Technically and Legally, sure… But SHOULD he carry the title “Eagle Scout”? (25 Mar 15)

 
This evening, I enjoyed reading a longish posting (I’m not the ONLY person who post in long prose!) from a volunteer Scouter in the Midwest.  He is upset because the BSA allows for boys as young as legally possible to earn the highest rank in the Boy Scout program — Eagle — as young as 12 years old. “It’s just not right”, is his mantra. He is wanting to know the address to send his displeasure to (advancement.team@scouting.org).
This — a minimum age, 13 he recommends — is something I’ve been advocating for the BSA’s national Advancement team to take a look at.  We have had Scouts to earn Eagle at 12 and 11 years of age …next, we’re going to have a Scout to advance to Eagle at the age of 10.75 (that is, ten years and 9 months of age).
The problem is that this is “technically and legally” allowed to happen. How so?
The Scout must meet the minimum age requirement to become a Boy Scout.  If the Scout was homeschooled, for instance, he could be 9 years old chronologically but have passed the fifth grade academically. This makes the Scout able to earn the first three ranks – Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class — in tandem before he turned 10 years old.  The three harder ranks — Star, Life and Eagle — require each to be earned in order, require specific periods (18 months total), and if he advances “on time”, yes, he can be 11 and an Eagle Scout.
 
There are several issues for the rest of us who remember fondly what it took to become an Eagle Scout — time, experience and knowledge of basic outdoor and social skills, basics about our nation and the Scout himself — and application of that time, experience and knowledge.
No, I am not talking about testing and retesting and re-retesting until the Scout can tie a bowline in his sleep; or shoot an azmuth and follow it for three miles; or swimming two miles, one mile using a backstroke; or building a table with available wood tools, twine, and small branches. Nor am I talking about the Scoutmaster or his or her Assistant serving as counselor for all of the outdoor or Eagle required merit badges.
Much of those things are found in the basic skill sets to earn First Class — which should be the REAL goal of the Scout. In “my day”, one could not do JACK until after you became a First Class Scout. No religious emblem. No outdoor awards. No participation in a Jamboree. No election to the Order of the Arrow. No trips out to Philmont or the Sea Base. It did not matter how much money you (or your parents) (or your local Council) has to dole out — you had to be a FIRST CLASS SCOUT in order to do all of the “cool things” in Scouting.
The biggest issue is that the Scouting program has increasily relied on the completion of merit badges and the leadership project that the Scout must direct and lead at the end and less on the leadership skills learned and captured as a Star or Life Scout.  It takes 21 merit badges, which could be earned at any time since becoming a Scout, to earn Eagle.  Thirteen of those come from a list of required badges, with options designed to be “equals” so that one does not have to access to water, for instance, to earn the Swimming merit badge but could hike or bike; and a broader discussion on Sustainability instead of specifics in Environmental Science. 
 
The follow-up issue is the “demanding” or “encouragement” of parents, Scoutmasters, and unit committees to “bring another Eagle to the fold” at just about any costs. Taking Scouts to “Eagle Badge Workshops” across state lines, selecting “easier” counselors to work with the Scout on some of the merit badges, and most recently a published book recommending ways that a Scout’s parents can get their son to earn the coveted badge — those are challenges to the established boards and committees entrusted with reviewing the Scout’s progress toward Eagle. 
Because the BSA’s National office has slimmed down considerably, the national review of those applications now really consist of “dotting i’s” and “crossing t’s” and making sure that the Scout did not earn Eagle before age 18, the age the BSA determined that all advancement in Boy Scouting ceases.  This is also a concern. Why not 21? I know why 18 was chosen — so that youth Eagles would become Assistant Scoutmasters and learn the “craft” of Scoutmastership (again dating myself — like *I* did. That’s how I became a Scoutmaster — by spending time as an Junior Assistant at 16 and 17 and Assistant Scoutmaster at 18, 19 and 20).  So with very few Scouts making that “jump”, we should strongly consider attempting to keep them in the Troop and raise that age of qualification from 18 to 21.
The Scout proudly displays the BSA’s Eagle Scout certificate, certifying that he or his parents did not go onto eBay and purchase an Eagle medal and gave it to their son to wear.  The uniform he and his Dad are wearing needs some fine tuning to reflect the fact that the Scout has earned Eagle and actually cares about what he’s wearing and why — which brings me up to the final point: does this kid really know what being an Eagle Scout REALLY means?  Chances are, I say, no. Others will disagree with me and say “sure he knows…” We can argue this here or elsewhere for months on end.  The fact is that the BSA’s Eagle Scout Award is not just a nice laser-printed certificate and a medal to wear on the uniform… those who have earned the Eagle Award prior to the turn of the century knows.
 
 
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About Settummanque

Take your standard Oliver North. Add strong parts of Bill Cosby and Sir Robert Baden-Powell (the founder of Scouting). Throw in Johny Bravo without the "hurhhs!" and his pecks. Add a strong dose of parenting, the sexuality of a latin lover, and Mona Lisa's smile. And a 40 year old's body frame. That's me basically *grinning*

One Response to Technically and Legally, sure… But SHOULD he carry the title “Eagle Scout”? (25 Mar 15)

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