Hypothetically, GSUSA just came out with a "Share the Fun" badge for your age level. Again, this is hypothetical, written by me, not GSUSA. Here are the steps:
- Learn about Girl Scouts
- Have fun in GS
- Invite a friend
- Invite a neighbor
- Tell the world
The activities given for #1 (Learn about Girl Scouts) are:
- Using your council's website, see how many girls were GS in your council in the last two years. Is Girl Scouts getting bigger or smaller in your council?
- Using GSUSA's website see how many girls were in GS in the last two years and whether Girl Scouts is getting bigger or smaller
- Look up how many girls your age are in the US and how many are in GS. Find out what percent of girls your age are Girl Scouts
The VTK scripts and badge inserts show the girls/ have you leading your older girls to the website, finding the annual report and numbers you need for them to do the math. It has you looking up the numbers and showing them to younger girls and then doing a subtraction problem or figuring percents. The inserts talk about Annual Reports having that information and they give the URL.
Questions: Do you think doing math is a necessary part of this badge? Do you think learning about Juliette Gordon Low and how she started Girl Scouts would fulfill this step? Do you think girls have to find or be told about current Girl Scout membership numbers to earn this badge? Why?
For #2 (Have Fun in Girl Scouts) the choices are
- Play Kim's Game
- Learn to sing "Girl Scouts Together"
- Do an Ashes ceremony at camp
The VTK scripts and badge insert talk about Girl Scout traditions and how we still do things that their mothers, grandmothers and even great grandmothers did in Girl Scouts, and give multiple examples.
Question: Do you think making something out of plastic lace (gimp) would fulfill this step? What about building a robot (assume your girls love robots). Why?
For # 3 (Invite a friend) they list
- Make an invitation on the computer
- Create an origami-style invitation
- Draw/write an invitation
The VTK script talks about the information needed to be put in the invitation to invite a friend to one of your Girl Scout meetings as does the badge insert.
Question: Would a "bring a friend" event fulfill this step? Is some sort of invitation prepared by the girls necessary? Why or why not?
#4's (Invite a Neighbor) choices are
- Write a letter or email to the manager of the local grocery store asking if you can do a recruiting table outside the store
- Write a letter or email to the principal of your school asking if you can do a recruiting table at school
- Write a letter or email to the leader of a local house of worship asking if you can do a recruiting table after services/meetings.
The VTK scripts and badge insert talk about how to write a letter and the information that needs to be included. Daisy and Brownie troops, the leader writes the letter with the girls watching/giving input, the girls sign and add a drawing of themselves at Girl Scouts. Older girls write their own letters. VTK also says that the leader should pre-contact the person and make sure the answer is yes before the girls ask.
Question: Is writing a letter a necessary part of this step?
#5 (Tell the World) has the troop working the recruiting table, talking to
- girls
- parents
- community members
Question: Do you have to do a recruiting table? If not, give an example of something else you believe would be appropriate.
My Comments:
In my opinion, if this was a GSUSA badge, then yes, it is necessary for older girls to look up numbers information on the website and to do math, and it is necessary for the leaders to show the younger girls the math. I don't think learning about Juliette Gordon Low fulfills the "spirit" of this step even though it would mean "learning about Girl Scouts".
I think that any traditional Girl Scout activity, like making things of plastic lace (gimp) would qualify; I don't think making robots would, no matter how much fun your girls think it is, because all the VTK talking points and badge insert text is about Girl Scout traditional activities.
Since all the talking points/text on the insert are about writing invitations and writing letters, I do think that doing the letters and invitations is what the spirit of the badge calls for, and since step five is all about a recruiting table, I think you need to do one someplace--if you have a better idea than school, church or a place of business, go for it.
I'll admit I'm a rule follower, I'll admit that I stick pretty closely to the plans from GSUSA. While I have adapted steps in a couple of badges, if I read over the VTK plans or the badge insert and think "these activities are not going to appeal to my girls" then I find another badge.
People complain about the wordy scripts on VTK, but I just looked at the badge insert for the Brownie Art and Design badge. It is bright, attractive and meant for use by an individual girl. It is also twelve pages long. Three of the pages are just pictures, but the others are pretty text-heavy. They are clearly trying to teach vocabulary and art concept, as opposed to listing three activities per step. If you compare it to the inserts for the retired craft badges, or really any of the inserts that came out with the Girls' Guide to Girl Scouting, you will find it to be much more text-heavy and instructional. People complain about the wordiness of the VTK scripts on one hand, and the lack of skill teaching on the other (and it may be two different groups complaining) but they seem to want to do five activities with no real "teaching" to earn badges.
This badge I just wrote, if you did it as I wrote it, teaches how to write letters and invitations and how to run a recruiting table/talk to strangers. It also teaches older girls about the concept of an Annual Report and how to find them. However, I can see a lot of troops doing a "bring a friend" event where each girl can (but doesn't have to) bring a friend to an event where they do the Action Poem about Juliette Low (learn about GS), play Kim's Game, do a craft, and then have the opportunity to sign up if they want.
"Scouting America" whose members are about the same age as Juniors through Ambassadors have merit badge books that are far more than twelve pages of photo-heavy copy. The reality is if we want to use our badge program to teach actual information, we are either going to have to say it, or make the girls read it. They aren't going to absorb vocabulary, safety rules or information about X, Y, or Z by osmosis while doing some active game or craft.
