Merit Badges!

    In today’s post, we will be talking about what merit badges are, which ones are required, and how you can start earning them as a Scout.

Merit badges are awards that you earn as you progress through the different levels of Scouting. The 7 ranks (discussed in the last post) each require that you complete a certain number of merit badges. As of 2022, there are over 135 different merit badges in all different areas of study. To complete your merit badge requirements for your Eagle Rank, you must earn at least 21 of these merit badges. The complete list of merit badges and the requirements to earn those badges can be found here: Merit Badges. 

Of the 21 merit badges required to earn your Eagle Rank, there are 13 merit badges that you must earn. I recommend starting these badges earlier on in your scouting career as some of them are more labor intensive and can take longer than others. These badges include: First Aid, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Communication, Cooking, Personal fitness, Emergency Preparedness or Lifesaving, Environmental Science or Sustainability, Personal Management, Swimming or Hiking or Cycling, Camping, and Family Life. These 13 merit badges in particular teach valuable life skills and that’s why they are non negotiable. 

Although many of the Eagle required badges aren’t the most fun, there are over 100 other badges that are available for all Scouts to take as well as new merit badges that are added periodically. There are different sporting merit badges, art merit badges, science merit badges, as well as outdoor merit badges. I highly recommend looking through the Merit Badges as there is a merit badge for everyone. 

Some of the fun merit badges I took during my scouting journey included rifle shooting, programming, and wilderness survival. Before scouting I never got to handle a gun or learn proper gun safety. Scouting introduced that to me. I took the computer programming merit badge as a teenager and it helped me to realize I have a passion for STEM. As for wilderness survival, I just thought it would be a fun badge . . . and it was! One of the requirements was to build a shelter in the wilderness and spend the night in it. I had some truly great experiences during my scouting career.

The only thing required for a scout to pursue a merit badge, is an adult (or higher ranked brother) must be registered to teach and sign off on the requirements of said merit badge. Adults are able to register as merit badge counselors online and can be certified by completing a course online as well. If you want to check that out, you can do so here: Training. Other than that some merit badges require certain equipment and have age requirements as well. I do recommend that if there is a merit badge that requires special equipment, for example, the small boat sailing merit badge, that you take it when you attend a Scout Camp.

I strongly recommend keeping a binder with all the merit badges you earned, as well as a log of all the camping nights you participated in. This will be helpful in the future.

Next time we will discuss the prerequisites for your Eagle Scout rank and some helpful hints on how to better achieve it!