ENCOURAGING SCOUTS TO COMPLETE MERIT BADGE REQUIREMENTS

[jsdan 10]

Many Scouts start and finish merit badge requirements in a reasonable amount of time, others do not. Often, at summer camp, boys begin badges but return home with partial completions. Some of these partials have remained on our advancement records for more than a year. What can I do to make sure these Scouts complete the requirements?

 

[John-in-KC 311]

It's their advancement, and their responsibility.

 

If you're the Scoutmaster, you can ask a gentle question at a Scoutmaster's conference.

 

If you're sitting a Board of Review, you can ask a gentle question there.

 

 

[kenk 11]

Next time you might use fewer caps in the title.

 

My son's summer camp only keeps records for MB partials for two years, though BSA says MB req's completed have no expiration date except for 18 years of age timeout. I think they want to encourage Scouts to complete partials by the next summer.

 

That is why the troop generates blue cards with the completed requirements listed. Those won't expire (except for the 18 years of age thing).

 

I don't think its a troop's responsibility to encourage Scouts to complete MB reqs. It might be different if you're the Scout's parents though.

[Hal_Crawford 15]

A few weeks ago our SM handed me my son's partial for Waterskiing MB. My son is 22. Admittedly, his only opportunity to waterski was at camp and in two years there was one skill that he just could not master. He had a good time trying though.

 

Hal

[SMT224 10]

For Scout who return from summer camp with partials, we do two things:

 

1 - Finish with a Troop MB Counselor

 

2 - Send him back to camp with his partials and one of the MB Class time slots open for finishing partials.

 

Were not going to do it for him, but will enable him to finish up any accumulated partials. Most of the time this works fine, and in a year of two the MB is complete. We've had several Scouts over the years with partials in fishing because they didn't catch that last fish. But eventually they get it if they keep at it. We had several Scouts come back from camp this year with partials in climbing as it rained the last day of camp and they could not do the repelling off the climbing tower. They'll be back next year! This weekend we're taking a five mile hike

 

We have had a few Scouts who goof off at camp, end up with lots of partials, and then not finishing any of them despite the opportunities we provide. You can lead a horse to water...

[evmori 11]

John-in-KC beat me to the punch!

 

It's the Scouts merit badge. It's up to them to complete it.

[shortridge 184]

Often all it takes is that gentle question that John suggested. In teaching scoutcraft badges for five years, the partials that I most often saw were Scouts who couldn't get the hang of splices or missed the Wilderness Survival overnight for some reason. Those can be intimidating things to do "on your own," especially as a younger Scout, and sometimes it really does take a bit of prodding to get them moving.

[dewASM 10]

My understanding of the purpose of the merit badge system is that it allows Scouts to be exposed to different subject areas. It might even lead to a new hobby or profession.

 

So the possibility exists that after getting some exposure to the topic the Scout simply decides he is not interested enough to put in the effort to complete the merit badge. I have one scout who took climbing at camp but did not complete the badge. He simply was afraid to climb. I don't think he will ever complete the badge. However, I don't see this as a wasted effort. He learned some skills and gained some knowledge even if he didn't want to do the actual climb.

 

I think all we can do is make sure they have the resources to complete the badge. But then we have to accept their decision to finish or not.

 

dew