Welcome! This forum has a treasure trove of great info – Scouters helping Scouters! Just a heads up, though - all content, information, and opinions shared on this forum are those of the author, not the BSA.
My son set up an online account on training.scouting.org, and is having issues with accessing the Safe Swim Defense online course.
His online account info, he had the system automatically input while on his school laptop.
-Member ID is 134688692
-HOA council
-OS is Google ChromeOS
-Browser is Chrome (no ability to do incognito mode (disabled), or to try to log in from any other device, because he set up his account with the google sign in, which he can only do from his school laptop)
-Cleared cookies and cache
I’ve attached pictures of what happens when we try to access the training. The last picture shows the blank page we get when we try to access the training.
Any thoughts/help would be greatly appreciated, as this merit badge course starts in person next weekend. If needed, I can be reached at (913) 636-7222. Thank you!
I can see there are slight differences in the merit badge workbook online, compared to what the course organizers sent. See attached.
It’s unfortunate that we’re having issues with the website, and no one else is.
So, I should be able to reach out to the course instructor, and confirm that my son has the ability to review the principles of Safe Swim Defense with them, which will satisfy this.
@BradleyKrzysztow the other aspect of this is your Scout should stand their ground, not you as a parent, you stand behind your scout and support them, allow them to take the lead on what is written and right. If a parent brought this to me as a scoutmaster, no scout would use this MBC or Group for any merit badge ever.
I would recommend having the Scout log in to my.scouting, go to:
Menu → My Account
then switch back to “BSA Credentials”. He should be able to log in from any device. Once the sign in with Google option is turned off, he should be able to do a password reset, if needed.
I very much appreciate all the tips and insight so far. Thank you!
Side note—my goal isn’t to determine which requirement is technically required. Because I can see why completing the online training satisfies requirement of the “review with your counselor, etc.” (even though I don’t agree that they should be completely changing the requirement; maybe give them the OPTION, and not requiring, to do this, instead of reviewing in person).
And, I don’t want to get anyone in trouble. These are good people, helping out the Scouts.
My goal is simply to find out how to successfully access this online training, so my son can complete it
@BradleyKrzysztow - the BSA is specific about requirements. The official requirements are always to be found at scouting.org and not some other source. The Guide to Advancement states that no entity can add to, remove or modify published requirements.
@BradleyKrzysztow ok - have you tried a Private/Incognito window. I would turn off the Google Sign in - if it is a school laptop I bet they have content blocker you might be hitting
@BradleyKrzysztow Since it’s a school laptop that sounds like it has a lot of things locked down, I’d try a different device. He may need to log into my.scouting and go to his profile to switch to bsa credentials which would allow him to select a regular username.
Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat training programs are available online at my.scouting.org and may also be offered locally by instructors approved by the council aquatics committee or other council authority.
