How many Eagles in the year...

[BartHumphries]

How many new Eagles in the year 1975, 1985, 2000, and 2010?

[RememberSchiff]

It can be tedious to find and some reporting differences exist. I found this excellent link from asm 411

http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=220141

 

1985: 27,173 membership: 1,000,000+

 

http://usscouts.org/usscouts/eagle/numbers.asp OR scouting.org

1991 - 28,016 membership: 988,270

1992 - 31,791

1993 - 32,534

1994 - 37,512

1995 - 30,240

1996 - 35.039 OR 37,711

1997 - 37,880 OR 40,296

1998 - 38,987 OR 41,167

 

from scouting.org (search year in review)

2000: 40,029 membership: 1,003,691

2001: 43,665

2002: 49,328

2003: 49,151

2004: 50,377

2005: 49,895

2006: 51,728

2007: 51,742 membership: 913,588

2008:

2009: membership: 898,556

 

http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/EagleScouts.aspx

 

2010: 56,176 doubled output of 20 years ago!

 

My $0.02(This message has been edited by RememberSchiff)

[Basementdweller]

With lower membership numbers we are putting out twice the number of Eagles.

 

 

 

Conclusions?

[lrsap]

While Eagle mills and advancement driven units are sure to be part of the answer, one thing that can't be ignored is the way technology has made many things easier during the last 20 years. Think of all the time spent making copies, faxes and carrying around binders full of manuals that are no longer necessary due to advancement in data sharing and storage. And the youth today are on top of that much more than your average adult.

 

In essence, you could use the same requirements for Eagle as 20 years ago and perform them just as diligently, but not have to spend the administrative time a boy did in 1990.

 

Basically, why so many more Eagles is a question with many contributing answers, like a pie chart.

[perdidochas]

My conclusions: The scouts we do have are more dedicated, and see Eagle as a goal, rather than just hanging out as the goal. I was a scout in the late 1970s. None of my friends had Eagle as a goal. We didn't know any scouts from our troop who were Eagles. OTOH, we all dropped out of Scouts after two years....

[chaoman45]

Could be an easier advancement programme, could be technology, could be parents. Hell, it could be all of the above! It's not necessarily that the programme has become easier altogether (though in a sense, National downplays the role of outdoors). Compared to 20 years ago, there might also be more incentive for becoming an Eagle with respect to the workforce or military. I could be wrong on that, though.

[fred8033]

It's a different world today. Society has changed drastically in the last several decades.

 

Students in college (in millions)

 

1970 8.5

1980 12.0

1990 13.8

2000 15.3

2009 20.4 (140% increase)

 

Manufacturing jobs (in millions)

 

1987 17.5

2000 17.3

2010 11.7 (33% decrease)

 

Incentives? Padding the college and job resumes. Higher pay grade when entering the military.

 

I think the higher Eagle numbers reflects a change in society more than a change in scouting. But I was not in the program 20 or 30 years ago so it is hard to compare. What I can see is that youth are busier than ever making it hard to get time in scouting. Parents are more driven to see their kids achieve in all areas. For scouting, internet and advancement opportunities abound. So I suspect a youth earning Eagle today works just as hard if not harder than those who earned it 20, 30 or 40 years ago.

 

 

 

 

[SeattlePioneer]

"A hundred men

 

will test today

 

But only three,

 

earn the green beret."

 

 

Has the USA improved in the past forty years?

[Eagle707]

I don't think you really need to look at year by year numbers. Just look at how we produced one million Eagle Scouts between 1982 and 2009. Eagle has become a program focus and I think that is reflected in the number of Eagles we are now producing. I am only a College Scouter so I cannot vouch for this but, like Perdidochas said, I think the Eagle rank has become the goal while, in the past, the goal was to be a Scout.

 

However, I don't think this increase in Eagles is a bad thing. I belonged to a troop that was not an Eagle mill but still turned out a substantial number of Eagle Scouts every year. Instead, our troop had an "Eagle Culture." While I was in the troop we had Eagles between the ages of 14 and 17 and, once you reached Eagle, you stayed behind to mentor the other Scouts in the troop. It's a model that worked before I crossed over, while I was in the troop, and after I aged out. It was (and still is) a well-functioning troop and delivers the Scouting program. As long as the main aims of Scouting are still met (advancement included), I'm OK with having more Eagles in our ranks.

[fred8033]

Eagle707 ... well said. I completely agree with your "program focus" comments. Eagle is promoted so heavily and put on such a pedestal by everyone, it's only natural that earning it has become such a focus. And also a focus by those saying there are too many of them.

[Horizon]

How many Scouts and Eagles per eligible youth would be another check.

 

We are planning my son's Eagle COH right now. It will be for him and two friends who were in Cub Scouts with him. Looking back that den, I think that 12 -14 boys bridged.

 

Of those, 6 are still active in Scouting.

3 will be recognized this year.

2 SHOULD make it next year.

2 will make at the last minute I think

 

25 years ago, more would have stuck around, but I think the same numbers would have earned Eagle. I think that we no longer attract as many boys to just hang around as we used to. The great number would be to see how many boys age out without earning the final rank - that would tell you how many are in Scouting for the Scouting. Another fun number would be the number of palms issued - to see how long some Eagles stick around.

[SeattlePioneer]

To me, First Class is the most important rank in Boy Scouts. We sell boys on Boy Scouts by promising to make them competent hikers and campers, and having adventures in the outdoors. If we do a good job, we keep that promise for boys who complete First Class.

 

I'm all in favor of boys completing Eagle, but personally I didn't promote Eagle or provide much in the way of targeted assistance for those who achieved Eagle. A good part of the challenge was to be SELF motivated to complete the requirements, or (more often) to have a motivated parent carrying their son into the Eagle's Nest.

 

So in my opinion, too much is made of Eagle, and too much done to promote attaining Eagle. A goodly part of the "too much" is watering down advancement standards and adult aid to make it as easy as possible for boys to achieve Eagle.