VIDEO: The Evolution Of Merit Badges For Boy Scouts Of America

COLUMBUS, Miss.(WCBI)—Boy Scouts of America is an organization designed to help young men build character, responsibility, and developing personal fitness. For each skill the scouts learn, they earn a merit badge.

“When I was coming a long they were a lot simpler merit badges,” said assistant scout master for Troop 30 Eupora Donald Ellis.

As technology continues to advance so do the skills needed to become an eagle scout.

“With the boy scouts being around for over a 100 years welding is a merit badge that’s only been around for a couple years or digital technology,” said Pushmaha Area Council Executive Scout Jeremy Whitmore .

There are 135 merit badges available to the scouts with some being a requirement.  Whitmore says these skills help the scouts move up in the ranks.

” On the trail to become an eagle scout a scout has to earn 21 merit badges so some of those are required that every eagle scout has to earn but then their is an array of other ones that they get to pick and choose of what they want to earn, as a example every scout is going earn the communication merit badge and the first aide merit badge,”said Whitmore.

Donald Ellis is the assistant scout master for Troop 30 in Eupora. He says since the world continues to develop so do the skills the scouts need to survive.

” The world changes. 20 years ago we didn’t need computer merit badges and of course we’ve always had aviation and things like that but they changed from bi-planes when I use to take the merit badge to jets,” said Ellis.

Whitmore says though earning the badges moves you up the latter they can also be beneficial outside the organization.

“Only 4% of boy scouts go on to become eagle scouts. So 96% of young men won’t achieve that pinnacle level of scouting but the leadership the service the character building that they will get out of scouting is still very important even if they don’t become an eagle scout and these badges often many scouts find careers or hobbies based on these merit badges that they are earning so a young man today taking the photography merit badge may now have a brand new hobby he will have for the rest of his life,” said Whitmore.

Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank a scout can receive.