How many merit badges do your boys earn at summercamp

[outfoxed86]

our Plc voted on three for first class and above. The younger scouts T-1st, can earn two but have to attend our camps First year program called Dan Beard. This leaves us time for fun and activites.
Wayne

[FrankJ]

I see your PLC is actively running the troop. That is a good thing. If they are limiting merit badges to do other things as a troop, that is as well. If they are limiting badges just on principles, then that is interfering with an individual scout decisions which is not a good thing. If a scout attends a different summer camp than the troop, and earns more than three badges, that is not an issue for the PLC. Our troop has several scouts that have moved & attends summer camp with their old troop as well as ours.

[ASM-142]

our Plc voted on three for first class and above. The younger scouts T-1st, can earn two but have to attend our camps First year program called Dan Beard. This leaves us time for fun and activites.
Wayne

The decision of MBs should be the scout's not the PLC or the SM. The scout (and his family) is paying for camp and it should be there decision on what to take (or not take).

[hacimsaalk]

our Plc voted on three for first class and above. The younger scouts T-1st, can earn two but have to attend our camps First year program called Dan Beard. This leaves us time for fun and activites.
Wayne

The decision of MBs should be the scout's not the PLC or the SM. The scout (and his family) is paying for camp and it should be there decision on what to take (or not take).

i agree 100% with ASM142. this decision should be the scouts decision. this past year at camp, you know how many MB's i did-2. that was my decision. nobody told me i had to do more. it needs to be up to the scout whether they want to do 1 or 10.

just my $0.02

[outfoxed86]

Our plc feels that summercamp is more than merit badgesIts time for troop and patrol bonding. helping The new boys with their first summer camp experiance. Having fun. this is hard to achive if your doing 10 merit badges.
summercamp isnt onlyabout the scout its about the troop and learning to be part of a team.
Wayne

[hacimsaalk]

Our plc feels that summercamp is more than merit badgesIts time for troop and patrol bonding. helping The new boys with their first summer camp experiance. Having fun. this is hard to achive if your doing 10 merit badges.
summercamp isnt onlyabout the scout its about the troop and learning to be part of a team.
Wayne

not trying to disagree with you, but a scout doing 10mbs doent cut into the the troop time at all. im not sure if your camp does scheduled mbs, where each one has a certain time that you go to it during, or if it is open. either way, there is usually a set time to do MB's during. (say from 8:30am till noon, then 1pm till 4pm) after that, most councelors wont sign off on it. i have done 10 mbs before. it is more of a strain on the scout himself than the troop (teamwork). activites like water polo, the staff hunt, fishing tourney, hacky-sac competitions are all ways to bring the troop together. campfires at scout camp are something that just cant be messed with. there bonding and everything else that goes on with that is phenomenal. also, it isnt only about your troop. scout camp is a good place to meet new people, start friendships, and learn different ways to run your troop, plc, etc. some of the best times come from friends made out-side of your troop.

you have to remember, there is more to scouts than just your troop. as the scout law says, a scout is FRIENDLY. they didnt make MB's just so you could earn 3 a year at scout camp. if they had wanted it that way, they would've designed the program around 3 mb's a yr.

just my $0.02

micah

[lifescoutforlife]

Each scout is different and should be on thier own path not one that someone is picking for them. I myself like the first year program that a lot of camps have but as far as MB's each scout should make up thier mind how many they are going to take at camp get the MB books and read them before camp and they should do well once they get there.

[jr56]

How many merit badges a scout earns at summer camp is a decision to be made by the indivdual scout, since everybody is different. I've even seen the same boy bust his gut and earn 7 merit badges one year, and decide the next year to take it easier and do 3.

[cballman]

well my take on the troop telling a child how many merit badges he can take is a great one ONLY if the troop pays 100% of the summer camp fee. now if a child and his parents have to pay the summer camp fee then I think it should be left up to the child with a little guidence from a scout leader.

[Mad Dog]

At our camp merit badges are offered in 6 time slots. So normally 6 is the manimum. Boys can sometimes double up basket weaving and wood carving because they wrok on their projects independently. We have no limits in the troop. But from past experience most boys earn between 4 and 6.

[jr56]

Ive seen a few "go getters" do 7-9. But the overall average is 2-3

[hacimsaalk]

ditto with ballman. if the troops want to pay, then they can say.

if a scout really wants to, i have seen as many as 14 earned in one week. i have also seen 0 earned. it can go either way.

[ccjj]

We try to encourage boys to take at least one required MB if any are offered. Otherwise, the choice is totally up to them. Two years ago, there were 8 boys who went to camp, and between them earned 33 MB's.

ccjj

[hacimsaalk]

in the summer of 04', me along w/ 2 other scouts (eagle now) earned 42 together. it was quite the week, but well worth it. if a boy is motivated to do that many, i think it is a great show of character.

[scoutaholic]

Depending on the camp schedule and how hard a boy works, they can earn a bunch. The record I've heard is 19 in a week at camp. I think the record in our troop is 7. I've also seen some do 0.

As SM in a troop that pays most of the money, I encourage the boys to sign up for as many as they can do. There is plenty of time after classes close and between scheduled classes to get the fun activities too.

I won't force them to do the badges, buy I have been known to find a boy in camp when he was signed up for a MB, and I sent him out of camp to go to class. Whether he did anything after he got there (or whether he arrived at the class) is up to him.

Last year I promised ice cream to any boy who earned 5 MBs. 3 of the 8 did it. The year before, It was a troop challenge. If they averaged 5 each, they all got ice cream. I bought lots of ice cream, but that was the year we had several boys getting 6 or 7 MBs.

[outfoxed86]

and everyone feels they satisfied the requriements and really learned what was in these badges or did they just pump them out and thats it
wayne

[ASM-142]

This is where the decision of the camp you go to makes the difference. I would never take my troop to a MB mill but only to a camp where the boys actually earn the requirements as stated in the MB pamplets.

[outfoxed86]

This is where the decision of the camp you go to makes the difference. I would never take my troop to a MB mill but only to a camp where the boys actually earn the requirements as stated in the MB pamplets.

I agree with you 100%. But even going to a great camp like that, can a scout in one week earn 10 mb's and really understand and learn about the subject of the badge? With the attencion span of todays youth I find it very unlikly.
wayne

[hacimsaalk]

This is where the decision of the camp you go to makes the difference. I would never take my troop to a MB mill but only to a camp where the boys actually earn the requirements as stated in the MB pamplets.

I agree with you 100%. But even going to a great camp like that, can a scout in one week earn 10 mb's and really understand and learn about the subject of the badge? With the attencion span of todays youth I find it very unlikly.
wayne

you figure you go to a good camp. for 5 days (out of the 7) you do MB's. going over a MB for 5 days in a row gets absolutely boring. i could see maybe a day or two for each mb, not much more than that. unfortunately, since the troop isnt paying, this is once agains the boy decision.

in all reality though, how much do you think they learn from MB's that they take 4 monthes to do? about as much as one that take them a day to earn.

when it comes to req.s outta the book, it is the same way. i would be willing to bet that 80% or scouts today study their stuff maybe 10 or 15min before going over it w/ whoever can sign off on it. After the nights over, most wont remember a word they said.

sad reality, but thats the way it is.

[outfoxed86]

you figure you go to a good camp. for 5 days (out of the 7) you do MB's. going over a MB for 5 days in a row gets absolutely boring. i could see maybe a day or two for each mb, not much more than that. unfortunately, since the troop isnt paying, this is once agains the boy decision.

What does money have to do with it? If the PLC has set the bylaws for the troop and everyone knows them before they join there's no problem.

in all reality though, how much do you think they learn from MB's that they take 4 monthes to do? about as much as one that take them a day to earn.

No I would hope not! Area directors at summer camp go to camp school for "A Week". There they have an intense corse. My son went to camp school for Consveration Director. He came back with a load of merit badges they said he is ok to sign off on . He didnt even feel he could but by BSA standards he could . In a district a person cant just sign up for any badge he needs to prove to the Dean of Merit badges that he knows what he's going to be a councler for. Summer camp is very different than every day when it comes to merit badges.

when it comes to req.s outta the book, it is the same way. i would be willing to bet that 80% or scouts today study their stuff maybe 10 or 15min before going over it w/ whoever can sign off on it. After the nights over, most wont remember a word they said.

sad reality, but thats the way it is.

That would be the Scoutmasters fault for not working with the PLC in the planning of troop meetings and outings. They should be reinforcing these skills .
Wayne