouts" are standing in his way and it is frustrating to say the least. He's a First Class Scout who will be eligible for Star in 2 weeks, but the committee is not in any hurry to schedule a board of review for my son, nor the other two scouts who are also ready to advance.

As an assistant scoutmaster, I have been an advocate for the scouts when their requests to the SM and CC are ignored. This has made me unpopular with the SM and CC who I feel are too busy with their real life jobs to make time for Scoutmaster Conferences and Board of Reviews. I've been labeled a "pushy parent."

I am an ASM in my son's troop. As an adult leader, I am not on the troop committee, however all parents and adult leaders have been invited to committee meetings in the past. The last meeting, however, was held with no notice to anyone but committee members. I found out that at that meeting some items were discussed of which I am the only member in the troop with actual knowledge of those issues. I asked the committee chair why parents and adult leaders weren't invited to the meeting and his response was,

"I am not aware that I am required to invite all of the uniformed leaders, if you can find a requirement in BSA policy for that, feel free to quote it."

So my question to the members of this forum is: Is there any official BSA policy as to whether or not committee meetings have to be open to anyone other than registered adults on the committee?

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