Question about 6-month requirement

[silvereagle]

For Life and Eagle, does the six-month requirement have to be officially six months (counting dates) or not? A teen here made Star on October 12th of last year. Does he have to wait till April 12th to get the first requirement for Life signed off? Or can he get it signed off now?

 

His 18th birthday is before 10/12/2012 (but in the same month) which is why I asked. Is there any hope for this kid?

[Beavah]

Hiya silvereagle.

 

Six months means six months, not the sixth month. If the lad made Star on October 12 last year and turns 18 before October 12 this year, then there is no way for him to earn the Eagle rank.

 

Life is a fine accomplishment, though, and there's nuthin' to stop him from doin' all the badges and runnin' a great service project, or having other fun and accomplishments in his last year as a boy scout. And there's always Venturing and Venturing recognitions!

 

Beavah

 

[packsaddle]

Like Beavah says, there is nothing in any way wrong or dishonorable about leaving boy scouts with the rank of Life. The boy should be proud of what he has achieved personally, and not necessarily so focused on the tokens of those achievements.

 

I have seen only a few boys confront this reality...that in spite of a desire to achieve more, they can't meet the time and age requirements for the rank. For those few boys I counsel them and note that in some ways, this is a life lesson that may serve them far better than having received that Eagle rank. The best part about it is that while they may feel disappointed, this lesson has been learned in a way that will have no long-term effect on their life, other than whatever effect they impose on themselves.

So I while I wish the boy well, it's time to begin some reflection on what he's done and what he might do next. It won't include the Eagle rank.(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

[momof2cubs]

That's so sad..but I am afraid it is what it is. Six months is six months.

 

At the risk of being slammed, I wonder about getting a special dispensation. Assuming there are some special circumstances.

[nldscout]

I have never heard them granting a shorter period, however he can always ask for an extention past 18 if there is good cause.

 

HE, and I me HE, not you, needs to speak to his SM about his situation. If he is almost 18 he can speak for himself now.

 

So what is the reason you think he needs an exception?

[Eagle92]

Extensions are very rare, and you need a very good reason for the extension. In 20 years as an adult I know about 2 personally, and 1 anecdotally.

 

1st personal was an extension b/c of adult error with the eagle service project. I don't know how ling of an extension he got, but he completed the project about 3 weeks after 18. I wrote about that one on this thread. it was legit in my opinion.

 

2nd personal was for an extension b/c the scout was not attending meetings or working on advancement while he was in sports. Obviously an extension was not granted.

 

Anecdotally, I heard of one scout who was involved in an accident and was hospitalized for several weeks. While he worked on some stuff while in the hospital, the service project was not able to be worked on and completed. My understanding was that he asked for a 2-3 month extension, the amount of time he was in the hospital and inpatient rehab, and he got it.

 

 

 

[SeattlePioneer]

Extensions:

 

The Senior Patrol Leader in a small troop I worked with got a three month extension past his 18th birthday.

 

I wrote a request for that extension. I don't know that my request was persuasive, but it persuaded ME!

 

The Scout had spent his entire tenure as a Life Scout doing a very fine job as SPL with Scouts who were mostly much younger than he was. Arguably, he had a choice between working on Eagle or concentrating on doing an excellent job as SPL. He chose the latter.

 

I had proposed a six month extension until he graduated from high school to complete Eagle. He got a three month extension and did receive the award.

[E V Augustine]

A request for an extension to complete Eagle requirements after age 18 mst be based on compelling reasons beyond the control of the Scout. Current advancement guidance finally memeorializes that the Scout is responsible for the information in the Handbook and presumably can read a calendar. The common sense concept expressed in multiple instances in the guidance cuts both ways. In 8 years as district advancement chair the vast majority of discussions I have had on this point boil down to the Scout's failure to choose working on things that will lead to making Eagle rank.

[Second Class]

I know of an instance where the scout missed the 6 month requirement by a few days, and the paperwork reflected that. When he submitted his Eagle application, it was rejected for that "time in grade" requirement. There was no time to correctthis, as he had aged out in the process. There was a half hearted appeal, and the letter from national said it plainly that awarding Eagle in this case would dilute the rank that other boys had earned, with meeting those requirements.

 

It does boil down to it is the scouts responsibility. That said I feel his adult mentors in the troop should be guiding him to the right resolution. Push, but don't pull. If the scout does not take the advice of his unit leaders, parents, and the calendar, it is on him.

[momof2cubs]

I don't know the circumstances, I was just asking. While it seems a shame, I get that rules are rules.

[perdidochas]

No hope for Eagle. Life is a great accomplishment, and he should at the least go for it.

[Oak Tree]

I agree with the above interpretations, but as a thought experiment I can think of a possible situation that would allow for a slightly faster than one-year turn-around.

 

If a Scout earned Star on August 31, when would his six months be up for Life? February 28. That would be six complete months. What is six months after that? August 28.

[Second Class]

You are correct, Oak. We had a situation like this happen in my troop; we meet every week, 4 weeks is a month, right? The calendar said 31 days, he had 28, and the council had to over ride the software to accept it. We had review and approval of 3 layers of advancement eyeballs on it, and it went through OK.

[NJCubScouter]

It does not sound like technicalities of what a "month" is are going to help this Scout. Although it is not absolutely clear, it sounds like he made Star several days after his 17th birthday, and his birthday is not at the end of the month. So normally that would be it.

 

If there is a legitimate reason why this Scout did not make Star until shortly after his 17th birthday, the Scout should consider asking for an extension. (Or a waiver of the 6-month requirement by 5 days or whatever it is; I am not sure which way council/national would want to look at it.) Start with the SM, and if he/she approves, go up the line to the district advancement chair, who may kick it up to the council advancement chair. And I would do this, if at all, RIGHT NOW, so if it has to go to National, it gets there well before the Scout's 18th birthday.

 

Based on what I have heard locally and what I have read on this forum, there seems to be a lot of inconsistency in who gets an extension and who doesn't. In my troop there was an extension request for a boy with very serious physical disabilities (including but not limited to being in a wheelchair), and it was sort of taken for granted that he would get another year, and he got it, and made Eagle with time to spare. In the case Seattle Pioneer mentions, I have heard of similar situations in which the extension was NOT granted. And yet I have heard of what seemed like LESS compelling situations than EITHER of those, in which the extension WAS granted. So go figure. If the SM feels it is warranted, it's worth a try.

[NJCubScouter]

By the way, there are two requirements in play here, not one: The 6-month "active" requirement and the 6-month position-of-responsibility requirement. (For both Life and Eagle.) If he has been in a POR continuously since the date of his Star BOR, then he just has the same problem with the POR requirement as he does with the "active" requirement, and presumably if he gets an extension/waiver on one he should get it for the other, because it's really the same problem. If, however, he did not have a POR as of his Star BOR, or there have been (or will be, until the date he makes Eagle, if he does) any gaps between PORs, then he has ANOTHER problem.