Last Minute Eagles

I have an issue that was discussed with great lengths throughout
the scouts in our troop and was brought up at a committee meeting. I
would just like to get a consensus from other scouts and scouters out
their. Right now in our troop we have a large number of active boys we
really break up into three groups. We have a bunch that are life and
star, a group of first, and second class and a group of tenderfoots.
There are also a handful of boys who we haven t seen show up for quite
some time. Now as there soon realize that their 18th birthday approaches
they want a leadership position so that they may complete their Eagle
scout rank. I was told by our DE (or someone up there) that the decision
of who gets a leadership position is up to the scoutmaster. Which he
exercised this right and placed one of those no-show boys in charge of
summer camp and part of the upcoming fall. However, this did cause quite
a stir with the youth of our troop. They were a bit taken aback that
someone who hasn t shown up in a long time is suddenly back in action
and will be taking over as the next SPL.

The first concern was the fact that many of the younger scouts
really didn t even know him. Also those that were waiting to get up into
these positions did feel a little threatened by this and some were
certainly concerned about the future if this continued. We realize that
this boy is soon to be 18 and would like to be an Eagle scout. And, we
would all love to see him make it but, we were concerned about the
procedure involved. There was a set of scout who are working towards
their Eagle Scout rank. They are working on their project and have all
the merit badges they needed. They are currently 15 and had a goal set
to be Eagles by 16. That goal was pushed back after realizing the length
involved with the project and they both had the leadership they needed.
However, this worried them if a leadership position was all the needed
before Eagle!! I would have hated to see them miss their goal.

The general consensus among the boys was:

"The reason the Eagle Scout rank hold such prestige and honor is that
it takes a lot of dedication on the part of the boy to stay active and
participate in scouting throughout the time they are Eagle Scouts and
hopefully beyond"

I would just like to get some feedback from the Scouts-L members.
How would you have handled the situation? What would you tell the
concerned scouts?


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