ProudParent

@Mark - thank you for your thoughts on this specific item. @everyone who has posted - I do appreciate all of the posts, I just wanted to get to the specific point of my question - Can a Scoutmaster block a scout from advancing. In this case, the Scoutmaster won't even TALK to the boy about the project. Therefore, he hasn't given the boy a chance to propose anything or discuss anything. He was simply Shut Down. I worry that this will have an adverse effect on the scouts' attitude toward the Scoutmaster/troop/scouting in general. At the moment, he is very frustrated. Another thing to consider is the following: the Scoutmaster has since made it known to me that it's not just about this particular boy. He told me that he knows that there are more young boys in our troop who are advancing rapidly who he wants to slow down. He says that he wants to make sure the boys are ready to bring maturity to the rank. He seems to have a desire to "protect" the rank of Eagle from their youth. Is this right? It would seem so far that this attitude is deemed unreasonable by this group.

Ok, everyone, I understand your position on a kid being a 13 year old Eagle, but that wasn't really my issue. The child in question is only trying to work on his project and is being blocked. Is it right for the scoutmaster to block a Life Scout from working on his project??? PLEASE try to stay on this subject....

Thank you all for your replies, thus far. I have read things here that are like GOLD to me. One thing you have to realize is this: the boy is 13, but he is not done with the other requirements for Eagle by any stretch of the imagination. It is just that he has found an appropriate project and would like to act on it. He still is working on his pos. of respons. and has 3 more merit badges, plus has to solicit his recommendations. He has a long way to go! I assume that this fact would have changed the response I had from Mark, correct?

Hello, all! This is my first post on this forum - I am happy to have this resource. I have been the Awards Chair for our troop for 4 years and before that was the same for many years on various cub scout packs. I have been around the scout arena for a long time, but this is a new one to me. Our Scoutmaster wants to block a young Life Scout (13 years old) from beginning his Eagle project on the basis that the scout is "not mature enough". I have never heard of this before. Granted, the boy has a tendency to be silly (some of our scout leaders have likened him to a "young Jim Carrey") but I don't see how this should affect his scouting career. I would very much like any or all opinions on this matter. Thanx!!