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Could a 9-year-old join Scouts?


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The success of a boy fitting in a troop is reliant on maturity, not age. I agree, typically 9 year olds don't have the maturity for the troop program. And when a family tried to push their son a head of the standard, usually the parents were pushing the effort, not the son. And usually their reasoning was to get a jump on advancement  (eagle).

 

Barry

Edited by Eagledad
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It's not just a matter of cleaning up wording, it's a matter of using the same wording everywhere, which they apparently don't do now.

From the results, no one at Corporate seems to have the responsibility of even trying to insure consistency.

 

_____________________________________________________

Not a conspiracy.  Just many not very good at it.

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Separate out the clauses:

 

 

(Meet the age requirements.)    (Be a boy who is 11 years old, or one who has completed the fifth grade or earned the Arrow of Light Award)    and (is at least 10 years old, but is not yet 18 years old.)

 

To be a Boy Scout you must:

 

Clause 1:

Meet the Age Requirements

 

Clause 2:

Be a boy who is 11 years old

(Be a boy) who has completed 5th grade

(Be a boy) who earned the Arrow of Light

 

Clause 3:

Is at least 10 years old, but is not yet 18 years old. 

 

No, a 9 year old bot, even if he completes 5th grade, cannot be a Boy Scout because he does not meet the age requirements.

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The success of a boy fitting in a troop is reliant on maturity, not age. I agree, typically 9 year olds don't have the maturity for the troop program. And when a family tried to push their son a head of the standard, usually the parents were pushing the effort, not the son. And usually their reasoning was to get a jump on advancement  (eagle).

 

Barry

 

While this is true for most boys, the OP did mention the son was homeschooled.  Often these children are a bit behind in socialization, but they are definitely ahead of the Bell curve in terms of maturity and education.  I have found that a lot of the homeschooled parents aren't pushing their children as much as they are providing them a variety of different opportunities.  I think they may make up an exception to the helicopter parents that push.

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Calico, well that is what it means, anyway. But the way it is written in the quote in the original post, it could be misinterpreted so that the "or" after "one who has completed the fifth grade" breaks the connection between the "and" and "one who has completed the fifth grade".

 

The way it is written on the application (which I quoted above) avoids this problem by using the phrase "and is at least 10 years old" twice, so there is no question what it connects to.

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I think he can if he has completed fifth grade. Read the wording carefully from Scouting.org and take note of the "or."

 

Meet the age requirements. Be a boy who is 11 years old, or one who has completed the fifth grade or earned the Arrow of Light Award and is at least 10 years old, but is not yet 18 years old.

I would recommend against it.  I agree the wording is strange, but it would be rare for a 9 year old to be able to physically and emotionally succeed as a Boy Scout. I would recommend a year at Webelos Scout (or Arrow of Light Scout) first. 

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Can we seriously just close this thread? It is clear (see citation) that Boy Scouting is for boys at least 10 years old. There's literally no discussion beyond how poorly BSA harmonizes their various documentation....which we are discussing in about 10 other threads.  :eek:

 

We don't normally close threads just because a question has been answered.  Or at least, I don't.  We let the discussion end of its own accord, and if people want to keep talking about something, there's no accord.

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Col. Flagg, for crying out loud, this thread has been open for just about 7 hours.   By the standards of this forum, the horse hasn't even been born yet.  A Scout is Patient.  (Another one they didn't have room for.)

 

No, a Scout is not patient, a Scoutmaster is.  :p

 

However, when we are only on page two and folks are answering a question for the tenth time that was aptly answered withing the first few posts; then to carry the analogy further, the horse was still born with a line of people lined up to beat the snot out of it. ;)

Edited by Col. Flagg
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No, a Scout is not patient, a Scoutmaster is.  :p

 

However, when we are only on page two and folks are answering a question for the tenth time that was aptly answered withing the first few posts; then to carry the analogy further, the horse was still born with a line of people lined up to beat the snot out of it. ;)

Just because beating dead horses isn't of interest to you doesn't mean the rest of us don't find some pleasure or at least relief in it.

 

As I tell my wife after having given the same set of instructions/guidance/advice to my teen age son for the umpteenth time, "well, at least I feel better because I said it."

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Just because beating dead horses isn't of interest to you doesn't mean the rest of us don't find some pleasure or at least relief in it.

.... fond memories traveling poor and ordering horse steaks in .2 Kg slices ... then tenderizing to country fry ...

 

 

@@CherokeeScouter, pick a best answer so Flagg can justify his indignation.

Edited by qwazse
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