Issue 621 – November 12, 2019

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(Yes, I’m up and running again, thanks to our fabulous USSSP “team”! Here’s a November column I couldn’t post until now. Others are right behind this one!)

Here are some comments on troop-level merit badge “classes,” merit badge fairs, and such, from a few weeks ago…

Hi Andy,

At a recent troop committee-and-parent meeting, the topic of merit badge classes as parts of troop meetings came up. When I mentioned that troop meetings aren’t for having merit badge classes, I was asked, “Why not?” And that’s when my brain froze! I only partly recovered when I mumbled something about “that’s not what troop meetings are for,” which allayed some but not all. When I further offered, “Well, that’s what the BSA says,” that felt sorta weak, too, if not sorta hide-bound.

Then, several parents pointed out how busy they are, so that getting their sons to an “extra” troop night for merit badge classes is pretty inconvenient. For this aspect, I simply pointed out that everyone has their own priorities, so the Scouts need to decide what’s important to them and then figure out how to get there (or convince a parent to get them there).

Any thoughts here that might help me/us? Thanks. (Scoutmaster, Council Withheld)

Sure! First, while combined committee-parent meetings once or twice a year are a great way to keep parents up to date on what’s going on in troop administration, they’re not a great idea on a month-to-month basis. Why not? Simple. Regularly combine registered committee members who have made a commitment to rolling up their sleeves to support the troop and parents whose main “job” is to make sure their sons show up runs the risk of both parties coming to believe they have equal “voices” in these meetings. They do not. The committee is responsible for managing “back room” operations to support the Scouts of the troop—not their parents—and this point may not be particularly appreciated by the average parent.

Second and Third, the instruction and practice of skills that bear on merit badge requirements (e.g., lashings for Pioneering, improvised bandages for First Aid, mapping out major town resources for Emergency Preparedness, etc.) can definitely be regular parts of troop meetings—these are encouraged, in fact! But sitting down, classroom-style, to listen to someone drone on and on is anathema to the very foundation of Scouting! In Scouting, learning is DOING! It’s kinetic, it’s visceral, it’s involving, it’s boy- and girl-oriented; it’s never, ever classroom-style!
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Dear Andy,

Here are my “two cents” on “merit badge camps.” I signed my son up for one…once. I canceled because, two days prior to this camp, we received a “prerequisite” list. Two days simply wasn’t enough time for my son to complete the prerequisites. Turns out, I had to pay a cancellation fee.

On further check this out, I discovered that registered counselors for the merit badges being offered at this “camp” were few and far between, which would ultimately mean that an “partials” received would most likely remain “partials” forever.

It would be a lot better for Scouts if prerequisites were listed prior to reservations and payment. It’s not like this is impossible. Our council already does this for both winter and summer resident camps. The same should be done for their merit badge camp.

But here’s a question: If a Scout does complete merit badge prerequisites before any of these camps, will the counselor at camp have time to review them with the Scout? (Shirley Pfister)

I’m sure sorry you and your son had that unhappy experience and I 100% agree with you that merit badge prerequisites should be listed right along with the merit badges being offered. I hope your council takes this step.

As for reviewing completed prerequisites with any Scout who brings these to camp, I’d be hard-pressed to comprehend any reason for not providing “review time” for such diligent Scouts!
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Hi Andy,

Thanks for your great (as always) insights. You help set the bar for my
service as a Commissioner…and as a Merit Badge Counselor.

The merit badge fair I described (check out Ask Andy Issue 620 – 10/15/19) had been arranged by the council, so we session leaders were offered little to no input as to how the “classes” would be run. The suggestions you made would have definitely made a difference.

My preference would be to limit the number of Scouts in any session to ten, maximum.

While nearly all of us used those “worksheets” that you can find online, we can’t just “fill in the blanks.” There need to be verbal interactions as well, like questions and responses, between each individual Scout and the leaders of the various sessions. The conversations are important. These make sure that “tell” means “tell,” “show” means “show,” and so on. So yes, these merit badge days can be successful, but only when they’re not used to “march” Scouts in a phalanx through a series of Q&As just to “get a badge.” (Frank Maynard, UC, Great Lakes Field Service Council)
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Hi Andy,

Back when I was a Scoutmaster, I’d let our troop know—our Senior Patrol Leader made the announcements—that a merit badge fair was coming up, but didn’t bang the drum too loudly—after all, our Scouts were doing just fine taking merit badge matters into their own hands. Besides, I’d personally seen too many irregularities to be real crazy about these events.

In one case, the merit badge fair was being run by a church that sponsored a troop, for all other troops in the district, and the council was simply rubber-stamping the blue cards or partials the church folks said had been completed. Turns out, this was a bloody fund-raiser for the sponsored troop! For the price of admission (yup, there was a fee), Scouts were being guaranteed signed-off blue cards for up to five merit badges! I watched as “counselors” made presentations, then waive requirements, and sign ’em off for First Aid, Public Speaking, Art, Welding, all of the Citizenships, and a bunch of others! So even Eagle-required merit badges were getting a wink and a nod, and let’s move on!

My ward, who was one of our younger (age 13) Scouts, had signed up for this travesty and, at the end of the day, came away completely disappointed because “nothing was real.” Instead of turning in his signed blue cards, he asked me to help him really meet the requirements as written. It took about three months to do all the requirements as they were supposed to be done, and only then did he ask me to record these merit badges as actually completed. (Yes, we were pretty proud of him—the ethics of Scouting were right where they were supposed to be!)

At other times, I’d meet a Tenderfoot Scout who’d already “earned” his First Aid merit badge by attending a one-hour lecture on the subject. (This one sorta got me a bit bent out of shape, being a former Medic in the US Army.) So, as you might guess, I’m not all that enthusiastic about merit badge fairs. (Dean Whinery)

I get it. When my 11 year-old Scout son was told by an old and crusty merit badge counselor, “Whittle me a ‘ball-in-a-cage’ and I’ll give you the Woodcarving merit badge,” as if he were doling out lollipops, I knew there was gonna be a problem.

You can fix advancement requirements by re-writing them, but you can’t fix whacko Scouters by re-wiring them.
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Hi Andy,

Your recent overview on how a troop works could use, in addition to the Key 3, the important role of the Chartered Organization (CO) in providing adult leadership, and the fact that, unlike the Patrol Leaders Council, the adult side isn’t a democracy. Common sense dictates seeking consensus, but appointing or removing the Chartered Organization Representative (CR), Committee Chair (CC), or Scoutmaster (SM) is the ultimately the responsibility of the CO’s executive officer.

Thanks for all you do to keep us on the right trail! (Bill Daniel, SM ret’d.)

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. 621 – 11/12/2019 – Copyright © Andy McCommish 2019]