Issue 620 – October 15, 2019

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Hi Andy,

I read with interest your reply a couple of weeks ago about merit badge “colleges.” Your thoughts on their value (or lack of) mirrored my own experience with them.

Earlier this year I was asked to “teach” a merit badge at our council’s Merit Badge College. Knowing full well that, if I were to start from scratch, I wouldn’t be able to sign off on very many actual completions that day, I sent the college organizer a list of prerequisites that would be necessary for Scouts to have completed in order to sign up for this session. This, apparently, caught the Scouts (and their parents) off guard; they were expecting that everything would be covered in the very brief (for this merit badge) four hours we were allotted. It was also destined to overload me, my co-instructor, and our Scout assistant. In trying to figure out how we were going to both check prerequisites and teach the material for the 25 Scouts who had signed up, I realized this would be much more about handing out “partials” at the end of the four hours than signing off completions for the merit badge!

That turned out to be exactly what happened: Six completions for Scouts who had their prerequisites done, and 19 partials.

Not only were some dozen-and-a-half Scouts disappointed but many of their parents were outraged. I was confronted by comments like, “This is the worst merit badge class I’ve ever seen!” One Scout’s mother actually brought our Scout assistant to tears with her biting criticism when he was simply—like the rest of us—just trying to do his best in a largely untenable situation.

As a result of all this, I’ll probably never agree to participate in another merit badge “college” event again. Call me old-fashioned, but I happen to believe that it’s the responsibility of the counselor to individually ensure that each Scout actually completes the requirements as written—something that’s nearly impossible in a “Scout school” setting.

I’ll just go back to meeting one-on-one (preferably one-on-two) with Scouts, helping them earn merit badges as intended and taking the time to guide them to a broader understanding of the subject rather than just checking off boxes.

I do see some value in “Merit Badge Day” events: They can provide an introduction to some of the harder-to-get merit badges, and instill satisfaction for those who are motivated to complete them. But, as the GUIDE TO ADVANCEMENT points out, partials are an acceptable and expected outcome of such group instruction events, and Scouts (and—more importantly—their parents) need to understand this. (Frank Maynard, Unit Commissioner & MBC, Mighty Ottawa District, Great Lakes Field Service Council, MI—“I used to be a Bobwhite”)

Thanks for your insights from “the belly of the beast.”

It’s perhaps akin to repairing the dam after the lake’s been drained, but here are three thoughts about possible “fixes”…

Consider: Completed prerequisites are the “passports” to such sessions. No prerequisites done; no sign-up.

Consider: Alternatively placing a cap on the number of participants, so that you’re better able to work more closely with a smaller group of Scouts instead of winding up in a situation where it’s little more than removing the tops of their heads and simply pouring stuff in.

Consider: No parents in merit badge sessions; drop-off and pickup only.

Consider: Every Scout must bring the merit badge pamphlet with them. No pamphlet; no session.

Finally, perhaps such merit badge events need to be reimagined. Instead of spoon-feeding Scouts so requirements can get checked off, use shorter amounts of time (four hours on a single subject seems way too long a time to sustain interest among this age-group) to review the requirements and help Scouts develop “game-plans” for how they’re going to meet the requirements when they sit down, Scout buddies-to-Merit Badge Counselor, to actually complete the requirements. For example…

Communication: Help Scouts understand why req. 3 asks for a five-minute speech instead of a speech of some other length of time and review the insights provided in the merit badge pamphlet.

Camping: How “camping nights” are counted and what doesn’t count (this is the most frequently asked question I’ve been asked over the past 18 years).

Emergency Preparedness: Since each troop is different, review for each Scout exactly how a mobilization plan can be structured for his or her own troop.

Eagle service projects: Many Scouts (and adult troop volunteers too!) don’t realize they can begin working toward their projects the very day after their Life rank board of review!

You get the idea here… I hope this is useful.
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Hi Andy,

I have a question about Senior Patrol Leaders attending troop committee meetings. I’ve heard of one local troop that does this. I like the idea because it exposes the Senior Patrol Leader to the troop committee and provides another opportunity for leadership when he or she updates the committee—perhaps not in place of the Scoutmaster, but in conjunction with the Scoutmaster. What are your thoughts and is this standard or common for other troops? (Name Withheld, Longhorn Council, TX)

This is going to be a long answer because a broad view of how a troop is organized and run, and what aspects are whose responsibility is first needed.

So let’s start by looking at the two main groups that lead a troop…

The first is the troop committee, run by the chair of the committee. This committee is responsible for registrations, rechartering, keeping Scout advancement records, holding boards of review for Scouts as they advance through the ranks, paying bills, reserving space at special venues, purchasing equipment for the patrols, and other administrative and financial matters. The Scoutmaster–who is not a member of the troop committee–has responsibility for training and coaching the youth leaders of the troop, conducting conferences with each Scout no less than once between each Scout’s ranks, guiding and mentoring the Senior Patrol Leader, and other aspects dealing with the troop’s overall program (e.g., sitting in on Patrol Leaders Council meetings and, as needed, providing information to the PLC as the Patrol Leaders make troop program and scheduling decisions). The Scoutmaster reports to and serves at the pleasure of the Committee Chair and committee. Another responsibility of the Scoutmaster in this capacity is to keep the troop committee informed of the decisions made by the PLC and the PLC’s program plans for each month and the year as a whole, and also to advise the committee on upcoming needs (e.g., reservations at a canoe rental facility, camping space at the council’s summer camp, three more camp stoves for the three new patrols that were formed following the “feeder” pack’s cross-over, etc.)

The second group–although by no means subservient to the first group–is the Patrol Leaders Council. The PLC is a “mini-democracy” in which Patrol Leaders, representing the interests of the members of each PL’s patrol, create, plan, and carry out all program-related aspects on behalf of the troop as a whole. (Keep in mind that a “troop” isn’t “a bunch of Scouts divided up into patrols”–It’s always the patrols first and foremost, and multiple patrols come together to form a troop. The chair of all PLC meetings is the Senior Patrol Leader–the SPL is the highest-ranking youth leader of the troop (the Scoutmaster is the SPL’s coach and mentor).

As you can see, the SPL already has a major and critical leadership role as leader of the PLC and also as leader of all troop meetings from start-to-finish, with the sole exception of the 60 seconds or so needed for the “Scoutmaster’s minute” (which is indeed supposed to be a “minute”). The SPL is also in charge on all hikes, campouts, and other activities that involve all the patrols in the troop (the Patrol Leaders report to the SPL, in fact).

As a result of the Scoutmaster’s role as liaison between the PLC and the committee, and the SPL already having a “full-time” leadership role, it is not necessary for the SPL to attend committee meetings, because, essentially, he or she would be a “third thumb.” The Senior Patrol Leader has no role at all at troop meetings, and, if he or she were to carry out the Scoutmaster’s liaison role, what does that leave for the Scoutmaster to do? (Answer: nothing.) If the Scoutmaster cannot attend an upcoming committee meeting to report of the PLC’s decisions and plans, the “second” isn’t the SPL… it’s an Assistant Scoutmaster, who acts in the place of the Scoutmaster when he or she is unavailable.

What I’ve just described isn’t my “opinion.” It’s the BSA standard and has been in place for decades upon decades. This IS the standard. This is also what most all troops do, and certainly the very best troops do. In my experience, anytime a troop committee or Scoutmaster “decides” that they’re “smarter” than the BSA and the thousands and thousands of right-thinking troops across the country, and try to operate differently from this, the ultimate result is disaster, implosion, and the eventual collapse of the troop. Sort of the “Big Bang” in reverse

So there you have it. And I hope this is helpful to you.

Happy Scouting!

Andy

Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Write to askandybsa@yahoo.com. Please include your name and council. (If you’d prefer to be anonymous, if published, let me know and that’s what we’ll do.)

Although these columns are copyrighted, any reader has my permission to quote or reproduce any columns or column parts so long as you attribute authorship: “Ask Andy” by Andy McCommish.

[No. 620 – 10/15/2019 – Copyright © Andy McCommish 2019]