The listed requirements look pretty sound to me.
- Lots of social interaction involved.
- Plenty of socialization.
- Finding and processing information.
- Communicating that information.
- Learning give'n'take
- Comparing and contrasting to form opinions
- Learning and practising technical skills
...and so on
If the Scouts are to remain relevant to young people -- the 'clients' -- then the organisation has to move forward, keeping its finger on the contemporary pulse.
...
I rest m'case m'Lud.
-esoito
In which case we'll likely have to agree to disagree.
I'm sorry, but the requirements for the badge sound like little more than something the game industry might draw up to convince parents computer games are vastly more beneficial to a child's development than they actually are.
I also have to disagree with the tendency in many quarters (like school boards) to too easily equate
doing something, no matter how minor, with developing a
skill.
I'm wondering how long it's going to be before somebody equates the simple act of breathing with "exercising personal responsibility" and "recognizing and observing good health habits."
Play a game with somebody? Ah, yes, that's furthering the development of
social skills.
Teach somebody how to play a game? Ok, that's developing social
and verbal skills.
Compare
two game systems? Oooo! That develops analytical reasoning, mathematical,
and verbal skills.
...
and so on indeed!
Note too, that once our little
prodigy earns this badge, he can apply all these new skills he's so laboriously acquired to sell his parents on getting him a brand new game. Yay!!!Or maybe even a whole new game system if he's a real go-getter.
(See requirements #8 and #9 for details.) "Man of the world, eh? Nudge nudge, wink-wink, say no more!" as the Monty Pythons would say.
Sorry. I'm just not buying it.
And if the scouting movement has decided that the only way it can "remain relevant" is by setting the hurdles at 6-inches, and positioning the finish line ten feet away from the starting mark, then they might as well "hit it on the head and drop it over the side" right now.
And as for resting my case...well...
With all due respect to the court m'Lud, I'm just bloody warming up!
------
Note: I've got nothing against computer games. Kids and adults want to play them? I have no problem with that. But I still can't bring myself to see where there's anything in the requirements for this "merit" badge that actually merits getting one.
What can I say? I'm crabby.
Just my tuppence.
-----
ADDENDUM:Something just occurred to me...
When I was working on my Communications merit badge, one of the requirements I elected was to do a sales pitch. I don't remember the exact wording of the requirement from back then, but the current wording is very similar, if not exactly the same:
Choose a concept, product, or service in which you have great confidence. Build a sales plan based on its good points. Try to persuade the counselor to agree with, use, or buy your concept, product or service. After your sales talk, discuss with your counselor how persuasive you were.
My sales plan was to promote the "science badges" since I already held them for Oceanography, Atomic Energy, Electronics, and Computer Science. I also planned on getting the Chemistry, Geology, and Astronomy badges so I could claim I earned (what was then) the full set.
(I didn't BTW - and it was some time before one kid actually did.)
The hook I came up with was:
There's a lot more to Scouting than tying knots.My counselor loved it (since he was a proto-geek like me) and suggested I use it in conjunction with the next requirement- which was to do a 5-minute presentation on some topic important to me.
It was an
interesting experience presenting my "new scouting" concept at a few council and troop meetings. The reaction was decidedly mixed. And much to my surprise, there was a huge amount of pushback from some of the more traditional 'Hiking & Camping' crowd. Seems these guys felt those fancy new "propeller-head" and "sissy" badges were diluting all that was great and noble (i.e. manly) in the scouting movement.
I can vividly remember the hurt and utter frustration I felt trying to convince some people that
times had changed and scouting needed to change along with it.I guess what comes around goes around...
and someplace along the line...
OMG! I've become
my father!!!Arrrgh!!!
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)
) But maybe this is one way to approach the issue of how to accommodate a new or occasional visitor - while simultaneously providing that different type of 'experience' the more familiar and active visitor (i.e. "regular") would be looking for.