Can a scout work on merit badges by himself or with his family?
A scout has to follow the procedure above for earning a merit badge, or work on merit badges at summer camp, merit badge clinics or classes conducted within the troop. In all cases, he must have Scoutmaster approval and a Blue Card before beginning. A parent cannot counsel his son unless he is also a registered Merit Badge Counselor for that particular merit badge. It is not recommended that a parent be his son’s counselor unless the parent is teaching a class or clinic for the troop, camp or outside organization, or if there is no other counselor for that merit badge in the Ottawa District. It is up to the discretion of the Scoutmaster as to whether to allow a particular counselor to counsel a scout. There are many reasons why a boy’s parent may not be a suitable Merit Badge Counselor for his son. Chief among these is that the merit badge process is intended to give the scout experience in dealing with people outside his circle of acquaintences. It can be a challenge to pick up the ph
