18yr. old boys, where do they fit in?

[Eman]

When a boy turns 18 he is no longer a youth member of scouts, correct? But I have been told that OA considers them a youth member until 21.

[eisely]

Scouting does not follow a consistent policy with regards to 18 year olds in conventional troops. Here is my understanding on a variety of aspects of this issue.

 

In a scout unit one is considered a youth member until age 18. In a boy scout troop the only position available for a registered member between ages 18 and 21 is that of assistant scoutmaster. I can't speak to venture crews and sea scout ships. Maybe somebody can respond on that point.

 

For order of the arrow purposes, one is considered to be a youth member until age 21. Members between the ages of 18 and 21 would appear to be eligible for election by all the youth in the unit. If you have somebody in this category, you would do well to contact your chapter (district) OA advisor on this point. If a registered member between the ages of 18 and 21 cannot be elected alongside other youth, then they would have to be elected by the unit committee.

 

For purposes of crew makeup for Philmont, a member is considered a youth until age 21. This is important because Philmont has occasionally imposed caps on adult participation. If there is a restriction on the number of adults in a crew, then one needs to know what is considered adult versus youth.

 

For most outings, and 18 year old is considered an adult for the "two deep" adult participation safetey requirement. At least one adult must always be 21 or older. For some types of activities, both adults must be 21 or over. See the requirements in the Guide to Safe Scouting.

 

Confused? You are not alone.

[jmcquillan]

Sooooo...you see....it's easy to understand....

 

For both Boy Scout Troops and the OA, the rules governing the division between youth and adult are the same...

 

...except for the OA. :-)

[OldGreyEagle]

In the Venture program a member is a youth until they are 21. So, we have assistant scoutmasters who are adults in the troop, but on Venture Outings they become youths....

 

Now this forum had a thread about how to break the connection between the 18 year old and the scouts, imagine scouts who are also crew members, in the troop its Mr Smith, but in the Ventures he is just good ol' Bob. At least we are consistent in our inconsistentcy(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[eisely]

Or perhaps, "good young Bob."

[Eman]

Isn't it amazing that after all these years this organization has this much of an undefined gray area.

[eisely]

I guess that I am less surprised at the different treatment of ages in different programs when one comes to understand those programs. Scouting as a movement is quite diverse. It would be nice if these things were stated clearly and simply in one place. One just has to pick up on the different rules as one encounters them and go with the flow.

[k9gold-scout]

One reason Venture Scouts are considered youth until they are 21 is that what the scout themselves wanted. The Venture program, just like the old Explorer program, is a youth decision making group. Many years ago Explorers wanted to stay active with their Posts and when they turned 18 they were to become adult leaders and serve only as advisors. However they still releated with the other Explorers mostly age 16. They sought out the ideas of many other Explorers nationwide and asked national to change the youth age limit. A simular decision was the co-ed membership.