NobodyReally

For anyone interested, we have gone around to different troops this past week. Low and behold, they have all said, almost identically, "yeah, troop _____ has a reputation for being controlling and awful to their kids." These other places also work on rank and badge requirements during meetings, and actually encourage kids to work ahead if they feel motivated, so it seems like any one of them will be a much better fit for my scout. Now he just has to pick one.

I was thinking I would take the signed blue cards in to the scout shop and pick up the badges he's completed so that way we could be less burdensome to the new troop. After reading these responses, I looked in the troop master app, and it shows 2 of the 3 badges as accepted and one they haven't approved so far (oddly, the badge surrounding this recent drama has been accepted in this system for months), so I assume that ScoutNet would only show those two accepted badges. But the blue card for all 3 are already signed by the MBC and SM. I don't know if the troop is refusing to approve the

He's got the book signatures and his third of each blue card, but I was under the impression that it was the troop's portion of the blue card that let's you purchase the badge at the scout shop now. Do I have the wrong information for that? If I do have my wires crossed, what, if anything, is required to purchase the merit badges now? The organizer at one merit badge day was very apologetic for not having badges to hand out this year because the rules had changed and she said you had to show proof of completed requirements before the scout shop would sell them now. So if the scout kee

I hear you that there can be big issues with merit badges done in groups, and I can really see the potential for shenanigans. But, like I said, this was not a polite conversation from the troop about what was done or not done. This was my son getting grilled, then months later indirectly accused of fraud in front of the troop, and then ambushed and grilled again. A conversation with a heads up to bring in his work would have been totally fine in my opinion. And, the fact is that the SM approves the merit badge days and then tries to say my kid is scamming them. IF you believe a merit badge

CCHOAT, thank you, that is exactly what I was wanting to know!

Meyerc13, thank you! I often struggle to describe how being gifted is different from just getting good grades and that his brain and motivation works differently. He struggles to find a place in groups and likes to work independently and be impressive as an individual, but there's also a huge neurotic side involved in that. And that doesn't mean he's a monkey that can perform on cue if you put him on the spot. It's not the same as having a photographic memory. CNYScouter, yes, to get any blue card you have to tell the SM who the counselor is, where the merit badge day is, and what adult

And I wouldn't have minded the questioning last time if it was done in a polite way. But not only was he already questioned about that badge by the SM, but then the SM came back months later and had someone else question him again, AFTER making a speech about fraud to everyone (which implies that's what they think he did), and they gave him no heads up so he could bring in his projects and workbook to go over it all. How many scouts get grilled on everything they did or learned 3 months after completing a blue card with no notice? Do you remember everything you did at work months ago without

My scout wants to earn all 180 badges, and I know that's not possible, but I'm not going to discourage him from making the attempt and figuring it out for himself. But, my son was always in the advanced and gifted programs in school and he is bored to death with how troop meetings are run, which is mostly sitting around talking, not planning but just the boys chatting, or loading/unloading the trailor for camping. I was a boy scout for years, and we were always working on badges, rank, or planning during most of our meetings. With rank advancement, it has gone very slowly. There is rarely

My son likes going to merit badge days because our troop never works on them as a group and many of the counselors are unreliable to work with individually. We have a lot of days around here, and if our schedule is free, we will let my son pick out a badge to sign up for. We have gotten the signed blue cards, we have given the counselor's names, my scout will work on the requirements weeks or months in advance, and the troop is now giving my son a nasty attitude about getting these badges and going to the merit badge days. Every time he turns in a blue card the SM grills my son about ever