Boy Scouts Give Up Entirely, Offer Video Game Badge
 

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O RLY? What's next...the LOLCAT Badge? I iz boiskout, givz mi teh popkorns. Lulz.

I read the requirements and they are pretty similar to the other academic belt loop requirements. I will say that academic belt loops are just "candy" basically. They aren't required to move up in rank and they aren't anything like a merit badge. They have them for sports and academics and, honestly, I think this one should have been a sports one. If you look at the requirements though, they include: budgeting, spending time with the family, evaluating the ratings programs and what's age appropriate, and managing time to LIMIT video gaming to make sure that homework and chores are done too.

I don't think this is a bad thing. They are piloting an Internet merit badge and there is now a Webmaster leadership position in Boy Scout troops.

Just for a frame of reference, other belt loops include bowling, baseball, hockey, badminton, skateboarding, chess, collecting, etc.

I wonder what game they have to play? Modern Warfare or GTA?

Maybe some Madden?

It can be any game that the Scout chooses with his parent's permission as long as it is age appropriate. Madden is OK for Cubs. Modern Warfare is not.

When the VG requirements came out last fall, I was hoping that there would be a little more meat to them. I did encourage my parents to have their sons compare and contrast two similar games and discuss it. We did Thrillville, which is building a theme park and SimsAnimals, which is creating habitats.

Ha! It has to be done with a parent, so maybe the point is that the boyscout teaches the adult how to use a computer/gaming system.
"Uh, no Dad, push the other button...you suck!"

OOOh noes...a WoW badge!!!!

I'm so glad I put a stop to all that gaming early in my relationship with my husband...he'd literally spend DAYS playing the same game just building up "experience points" doing something stupid like killing spiders. He wouldn't eat anything but chocolate reisens (an entire bag or two) and drink diet coke! It's pathologic.

Killing spiders is not stupid.












Killing rats is stupid.

Exactly. Here are the requirements:

Requirements for the Video Games Belt Loop
Complete these three requirements:

1. Explain why it is important to have a rating system for video games. Check your video games to be sure they are right for your age.
2. With an adult, create a schedule for you to do things that includes your chores, homework, and video gaming. Do your best to follow this schedule.
3. Learn to play a new video game that is approved by your parent, guardian, or teacher.

There's also a Pin for Webelos Scouts:

Requirements for the Video Games Pin
Earn the Video Games belt loop, and complete five of the following requirements:

1. With your parents, create a plan to buy a video game that is right for your age group.
2. Compare two game systems (for example, Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Wii, and so on). Explain some of the differences between the two. List good reasons to purchase or use a game system.
3. Play a video game with family members in a family tournament.
4. Teach an adult or a friend how to play a video game.
5. List at least five tips that would help someone who was learning how to play your favorite video game.
6. Play an appropriate video game with a friend for one hour.
7. Play a video game that will help you practice your math, spelling, or another skill that helps you in your schoolwork.
8. Choose a game you might like to purchase. Compare the price for this game at three different stores. Decide which store has the best deal. In your decision, be sure to consider things like the store return policy and manufacturer’s warranty.
9. With an adult’s supervision, install a gaming system.

The requirements for the pin do focus more on playing, but still I see broader value in a lot of the requirements.

Nice! I always enjoy the hidden text trick! :D

Put a stop to? So you don't allow your husband to play video games? I play WoW on a regular and if its not affecting his regular life then there shouldn't be a problem. Now if he was neglecting things like you and other aspects of his life then he has a problem. You just sound like you didn't like him playing video games for extended periods.

I would never be able to get live-in to stop playing video games. However, he only plays 1-2 evenings during weeks (mostly less) and maybe an afternoon on a weekend.

He does buy games that he thinks I would like or at least like to watch - I'm not someone who likes actually playing the games but I am one of the rarities who actually likes watching.

That post really has nothing to do with the OP. I wonder if Eagle Scouts can create a video game for their project? That might be really cool, actually, especially if it were educationally-based and could be used to teach reading to little kids or something.

Yeah. That's exactly the problem. My husband doesn't know how to play for a few minutes and stop. He plays nonstop for days on end. He doesn't just neglect me; he neglects himself. No food. No shower. Nothing but gaming until he beats it. He knows he gets like that so he chooses not to play any games unless he really, really wants one.

You may have just come up with my son's Eagle project. Something like that would be perfect for him since he wants to be a video game designer. Math might be easier than reading.. like memorizing multiplication tables via a video game. Hmmmm. The boy and I will have to have a chat about that!

I was actually thinking of your son when I wrote that, believe it or not.

I doubt that would be approved. (Sorry AGDee.) Even if you could work it out as a service project (like for a school), the major compenent of the Eagle project is leadership -- demonstrating leadership skills, both in terms of organization/planning and execution. The idea is really come up with and plan the project and then oversee a group of others in seeing it through to completion. Not sure how that would work with designing a video game.

But it might be worth exploring, especially (I kind of hate to say this) if you're in a district that's a little less strict about the requirements. With some imagination, you might be able to figure out how to make it work.

Hmm, interesting. Our district may be a little less strict. I think a lot of kids have done their project completely alone. I'm not certain about that though.

That's a bummer. I asked live-in about it last night and he said it would probably take about 6 months to a year to develop a non-word-based (if that makes sense) game about multiplication. Isn't that about how long they spend on these projects, or am I remembering things completely wrong?

I was thinking of the teaching aspect because I know it has to benefit the community in some way. I feel like I remember that one of the guys in boy scouts with my brother did some sort of cemetary clean-up project for his Eagle Scout thing.

He has plenty of time. He's on track to get Life at the next Court of Honor (November) and he's only 14! LOL

My daughter is trying to figure out what to do for her Girl Scout Gold Award too. She has less time since she's already 16.

And you're right about that. It is supposed to be a service project. Here is the actual wording of the requirement:

While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. (The project should benefit an organization other than Boy Scouting.) The project plan must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your Scoutmaster and troop committee and the council or district before you start. You must use the http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-927.pdf, in meeting this requirement.

So while it is a service project, it is supposed to involve giving leadership to others in carying out that project. Many would say the leadership aspect is the most important part.

The Eagle Candidate provides a list to the BOR of the people who he led and how many hours each of them spent on his project. My son led a three-day project. It was supposed to be 4 but they finished the project early. His volunteers logged over 120 hours. His project, like those of most of the boys in his troop, was a construction project of sorts that benefited the community.

The Gold Award expects the project to involve leadership but the Scout only turns in HER hours spent on the project, not her volunteers. The Gold Award used to require 50+ hours of the candidate's time . It may still be the same but my daughter earned her Gold Award in 2003 so who knows. Her project involved training Cadette Scouts in a skill and then they all taught elementary school children the particular skill. With their newly acquired skills, the young ones created items for a children's charity.

Both BSA and GSUSA (at least our councils) frown upon collection projects as valid Eagle/Gold Award projects.

I am more familiar with the Gold Award requirements at this point because my daughter already attended the workshop so I've seen the packet they gave her. They do still expect 50+ hours of her time to be spent on the project. I suggested that she talk with her principal about the schools' needs. We are undergoing massive budget cuts and I'm sure there is something she can do around the school to improve things. The only problem there may be interfering with the unions. She is also considering doing something with a homeless shelter but she really isn't sure what direction she would go with that.

I guess I see why it seems like all the Boy Scouts do the same thing. Most of them do some project at Historic Fort Wayne or their church and it's usually yard work, gardening, painting or rebuilding something. My son has helped other boys with a lot of theirs. Several of our committee members are on the board of the Fort Wayne Preservation Society so it's a fairly easy project to do something there. I guess I was encouraging innovation and maybe that's not really necessary.

I haven't seen the requirements yet, but so help me--there's an Older Girl Interest Project in Scouting called "Couch Potato".