Merit Badges

As chartered by the Congress of the United States, the Boy Scouts of America is a movement dedicated to supplementing and enlarging the education of youth. The merit badge program, which provides opportunities to explore more than a hundred fields of skill and knowledge, plays a key role in the fulfillment of this educational commitment.

As a vital part of the advancement plan, the merit badge program is one of Scouting’s basic character-building tools. Through participation in the program (which may begin immediately upon registration in a troop), each Scout acquires the kind of self-confidence that comes only from overcoming obstacles to achieve a goal. Instruction is offered in everything from animal science and public speaking to swimming and communications, providing a Scout with invaluable career, physical, and interpersonal skills.

Each merit badge subject is outlined and explained in a pamphlet that contains short, introductory information written for Boy Scouts by recognized authorities. These pamphlets can be obtained from your Counselor, or www.meritbadge.org Also, many of the pamphlets can be found in, and checked out of, the Troop’s Merit Badge Library. Simply talk to the Troop Librarian and, if available, he will check out the merit badge pamphlet you need. Please get these pamphlets back to the library as soon as possible since others may also have need to use them. (If you have any old merit badge books which you no longer need, please donate them to the Troop so that other Scouts may use them.)

The parents and friends of the Troop who are knowledgeable of the various merit badge subjects should make themselves available to counsel the Scouts on particular merit badges. Register your commitment with the Advancement Chairman of the Troop Committee. The Advancement Chairman will provide the instructions on how to go about counseling a merit badge, particularly the procedures required to make sure the Scout is approved to work on the badge, and that his progress is accounted for.

The merit badge program is designed to encourage Scouts to seek information from new people who are experts in their respective fields. A parent should not sign off on his or her son’s merit badge requirements. If you are the only advisor for a merit badge that your son is interested in, contact the Advancement Chairman and arrangements will be made to handle this situation.

When a Scout shows an interest in earning a particular merit badge, he obtains his Scoutmaster’s approval, and identifies another Scout with similar interests to become his partner. If a Scout can’t find a partner, he must have an appropriate “buddy” to attend meeting with him (see the next paragraph) and his merit badge counselor. The BSA Youth Protection Committee policy reads:

A Scout must have a “buddy” with him at each meeting with a merit badge counselor. A Scout’s “buddy” could be another Scout, a parent or guardian, brother or sister, other relative or friend.

For both the protection of the Scout and the adult, there should always be one other person present during a meeting.

The steps in the Merit Badge procedure are:

The Scout reviews the merit badge requirements and indicates his interest in a merit badge to his adult patrol adviser who gives him:
1. A filled-out and signed (by the Scoutmaster) Merit Badge Application (blue card) that tells the merit badge counselor that the Scout has permission to work on this badge.
2. The name, address, and phone number of the Merit Badge Counselor.
The Scout reads the latest edition of the merit badge pamphlet. Many of these may be obtained from the Troop 159 Library or purchased by the Scout himself.
The Scout then contacts the merit badge counselor and makes an appointment. The counselor will set up a date for a meeting with the Scout and will suggest that he bring with him his merit badge pamphlet, his merit badge application, any projects that the Scout may have started and any other indication of preparedness.
At the first interview, which may be by telephone, the counselor and the Scout decide upon projects, short-term and long-term goals with dates of completion in mind and dates and time for future meetings.

The counselor will assist the Scout to meet the requirements and certifies when he has completed them. The number of counseling sessions depends on the difficulty of the subject and the preparation and ability of the Scout.

Upon successful completion of the merit badge requirements, the counselor completes the application and returns it to the Scout.
The Scout will then return the application to the Scoutmaster, who signs off the merit badge application and turns in the appropriate section of the blue slip to the Advancement Chairman, who then logs the Merit Badge Award on the Troop Advancement Report.
The Scout will be awarded the merit badge and the Merit Badge Card at the next quarterly Court of Honor. Just as with advancement record cards, merit badge cards are very important and should be saved. Information from these cards is required for advancement to Star, Life and Eagle ranks.
Boy Scouts are always tested individually. The Scout is expected to meet the current requirements, neither more or less. Occasionally the question arises as to whether it is permissible to have Scouts earn merit badges in a group. Many subjects may be presented to groups of Scouts without defeating one of the purposes of the merit badge plan. Although the presentation of the material may be made to a group of Scouts, a qualified counselor must perform the examination for the merit badge on an individual basis.