Merit Badges - Given when earned or at quarterly COH

[Billiken]

Just curious................................

Does your troop give out MBs as they are earned or hold them until the next COH?
I know what the BSA recommendation is.

I want to know what your troop actually does.

My troop currently gives out rank advancement ASAP with MBs given at the next quarterly COH.

[alex gregory]

Our troop used to hold off on MBs until COH, and I think it is a bad practice that I immediately changed as soon as I took over as Advancement Chair. A Scout should be immediately recognized for earning any rank, merit badge, award etc. There is no reason to make him wait weeks or months until the next COH.

At COH each scout gets recognized for what he has earned since the last COH, but he is given his patches as quickly as possible.

Why make a Scout wait? Because going updating records and going to the Scout Shop once or twice a month is so hard?!?

There are lots of reasons why you should give Scouts their MBs as quickly as possible. Right off the bat I can think of the following:
1) Immediate recognition (which just happens to be BSA policy after-all).
2) Regular reminder to the rest of the troop that MBs and advancement are the result of ongoing individual effort as opposed to something you crank out at the last minute because COH is coming up in the next two weeks. Nothing like a little competition "pour encourager les autres".
3) Regular updates to troop advancement records as opposed to last-minute-late-night-usually-sloppy data entry.
4) Making Scouts accountable for regularly reporting their advancement.

[WVBeaver05]

We give ours out at the earliest opportunity. Probably 98% of the time that is no later than the next weekly meeting. They receive the card and another (more) public recognition at the next COH.

Why would you do it any other way?

YiS

[scoutaholic]

We have always done all the awards at the COH. Otherwise, what is the point of the COH?

In my area, I've never seen it done any other way. Maybe it is the local scouting culture? or the Church (CO) scouting culture?

When I was SM, I recognized the boys when they completed things, but didn't give them the badge until COH. I couldn't get them to wear the badges anyway, so I didn't see any need to hurry and give it to them. I even created an 'immediate recognition' bead system that we could keep updated (similar to the one the scout shops sell, but better, and includes things above 1st Class). I couldn't get them to wear the beads either, so that idea didn't seam to do much for them either.

Here are a few of the reasons I can think of to wait:
1) The boys will just loose them if I give them out at a scout meeting.
2) They won't wear the badges, so what is the hurry?
3) If there is nothing to award at the COH, what is the point of a COH?
4) It's much easier to do a bunch of paperwork in one night rather than a little bit every week (especially when it was all done by hand).
5) The Council doesn't(didn't?) track anything on their computers, so if you need to find advancement records, it is much easier to look through a few regular advancement report papers than hundreds of them that each include a single MB or Advancement
6) Since I don't control the troop checkbook, it is much easier to turn in 1 receipt for reimbursement than to bankroll the troop and turn in a bunch at a time.
7) Some people in local councils live hundreds of miles from the nearest scout shop. How often do you want to drive that mileage during business hours?

[FrankJ]

We give the badges & return the blue cards as they are earned. We give the signed achievement cards (I forget the real name) at the COH. Some scouts do not care, others it is really important. It helps that the scout shop is close by.

[Fibonacci]

My troop currently gives out rank advancement ASAP with MBs given at the next quarterly COH.

We do almost the same as you, but our Courts of Honor are held only 3 times per year. Yes, I know what the BSA recommendation is.

[AquilaNegra2]

We have always done all the awards at the COH. Otherwise, what is the point of the COH?

Here are a few of the reasons I can think of to wait:
1) The boys will just loose them if I give them out at a scout meeting.
2) They won't wear the badges, so what is the hurry?
3) If there is nothing to award at the COH, what is the point of a COH?
4) It's much easier to do a bunch of paperwork in one night rather than a little bit every week (especially when it was all done by hand).
5) The Council doesn't(didn't?) track anything on their computers, so if you need to find advancement records, it is much easier to look through a few regular advancement report papers than hundreds of them that each include a single MB or Advancement
6) Since I don't control the troop checkbook, it is much easier to turn in 1 receipt for reimbursement than to bankroll the troop and turn in a bunch at a time.
7) Some people in local councils live hundreds of miles from the nearest scout shop. How often do you want to drive that mileage during business hours?

* Who is to pay for the gas to run the 50 miles r/t to the Scout shop every week to pick up ONE merit badge? A $3 merit badge now becomes a $10 one. Is the troop to waste its limited (in our case) funds for gas money?
* Even though ours in online with Scoutnet, every time a badge needs to be picked up, a new set of forms needs to be generated and submitted. Costly and wasteful.

This issue needs to be a troop choice, based upon the individual troop's needs.

[scoutaholic]

... * Even though ours in online with Scoutnet, every time a badge needs to be picked up, a new set of forms needs to be generated and submitted. Costly and wasteful....

Our council still hasn't figured out that the online reporting system should be paperless. Every time we run another report from the online system, it generates several pages (4-7 I think). Our council still thinks they need the papers turned in, which means we have to waste all that paper every time. (And that is aside from the gas and time wasted to pick up one badge.)

[FrankJ]

* Who is to pay for the gas to run the 50 miles r/t to the Scout shop every week to pick up ONE merit badge? A $3 merit badge now becomes a $10 one. Is the troop to waste its limited (in our case) funds for gas money?

Maybe combine trips? Buy more than one badge?

Of do what works for your troop. So you recognize achievement once a month. Just do not drag it out to once a year. We actually keep stock of the badges and use the advancement report to replenish stock. I know that is strictly against BSA policy & I have warned our advancement chair that the patch police is on their way. Another possibility is to use the internet or the mail and not drive to your scout shop just to find out that they are out of what you came for.

The point of what BSA want is that you recognize the achievement in a timely manner.