Recently, a Girl Scout list that I am on recently had a thread about homework and its place in Girl Scouts. A list member wrote in that she was having difficulties with girls not completing the homework required to earn badges within a designated time limit. The discussion that ensued was not centered on how to motivate the girls but rather revolved around the appropriateness of homework assignments in Girl Scouts.

The main question is the issue of whether there should be any homework at all in Girl Scouts. My personal stand on this issue is that there should not be required homework. The motto for my Junior troop (unofficially) is "It's all about Friends" and for my younger daughter, when I was the leader, it was "It's all about Fun." Fun and friends do not require homework.

I even take this position to the extreme of not only is homework not required but badges themselves are not required. Not one of the program points of Girl Scouts states "earn badges." Badge work is one tool that can be used to fulfill program goals. In my troop, we only do badges if the badge work coincides with the girls interests. As such, this year we only worked on two badges as a group--the Drawing and Painting badge and the Sky Search badge.

Other activities this year included horseback riding (but not either of the horse badges), community service, participation in a local parade, camping, hiking, tower climbing, and a Dad and Me event (a baseball game). All of these activities in one way or another does strive to meet one or more of the four program goals without a badge in sight.

As a reminder, the four program goals are as follows:

* (to encourage girls to) Develop to their full potential.
* (to encourage girls to) Relate to others with increasing understanding, skill, and respect.
* (to encourage girls to) Develop a meaningful set of values to guide their actions and to provide for sound decision-making.
* (to encourage girls to) Contribute to the improvement of society.

I do think there is a place for badges but that place must be established and defined by the girls. If there is to be badge work as a group, the girls should have decided that. Beyond that, it is up to each individual girl to decide whether it is important to them to complete requirements that are not completed within troop meetings. There is no prize for leaders when girls earn badges, but more importantly there is no value in a badge that is earned through coercion rather than through desire.