Citizenship in the Nation, 2005 revision, requirement 2

[John-in-KC 311]

Friends,

 

Am seeking input from fellow counselors for Citizenship in the Nation. I'm revising my own materials to support my counseling.

 

Requirement 2 is the "Go and do" requirement. You can read it in BSA requirements, at usscouts, or at meritbadge.com if you've not updated recently. It's the OLD requirement 4, but with TWO activities, not one.

 

Here's my question. Using no more, no less as the standard, how do YOU interpret the options offered in 2a-2c?

 

- In other words, would you accept a Scout (in my case in the KC metro area) who does 2b twice by visiting the Kansas Capitol in Topeka and the Missouri Capitol in Jeff City. In your judgment, has the Scout answered the mail (assuming the discussions happen)?

 

- Ditto your thoughts on 2d (can a Scout research two different National Monuments to answer the mail for requirement 2)?

 

FWIW, in my area I have several Federal installations (Harry S Truman Presidentail Library in Independence, Fort Leavenworth NMT 90 minutes away for 90% of Scouts in my Council, and several spots on the National Register of Historic Places). Dwight D Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum is 2 hours away, Fort Riley is 90 minutes.

 

I appreciate your considered thoughts in advance Thank you all

[oldsm 10]

In my opinion, I believe that a scout needs to complete some combination of sub-requirements a, b, c, and d:

 

a + b

a + c

a + d

b + c

b + d

c + d

 

Pick one combination.

 

Each of the sub-requirements (a, b, c, d) must be fulfilled on its own merits.

 

Visiting two state capitols does not satisfy the requirement. For one things, 2B says "visit YOUR state capitol" (emphasis mine). No one (I think) has dual state citizenship, so visiting two state capitols (trying to do requirment 2b twice) does not satisfy the requirement of doing TWO. Similarly, if you live in Maryland and want to visit both the state capitol in Annapolis and the nearby US capitol in Washington DC, you can do so, but that does not "count double" for the requirement, although there's nothing wrong with a scout going beyond the requirement if he wants to.

 

In the same vein, requirement 2d says to research a (single) monument. Doing it twice does not satisfy the main requirement of 2. Likewise for 2c.

 

If the state capitol happens to be on the National Register of Historic Places, I would count the visit for EITHER 2a OR 2b, but not both.

 

I believe that the intent of the entire main requirement 2 is to help boys learn more about the breadth of meaning behind this thing we call US citizenship. Trying to repeat sub-requirements seems to me a bit like cheating on the requirement, which too many people are becoming adept at doing in life (adults as well as youth).

 

I would not accept the scenario you describe toward the CIN merit badge. I do tend to spell it out when I first begin this badge with a boy and his buddy. It all falls into the spirit of the merit badge as well as personal honor in knowing that you have fully met the challenges of the merit badge.

[evmori 11]

For #2, it could be one place for the two the Scout choses, but that place will have to meet the requirement for each. In other words, a historic landmark isn't necessarily a federal facility and a federal facility isn't necessarily a national monument.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[Hunt 11]

My position would be that the Scout has to visit two different places, and the visits must satisfy the criteria of two different subrequirements. There are sites that would satisfy two of them, though, and I guess I would allow this. If a scout visited the State Capitol, I suppose I would allow him to count a visit to the U.S. Capitol as a federal facility--the requirements for reporting are a little bit different. I have found that scouts will usually respond appropriately if I tell them that satisfying a requirement in a particular way would be allowable but would be "cheesy," or that it would be "better" to do it a different way. (For example, for Music requirement 4, I suggest that the scouts write a short piece of music rather than cataloguing a collection of 12 CDs--which I think is "cheesy." I wouldn't refuse to sign it off, though.)