Girl scout chapter rolls out 'Game Design' badge

Published April 22, 2013 5:44pm

Computer Expert badge? Check. Digital Photographer badge? Check. Game Design merit badge? Woot!

The new merit badge, initially rolled out for the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles, seeks to encourage members to get interested in science and technology.

A report on tech site Mashable said the new merit badge is a partnership between the L.A. Girl Scouts and Women in Games International organization, "to create a curriculum for the patch."

Under the program, girls will be required to design and program their games using the "Gamestar Mechanic" software.

The badge is tougher to earn than for the Boy Scouts of America, which Mashable said does not include the programming requirement.

"The games industry has recently been more aware of the gender discrepancies in its ranks. A few months ago game creators took to hashtag #1reasonwhy to talk about reasons the industry doesn't employ enough women, uncovering issues like sexism in some workplaces," Mashable noted.

Because of this, it said a game design merit badge could certainly be one way to get more young women interested in programming and creating games as a career.

However, Mashable said the merit badge has not been approved by the national organization yet, and is only available to Girl Scouts in the Los Angeles chapter.

Presently, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America has proficiency badges for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). These include:

Naturalist: Bugs (Brownie), Flowers (Junior), Trees (Cadette), Sky (Senior), and Water (Ambassador).

Digital Art: Computer Expert (Brownie), Digital Photographer (Junior), Digital Movie Maker (Cadette), and Website Designer (Senior).

Science and Technology: Home Scientist (Brownie), Entertainment Technology (Junior), Science of Happiness (Cadette), and Science of Style (Senior).

Innovation: Inventor (Brownie), Product Designer (Junior), Entrepreneur (Cadette), and Social Innovator (Senior).

Financial Literacy: Money Manager (Brownie), Philanthropist (Brownie), Financing My Future (Senior), and Good Credit (Ambassador).

— TJD, GMA News

Tags: girlscouts, gamedevelopment