Few honors fit a teenager's routine as well as this one. Everyone already uses a computer, a phone and the internet — the honor simply turns that use into organized learning, with a beginning, a middle and a badge at the end. The problem is that "Computers" is not a single honor, and that is where the confusion begins.
In fact, it is an entire family within the Vocational area of the South American Division (SAD) Honors Manual: five levels of Computers, plus Internet, Internet advanced and Web design in two stages. Each piece fits into an order, and skipping a stage usually stalls the Pathfinder further down the line.
This guide brings together the complete map — what each level asks in broad terms, where to start, the mistakes that cause the most delay and how to learn to browse safely while you earn the requirements. It is not the answer key: the exact requirements are in the Honors Manual, and you should check the current edition. Survey done on 07/23/2026 using the sources listed at the end.
What is the Computers and Internet honor?
First of all, a name correction. In everyday talk people say "the computers honor" as if it were a single thing. It is not. It is a set of honors tied to technology, all within the same knowledge area.
The SAD Honors Manual organizes the club's hundreds of honors into knowledge areas — nature, arts and manual skills, science and health, missionary activities, and so on. The technology ones are in the Vocational area, alongside things like photography, accounting and other trade skills.
Within that area, the technology block gathers, among others: the Computers series (I to V), Internet and Internet advanced, and Web design at basic and advanced level. They are different badges, with their own requirements, which you earn one at a time.
The Manual went through a major revision led by the GEED (Pathfinder Honors Study Group), responsible for reviewing and adapting the requirements into Portuguese and Spanish. Hence the recommendation that will keep coming up in this text: what counts is the current edition of the Manual, not the version circulating in an old PDF or a third-party blog.
An honest note before moving on: the detailed requirements of each level appear on community sites like wikis and club blogs. They are useful to get an idea, but they are not the official source and they go out of date. Treat them as a rough map and always cross-check with your Field's Manual.
How many Computers levels exist and what changes between them?
The Computers series has five levels, from the simplest to the most advanced. The logic is a staircase: each level has the previous one as a prerequisite, so nobody starts halfway up.
In broad terms — and always subject to the current edition of the Manual — the progression usually goes like this:
| Level | What it is called | What it usually covers |
|---|---|---|
| Computers I | Basic | History of the computer, what hardware and software are, operating system, memory, HDD/SSD — the conceptual base. |
| Computers II | Intermediate | Types of machine (laptop, tablet, mainframe), word processor with formatting, what to look at when buying a computer. |
| Computers III | Regular | Internal components, ports (USB, HDMI), backup, tables and images in text, and use of a spreadsheet. |
| Computers IV | Advanced | Computer generations, basic security and viruses — what they are and the damage they cause. |
| Computers V | Specialist | Cutting-edge topics (artificial intelligence, virtual worlds), publishing the club's page and even teaching a previous level to another group. |
Notice the design: the first levels are more about understanding and using (text, spreadsheet, concepts), and the last ones push toward creating and teaching. Level V, for example, tends to ask you to help put a page of your own club online and to teach a basic level to a regular class — that is, you stop being only a student and become an instructor.
That is why the rush to "just do V" almost never works out. Without the four lower steps firmly in place, the Pathfinder reaches the top without the background to fulfill what is expected there.
Do Internet and Web design fall under the same count?
They fall under the same area, but they are honors independent of the Computers series. It is worth separating them clearly, because many people think "Internet" is the next level after "Computers V" — and it is not.
The Internet honor is more geared toward conscious use of the network: understanding terms like World Wide Web, download, upload, email and virus; knowing how to use a search engine; knowing a bit of the history of the internet; and using the network for good things, like comparing versions of a Bible text online. There is also Internet advanced, which deepens that set.
Web design, on the other hand, is a different angle: it moves from using to building. The basic level usually revolves around understanding what HTML, CSS and JavaScript are and building a simple page. Web design advanced raises the bar considerably — dynamic page, contact form, database, server-side language. Not by chance, it is common for Web design to require several Computers levels already completed as a prerequisite.
| Honor | Focus | Good candidate |
|---|---|---|
| Internet | Using the network with judgment and safety | Someone starting out who already has Computers I |
| Internet advanced | Deepening web use and services | Someone who has already done Internet |
| Web design basic | Understanding and building a simple page | Someone who has already gone up several Computers levels |
| Web design advanced | Creating a dynamic site with programming features | Someone who has Web design basic and advanced Computers |
The practical takeaway is this: Internet fits early in the journey; Web design is a destination, not a starting point. If an 11-year-old Pathfinder wants to "do Web design," the best path is to start with Computers I and Internet and keep climbing — the taste for creation arrives more solidly further along.
Read alsoThe Easiest Pathfinder HonorsHow to earn it, in practice: a step-by-step plan
An honor is not something you "watch," it is something you complete. Each requirement calls for a deliverable — a report, a demonstration, a creation. What separates those who finish from those who get stuck is usually the plan, not the talent. A roadmap that works:
1. Get the official list, not the blog one. Before anything, have the requirements of the current edition of the Honors Manual in hand. Blogs and wikis help you understand the spirit of each item, but the deliverable has to match the official text your counselor will evaluate.
2. Start with Computers I and respect the order. Since each level is a prerequisite for the next, trying to splice two together without closing the lower one usually means rework. Close one, invest, move on to the next.
3. Combine theory and practice in the same meeting. A good part of the requirements ask for a written report (history, computer generations) and a demonstration on the computer (formatting a text, building a spreadsheet, sending an email). Make both sides move together, otherwise the report becomes a mountain at the end.
4. Keep everything you produce. The formatted letter, the monthly expense spreadsheet, the screenshots of the page — organize them in a digital folder. At evaluation time, showing what you did counts for more than saying you did it.
5. Choose an instructor who knows the subject. A technology honor pays off far more with someone who really works with computers guiding it. They do not have to be an IT professional, but they need to be able to judge whether your spreadsheet has a real formula or whether your HTML opens in the browser.
6. Register the achievement in the right place. The badge is nice, but what stays is the record in the SGC, the SAD's Club Management System. That is where the Pathfinder's honor history becomes official. Support tools like Desbravai help the club track progress day to day, but the record that counts is the one in the SGC.
How to use the internet safely while earning the honor?
Here is the part no single requirement can sum up on its own, and the most important one when the Pathfinder is a minor. The honor puts children and teenagers in front of the web in an organized way — and that is a golden opportunity to teach safe and responsible use, not just clicks.
Some precautions that fit almost every Internet and Web design requirement:
- Personal data is not content. Full name, address, school, phone number and routine do not go on a public site, an open profile or an unknown form. If the requirement asks you to publish something of the club's, publish what is the club's — not the members' private lives.
- Check the padlock. Teach the difference between http and https: the "s" indicates an extra layer of security. It is a simple habit that protects a lot.
- Careful with "fun" apps and tests. Games, personality quizzes and third-party photo editors often capture data, photos and history. Not every "allow" button deserves a yes.
- Other people's privacy counts too. A friend's photo, a unit conversation and someone else's routine do not become a post. Respecting your neighbor's privacy is part of the "responsible" in the story.
- An adult nearby, always. When minors are browsing during a club activity, a counselor's supervision is not optional — it is the golden rule of any digital activity.
It is worth grounding this conversation in serious, free material. Internet Segura (NIC.br/CGI.br) and the CERT.br Internet Security Booklet offer ready-made booklets on social media and privacy, great for turning a requirement into a good unit meeting.
And there is the foundation of it all, which is the reason the club teaches this: technology is a tool, not an end. The same internet that distracts also brings families closer, takes the Bible to those who do not have it, organizes a missionary project. The honor gets it right when it teaches a child to be the master of the tool — and not the other way around.
Which mistakes stall this honor the most?
After seeing many groups get stuck midway, the stumbles repeat. Five worth avoiding:
Copying requirements from an outdated blog. This is mistake number one. The Pathfinder completes a list that is not from the current edition, arrives at the evaluation and discovers an item was missing or an item that no longer exists was left over. Always start from your Field's official Manual.
Wanting to jump to Computers V or Web design too soon. Without the lower levels, the upper one does not close — and the frustration of getting stuck at the top is more discouraging than starting from the bottom.
Treating it as a class, not as a deliverable. Watching an explanation does not fulfill a requirement. Each item asks for a product: the text, the spreadsheet, the email sent, the page online. Without a product, there is nothing to evaluate.
Leaving the written report for the end. Several levels ask for reports of hundreds or thousands of words about the history and generations of computers. Pushing it all to the last week turns something calm into a scramble.
Forgetting digital safety. Doing the technical part and ignoring privacy and data protection is delivering half the honor — precisely the half that matters most when the student is a minor.
Who teaches, who evaluates and what changes from club to club?
Like every honor, this one has a layer of written rule and a layer that depends on your club. It is worth separating the three so you do not ask the right thing of the wrong person.
The written rule: the requirements of each level are in the SAD Honors Manual, and it is by them that the achievement is evaluated. The badge is only valid when the requirements are actually met and the record enters the SGC. This is not negotiable and does not vary from club to club.
What varies — and who decides: when each honor is offered during the year, who the instructor will be, whether it will be in a unit or an open group, and the pace of delivery. That is a decision of the club leadership together with the instructor, within the Field's calendar. There is no fixed "correct age" to start Computers — it is the club's pedagogical common sense, looking at the group's maturity and access to a computer.
The principle behind it: the honor does not exist to produce technicians, but to build character using a current topic. It teaches discipline (meeting requirement by requirement), responsibility (using the web with judgment) and service (putting the skill to work for the club and the mission). When the instructor keeps this at the center, the badge stops being a sticker and becomes real formation.
A frequent question: can a parent or a volunteer who works in IT teach it? They can, and it is great — as long as it is arranged with the leadership and within the club's rules for working with minors. Whoever validates and registers the achievement, however, remains the club structure through the SGC, not the instructor acting on their own.