When did age for Boy Scout with Arrow of Light ..

[AnaMaria]

change from 10 1/2 to 10? I have a mom who is still being told by local troops that her son has to be 10 1/2 to join with arrow of light. I forwarded her the BSA link showing age 10, but wondered when that changed?

[The Blancmange]

See, among other threads, this one:

http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=300580&p=1

 

for an extensive discussion of this issue.

[Pack212Scouter]

As was discussed in the post above, a 10 year old Scout would be pretty rare. The rewording didn't really change things too much. I guess it would apply to young boys who skipped a grade more than anything else. I don't believe 10 1/2 was ever a rule. It was a common misinterpretation of "six months after turning 10 or completing fourth grade". Many people miss that last half, and hence the 10 1/2 month idea.

 

The only way a boy can join at 10 is...if 5th grade is completed or AOL is completed.

 

In the case of grade requirement, the youngest a child can start kindergarden here is if they turn 5 by October 31, which means that without skipping a grade, the youngest a boy could join without AOL would be 10 years and almost 8 months. (school here ends in June).

 

In the case of AOL, they must be active in their Den for six months after completing 4th grade, or turning 10. This would put the youngest potentially at 10 years and almost two months (six months after the beginning of June is the beginning of December).

 

I suppose there is the rare case where a boys skips a grade and could potentially complete fifth grade at 9 years and 8 months, but I think this would be pretty rare. In that case, they would have to wait until turning 10.

 

So, I guess the "10" year old mark was put in since there is a wide range of 10 year olds eligible.

[AnaMaria]

The boy in question will be 10 1/2 in May. He's homeschooled, but I don't know what grade the family claims he's in. I believe he has AofL, the rest of his den does. Just trying to figure out why troops would tell them they have to wait until he's 10 1/2.

[Eagle92]

Back in the day, 10.5 y.o. was specifically mentioned in the joining requirements for Boy Scouts. I want to say that started in 1972 or therabouts. I think it ended in 1989, but not too sure. When I unbox my BSHBs that have been on loan for the past few months, I can give some updates.

[perdidochas]

The key is the 6 months after finishing fourth grade or after turning ten.

[eagle90]

What's the Rush? How many ten year olds are really ready for Boy Scouts? Not too many that I've seen. I've seen too many Webelos campouts where daddy is cutting up junior's meals and tying his shoes. It's hard enough for our older scouts (16 and 17 yrs old) to relate to eleven and twelve year olds. Now we want them to do the same with a ten year old? Let them enjoy Cubs!

[CalicoPenn]

No, the key here is that the lad has completed AOL. Once a lad earns AOL, he can join a Troop. The Troop is wrong in their interpretation of the age issue.

 

BUT....there is another key - and that's finding a Troop that will accept the lad. Though National's age guidelines suggest that a Troop should accept the lad if he already has AOL, it doesn't neccessarily force a Troop to accept the lad. Sometimes these things turn out to be a blessing in disguise - chances are he'll have a better fit with a Troop that will follow the age guidelines as written and accept him with open arms than with a Troop that can't be bothered to know what the current age guidelines are, or have their own age guidelines despite the National guidelines.

[DancesWithSpreadsheets]

Pack212 has it right, but to state it a bit more clearly:

 

A boy can join Boy Scouts at age 11 or age 10 if he earned AoL.

 

BUT the first requirement for AoL is to have been active in a Web den for 6 months after turning ten or after completing grade 4. So except in rare circumstances, a boy who has AoL will be 10.5 or very close to it, unless someone fudged the time requirements for AOL.

 

HTH,

 

DWS

[CalicoPenn]

Dances - just doing the math.

 

I was 9 when 4th grade ended in June. So under the current rules, I could be a Webelos in June (let's use June 15 to make the math easy). December 15th would be completion of 6 months. Let's say I worked my butt off and got my AOL at the end of the 6th month, or December 15.

 

My 10th birthday was in late November. In my case, I wouldn't even be 10 years and 1 month old in order to be eligible to become a Boy Scout.

 

Of course, that assumes the school district has a policy that allows for registration up to December 1 for the school year, as mine did (had I been born just 9 days later, I would be 10 when I completed 4th grade).

 

Something like this should be pretty rare nowadays - most school districts have changed registration requirements to September 1 or September 30.

[AnaMaria]

Nobody's kicking the boy out, the rest of the 5th grade Webelos are all crossing over and joining a troop on the 25th, though, so there will be no den for him to participate with.

 

And don't get so hung up on the dates and whether he could have earned AofL at this point. He's homeschooled and is whatever grade his school says he is. It's definitely been more than six months since end of 4th grade for the entire group.

 

I do agree that it bothers me more than a little that more than one troop in our area doesn't know the correct joining information. My role is Committee Chair and Webelos Den Leader for the other 5th grade Webelos den in the pack (2 dens of 4 boys each - we would have combined them, but each has a distinct and different personality). If he and his parents want to go to scouts with the other boys in his den, I want to help them.

[CalicoPenn]

If the lad is 10, and has completed his AOL, and his den mates are all crossing, there should be no reason to leave him behind.

 

This would be one of those cases where you want to tell the leader that's telling the parents the Scout has to be 10 1/2 to prove it up in the literature.

 

Unfortunately, it won't neccessarily help if the Troop is dead set against taking a boy who is not yet 10 1/2. It doesn't help this year, but I wouldn't rush to place any future Webelos in this Troop in the future.

[Pack212Scouter]

Dances, close, but missed one thing....

 

They can join at 11 years old...

They can join at 10 years old if they have AOL...

They can join at 10 years old if they have completed fifth grade.(This message has been edited by pack212scouter)

[DancesWithSpreadsheets]

Pack212: Thank you, I stand corrected.

 

Calico: As I said, rare circumstances.

 

Regards,

 

DWS