Age recommendations for taking a MB

[mmartin1]

In the BSA guidelines it states that a scout may take a MB at any time. Some of the longer MBs seem to require a level of maturity that I wouldn't expect to find in an eleven-year old. Are there suggestions or recommendations on which MBs should be done when a boy is older?

[wagionvigil]

You are correct Mike. We have discussed this before in the Climbing Merit Badge area. In most councils they give MB a rating in their Camp guide. That is a good place to start. Like Swimming is a 1 Now and Climbing is a 5. 1 Being new Scouts and 5 being 14 and up. The MB with a lot of record keeping or long reports are best suited for older scouts. Family Life,Personal MGMT,Communications,Environmental Science etc.

[mmartin1]

Thanks wagionvigil. That makes a lot of sense. You mention a Camp guide but I cannot find one on my Councils' website. Can you point me to one? thanks.

[wagionvigil]

Our Council gives each SM a Summer Camp Guide in the Spring when camp registration is getting close. I cannot give you any specific web site as I really have never seen it online.

[commish3]

mmartin1

A good rule of thumb for boys and merit badges is "strike while the iron is hot" If a boys interst is peaked about a merit badge then let them pursue it. If they should find that it is beyond their current ability it just gives them that much more reason to develop themselves.

Remember the only time limit they have for completion is their 18th birthday.

The whole idea of the advancement program is to reward scouts for learning new things. It is not up to us to decide if they are "ready" for a merit badge. The MB counselor will decide if the scout meets the requirements. Isn't it our role to encourage and reward?

Consider letting each scout choose his own advancement path rather than have all the first year scouts choose from column A, and the second year scouts choose from column B and so forth. The merit badge program is designed for each individual to follow their own person interests and choose their own advancement trail.

[wagionvigil]

Although I agree somewhat of what you say. I am a firm beliver of not setting a kid up to fail and with some MB that is what we do if we lrt thr, get in over their head.

[Rick Tyler]

It's not so much age as maturity and desire, but there is some link between age and readiness.

I've always enjoyed "Mr. D's Merit Badge Review" here: http://www.usscouts.org/advance/docs/MrDsReview.html.

[wagionvigil]

Great Resource

[teepeeayy]

Agreed, Great Resource (hey, Wagion..., watch your spelling

Here's another idea for a forum: a "web gem", web site of the day. Found a good link? Don't keep it to yourself!

[commish3]

"there is no loss in trying and failing, but only in failing to try."

[Lynda J]

I agree with Commish. If we don't try and fail we never learn to win.
I have one boy in our troop that started Communications last year at MBC. I had doubts if he was ready. First year scout. Well he wasn't really. But last night he came in and got his file out of the cabinet. He was working on it again. I ask him if he needed any help. He said "No, but I want it finished before the next MBC. Just because a scout starts a badge and can't finish it in a time frame "WE" think they should, does not mean they have failed on the badge. Sometimes it just takes some time for them to figure out how they want to approach the subject matter.

Kevin had wanted to do model building this year. I really wasn't sure he was ready for that badge. Got the book and gave it to him to study. He decided to take Atomic Energy instead. Oh well. Why couldn't he have wanted to take Finger Printing or something. Now we have First Aid, Sculpturing, and Atomic Energy. Kinda like taking 17 semester hours and working full time in college.