Boy Scout Merit Badges: What They Are, How to Get Them, and How to Give Them

Looking for a way to share your passion for the law and civics education with the leaders of tomorrow? You can volunteer as a merit badge counselor with the Boy Scouts of America. The Scouts BSA program is for young men and women ages 11 to 18. Merit badge counselors teach scouts about future careers, the trades, hobbies, science, sports, and business. Some merit badges, especially American Heritage, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, and Citizenship in the World, focus on civics and history. A few others, particularly Law and Crime Prevention, cover the legal system and law-related careers. Still others, including Communication, Public Speaking, and Scholarship, are areas in which most attorneys have some expertise that would be relevant to service as a merit badge counselor. 

The Merit Badge Program allows scouts to meet with people who are experienced in a particular field and learn from them. Each merit badge has a lengthy list of requirements that each scout must fulfill in order to earn the merit badge. For example, the Law merit badge has 11 requirements, including learning about two famous cases and discussing legal systems throughout history. The scouts need to meet with a counselor to earn their merit badges. And HERE is where you can help: By signing up as a merit badge counselor, you can help youth in your area earn merit badges. You do not have to wear a uniform or otherwise be involved in scouting to be a merit badge counselor. 

In order to become a merit badge counselor, you must first complete Scouts BSA’s online Youth Protection Training (YPT). This course takes less than two hours and explains Scouts BSA’s requirements for working with youth. You will learn that there must always be two adults present when any counselors are working with a youth. After obtaining your YPT certificate, you must fill out an Adult Application and provide authorization for a background check. All of these measures help keep our scouts safe. There is no cost to complete the required training or background checks, or to register as a merit badge counselor. 

You can complete merit badges with one scout, a few scouts, or a group of scouts. I have met with many individual scouts and also with several small groups of scouts. I recently taught at a Merit Badge University at York Community High School in Elmhurst. Over 1,200 scouts attended this event. I worked with 110 scouts, broken up into groups of 25-30, guiding them through the Law and Crime Prevention merit badges. The scouts had to complete some of the requirements at home before the event and we covered the other requirements in class. Two of the groups conducted a mock trial. Scouts in all of the groups were able to ask questions about careers in the law and notable court cases. It was an enjoyable experience for me and I believe the scouts learned a lot. Almost all of the scouts I met that day were interested in becoming attorneys or entering another law-related career. It would be nice if we could follow them all to learn what career choices they ultimately make and how much the Merit Badge Program and the volunteer merit badge counselors influenced those choices. 

Scouting is not just about camping, wilderness survival, and public service. Merit badges are an important way that young men and women can learn about the adult world. If you are interested in becoming a merit badge counselor, you can contact the local Scouts BSA council in your area. You can find your local council by going to https://www.scouting.org/about/local-council-locator/ and entering your ZIP code. For more information on the 137 currently offered merit badges, please go to https://www.scouting.org/programs/scouts-bsa/advancement-and-awards/meri...

Melissa Olivero is an attorney employed by a federal agency. She is also the scoutmaster of Scouts BSA Troop 123 in Peru, Illinois, and a merit badge counselor.