Earning Badges As A Troop

[BM_Crawford]

Well everyone is different. Some people may not be good with people but still want to help. So I see no problem with helping someone like that out.

[commish3]

Your willingness to help the MBC is excellent, but I have to agree with ASM-142, and I think it illustrates one of the problems of doing merit badges as a troop rather than as an individual decision and effort by a scout as they were designed.

The reason those boys are misbehaving is they don't want to be there doing that MB. Had they made the decison to investigate that badge, contacted the councelor and met with them with a buddy, they would not be misbehaving.

Their behavior shows you they have no real interest in the MB and are not ready for this type of advancement. They also interfere with the counselor and the truly interested scout from enjoyng the experience and getting the most from it. So nobody is having a great experience.

So many scouters complain about boys being rushed through advancement, or they look for ways to stall advancement until the scout is "mature" enough. If the program is followed the way it is designed, both factors will take care of themselves. A scout will seek or accept higher level advancement opportunities when they feel they are ready, rather than when they are made to do them.

[BM_Crawford]

Hmm that does make alot of sense.

[cballman]

I can understand but when you have three or four boys trying to tie the bandages on the head and arms or feet then you will have a little bit of horseplay. I dont care how many boys you take out if there is at least two then yes they will play. If we as adult leaders expect the 11 year old boys to be totally mature and do exactly as planned then even I would get board. we need to understand that we are dealing with KIDS not adults. so if we can have a little fun and teach at the same time then I will do it anytime. by the way on April 16 i will be at a Eagle Scout COH for a young man who was one of those kids who just couldnt sit still and yes I am very proud of this kids leadership and how well he works with other kids still.

[cballman]

O by the way Wagionvigil you are just jealous because yes the troop has enough to do me as a mummy

[Mrw]

We really only do the First Aid badge with the troop. The classes are held for as long as it takes to cover the materials and then the boys are tested. It is the younger boys learning and a couple older boys to help them along. They work 15-20 minutes at a meeting each week.

This way they can sit still for that long and they don't get too far behind if they miss a week.

[Lynda J]

We do Personal Fitness and Shotgun and Rifle as a troop. Our former SM is an NRA certified instructor which makes it nice.

[BM_Crawford]

We don't do any as a whole troop during meetings but two ladies in the troop do the citizens and communication for the whole troop before meetings if they chose to attend.