Pet Peeve About Badges That’s Been Beaten to Death
Experiences as a Leader, National Operations 4 Comments 
badges we don't need no stinkin badges, dead horses, girls guides, leader issues, memes, pet peeves
I’ve already covered a pet peeve about the Girls Guide notebooks and how the three additional Skill Building Activity Sets packets barely fit in it. This next pet peeve concerning how the badges are set up in general has been discussed ad nauseam on various GS Facebook groups and town halls and service unit meetings I’m sure, but let’s beat the dead horse some more for posterity’s sake, shall we? I have to share this experience in order to demonstrate to everyone how absurd the current badge system is (in case you’re not already aware of it). Well, that’s not really the reason. I just wanted to vent and get it out of my system. It’s been a long year.
First of all, instead of using the official terminology, let’s rename things by what we leaders call them so everybody knows what I’m referring to:
- Girls Guide = Badge book or blue/brown/purple/red/orange/yellow binder
- Skill Building Activity Sets = Extra badge packets
Yesterday, I had a phone conversation with my newly bridged Brownie leader. She started as a Daisy leader a little before the new year so she’s still relatively new. She’s taken the necessary training (the online 101 class and our council’s intro class), and even though she doesn’t have any personal Girl Scout experience, she is very enthusiastic and impressed with what she’s seen so far. That said, I had forgotten how confusing and counterintuitive things are to a new leader. Earlier this week, I told Tracey that I would drop off a Brownie badge book when I picked up our patches so that she could get a jump on things over the summer. I had an extra one that someone gave me, so I wanted to give that one to her as her own copy. However, after looking through it, I realized that it didn’t have the additional badge packets. Here’s how our conversation went. I am very bad about giving more information than is necessary when I talk to people because I assume everybody wants to know the big picture like me. So keep that in mind. I also took a tiny bit of liberty with this conversation.
“Hey Tracey, I’m going to pick up the patches tonight from you, but I don’t have the Brownie badge book ready.”
“What do you mean by not ready?”
“Well, it doesn’t have every badge in it, and I figured you would to see all of them. I need to add the three additional badge packets.”
“What are badge packets?”
“They are packets that you have to buy separately in order to add more badges to your notebook. I don’t want to give them to you piecemeal so let me put them in here first.” I sigh. “Don’t ask.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The badge packets go with these things called Jour… ummm. Right before I started as a volunteer, there was a spiral bound badge book that had all of them in it. But then they switched to these notebooks and started a series called Journeys and you’re supposed to do these badge packets along with them.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry about it. I just consider the badge packets as standalone badges and go from there. I’m going to include all of them when I give you the badge notebook. Oh yeah, I need to make a copy of the new Outdoor badge for you too. They added that one later. I’m just talking to myself now so just ignore what I’m saying.”
“Okay.”
“But I am going to let you borrow the retired Brownie Leader Guide and Girls book so that you can read through it to get an overview of the Brownie level. I’ll drop that off instead of the Brownie badge book.”
“Retired?”
“Yes, the one before the current notebook. GSUSA got rid of the Leader Guide… why they don’t bring that back, I don’t know…. don’t get me started. I don’t know why they don’t just put all of the badges together. I don’t get it. IT DRIVES ME NUTS!! WHY DID GSUSA DO THIS? IT’S SO STUPID!!!”
“Ummm….”
“Well anyway, I’ll be over in just a little bit to get the patches from you and drop off these retired Brownie books. I’ll get the badge book to you when you get back in town. It just doesn’t make sense for me to give you part of it now only to have to give more badges to you later.”
“Okay.”
I recognize this “Okay.” It’s the “Okay Amy, I don’t know what the heck you’re talking about but I’ll just go along with it” that I’ve heard before. Usually there’s a forced smile and nod that goes along with it.
Vent over. For now. 🙂
But seriously, I wonder how many new leaders have no idea that the extra badge packets are even out there in the first place?
I’ll bet MANY of the leaders are confused about the Journeys and the Badges, which are Official Program to use nowadays. Which does not mean that the older books are not still useful. Because they are! I took a CLASS in How to Interpret the Journeys (not the real title used). And they used to help Leaders a lot. But many councils don’t offer the Journey Training in the same way.
Some councils and websites are now offering Journey in a Bag, Journey in a Day, Journey in Weekend, all to try to make them more palatable and interesting. And GSUSA has made some Outdoor Badges for the girls. BUT – – We need more.
We need more badges, we need more and different Official Girl Scout Program, we need input, we need more Sisterhood, we need more VOICE in our movement.
Not an advertisement, (well, maybe a little bit that way), but you may know I am working along with MANY others at the Outdoor Girl Scout Project to get more badges and a new Outdoor Path to Girl Scouting’s Highest Awards. We would love to have a new leader and girl book. Along with many other changes in Official Girl Scout Program AND how Members can work for change, together with Staff Members at GSUSA.
Some of us remember the “Good Old Days” when all the badges were listed in the Girl’s Book and the Leader Book included many useful tips for many things. There were Camping tips and Progressive Skills Badges and lots of fun things for girls to choose.
GSUSA is working right now on making Journeys easier…. but really, in an ideal world, we could keep them for those who want to use them, and offer something ELSE for the girls to choose also — a hands-on, Badge and Award-centered return to what works, and is easy for girls and leaders to understand – – another Official Program.
We need the badge choices back – – (with many more badges too), and we need the Official Girl Scout Program updated to reflect what girls and Leaders want. GSUSA National has reinvented the wheel when it was not necessary, in my humble Girl Scout opinion. We are losing members for many reasons. It’s time that stopped, and ALL Members got together to help turn this around.
We (ALL Members of Girl Scouting) have the power to make needed changes in Girl Scouting. My advice: Become a Delegate, and attend the National Council Session. Or attend as a Visitor. Learn about what Delegates do. Learn about the Democratic Process in Girl Scouting. Juliette Low set this up in a good way. We need to take the time to learn about it.
I hope to share a NEW, easy to understand guide for all Girl Scout Member-Volunteers this summer to learn about how we can make the changes we need in Official Girl Scout Program.
Because…. We CAN make needed change in our Movement. And many of us are discussing Official Proposals and Discussion Proposals for this important event right now.
Let’s ALL show up to our 2017 National Council Session in Columbus, Ohio, October 4-7, 2017. Be looking for GSUSA to post about it this summer. We CAN all Take Action and make history together.
Thank you, Girl Scouts with a Cause, for this (again) excellent posting. Later!
I would suggest using the “official” name that new leaders hear in training along with the vernacular so that it is less confusing for them. For instance, I would say, “Handbook or Girl’s Guide” or “Extra badge packets. They call them Skill Builders at the Girl Scout shop.” In that way, they’ll have some point of reference.
I also find these things annoying, but I’ve been a member over 50 years. When changes are made, some are improvements and some are “What were they thinking?” ideas. For instance, check out the old Worlds to Explore handbook. It was a great handbook in many ways, but who thinks that the same handbook for grades 1-6 is a good idea?
That’s part of the problem for us. We really don’t have much in the way of training when it comes to how the badge program works. I guess I just threw my council under the bus, huh?
Amen, sister. Amen. I cannot love the Cub Scout books more. You know, the ones that are actually bound and the boys can read on their own and do things on their own? Yeah. Those. Like we used to have…