Merit Badge Program Implementation

[Venividi]

From another thread: Should skills competence be addressed by the SM during the MB process? Of course it should. That's where the SM's role as gatekeeper comes into play. But I'm pretty jaded after five years of seeing history repeat itself. I simply don't trust most SMs to do their jobs. If that means beefing up the pre-reqs, I'm all for it.

 

I wouldn't go as far as to say that most SM's cant be trusted to do their jobs, but with all of the things that a SM is responsible for (training leaders, working with scouts, dealing with parents, etc.) consider where the MB program falls on the priority list. There is the recommended way, and the way that gets implemented when other things take priority.

 

I have seen more frequiently where scouts do all their MB's at summer camp and "MB Universities". I have issue with the trend. I like summer camp for swimming, canoeing, and other outdoor badges, but think that we have misplaced objectives when First Aid, Citizenship in the xxx, etc. are taken at summer camp or MB university. I realize that they are offered because there is a demand for them, and that SM's approve scouts to take them at these events because they are offered and it is easy. It is a circle that appears hard to break.

 

 

[hendrickms24]

As the Scoutmaster of my son's troop, I don't check to see if the scout has skills competence for his MB. The reason is that's the MB councilors job.

The other reason is I have no I idea what skills competence is for Animal Science MB, Farm Mechanics MB, Pulp and Paper MB, Aviation MB etc. So for the merit badges I do know things about do I then have a right to drill each scout for skills competence that received them? NO! Its my job as a SM to make sure Mommy and Daddy is not doing all the merit badges with Johnny. I am as contol the blue cards and allow each new scout to work on one merit badge at a time for the first couple of badges. If the scout wants to do more then one at time I will let him if he is attending a summer camp or other MB event.

 

Mark M.

 

[Eagledad]

>>Should skills competence be addressed by the SM during the MB process? Of course it should. That's where the SM's role as gatekeeper comes into play.

[evmori]

The Scout could be taking the MB to learn the skills.

[Twocubdad]

When you're talking about individual skills, in the real world I don't think there's a great distinction between the T-2-1 requirements and the merit badges. Our troop teaches T-2-1 first aid and the merit badge at the same time. If you sit through the sessions and learn enough to pass the T-2-1 requirements, you get them signed off. If you learned you learn enough for the MB, you earn that. Even at summer camp, the first day of first aid merit badge is reviewing the T-2-1 requirements.

 

Swimming MB is a little different. Say I have a Scout who is a rather marginal swimmer and cannot float on his back for love nor money. He rates as a beginner on the swim test. Would I recommend him for swimming MB? Depending on the counselor, probably. I know any decent swimming instructor can teach anyone the back float in about 10 minutes. I may even let a complete non-swimmer "work on" the merit badge one-on-one with the counselor as a means of learning to swim. Again, it depends on the counselor. When do the swimming lessons end and the merit badge begin? Hard to say. On the other hand, I certainly would not let the same non-swimmer sign up for Swimming MB at summer camp with 30 boys in a class.

 

Bottom line is that the learning process may be separate from advancement. As long as the boys are learning first aid or swimming or anything else, the rest is just paperwork.

 

It is a little more cut and dried when you're taking about more advance merit badges and pre-requsites like canoeing and kayaking. If happen to know that canoeing or kayaking is a prerequisite to whitewater AND I know that Scout A doesn't have it, then yes, I'll tell the scout he's not eligible for whitewater. On the other hand, if I miss it, it shouldn't be a big deal for the counselor to catch it either.

 

[ghermanno]

Eagledad,

 

I will not go into depth as this has been discussed previously in-depth. The MBC is volunteering his/her time to train/assist boys to earn the specific MB that they have training in.

 

The SM is responsible for NOT wasting thier time with boys that have no chance/time/ability to complete the MB. The SM is the "gatekeeper" in the aspects that (s)he needs to sign the blue card prior to the boy contacting the MBC.

 

If the scout is wasting the MBC's time, the gate has allready been passed and the MBC will be inclined not to volunteer again.

 

My $0.02 as a former DAC/MBC Trainer

 

Respectfully,

 

Rick

[Twocubdad]

Bull.

 

If a counselor doesn't have enough interest in working with a Scout to help him meet the technical pre-requisites of a merit badge, he or she doesn't need to be a counselor. A boy shows up at your door because he wants to learn first aid, and you sent him away because he doesn't remember the difference between heat stroke and heat exhaustion, you just saw the last Scout from my troop.

 

Per the other discussions we've had ad nauseaum, I do agree that the Scoutmaster has a gatekeeper function in the merit badge program, but that should serve the boys' interest.

[ghermanno]

Twocubdad,

 

We agree about who the gatekeeper is. I just believe (s)he should serve BOTH interest and yes, the boy comes first.

 

But, if a boy shows up at my door to learn "First Aid" and doesn't have a blue card, yes, I will send him back to his SM.

 

YiS,

 

Rick

 

 

[evmori]

The SM is responsible for NOT wasting thier time with boys that have no chance/time/ability to complete the MB. The SM is the "gatekeeper" in the aspects that (s)he needs to sign the blue card prior to the boy contacting the MBC.

 

This is a sad comment. If a boy gets a partial, he gets a partial. No one's time is wasted! If you really feel this way, you are in the wrong program.

[ghermanno]

Ev,

 

I have allways stated that partials were fine. I am talking about a boy showing up once and scheduling but not showing up again type. Wasting a persons time is not someone trying. It is someone NOT trying.

 

I am not sure how you got partial as wasting time but I never said that partials were wasting anyones time.

 

YiS,

 

Rick

[Gary_Miller]

The purpose of the MB program is for a scout to learn something.

 

The only job the SM has in the MB program is to give the youth a signed blue card with the name of a qualified counselor. Its not to make sure the boy has the skills to earn the badge.

 

Its the counselors responsibility to make sure the scout has the skills needed to complete the badge. This is done though the scout learning the subject under the watchful eye of the experienced counselors directions and teaching.

 

Its the boys responsibility to do whats required to earn the MB. This is usually done by learning whats needed and then doing it.

[eagle90]

With 55 scouts in the troop, there is no way on God's Green Earth I would have the time to make sure the scouts are competent for every blue card I pass out. That is the counselor's job. And if he isn't competent, that is when the counselor does just that, counsels the boy on what he can do to improve and what needs to get done so he can show competency in the subject matter, sets some goals, and schedules a second appointment.

 

Dale

[Beavah]

Yah, all things in balance, eh?

 

A lad shouldn't need to have the skills down before he goes to see the counselor.

 

At the same time, the lad should have the maturity etc. to be successful if he works with the counselor. Sitting still for da discussions of International Law that are part of Citizenship in the world might not be da right fit for an ADHD 11 year old, eh? Shotgun might not be right for a weak 60-lb. lad with confidence issues.

 

Those are the sorts of cases where a Scoutmaster should act like a Scoutmaster, and steer the lad toward success rather than disappointment.

 

I think da other spot where the SM needs to be thoughtful is when the MB is taught in a "class" type environment in a fixed timeframe. Yah, that's not what any of us old-timers like. Yah, that's not what da MB program should really be. But it's a reality out there, eh?

 

In that case, the SM also needs to be helpful to the counselor and the other boys in the class, and only send boys who are really prepared to be successful at the badge under those conditions. If yeh send a boy who isn't ready, or mature enough, then all you're doin' is disrupting the class for the counselor and the other boys. Much as we might wish that every counselor is superman and can accommodate every boy's needs equally in limited time and space, that ain't reality either. And again, it sets the lad up for a bad experience.

 

Balance and common sense.

 

Beavah

 

[shortridge]

Very interesting perspectives. As the person who penned the original lines that Venividi quoted, let me explain a few things.

 

First, I write primarily from the perspective of a summer camp MB counselor, working in an environment in which time and resources are compressed into far too small a period of space and time. I could rant about the problems with the summer camp MB system for ages, but I won't waste your time here.

 

Second, I agree that it's the MBC's job to counsel the Scout on skills. Where I disagree with some of you is in the expectation that the MBC is solely responsible for the Scout's learning those skills. In my opinion, the Scout should show both a basic level of competence and simple initiative in learning about the subject before showing up to meet with the MBC for the first time. And the SM should make sure that is the case.

 

Before someone takes my words out of context - I'm not saying that a Scout needs to meet with a Cooking MB instructor only after having previously crafted gourmet meals at his troops campouts. What I am saying is that a Scout needs to be able to be comfortable with simple kitchen utensils and the concept of boiling before taking Cooking. He needs to be at ease in the water before taking Swimming. He shouldn't be afraid of the dark and be taking Wilderness Survival. He should know the basic knots and not require several hours' worth of refresher instruction before he signs up for Pioneering.

 

Far too often, I have encountered Scouts who show up at a class without even having read the merit badge pamphlet or relevant sections in the BSH, let alone done anything above that to show the slightest interest in the topic - let alone again demonstrate any aptitude for the underlying skills.

 

Especially in a summer camp MB session, when the MBC has just five or six hours at most to put a class of Scouts through their paces, it *is* a waste of the counselor's time - and disrespectful to boot - to have a brand-new Scout with no experience sign up for advanced merit badges. Perhaps most importantly, it's discouraging to the Scout! If he can't keep pace with his comrades, he loses faith in himself and becomes disinterested in Scouting.

 

If your troop is too large for you to talk with each Scout every time they start work on a merit badge, I say - really? You cant take five minutes and chat with your PLs - who presumably know your Scouts the best - to see whether Jimmy might be better off taking Swimming before Canoeing? You cant have a two-minute conversation with the Scout about why he wants to take Farm Mechanics, what kind of a background he has in the topic, and what he hopes to learn from it? I have a hard time understanding that.

 

A large part of the problem with the situation as I see it are the expectations that attach to a summer camp merit badge program. A Scoutmaster reasonably expects that the Scouts sent off to a class five days a week will finish up the badge by the end. Except that's only in a best-case scenario, and far too often I've had to deal with the worst-case scenarios. When the instructor has to spend two days reviewing basic knots for a third of the Pioneering MB class, it's utterly unreasonable to expect that group to be able to master ropemaking, whipping and fusing, lashings and a project in the three remaining days. It can't be done. And that hurts both the group and the individuals.

 

Those of you who say it's the MBC's responsibility to make sure the Scouts have proper skills competence: What would you say to a summer camp counselor who sent a Scout back to you on the first day of summer camp because there's no chance, without extensive one-on-one work, that the Scout will be able to earn Pioneering by the end of the week? What would your response be?

 

I have long been an advocate of a non-MB-centered summer camp program, where Scouts can show up at different areas to learn specific skills, not on a planned program to check off every requirement for a certain badge. That would be a heck of a lot more fun for everyone involved.

[evmori]

Ev,

 

I have allways stated that partials were fine. I am talking about a boy showing up once and scheduling but not showing up again type. Wasting a persons time is not someone trying. It is someone NOT trying.

 

I am not sure how you got partial as wasting time but I never said that partials were wasting anyones time.

 

YiS,

 

Rick

 

Still a sad comment, in my opinion.

 

Ed