Merit Badge Question.

[ogunquitmaddy]

My son is a scout in North Florida. He very much wants to get the Indian Lore Merit Badge. He is able to complete the work sheet okay the problem is we can not find a counselor that will do this badge. How can he get this badge? Any suggestions? Are we able to use and out of state counselor and mail then his completed work? Thanks for any idea.

[wagionvigil]

welcome to the board. Now a question for you. Have you called your council service center and ask if they have someone on their Approved MB Counselor List for that MB in your council?

[Mrw]

If your council really does not have an approved counselor for this badge, ask at the closest neighboring council. We have done that for boys in our troop wanting Oceanography.

You might also want to see if it will be offered at the summer camp he will be attending with the troop this summer.

[ogunquitmaddy]

Hi, yes. I did call my council. All they were able to do was email me a list of counselors. They did not know what Merit Badges they were able to do. I went down the list and started calling the numbers. I got a few answers, none for that badge and many of the numbers were disconnected or other people now having that number. I went on my own and pulled up a list of counselors from a neighboring district. Their were four listed for that badge. Two only work with their own troop the third email bounced back and the fourth I still haven't heard from. My son doesn't go to summer camp. He is very shy, I guess because he is home schooled. He would go if I went, but it's to costly for both of us to go. I have seen a few scouts in our district that have the badge and they got them in an out of state summer camp. It seems half the battle of getting a badge is finding a counselor. The work for this badge he is able to do the whole battle is finding a counselor. I asked his Scout Master and he doesn't have a list.

[wagionvigil]

Then your council will accept a Signed Card from an outside Approved councilor. In most cases if a council approves a person then most other cuncils will accept them. I do climbing for Kids from all over the East coast

[ogunquitmaddy]

Thank you for your help. I will contact someone from out of state or maybe way south of us.

[smtroop168]

Thank you for your help. I will contact someone from out of state or maybe way south of us.

Back up....have the scout go to his SM and ask him for a Blue Card for Indian Lore. The SM has a responsibility to help him find a MBC. Other sources to assist the SM would be the troop's advancement coordinator or the District/Council Advancement Committee. If that fails, ask your District Executive to assist. You should not be taking a listing and making random calls searching for MBCs. It's also hard to believe as popular a MB and Indian Lore is, that there is not a local counselor. We have about 20 in my council. Also each council has an Order of the Arrow Lodge associated with it who probably has a MBC.

[ogunquitmaddy]

Believe me this area is backwards in everything they do including Boy Scouts. My son was in the Scouts for three years and only had 2 badges until I started making calls and everything else. I know it sounds nuts and it is. I don't have a problem with getting the blue cards. I can get a stack of them. The problem starts after that.

[smtroop168]

What council are you in?

[ogunquitmaddy]

North Florida Timucua District.

[Nuts4Scouts]

Getting, and/or giving out, blue cards is not YOUR job.

BSA advancement rules state that the SCOUT is supposed to request a blue card from his SCOUTMASTER for whatever merit badges he wants to do. The SCOUTMASTER is supposed to give the SCOUT a list of qualified Merit Badge Counselors for that merit badge. Then it is up to the SCOUT to contact the Counselors.

You notice, nowhere did I state - PARENT.

You are doing your son a very BIG disservice by doing all of the work FOR him.

Also, merit badge work sheets are NOT accepted by BSA National as THE way to complete merit badges. They are optional. The Merit Badge Counselor does NOT have to accept them, and, in many cases, they are a very poor substitute for a face-to-face meeting with the Counselor.

Have your SON talk to his Scoutmaster about this merit badge.

Perhaps TOGETHER, your SON (not you) and the SCOUTMASTER can find a Counselor for him.

[ogunquitmaddy]

Of Course my son talked to his Scout master first. My son talked for three years. I only started now because I was left with no choice. His scout master does not know anyone who does this badge and there for told me to go on line and try to find someone. I also know that about the work sheets. I know the rules.My grandfather was a Scout Master and had the Silver Beaver. I did not say I give out blue cards.He can get as many blue cards as he wants from his scout master. I simply came on here to find out if anyone knew of any way to get a list of counselers when the normal way does not work. MY SON has tried all the normal means and he was given a dis service by his scouting unit not me. He completed his toting chip several months ago, was told he completed it and has asked several times why he wasn't handed it. Each guy passes the buck on to the next one. IF your son wasn't heard for three years you would start opening up your mouth as well.

[smtroop168]

North Florida Timucua District.

Looking at their web site, they are a huge council. They have contact information listed for the Council Advancement Chair so maybe give him a try. Your Council Summer Camp lists IL as an offered MB so you would think they could put you in contact with who is the MBC at camp.

If I was in a troop with what you're telling us about the past 3 years, I'd be outta there.

[ogunquitmaddy]

Our council advancement chair gave us the out of date list. I didn't know about IL though. That I somehow skipped. We will try that. Thanks for the idea.

[FrankJ]

The larger the council, the less likely they are to have a clue what MBC does what. The list is largely fiction.

[ogunquitmaddy]

Yes, your right. A list of names, doesn't say what they do. Numbers out of date.

[cballman]

Well one of the first things I would do is that if your son likes scouts would be to see if he wants to go to another troop. I think that if a scout has only two merit badges in three years there might be a problem. Second you say that your son has never been to scout camp. I will have to say that you are doing your son a big injustice. He might be shy and homeschooled but the social interaction that he will get would get would be a great thing. If he is friends with anybody in the troop then he should function fine without a parent around. Lastly I am going to upset you but I will apoligize in advance. If you are working so hard to help your son get merit badges then why are you not involved in the troop as a ASM or doing something to help out your son and the other kids? If you are having a problem with your son and his troop YOU can make that difference for the other boys not just yours. Step back and look at the big picture. Maybe your sons troop needs help. Maybe you can help out the other kids and bring them closer to your son and draw him out of his shyness. Just a thought from someone that has a little bit of experiance.

[ogunquitmaddy]

I actually thought about what you just said. The thing is I truly believe my son's Scout Master, cares about the kids.I have been thinking about trying to become something in the troop. I don't know what the problem is. I think that is why I have waited so long to step in and try to do something. It's like I am trying to help my son get what he should be getting, but also not trying to hurt the Scout Master. I respect the opinions of anyone with experiance. If I understand this part of the rules right, I would have to talk to the Scout Master ofthis troop or another troop local before I can actually do that. I went on the the site of North Florida Boy Scouts, and when I looked into how to become involved in the area you are stating, all the local troops came up. One issue I have about switching troops is that with my son being so shy, he is use to these boys and likes them.

[cballman]

Now we got the bad out of the way. How many boys in the Troop? How many ASMs does the troop have? How is the committie set up? Then since your son likes the boys and are friends with them get involved. Ask the Scoutmaster what you can do to help out. Then go for it. Do everything to help the troop and the kids. If you need any help out feel free to ask us more and we will try to guide you through. I have been there and done that got the patch. Also remember when you help out the kids you will get no money BUT you will get the reward that means more than you can ever imagine. Yea patches do help out but when you see a child later in life and see what they have become then you can really understand what I am talking about. Seeing the kids later on brings back a flood of awesome memories, Good and Bad but the good outweighs the bad anyday. Good luck.

Charlie

[ogunquitmaddy]

Hi,
Thanks for your help. The troop has ten boys. There are a couple councilors, but they don't do much. 1 ASM He was told about 4 months ago to start on fishing badge, and still hasn't done that. Told me he doesn't know how. I just don't get that. A father of one boy who is now a Star Scout, who a while ago was an ASM, told me that his son was there for a couple years with the same results as mine, and then he finally started going outside the troop and that is how is son is now so far. He is the one who really gave me the idea to do what I have been doing. Their Since I started going outside the troop, The passed three weeks I have taken my son to an another troop in the same district and he has already received his Fish and Wildlife Management badge. This Scout Master is so different and just yesterday said he will help us all he can. My son's Scout Master had to actually sign the blue card and it was his troop who did the board of review. He is fine with doing this, but we have to go outside to get things started. This other Scout Master doesn't know anyone for Indian Lore and it takes us an hour to get there. I haven't mentioned any names as, I really don't want to cause trouble for anyone. Tomorrow though I will talk to his Scout Master and see if I can become a ASM, however if he doesn't go along with it, then I am stuck.