I wasn\u2019t five minutes into my first visit with a new Troop I had been asked to cover as a Commissioner when Ed, their Scoutmaster, started bragging\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cYep, Andy, this Troop\u2019s advancement-focused. Why, we have merit badge classes right in our Troop meetings, and every time we go on a hike or campout, we tell the Scouts to bring their handbooks and get those requirements knocked off. We make sure we have at least a couple of Eagles every year. This stuff is real important to our boys, and us leaders make sure they don\u2019t forget it! I conference with every Scout, regularly, and my ASMs make sure they keep delivering on those requirements!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Fast-forward about six months\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cGee, Andy, I\u2019m at my wit\u2019s end here. It\u2019s like pulling teeth getting these boys to spend any time on service projects. If service hours aren\u2019t needed for a rank advancement, they turn into \u2018no-shows.\u2019 And, heck, the ones that do show up, well they\u2019re outa there on the stroke of the hour \u2013 They don\u2019t give one minute of extra time, even if it\u2019s to help another Scout with his own Eagle project. Talk about lousy \u2018Scout Spirit!\u2019 Now, when it comes time for their Scoutmaster\u2019s Conference, I tell \u2018em they\u2019re not doing enough and they argue with me! They tell me they did the work, for the time, and so I hafta tell \u2018em that they didn\u2019t put their heart in it. Can you beat that!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt gets worse, Andy\u2026 They don\u2019t do any patrol cooking on our campouts anymore. They just open up some foil-packed junk they bought at some supermarket and stuff their faces. When I ask \u2018em about it, they tell me they\u2019ve done the cooking requirement already, so why bother. I\u2019m tellin\u2019 you, Andy, Scouting Spirit\u2019s gone right down the ol\u2019 porcelain fixture!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Poor Ed. I guess he doesn\u2019t even realize his Scouts are doing exactly what he taught them to do: Do nothing that isn\u2019t a requirement. Ever.<\/p>\n Somewhere along the way, this sorry Troop forgot that our Scouting program has eight methods, and advancement\u2019s just one of those eight. And it\u2019s not even the first one! It\u2019s actually pretty far down the list!<\/p>\n B-P put it this way: \u201cAdvancement\u2019s like a good suntan\u2026 It\u2019s something you get effortlessly while you\u2019re having fun in the outdoors.<\/span>\u201d Boy, I wish I\u2019d<\/span> said that! What a powerful thought\u2026 Have fun in the outdoors and let your ranks be happy surprises at the end of the day!<\/p>\n Sure, advancement\u2019s important. It builds self-esteem. Teaches new skills (ones that may even save a life some day). Provides accomplishable goals, and recognizes those who have achieved competency in various areas. But, gone haywire, like in Ed\u2019s Troop, slavish pursuit of badges for their own sake teaches \u201cgood enough is good enough,\u201d \u201cdon\u2019t work too hard\u2014you don\u2019t have to,\u201d \u201cfollow \u2018the book\u2019 and that\u2019s all,\u201d and other stuff that doesn\u2019t seem exactly in line with what Scouting\u2019s really all about.<\/p>\n Another Troop I know is almost the opposite, but just as sorry. In this Troop, they set a limit the number of merit badges a Scout can earn in summer camp: Two. That\u2019s it. Want to do more? Tough. The Scoutmaster won\u2019t give a Scout more than two \u201cblue cards.\u201d Why not? Here\u2019s what they tell me\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cThese camps are \u2018merit badge mills\u2019 \u2013 We don\u2019t want our Scouts spending all their waking hours doing merit badges; we want them to have fun<\/span>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Maybe these sad Scouters haven\u2019t figured out that, at Boy Scout age, these young men are absolute sponges \u2013 they gobble up new learning like there\u2019s no tomorrow! They can\u2019t help it \u2013 it\u2019s part of the maturation process they\u2019re all going through. Heck, that\u2019s exactly why there are merit badges in the first place\u2014these 120 different subject-areas provide all sorts of experimentation so Scouts can find out what they\u2019re interested in learning even more about and, just as important, what they aren\u2019t! And, their merit badge counselors are often young men who just a few years before did the same as this current generation of campers are doing. Scouts teaching Scouts \u2013 It doesn\u2019t get much better than that! To my way of thinking, there\u2019s really no such thing as a \u201cmerit badge mill.\u201d That\u2019s simply what a camp that offers a wide variety of opportunities to learn new stuff is called by those who just don\u2019t get it.<\/p>\n Do you<\/span>\u201cget it\u201d? Do you encourage your Scouts to seek out and learn new stuff? Do you recognize the achievement by rewarding the learning? Do you consciously and consistently instill in your Scouts the concept of growth through learning and skill development? Do you guide hikes and campouts so that requirements are met \u201cby accident,\u201d in a manner of speaking? Do you insist that a camper earn at least<\/span> two merit badges, as a way to get him out of his tent and into the world of Scouting and the out-of-doors?<\/p>\n If you do, you \u2018get it,\u201d and my hat\u2019s off to you!<\/p>\n Manuel was a new Scout in my Troop. He and his family had just moved to town from Mexico, and he wanted to be a Boy Scout because (yes, he and his father said this) \u201cThat\u2019s what American boys are\u2014They\u2019re Boy Scouts.\u201d He came to summer camp with us, but when it came time for the routine Troop check-in and swim-check, Manuel hung back. I figured I knew why.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, Manuel, don\u2019t feel like swimming today?\u201d I asked quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t swim\u2026Nobody in my family can swim,\u201d he sheepishly told me.<\/p>\n \u201cHmmmm\u2026 You know, Manuel, I\u2019d much rather you tell me you haven\u2019t learned how to swim yet, and not that you \u2018can\u2019t\u2019 swim,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cOK, Andy,\u201d he replied. \u201cI haven\u2019t learned how to swim, yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s OK, Manuel, you don\u2019t have to go in the water today at all.\u201d<\/p>\n A couple of days passed. Then, one morning while he and I were on our way down to the waterfront to check out some fishing poles, I asked him, \u201cYou know, Manuel, the other day you told me you hadn\u2019t learned how to swim, yet. Today\u2019s a fine day. Sunny and warm, and not much wind on the lake. In fact, it\u2019s an almost perfect day. Do you think this might be a good day for swimming?\u201d<\/p>\n Manuel gave me a grin. \u201cSure, Andy. Today\u2019s a fine day for swimming!\u201d<\/p>\n And so that\u2019s what we did, he and I. With the waterfront staff\u2019s permission, we went into the shallow end (I personally hate the expression, \u201cNon-Swimmer\u2019s area\u201d) and within about 20 minutes, Manuel was swimming. Not Olympic free-style, mind you, but definitely swimming.<\/p>\n That night, at dinner in the mess hall, we went around the table and asked each Scout to tell a little about what he\u2019s done that day\u2014something we did every night at camp. Of course, Manuel\u2019s story was about swimming, but it\u2019s how he said it (and what he didn\u2019t say) that gave me my \u201cScoutmaster\u2019s paycheck\u201d that night.<\/p>\n \u201cI went swimming today,\u201d Manuel announced. He didn\u2019t say, \u201cAndy taught me to swim.\u201d He didn\u2019t say, \u201cI passed my Second Class swimming requirement.\u201d He simply said, \u201cI went swimming today.\u201d That\u2019s advancement.<\/p>\n Happy Scouting!!<\/p>\nAndy<\/h3>\n