Boy Scouts Can Now Earn Video Games Badge

The last requirement is posting in the comments section of a tech article "Can it play Crysis?"

LOL

I think it is not as stupid as initially sounds.

Agreed. Gaming is here to stay, and this program will give kids the tools they need to be responsible about it. Sometimes, a little exposure early on is all it takes...

I used to be a RA when I was in college. The kids that never had personal freedoms at home were the ones who got in the most trouble, got the most drunk, and had the most trouble managing their time. It's all about responsible exposure...

lets hope Damnation, Leisure Suit Larry or Operation Flashpoint 2 has nothing to do with the badge or it's going to be hell for them.

"Step 157: Don't teabag an opponent when given the opprotunity." This is the dumbest badge I've ever heard. Is there a badge for eating a cheeseburger now too? People play games. Parents tell kids to chores and homework. This is not something we NEED the scouts to be teaching, there's already a system in place. Plus kids are inherently fanbois. How are their arguments going to go about evaluating systems? "PS3 has teh Cell and is therefore way better than everything in the universe times a kagillion!"

that controller in the badge looks pretty lame and uncomfortable.

I think it is as stupid as it sounds. Next badge: TV watching. Find a TV show with the appropriate rating. Explain educational benefits of the TV show. Write report on show.......how the heck is this a scout skill?? Don't get me wrong...I love gaming...but a merit badge??? Come on

These arent BADGES. Badges are for Boy Scouts ages 11 to 18. This is for Cub Scouts under the age of 11. They have activity pins and belt loops for playing all sorts of games. And video games are an activity last time I checked. The requirements are ment to start discussions with a boys and his family. Laugh all you want but there is nothing wrong with that.

Is this for real? What happened to the good old days when scouting was about building a fire without matches, fishing or hunting, first-aid? But then again, all those things are not very politically correct anymore. If you build a fire, the Eco-Nazi’s say you are destroy the environment, if you promote hunting or fishing you risk the wrath PETA for being a fluffy bunny killer, and if you help someone with first aid, they will sue you for not being a doctor. So I guess a video game merit badge is all they have left...

This would be very useful if the "install a gaming system" was more like "build a budget gaming pc" or something like that XD

Is there going to be an anti-camping merit badge?

Funny!

This is for cub scouts, i.e. little kids, not boy scouts, who actually go camping in the mountains and such.

I was both a cub and a boy scout, and I've been an Eagle scout for years.

I guess the title of the article was mislead

I guess the title of the article was misleading "Boy Scouts can now earn video games badge" Should have been Cub Scouts can earn video game activity pin"

lol. and then get banned as well.

I like it. Can't stop kids from playing games but you can teach them to play what is appropriate, and play educational games. Awesome.

this isn't a badge. these are belt loops and pins for cub scouts, which are different then merit badges earned by boy scouts.

How about a merit badge for reading comic books? it would be no more silly than one for video games.

So they are required to figure out how to plug in a yellow, red, and black plug? Does this take some particular skill?

what is the highest badge given today?

The Ellie Badge ?

The only person I know who cant already use a console or pc is my mum, and there is no hope there...

22 years old and i would struggle to get this badge.

new badges how to ower clock your cpu to make a camp fire,
how to multi task eat and drink at the same time you game ps3,
how to use your ipad as a rain coat and as a shovel recycle all,
and most important.
singing the Portal ending song around the burning cpu camp fire.
when can i sign up?

i thought it was related to how the navy use it to train marines.

Sound like they need to come up with a new group for computers etc. rather than teach kids how to play games. Besides, how many game consoles have math games? I think it degrades the whole boy scout/cub scout organization. Maybe they should just add how to build a video gaming system that can be used with the wilderness pin/badge. While destroy the environment because you need to run a fossil fuel engine to get the electricity needed or you need to clear cut some woods to setup wind mills and solar panels. I am so disappointed.

This sounded like a pretty stupid idea at first, but the requirements are a great thing I think. It teaches the kids resposibility. Hopefully this will help with the problem of 10yr olds playing games like GTA and COD.

How does it degrade the whole organization? Hint, it doesn't.

Here is the list of the current academics program for which they can earn recognition for:
Art, Astronomy, Chess, Citizenship, Collecting, Communicating, Computers, Disabilities Awareness, Family Travel, Geography, Geology, Good Manners, Heritages, Language and Culture, Map and Compass, Mathematics, Music, Nutrition, Pet Care, Photography, Reading and Writing, Science, Video Games, Weather, and Wildlife Conservation

How is Chess, Photography or Computers any better/worse than Video Games? You do know there is a pretty large field of employment opportunities for video games nowadays, getting kids interested in video games and how they work, or their impact on society isn't a bad thing.

They're doing more than just playing video games in cub scouts, how is this really degrading the organization? It's not. It does help to expand their education, and maybe understand why at an early age, games have certain ratings and why they get those ratings and so on and so forth. We're talking about kids under 12 here, not teenagers. Better to keep kids informed, rather than leave them in the dark.

It's akin to saying condomns in schools are bad, because they're degrading the abstinence sex education programs (barf).. When both can be taught side by side, to better prepare teens and young adults for the real world, while avoiding unwanted pregnancies.

Photography for taking pictures in nature ie bird watch and I disagree that chess or computers should be part of it either. most of the activities in scouts were to prmote being involved in the community and leaning about the environment and some of the other things other than video games and computers other than maybe building but I have no idea how computer games has anything to do with scouting! Hey did you bring you're SLI computer with you so we could play games all night while we camp at the hotel? Its supposed to prepare you for becoming a boy scout not a video game hermit. I was a cub scout, weblows, and boy scout. Not to mention a computer geek before being a geek was cool. Technology now a days promotes ignoring the world around you while you sit inside playing video games or talking on your cell phone ignoring the people who are around. I held the door open for someone talking on their cell phone and they completely ignored me. I would think that promting video games would go against everything that being a scout was supposed to be about. They don't learn about how video games work I am sure. Being a software engineer, it would be hard for even me to get all the details of how video games work. I know I could make one but I could not make anything close to something like UT3. The understanding of computer how they work and even building one and the impact on society is not a bad thing. But many people think the web bring us together but they fail to see now instead of calling your friends you just send a broadcast message on facebook or email. Setup an event on facebook and let people find it. Rather than a call or actually face to face. I know 2 people were chatting on the internet and they never asked where the other was. They were sitting in the same room and never met face to face. I remember building a doll house not really we actually were using 2x4s down to scale of a doll house so we could get an idea of the work involved to build a house. I just don't think playing video games has any need or importance in being a scout.

To me, boy scouts should be about the outdoors, not about teaching kids how to grow up. That is what parents are for. Scouts should teach Camping / Survival related skills (knots, fire, fishing, etc).

where was this when I was in scouts