1. While the merit badge work opportunity is there for ALL boys, until your son reaches the rank of 1st Class, merit badges ARE NOT the focus of the Troop 46 program. We encourage, we support, we provide opportunities, but the focus is skills building.

2. VERY few merit badges are fully completed at a two classes in one day Merit Badge University and some not even at a week long camp.  Those that are completed in 2.5 or 3 hours are very rarely Eagle required merit badges, particularly without prerequisite work completed by the scout in advance of the workshop, clinic, university, or camp.

3. While a Merit Badge Counselor may sign off on your blue card, that merit badge is not complete for reporting until a scoutmaster signs off on the work - take a moment and look at the signature lines, they are very clear. It is the practice that a parent who is a scoutmaster not sign off of their own son's work unless they are signing a large group's work. 

4. Prerequisites - if there are prerequisites completed but the scoutmaster does not see the completed work, they are not considered completed. You can take pictures of work and show it to the Scoutmasters, you can take videos, you can write up a paragraph about it, but work must be shown to a Scoutmaster or Merit Badge Counselor of that badge.

5. Work that specifically says it is to be done on a camp out MUST be done on a TROOP campout and cannot be done on a family campout. 

7. AFTER a scoutmaster signs off, then the Advancements Chair reports the merit badge work. In general, the Troop 46 Scoutmaster has maintained a practice of allowing the entire scoutmaster team to sign off on blue cards and allowing the Committee Chair and Advancements Chair to as well.  However, that is at the discretion of the Scoutmaster only and is generally extended to adult leaders who have earned the trust that they will maintain the integrity, consistency, and intention of the merit badge program.

8. Speaking of the integrity of the program, the process to begin a new merit badge is as follows:

     8.1. Receive permission from the Scoutmaster to begin working on the Merit Badge. This is an intentional decision to begin Merit Badge Work. (A troop coordinated badge, MB University, etc are implicitly given permission events.) 

     8.2. During the decision to work on the MB you will complete the requirements. This does not mean at any point in your life time did you visit a National Park that you can count it. It must be during the work on the Merit Badge. That is the intention of the program and in the spirit of that intention. 

     8.3. In general, unless previously approved by the Scoutmaster and then recorded (video) and shared with the Scoutmaster, you cannot count speeches at school for something like Communications, or art work done in the natural course of art class at school.  It must be done during the course of working on the specific merit badge. 

     8.4. In order to prove your knowledge of Merit Badge work, you need to actually fill out the Work Book. This is not only to share with the Scoutmaster, but for YOU to keep as a RECORD of your own work should discrepancies ever arise. We can not and will not accept something like, "Remember, I did it with that group that did it at camp 4 years ago." 

     8.5. A scoutmaster will sign off on requirements (either on the workbook or on a blue card) and then you will take those requirements to the Advancements Chair or the Committee Chair for submission into Troop Track.  Ultimately, it is the scout's responsibility to submit their own merit badge work for review and approval. 

9. Merit Badge Workbooks are a relatively new creation to the scouting program.  They are not required for merit badge completion, however, Troop 46 recognizes them as an easy way for a scout to keep track of his own merit badge work, organize requirements, and keep work together.  It is a good practice to print off the workbook for a merit badge before a scout begins working on that merit badge.  Some Merit Badge Clinics REQUIRE a scout brings this workbook with them to help facilitate Merit Badge work and while we comply with event requirements, Troop 46 only requires that the work be completed in accordance with the Merit Badge Requirements.  With that said, the BSA in general discourages the use of these.  See the article posted below.

10. Merit Badge Booklets are necessary for ALL merit badges.  While the troop owns a majority of Merit Badge Booklets and they are available to check out for use, it is strongly suggested that a scout actually purchase the booklets from the Scout Shop for which he is intending to begin work.  Everything a scout needs to know for that merit badge can be found directly in a Merit Badge Booklet.  These are not available for free download and must be purchased.

In summary, Merit Badge work is intended to give the boys an opportunity to experience and be exposed to different vocations and life skills. It is not a race to complete them, to collect them, or to check them off. It is a process, a journey intended to give our children experiences they may not have received outside of the scouting program. Let us all work together to help our sons not just get done, not just complete things, not just get it marked off, but to actually do the work, make the effort, and learn how to work hard in the process. And work hard along their journey toward becoming a positive, caring, contributing, responsible, honest member of society who is not a drain on society, but builds it up and leads our tomorrows.

If you have questions, please feel free to speak with the Scoutmaster, as ultimately, it is the Scoutmaster who bears the responsibility to the council and national for maintaining the integrity of the program provided at Troop 46.

WHAT DO I NEED TO TAKE TO MERIT BADGE CLASSES?

First and foremost - Always Be Prepared.  If a scout considers the BSA Motto "Be Prepared" in any planning, there will rarely be any questions as to what is or is not needed.

• blue cards (provided by the Troop)
• Class A uniform shirt
• day bag (a small bag/backpack to carry your things for the day)
• water bottle
• pen/pencil
• folder
• notebook
• light snack
• merit badge book (you do not need to purchase this, the Troop owns most of these booklets)
• scout handbook

After a Scout returns from a merit badge class, summer camp, meeting, or campout; be sure to review learned information.  If there is any additional work to be completed, the Scout should get working on it right away.  It is too easy to leave merit badges unfinished after getting most of the work done!

Merit badges aren’t easy to earn. They’re meant to challenge the mind, to build character, and to educate through trial and error.

Unofficial merit badge worksheets hasten this process — but not always in a good way. These printable documents are meant to help Scouts complete requirements by filling in the blanks. Sure, they can be time-saving tools, but too often they’re used in the wrong way.

That’s why the Boy Scouts of America discourages — but doesn’t ban — the use of these worksheets, which are available online.

What does that mean? Look for requirements with verbs like “discuss,” “show,” “tell,” “explain,” “demonstrate” or “identify.” Requirements like those aren’t meant to be completed by filling in a blank on some worksheet, says Chris Hunt, team leader of the BSA’s Content Management Team.

Merit badge worksheets are “permitted only for fulfilling requirements where something is to be done in writing,” he says. And merit badge counselors may never require the use of merit badge worksheets and may, if they choose, refuse to accept them, Hunt says.

This has been a rule in the Guide to Advancement for a couple of years, but it’s worth clarifying. So here goes …

What are merit badge worksheets?

Unofficial merit badge worksheets, sometimes called workbooks, are fill-in-the-blank documents for Scouts working on merit badges. Some counselors will print copies for Scouts and use them while teaching the merit badge.

These worksheets list every requirement, even those with verbs like the “discuss,” “show” or “tell,” and include blank spaces with each.

Why are they discouraged?

Unofficial merit badge worksheets emphasize speed over education.

Take the First Aid merit badge as an example. Requirement 3d says, “Show the steps that need to be taken for someone suffering from a severe cut on the leg and on the wrist.”

On one worksheet I found online, that requirement is listed with a big blank space, ostensibly for the Scout to write out the steps. That’s not OK.

The Scout should “show” by literally showing these steps to his counselor — not writing them down. The reason’s simple: Scouts learn better that way.

What does the Guide to Advancement say?

Here’s the relevant section, 7.0.4.8 Unofficial Worksheets and Learning Aids, 2015 Guide to Advancement(PDF).

Worksheets and other materials that may be of assistance in earning merit badges are available from a variety of places including unofficial sources on the Internet and even troop libraries. Use of these aids is permissible as long as the materials can be correlated with the current requirements that Scouts must fulfill. Completing “worksheets” may suffice where a requirement calls for something in writing, but this would not work for a requirement where the Scout must discuss, tell, show, or demonstrate, etc. Note that Scouts shall not be required to use these learning aids in order to complete a merit badge.

What does the BSA say?

Hunt offers this further explanation and rationale. Please read the whole thing and ask your fellow merit badge counselors to do the same.

When merit badge requirements are developed, they are meant to challenge a Scout’s thought process, to cause him to learn and practice skills, to help him explore areas of interest and dispel misconceptions, and to bring about interaction with others — especially positive adult role models.

Worksheets are a shortcut. They present on paper what should be arrived at through thought and interaction — through asking questions and trial and error. They often tend to create or support an atmosphere of “get the merit badge finished as efficiently and quickly as possible,” when the objective should be a significant learning experience that builds character, citizenship, and physical or mental fitness.

Worksheets can prevent struggling with requirements, when it is the struggle that can lead to retention of lessons learned.

We don’t like worksheets, and we’re reasonably sure our founder would be horrified by their very existence. That said, we realize their use is extensive and that prohibiting them would be unrealistic. That’s why they are permitted only for fulfilling requirements where something is to be done in writing.

Worksheets must not be accepted in fulfillment of requirements that call for “showing,” “demonstrating,” “discussing,” or whatever else the written word does not fully accomplish.

Furthermore, Scouts must never be required to use worksheets. The decision to use them belongs to the Scout. Not one merit badge requirement says anything like, “Use a worksheet downloaded from the Internet to…”

Merit badge counselors may refuse to accept worksheets but they are not allowed to require their use.

For more information, refer to the Guide to Advancement, Page 2, “BSA policy on Unauthorized Changes to Advancement Program” and Page 53, topic 7.0.4.8, “Unofficial Worksheets and Learning Aids.”

Important postscript

Once again, unofficial merit badge worksheets only may be used for completing requirements when the requirement specifically instructs a Scout to write something.

That said, one set of worksheets online includes this disclaimer at the top:

The work space provided for each requirement should be used by the Scout to make notes for discussing the item with his counselor, not for providing the full and complete answers. Each Scout must do each requirement.

If Scouts use this space solely to make notes for a verbal discussion with their counselor, that’s fine. It’s only a problem if the Scout submits the written notes as a substitute for completing the requirement.

In a sense, taking notes on one of these merit badge worksheets should be no different from taking notes in a spiral notebook. A Scout wouldn’t turn in his notebook to fulfill a requirement, but he should be allowed to use those notes for a discussion with his counselor.

It’s an important distinction, all aimed at making earning a merit badge a challenging, rewarding experience for the Scout.

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