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Scout Master as Merit badge counselor


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Not at all. It is fairly common. The only rules are that you cannot teach more than 5 MBs to the same scout. You can teach the MB to multiple scouts at the same time, but they must be evaluated individually. You are even allowed to be a counselor for your own son (although I try to avoid that, personally)

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Welcome to the Forums.

 

There is no reason a SM cannot be a MB counselor, especially if he/she has a unique skillset.

 

That said, if it's one of the Eagle-required or common MBs, I'd advocate finding more volunteers in your unit/District and giving them a chance to counsel.

 

For Frank17: The number of MBs which a Counselor may do is a limitation set by local Councils, not by Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures #33088!!!

 

Remember, MBs support both the Advancment and Adult Association methods of Boy Scouting.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

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Oops. To correct part of my answer myself, current BSA policy is:

 

"There is no limit on the number of merit badges that a counselor may counsel with one Scout. However, the Scout will benefit the most from working with a variety of outstanding adults. "

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Thanks for the quick responses. The reason this topic came up is we have a merit badge seminar coming up that is offered to many troops in the area and I will be offering a few merit badges. As Scoutmaster one of our troop committee members informed me of a "new rule" that SM's can't teach MB's to members of their own troop. This was going to make the seminar a bit of a pain considering there may be some of my scouts who would like to take my MB's. I just called my local council and left a message in order to get some feedback. I was never provided a write up of any rule, but the idea is causing a bit of a headache, so I'm now checking the validity of it. We have many MB counselors and it has never been a habit as SM to teach them except on occasion. Is it possible for a local council to create its own rules in this regard?

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I do not think that any council would have the leeway to set new requirements on which boys a MBC may counsel. There is no such national rule and I suspect the person who told you this was a "new rule" was blowing smoke for some reason.

 

There might, however, be a good underlying reason that this person thinks you shouldn't be a MBC at this upcoming event. Among the reasons could be that the person believes you really are not well qualified to counsel the badge(s) in question, that the troop has been trying to encourage boys to go outside the boundaries of the troop for merit badges so as to strengthen the adult association aspect of the program, or that they think you as SM already have too much on your plate and just aren't good at saying "no" to things.

 

I hope you don't take offense at any of those above scenarios. Not knowing you, they may or may NOT apply. And in any case, if those are the underlying issues then the person in question would do better to just talk with you about it. But I have seen all three of those situations occur among various troops, so they'd be my best guesses as to why someone would tell you that.

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No offense taken. This issue came up before the seminar was even scheduled. The previous SM, who is moving on to Venture Crew was told the same thing, as he is going to be teaching some MB's at the seminar as well. It seems now, that it may just be erroneous information.

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Ah yes, the ol' "rule" trick, wherein all rumors must be accepted as "fact" unless one can prove otherwise. How about the latest rule, direct from "national" that a Scoutmaster can fire committee members he doesn't like? Look it up.

 

Though the "rule" is a bunch of hooey, the objective may be sound. Scoutmasters do best Scoutmastering, not MB counseling. Leave merit badges to those that are expert in their field. And might I suggest to blow off the district MB seminar giveaways, and summer camp freebies too.

 

Frank

 

 

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The only rule is that you are not qualified to be a Merit Badge Counselor simply because you are a SM.

 

Have you sent in a Merit Badge Counselor Application to your council, along with an Adult Volunteer Application with the position code listed as 42 - Merit Badge Counselor?

 

If you are a registered Merit Badge Counselor, then you can counsel any youth, even those in your Troop, on any of the merit badges you are registered for.

 

If you are NOT a registered Merit Badge Counselor, than you can not teach ANY merit badges, ANYWHERE, to ANYONE.

 

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If you are NOT a registered Merit Badge Counselor, than you can not teach ANY merit badges, ANYWHERE, to ANYONE.

 

I have to disagee with this.

 

You do not have to be a Merit Badge Counselor to teach a Merit Badge.

 

A registered Merit Badge Counselor must sign that a Scout completed the MB.

 

At most Scout summer camps staffers teach MB's all the time without being a registed MBC.

The Blue card (or whatever you use) is signed by the MBC (usually the program Area director) when a Scout finishes the MB.

 

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