How Many Belt Loops?

[MsAntelope 10]

How does your pack handle belt loops and how many does an average boy earn in one year?

 

Our Pack has not previously paid for nor encouraged belt loops. Our new leadership has decided to include this in our current advancement and awards program, but we have had a few parents deliver VERY long lists of 'earned' loops to their den leaders.

 

Should we pay for 10- 15 belt loops for a cub in a single year? Granted, we will only pay once in his Cub career for the award. Or should their be some type of limit?

 

 

[SSScout 1624]

Beltloops are fun and the Cubs love to wear these pieces of mini armor.

Let me point out a few things I noticed as a CM and as a CS Day Camp person:

 

1) The Pack should try to utilize BLs as a means to bring the Cubs together. Earn'em together. Play the team sports as a group. Take the boys skating, bowling, frisbeeing, etc.

 

2) Go to the Day Camp! Automatic BLs! And about the only place to earn some of them (archery for one, map and compass?.)

 

3) Don't dissuade the parents from helping their boy in the pursuit of the BL, but encourage them to include the other Cubs in the Den. It is a VERY good thing to have JohnnyCub pass the requirements for something before another adult besides their parent.

 

4) Nose around and find some "experts" that might help your Cubs pursue the more esoteric BLs (astronomy, chess, science, etc)

 

5) Organize a District "Cub Activity Day" and do the BL thing. We had one that included Geography, Ultimate Frisbee, Marbles, Chess, (and more I don't remember) and some other neat things like Neckerchief Slide making, Den Flag Making, and some really loud cheering!And a new patch!

 

6) And check the general requirements... You'll find that the Cub may earn the same BL more than once. Not unusual to earn the Archery BL each summer at the CSDC! Most packs I know do limit it to once a year, and the Cub is expected to show some improvement, yes?

 

7) Of course the awarding of BLs should be included in the Packs budget. BLs are an award the Cub can earn! But it should be understood that the BL is earned AT THE TIME, not because Johnny Cub did it last year on the family vacation, say. But again, if the family said Johnny Cub earned the BL, perhaps they can lend their expertise to let other Cubs earn it!

 

8) I've known some Cubs that pursue BLs like some BS pursue MBs. They end up wearing a seperate belt with the BLs on it! Whoa!

 

 

KiS MiF!! YiS...fromwaybackwhen

 

 

 

[Lisabob 13]

The beltloops are a great way to get a boy (and family) excited about scouting and to expose him to new activities and ideas too. The boys also tend to be very proud of their accomplishments!

 

For that reason, as a pack we always encouraged the boys to earn them. However, they can get expensive if you have some over achiever types who want to earn them all (40 in total I believe).

 

Here are a couple of approaches to paying for them:

1) Make it clear to parents and boys that they need to do their part to support your fundraisers because the fundraising $ pays for the awards.

 

2) Raise your pack dues.

 

3) Charge den dues.

 

4) As a pack, decide that you will pay for ONE beltloop but not multiple copies of the loop for each boy. If they re-earn them or lose them and want additional copies, great, but mom & dad need to buy those.

 

5) Rather than setting a hard and fast limit, if things are getting out of hand, try gently re-directing a boy toward some other activities. Maybe they are burning through the loops because they like trying new things - great, get them started on some other new achievement (or electives in the Tiger/Wolf/Bear books). Maybe they like the constant attention at pack meetings - great, get them involved in the pack meeting in some additional ways - demonstrating skill, doing skits, leading songs, etc..

 

Finally, consider the extent to which this is really a problem. I was the advancement chair for our pack for several years and at times people - the treasurer - worried about this. But in reality, there were only a few boys who went overboard. Only one family seemed to be abusing the pack budget and came in week after week with long lists of loops "earned." In that case we asked the Den Leaders to clarify for all of their families what the requirements were, and to guide families toward setting reasonable expectation levels (in terms of "do your best" rather than "do it fastest") and that cut down on the excess a little bit too. And by the time the guys get into 4th/5th grade the appeal of the belt loops seems to wear off a bit too. Then they're focused more on webelos activity pins!

[DanKroh 11]

Our pack is very big on beltloops. The boys really love getting them, and love showing off a belt full of them.

 

That said, our pack does pay for each actual beltloop only once, although the boys can earn them more than once. Some of them, it's almost guaranteed they will earn more than once, since they may do the same sport every year, or have to earn some of them again as Webelos as part of the Webelos activity pins.

 

But I agree that if you have a boy who is earning the same beltloop over and over again, it is time to encourage them to do a little more and earn the pin.

[Oak Tree 15]

We do encourage and pay for belt loops. We'll only award each belt loop once in a boy's career. An average boy in our pack probably graduates with around 20 or so, although it varies a lot from boy to boy and den to den. Some dens get into it more than others. We've had a few really long lists show up for presentation at a given pack meeting, and sometimes we'll double-check with the parent to make sure they understand the requirements correctly, but we'll go ahead and award them. We've had a couple boys earn all 40, but most boys go through a big spurt at some point during their wolf or bear year, and then have diminished interest in the belt loops once they become Webelos.

 

Oak Tree

[MsAntelope 10]

Thanks for all the input!

 

I have felt we were on the right path, but did not want to open a can of worms! We do participate in an annual Sport-o-ree,but recently had one parent give a lenghthy list to the den leader (with the DL's encouragement) after being registered less than one month. Our committee felt a little uncomfortable with the situation and left it to the CM to deal with, but we wanted a little insight from those of you with experience!

 

We will give out belt loops, pay once-recognize multiples, and question the parents if the list seems a bit out of season, etc!

[ScoutNut 147]

"one parent give a lenghthy list to the den leader (with the DL's encouragement) after being registered less than one month."

 

If the boy was registered less than a month, I would bet that most of the stuff had been done by the boy BEFORE he became a registered Cub Scout.

 

The CM should have a talk with the parents & DL & explain that only activities completed AFTER the boy is a registered Scout count. That should par down the list a bit.