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Ask Andy answers a question about the 13 year-old Eagle and “delaying the earning of Eagle till Scouts are older and more mature… ”
A bit of ancient history: I made Eagle at 15; my brother at 14; both of us stayed active in our Troop and in Scouting right up to 18, and then became ASMs (I went on to become Scoutmaster of the same Troop I’d earned my Tenderfoot badge in!). More recently, I’ve sat on Eagle boards for 17 years olds who drop out right after their Court of Honor, and 13 year olds who stay in and active for the next 4 or more years, and everything in between. In other words, something other than merely earning Eagle is operating here, and I’ll tell you from experience exactly what it is: It’s the myth that “Eagle is the ‘end of the trail’.”
Too many of us who should know better are out there telling Scouts (and their parents) that Eagle is “The Ultimate,” that “Making Eagle is a Life Goal,” that “This is the PINNACLE of Scouting.” Horsepucky. Eagle is a rank, pure and simple. Yes, it’s the highest (we’re not counting “Palms” here because Palms aren’t ranks), but advancement is just one of eight methods of Scouting.
Now I’ll go further… To artificially and arbitrarily hold a Scout back from his own advancement goals is a form of hostage-taking. In doing this, in purposefully delaying a Scout by throwing up roadblocks, so that he “stays in the troop longer” is a complete and total miscarriage of the Scouting program itself, to say nothing of the advancement plan.
Want Scouts to stay active in your troop? Simple: Give ’em a program that enriches their lives, turns ’em on, and is fun. When it works, it works magic. I’ve seen troops that “get it.” There’s one, in particular, that I have in mind: It’s older Scouts drive to their troop meetings! Got that? Drove! THAT is what you call a troop program that’s a MAGNET. That’s what Scouting’s supposed to be.
To anyone harboring the misguided notion of holding a Scout hostage by stalling his advancement in order to keep him in the troop, I have but one response: SHAME ON YOU!
If you haven’t discovered Ask Andy take a moment and look over his 100 + columns that serve as one of the best FAQ’s on Scouting. Got a Scouting problem? After a nearly a hundred years here isn’t anything new out there – ask Andy.
Associated posts at Scoutmaster
Eagle Court of Honor
Wow I have four sons that are all eagles my tow oldest Earned it at 17 and 16 the third was 13 and the fourth while he completed his project at 13 he was awarded the prestigious rank on the beach of Normandy at the age of 14. I have been a scout master for the past 14 years in Germany and Kansas and I have seen many young men that have not made their eagle because of the Fumes of scouting. the perfumes and the car fumes and never reached the goal of Eagle. By the time a young man gets to High School he is involved with many more activities and earning his eagle is put off until in most cases it is too late and they have to go thought life as a life with regrets. I did not plan any of my sons projects and they came to the committee on their own with the ideas that they had and while I might have supported and helped them build, sorted boxes or coordinated land the execution was on them. Who are we to say that a young man at the age of 13 is not ready to be an Eagle, you cannot show me anywhere in the BSA rules that says they can’t do it, so if they work hard from day one and complete all the requirements, who are we to say they can’t, now what I hate and can’t stand is when at the age of 13 they earn their rank and then give up and earn no eagle palms.
Here’s what I don’t get – what’s the rush!
The whole thing should be about the experience along the way, I believe we all agree here. Advancement is a tool, an incentive, a goal to work for. Why should we take that away so early in a young boy’s scouting career? I am not saying we hold back a boy till he reaches 17, but is seems like so many are being “pushed” thru the process, checking off requirements and they are missing the experience along the way.
One important aspect of “maturity” is the ability to be a leader. Clearly an essential quality of an Eagle Scout and the most important part of the eagle Scout project. It is also very difficult to measure. But you know the old saying, “with age comes maturity”. That is an expression for a reason. There are are very few 12 & 13 year olds that posses the maturity to be a true leader. They shouldn’t be relying on adults to manage their eagle projects. Mom and Dad are not earning Eagle with them which means they should do it largely on their own.
Our society agrees and looks down on Eagle Scouts who are that young. Right or wrong, I believe it cheapens the rank in others eyes. I don’t want anyone looking down on my boys thinking they aren’t “real Eagle Scouts” because of their age. So we encourage them to live the experience and perform their leadership roles fully. Don’t push thru them but develop themselves in the role. Then move on to the next rank.
I made Eagle at the age of 12 and that was my goal. An older boy in the troop who had served as a mentor for me while a Webelos had achieved the rank when he was 13, and that made me want to beat him (silly, but it worked for me). I stayed involved in my Troop until I was 18 and then came on as an ASM until I had to depart due to school and work. Staying in the troop and encouraging the other guys to “do their best” was something I enjoyed. I was finally given the opportunity to be SPL when I turned 16 and helped revamp the leadership of the troop. Finishing over 80 MB’s, I knew that my career as a scout was nothing less than amazing and earning Eagle at such an early age is what made it possible.
Boys should advance in rank when they have earned the rank. Not before. Not after. Are there boys who are not yet mature enough for a particular rank – of course there are. That shows up when they do not have successful leadership time.
Personally I WANT younger eagle scouts. I talk to the scouts all the time about their responsibilities to give back. We have 15, 16, 17 yo scouts – 18 yo Eagles – all coming to our tropp meetings to help. Our SPL right now is a 16yo Eagle who stepped up because the troop needed him too – plus he needed the experience as well. Just because he is an Eagle doesn’t mean his learning is done.
I agree whole-heartedly!!! It’s really to bad that BSA doesn’t support this view. I have an issue right now in my troop where I have an exceptionally mature scout who just turned 12 in November. He has attained the rank of Life and is working towards his Eagle now. By the rules, he is not allowed to attend the Silver Bars National Youth Leadership Training until he is 13. That’s ridiculous! I realize that this is not the “norm” but the BSA needs to seriously revise its criteria if it wishes to keep these unique scouts in the program and benefit from their skills!
Hurray! Emphasis on the Troop’s program, and not on advancement!
There are few topics in the world of Scouting that elicit such emotional responses as the process of earning the Eagle rank.
Our troop had a recent experience w/a very young Scout who was going after his Life rank. Without going into detail, one of the issues that came up was ‘maturity’. The challenge with words like this is that some read them and say, “Oh, you’re saying he’s not old enough”, and there are others who would make the argument of, “Oh, you don’t want him to advance too fast and leave the Troop”. Both miss the mark.
The question about rank advancement in general is not so much about the age of the Scout, but rather, have they done their best to meet the requirements? And, pointedly, it’s not about a hard-core bar that everyone has to get over, but the Scouts effort v. their abilities.