Holding Scouts Hostage - the 13 year-old Eagle?

The delightfully plain-spoken author of Ask Andy answers a question about "delaying the earning of
Eagle till Scouts are older and more mature… If a Scout earns Eagle by age 13, what’s left? "

A bit of ancient history:  I made Eagle at 15; my brother at 14; both of us stayed active in our Troop and in Scouting right up to 18, and then became ASMs (I went on to become Scoutmaster of the same Troop I'd earned my Tenderfoot badge in!).  More recently, I've sat on Eagle boards for 17 years olds who drop out right after their Court of Honor, and 13 year olds who stay in and active for the next 4 or more years, and everything in between.  In other words, something other than merely earning Eagle is operating here, and I'll tell you from experience exactly what it is:  It's the myth that "Eagle is the 'end of the trail'."

Too many of us who should know better are out there telling Scouts (and their parents) that Eagle is "The Ultimate," that "Making Eagle is a Life Goal," that "This is the PINNACLE of Scouting."  Horsepucky.  Eagle is a rank, pure and simple.  Yes, it's the highest (we're not counting "Palms" here because Palms aren't ranks), but advancement is just one of eight methods of Scouting.

Now I'll go further... To artificially and arbitrarily hold a Scout back from his own advancement goals is a form of hostage-taking.  In doing this, in purposefully delaying a Scout by throwing up roadblocks, so that he "stays in the troop longer" is a complete and total miscarriage of the Scouting program itself, to say nothing of the advancement plan.

Want Scouts to stay active in your troop?  Simple: Give 'em a program that enriches their lives, turns 'em on, and is fun.  When it works, it works magic.  I've seen troops that "get it."  There's one, in particular, that I have in mind:  It's older Scouts drive to their troop meetings! Got that?  Drove!  THAT is what you call a troop program that's a MAGNET. That's what Scouting's supposed to be.

To anyone harboring the misguided notion of holding a Scout hostage by stalling his advancement in order to keep him in the troop, I have but one response: SHAME ON YOU!

If you haven't discovered Ask Andy take a moment and look over his 100 + columns that serve as one of the best FAQ's on Scouting. Got a Scouting problem? After a nearly a hundred years here isn't anything new out there - ask Andy.

Associated posts at Scoutmaster
Eagle Court of Honor
Eagle Projects

Comments

[ASM out West]

Hurray! Emphasis on the Troop's program, and not on advancement!

There are few topics in the world of Scouting that elicit such emotional responses as the process of earning the Eagle rank.

Our troop had a recent experience w/a very young Scout who was going after his Life rank. Without going into detail, one of the issues that came up was 'maturity'. The challenge with words like this is that some read them and say, "Oh, you're saying he's not old enough", and there are others who would make the argument of, "Oh, you don't want him to advance too fast and leave the Troop". Both miss the mark.

The question about rank advancement in general is not so much about the age of the Scout, but rather, have they done their best to meet the requirements? And, pointedly, it's not about a hard-core bar that everyone has to get over, but the Scouts effort v. their abilities.

[Dave, SM]

I agree whole-heartedly!!! It's really to bad that BSA doesn't support this view. I have an issue right now in my troop where I have an exceptionally mature scout who just turned 12 in November. He has attained the rank of Life and is working towards his Eagle now. By the rules, he is not allowed to attend the Silver Bars National Youth Leadership Training until he is 13. That's ridiculous! I realize that this is not the "norm" but the BSA needs to seriously revise its criteria if it wishes to keep these unique scouts in the program and benefit from their skills!

[Louisville Scoutmaster]

Boys should advance in rank when they have earned the rank. Not before. Not after. Are there boys who are not yet mature enough for a particular rank - of course there are. That shows up when they do not have successful leadership time.

Personally I WANT younger eagle scouts. I talk to the scouts all the time about their responsibilities to give back. We have 15, 16, 17 yo scouts - 18 yo Eagles - all coming to our tropp meetings to help. Our SPL right now is a 16yo Eagle who stepped up because the troop needed him too - plus he needed the experience as well. Just because he is an Eagle doesn't mean his learning is done.