mwhittington

I think that Mike Long said it first in this thread..........HAVE FUN!! I started another thread about an Eagle problem and now I'm wondering if the whole thing could have been avoided by the troop doing more fun things. A lady that attends our sponsoring church and whose son is in another troop made the comment the other day that judging by the pictures in the paper, our troop does a lot of neat things. She then stated that her son's troop never does anything fun. I want my sons to remember scouting for all the new things learned and tried. Kayaking, rock climbing, rappelling, USS Yorktown, battle reenactments, plus doing things to make the rank requirements and merit badges fun. You do not have to fly to earn the Aviatiion MB, but why not?? I honestly believe that I'm having as much fun as my boys and I know I'm having fun being with them. Why rush it? Life is too short to miss out on everything. If you make it fun and very educational, the boys will not be in such a hurry to get through it.

To answer a few questions. The scout in question finished his Eagle project, but still had a couple of merit badges left to go. He finished those up about six months or so after the project. He did not submit his application until very recently. Would the scoutmaster haved signed it then? I cannot answer this one. The young man's excuse for not coming to meetings and campouts is that he was playing basketball and trying for a b-ball scholarship. According to someone in the troop, his attendance over the past 18 or so months could be counted on onehand with a few fingers left. I'm really beginning to think that the mom wants him to have it more than he wants it. I have also heard words used such as disrespectful, wild, non caring. Obviously the scoutmaster has a better handle on this than anyone else. It's a shame that the district was passed the blame when obviously there is more to the story. As the days pass, the story grows and the picture seems to become more clear. I do like the idea of having an adult to monitor the Eagle candidate's progress. Some boys in scouts do no have the ever mindful parent checking on them and this would be a help to them especially.

Any chance that anyone from the BSA Supply Division reads these postings? If in their shoes, I would find it interesting.

I appreciate all the replies and look forward to more. Those so far have given me a lot of insight. One point was made, and well taken, that if a boy is assigned a leadership position, does nothing with it, and the troop leadership allows him to finish his tenure, then the troop leadership has failed the boy and the troop. As the District advancement chair, I have no problem making this "additional requirement" go away. I do feel however that there should be some kind of standard set at each troop. It does not have to be a actual number, but each boy should be observed and we should note his efforts and the growth in his abilities. I did find out that the particular boy in question has not met unit participation requirements,in fact, he has not done anything at all this year. He has been a Life Scout with his Eagle project completed for almost two years now and all of these issues were raised about a week before his eighteenth b-day. On top of it all, his Scoutmaster would not sign the application because he felt that the boy had not even tried to meet any standards at all. Even if the District participation rule was a problem, the boy has known about it since his Eagle preparation class over two years ago and has had ample time to question it. On another note, this is my first time in a forum like this, but it will not be my last. Being able to gain wisdom from scouters all over the nation has been great. Thank you!!

That was a very moving piece of literature. Thank you for sharing. Mike

I had a call today from a DE questioning a policy that the District set long before my involvement. Our District gives each prospective Eagle scout a guidebook to help with the project as well as prepare for the Eagle board of review. It contains things like what kind of questions to expect, helps in assembling the book, etc. It also contains a form for attendance and states that District policy is 70% unit participation over the last year and participation in at least four overnight camping trips. A scout went to the Council office and complained which prompted the call from the DE. He stated that we, as a district, could not enforce this policy. I would like to know what other Districts do and what others think of this policy. I feel that in some ways, the Eagle requirements have been watered down in the past few years. At what point do we stop trying to make the rank of Eagle something worthy of those who go the extra mile?

While I don't really mind the camo, I agree with others that it should be restricted to maybe just the pants. We do not need to come off as paramilitary. Someone mentioned BSA coming out with field pants. Why not take the rugged military BDU pants and copy it in BSA green? These pants are certainly rugged enough and are very comfortable. I know of several scouts that would like to see this.