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Merit Badge Center Introduction Page - An
introduction to the merit badge area.
Qualifications for Merit Badge Counselors
The following is taken directly from the 2011 edition of the Guide to Advancement (BSA Publication 33088 - SKU 614448) and should be read by all Merit Badge Counselors.
7.0.1.1 Qualifications of Counselors
People serving must maintain registration with the
Boy Scouts of America as merit badge counselors
and be approved by the local council for each of their
badges. See "Counselor Approvals and Limitations,"
7.0.1.4. There are no exceptions. For example,
Scoutmasters must be approved for any badge they
wish to counsel or sign off in their troop. Before working
with Scouts, counselors must have completed Youth
Protection training within the last two years. They must
be men or women of good character, age 18 or older,
and recognized as having the skills and education in
the subjects they cover. It is important, too, they have
good rapport with Scout-age boys and unit leaders.
It is acceptable for a counselor registered in
one council to approve merit badges for Scouts
in another. This is an important consideration,
especially in areas where counselors are scarce,
or when Scouts are away from home and want to
continue advancing.
Several badges involve activities for which the Boy Scouts
of America has implemented strategies to improve safety,
improve the Scouts' experiences, and manage risk.
These activities often require supervision with specialized
qualifications and certifications. Merit badge counselors
who do not meet the specific requirements may use the
services of others who do. Additional details can be
found below, and also in the Guide to Safe Scouting,
No. 34416, and the merit badge pamphlets.
General Supervision Requirements
- Swimming and watercraft activities must be conducted
in accordance with BSA Safe Swim Defense or BSA
Safety Afloat, respectively, and be supervised by
mature and conscientious adults at least 21 years old
and trained in the program applicable. Counselors
for merit badges involving swimming or the use of
watercraft must be so trained, or use others who are.
- CPR instruction, wherever it is required, must be
taught by instructors currently trained by a nationally certified provider. Several such providers are
mentioned in the Guide to Safe Scouting.
The following merit badges have special qualifications or
certifications for either the merit badge counselor or the
supervisor of certain activities that may be involved.
Counselors and advancement administrators should consult
the merit badge pamphlets for details and to maintain awareness
of changes and updates as pamphlets are revised. (See the footnotes on the
individual web pages linked in the list below for the details applicable to that
badge)
Canoeing,
Climbing, Lifesaving,
Rifle Shooting, Rowing,
Scuba Diving, Shotgun
Shooting, Snow Sports, Swimming,
Whitewater
All certifications listed above must
be current.
The required qualifications above for merit badge
counseling and supervision not only assist in managing
risk, but also give counselors credibility. Scouts will see
them as people of importance they can look up to and
learn from. A well-qualified counselor can extend a
young person's attention span: More will be heard and
understood, discussions will be more productive, and
true interest developed. The conversations can lead to a
relationship of mutual respect where the Scout is confident
to offer his thoughts and opinions and value those of his
merit badge counselor. Thus it is that social skills and
self-reliance grow, and examples are set and followed.
In approving counselors, the local council advancement
committee has the authority to establish a minimum,
reasonable level of skills and education for the
counselors of a given merit badge. For example,
NRA certification could be established as a council
standard for approving counselors for the Rifle Shooting
or Shotgun Shooting merit badges.
Note: Although not mentions in the Guide to
Advancement, the certifications listed all have limited durations and must be
periodically renewed. The BSA
"Training Times" Newsletter (Spring 2011
issue) has this information:
Training Recertification
Keeping Scouts safe and keeping Scouting leaders up to date with
current information and methods means some of the BSA's training courses need to
be retaken every couple of years.
We all know about Youth Protection training and National Camping
School, but there are some others - including some that have recently been added
to the list.
Below is a list of these courses and how often they should be
retaken to be valid:
- Youth Protection - every two years
- National Camping School - good for five camping seasons
- Safe Swim Defense - every two years
- Paddle Craft Safety - every three years
- Aquatics Supervision/Swimming and Water Rescue - every three years
- BSA Lifeguard - every three years
- Visitation training - every two years
- Climbing Lead Instructor - every two years
- Climbing Instructor - every two years
- COPE/Climbing Inspector - every two years
- Safety Afloat - every two years
- Chain Saw Safety - every two years
- Trainer's EDGE - every three years
- Hazardous Weather - every two years
- Physical Wellness - every two years
- Climb On Safely - every two years
- Trek Safely - every two years
Revisions to Merit Badges and Boy Scout Advancements
Additional Information on Merit Badges, with lists of resources
for study is available at the Meritbadge.org
website, which, is not directly affiliated with the USSSP, but whose operators work closely with the USSSP. The worksheets on both meritbadge.og and usscouts.org are prepared by the same Scouters and are identical.
Required for Eagle
The following 15 badges are on the list of badges in requirement
3 for Eagle Scout.
Although a Scout must earn only 12 of them for the rank of Eagle
Scout, and certain of them are therefore options for others, a Scout may choose
any combination of these 15 merit badges to fulfill requirement number 3 for Star and
Life Scout. (He must have a total of 4 of these badges for Star and 7 of these badges
for Life) Click here
to see which badges in the list are options.
Camping, Citizenship
in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation,
Citizenship in the World, Communications,
Cycling, Emergency Preparedness,
Environmental Science, Family
Life, First Aid, Hiking,
Lifesaving, Personal Fitness,
Personal Management, Swimming
The following is a list of all of the 131 current Merit Badges, arranged into 14
logical fields of activity (categories) as they appear in the BSA Pamphlet
"Worksheet for Building a Merit Badge Counselor List" (No. 04439).
- AGRIBUSINESS
ANIMAL SCIENCE, FARM MECHANICS, PLANT SCIENCE
- ARTS AND CRAFTS
ART, BASKETRY,
BUGLING, LEATHERWORK,
METALWORK, MUSIC,
POTTERY, SCULPTURE,
THEATER, WOOD CARVING
- BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
AMERICAN BUSINESS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP,
PULP AND PAPER, SALESMANSHIP,
TEXTILE
- CONSERVATION
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, FISH
AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT, FORESTRY,
SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION
- HOBBIES
BACKPACKING, CAMPING,
CHESS, COIN COLLECTING, COLLECTIONS,
COOKING, DOG CARE,
GARDENING, HIKING,
HOME REPAIRS, INDIAN LORE,
MODEL DESIGN AND BUILDING,
PETS, PIONEERING,
RADIO, ROWING,
SCOUTING HERITAGE,
STAMP COLLECTING
- NATURAL SCIENCE
ARCHAEOLOGY, ASTRONOMY,
BIRD STUDY, GEOLOGY,
INSECT STUDY, MAMMAL STUDY,
NATURE, OCEANOGRAPHY,
REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN STUDY,
WEATHER
- COMMUNICATIONS
CINEMATOGRAPHY, JOURNALISM,
PHOTOGRAPHY
- PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
AMERICAN CULTURES, AMERICAN
HERITAGE, CITIZENSHIP IN THE COMMUNITY,
CITIZENSHIP IN THE NATION,
CITIZENSHIP IN THE WORLD,
COMMUNICATIONS, DISABILITIES
AWARENESS, FAMILY LIFE,
GENEALOGY, PERSONAL FITNESS,
PERSONAL MANAGEMENT, PUBLIC
SPEAKING, READING, SCHOLARSHIP,
SEARCH AND RESCUE,
TRAFFIC SAFETY, WILDERNESS
SURVIVAL
- PHYSICAL SCIENCE
CHEMISTRY, COMPUTERS,
ELECTRICITY, ELECTRONICS,
ENERGY, NUCLEAR SCIENCE, SPACE EXPLORATION
- PROFESSIONS
ARCHITECTURE, DENTISTRY,
ENGINEERING, GAME DESIGN, INVENTING, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE,
LAW, MEDICINE, ROBOTICS,
SURVEYING, VETERINARY MEDICINE
- PUBLIC SERVICE
CRIME PREVENTION, EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS, FINGERPRINTING,
FIRE SAFETY, FIRST AID,
LIFESAVING, PUBLIC HEALTH,
SAFETY
- SPORTS
ARCHERY, ATHLETICS,
CANOEING, CLIMBING,
CYCLING, FISHING,
FLY FISHING, GOLF,
GEOCACHING,
HORSEMANSHIP, KAYAKING, MOTORBOATING,
ORIENTEERING, RIFLE SHOOTING,
SCUBA DIVING, SHOTGUN SHOOTING, SKATING,
SMALL-BOAT SAILING, SNOW
SPORTS, SPORTS, SWIMMING,
WATER SPORTS, WHITEWATER
- TRADES
AMERICAN LABOR, AUTOMOTIVE
MAINTENANCE,
COMPOSITE MATERIALS, DRAFTING,
GRAPHIC ARTS, PAINTING,
PLUMBING, WELDING, WOODWORK
- TRANSPORTATION
AVIATION, RAILROADING,
TRUCK TRANSPORTATION
Page updated on:
May 06, 2013 05:29 PM
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