Average age of Eagle Scout 14 to 17 years old

[Eagle92]

I will continue to follow BSA policy. Scouts will MASTER (emphasis from previous editions of BSHB) the skills before I sign them off because "the badge represents what the Scout can do, not what he has done," or whatever the exact quote from the current GTA is.

[CalicoPenn]

Below are the requirements to earn Eagle Scout in 1952 (60 years ago) - the requirements did not change from 1936 until 1958 so the 1936 requirements were active:

 

1936 Eagle Requirements

 

Be active as a Life Scout for at least 6 months (prior to this change, you had to be First Class and didn't have to earn Star or Life first)

Earn 21 merit badges, including the following 13:

First Aid

Lifesaving

Personal Health

Public Health

Cooking

Camping

Civics

Bird Study

Pathfinding

Safety

Pioneering

Athletics OR Physical Development

(Swimmingnot listed, but required for Lifesaving)

 

 

Let's not compare Oranges to Clementines, shall we?

[qwazse]

Got no problem with a 14 y.o. who's mastered those skills. No problem with a troop full of 'em.

 

As long they're camping and hiking every month and leading in patrols, they'd be okay in my book.

 

But, I don't see that as where most boys are. Boys want to express scouting in every area of their life, and it takes 'em a while to get up the confidence to start in on some of those MB's.

[mbrownkc7]

Great follow up with our scout who wants to get eagle at 14. Our overnight this weekend involved biking a 15 mile trail. This boy did not want to go because he had never rode a bike with out training wheels. I don't know if he remembered our conversation 2 weeks prior about having fun but he did come. The first mile was tough but he did great and finished with no problems. We had a great camp fire last night and this boy was very proud of himself. Now I understand everyone's points her and we all have good examples of how it works best for our troop but in this specific case I am so happy this boy chose to come and conquer this. He didn't have to come to finish his Eagle but he did so to have fun in the great outdoors with a group of boys who will be his friends for life.

[advancement lady]

GOOD FOR HIM!!! I am glad he was able to conquer. This does show that it is for the BOYS ~ when they are ready, they are ready.

 

Let's not get hung-up on numbers. Everyone is an individual and it needs to come from their desire. We cannot do it for them.

 

I do still feel that the majority of boys need to wait a bit before Eagle.

[charmoc]

What is an Eagle Mill? There seems to be no standard or accredited documentation on this. Or is this one of those terms used when troops do not meet the arbitrary standard set by selected individuals who perceive themselves as the gatekeeper for the Eagle Scout award?

 

Eagle at 14? ROCK ON!

[charmoc]

What is an Eagle Mill? There seems to be no standard or accredited documentation on this. Or is this one of those terms used when troops do not meet the arbitrary standard set by selected individuals who perceive themselves as the gatekeeper for the Eagle Scout award?

 

Eagle at 14? ROCK ON!

[charmoc]

What is an Eagle Mill? There seems to be no standard or accredited documentation on this. Or is this one of those terms used when troops do not meet the arbitrary standard set by selected individuals who perceive themselves as the gatekeeper for the Eagle Scout award?

 

Eagle at 14? ROCK ON!

[Sentinel947]

When a Scout meets the requirements, he is an Eagle Scout, whether his adult leaders believe him "Worthy" or not. Since I got my Eagle at 17, I tend to be more than ok if other Scouts get their Eagle later. If an Eagle gets his at 13-14. That's fine. The hope is an Eagle Scout of ANY age truly understands and lives the values he is espousing in the Scout Oath and Law.

[Twocubdad]

Charmoc -- yeah, you're pretty much on target. But like anything else, if you are so inclined you can spin your description to make it a positive or negative depending on what make you feel good about yourself.

 

Eagle mills are basically troops which focus on advancement and judge their success or failure on the number of Eagles, not the quality of the overall Scouting experience. The adults drive advancement by applying adult ideas of efficiency, productivity and planning to "knocking out those requirements." They then take great care to make sure every Scout advances "at his own pace."

 

With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, you know you may be in an Eagle Mill if...

 

-- Weekly troop meetings include formal merit badge classes, in the manner of summer camp.

-- Scouts earn merit badges in such classes without ever meeting individually with the counselor to complete the requirements one-on-one.

-- "Discuss the following with your counselor...." generally means "Sit in a class while your counselor talks about...."

-- Adults figure out how to "double up" on requirements and squeeze the maximum number of check-offs out of one activity.

-- Requirements are parsed for the absolute minimal level of quality or effort required to complete them.

-- The meals you cooked were absolutely unfit to eat and your patrol spent the weekend grazing on chips or leftovers from other patrols. But you "served as patrol cook" and got the sign-off anyway.

-- Your very first troop meeting is spent doing Tenderfoot exercises so you can complete the physical fitness requirement in exactly 30 days, instead of getting ready for your first campout.

-- Scouts are encouraged, even required, to take a full load of merit badges at summer camp.

-- It's a "problem" if a Scout decides to drop a merit badge to simply hang out with their friends.

-- A big deal is made of the Scouts who earn 6, 7, 8 or more merit badges at camp.

-- Parents equate a lot of merit badges with getting their money's worth.

-- You think it is crazy for a Scout to take a class for a merit badge he's already earned, just because he thinks it's fun.

-- Scouts are given suggestions like, "take Personal Management now while you're 11 or 12. If you wait until your older and have a summer job, it's much more difficult."

-- Scouts are encouraged to complete their 90-day logs for Personal Fitness, Personal Management and Family Life all at the same time.

-- The logs are kept the by the troop and Scouts are reminded to update them at every troop meeting.

-- The adults pore over TroopMaster reports looking for Scouts who aren't advancing or for opportunities to conduct more classes which will provide the most sign-offs for their efforts.

-- You think the JTE requirements for every Scout to advance in any give year is a good idea.

-- You've sent that rediculous "Ask Andy" column to everyone in the troop.

-- You're reading any of this and thinking, "hey we outta try that!"

[Eagle92]

I have no problem with a 13 or 14 year old Eagle Scout as long as they know the basic T-2-1 skills and can teach them to the younger guys. heck I don't have any problem with any Eagle Scout who can do the basic T-2-1 Skills.

 

It's when you see a specific unit brag about the number of Eagles they have per year, but few to none of those Eagles A) have the basic T-2-1 outdoor skills and B) stick around after Eagle that the concept of "Eagle Mill" comes about.

 

I know of one unit, and even had a youth from it about it being an "Eagle Mill." Luckily he had an extensive camping background with his family.

 

EDITED: OK I will cut a little slack for some "old Fogeys" who are gettign back involved in Scouting whoeither A) Need to practice their skills or B) Need to learn the updated ones.

 

Mea Culpa, while I will bet a Dutch oven pizza that I can use a current TOPO map with UTM, I am still a little confused with the UTM system and will not teach it at this time. Maybe after the class in a month or so (This message has been edited by eagle92)

[BartHumphries]

If people rush through Eagle, there's plenty more to do in Scouting. Before you earn your Eagle, though, join a Varsity team so that it's easier to earn your Denali award while you earn your Eagle, and join the OA. Then join a Venturing crew, start working on your Venturing Silver. Start working on earning these cool medals: National Medal for Outdoor Achievement (really hard), Hornaday, STEM Supernova awards. While you're part of Venturing, join a Sea Scout crew and work towards your Quartermaster. Don't forget about NYLT (meh) and Seabadge (really cool pin, also a knot). Heck, if a person really works at it, by the time they turn 21 they can have multiple medals, and a couple rows of knots on their uniform.

 

I've never actually seen someone do this yet -- most people that really want to push towards something go towards massive amounts of merit badges and rows and rows of palms, but it's theoretically possible.

[mbrownkc7]

"You think it is crazy for a Scout to take a class for a merit badge he's already earned, just because he thinks it's fun."

 

That is awesome! We have some boys who take shot gun shooting and rifle shooting every year. Some of our leaders kind of roll thier eyes but we all giggle a little and move on. For the leaders in our troop (just a few) who really care about the number of badges our troop gets, I tell them it counts towards the total and they move on.

 

Now this brings up a different problem. This one boys has been in our troop for 6 plus years. He turns 18 in February and still needs 4 Eagle required badges. He comes to camp every year and takes all the shooting badges again. I mention to him about the other badges but if he and his dad don't seem to care, neither should I if he doesn't get his Eagle done. I have seen this boy go to scout camp 7 years now and watched him grow up and be our Senior Patrol Leader. He has some minor disabilities so it has been great seeing our troop support him. I hope he finishes his Eagle but I think it is unlikely. Oh well, Scouting has really been a great thing for him.

 

[charmoc]

Guess the pendulum swings both ways. Troops are perceived that their focus is on getting scout to Eagle (have never experienced one), and troops who put up lots of roadblocks/hoops so scouts dont reach Eagle until some arbitrary age requirement (or some other requirement ) is reached (experienced several).

For me as long as the requirements are met, its good enough. I have been blessed in meeting many Eagle Scouts while serving in the military and all have proven to be leaders and have the ability to take the initiative without having to prove any mastery at knot tying. When I worked recruiting command and interviewed candidates for Officer Candidate School, scout skills was not what we were looking for, but the ability to lead and take the initiative to get things done. The Eagle project alone, at any age was enough demonstration for me. Any sports team captain could not articulate anything that came close to what the Eagle Scout had to do to earn his award.

Motivated scout who Eagles at 14? That ROCKS!

 

[BartHumphries]

I had some boys who took some of the classes in my area last year who said that they wished they could take those classes again (Wilderness Survival and Pioneering were the most requested). I always invited them to come take them again, but they always wistfully declined, saying that they were already signed up to take other merit badge classes. Some of the boys came on the Wilderness Survival overnighters and some of the boys came back during free time to run through their Pioneering knots and lashings again. I personally have no problem with a boy who wants to retake a merit badge.