SSF

You seem to be suggesting that we not have actual requirements for Eagle, but rather to allow SM's and other leaders to make subjective, and perhaps not unbiased, determinations as to which scouts are worth" of being an Eagle Scout. Under the BSA's advancement system, requirements are clearly outlined. The scout sees the requirements, the scout works on meeting the requirements and then the scout achieves and completes the requirements. Of course as we know, in some cases, a scout will successfully complete the established requirements, only to have his SM - and/or someone else

Krampus, Stosh, Tahawk, Meyerc - many thanks for the words of support and Krampus thank you especially for the retort to Beavah. I also have the dilemma of what to do about my younger son. He has many friends in his current troop. Beavah, do keep up 'da' snarky comments, they speak volumes. To be clear though the people "burning the bridges" and "sinking the ferries" were the SM and the CC...not me, and definitely not my son. Oh...and since you mention my son's ECOH, he's made it clear that he no longer has any interest in having an ECOH. He did when he was younger, as all young

My son and I had a meeting with the SM, CC and Unit Commissioner. That meeting was an absolute travesty and I regret that I even allowed my son to be placed into that kind of situation. The SM and CC bristled with animosity and hostility throughout the meeting and accused my son of "making excuses." The SM said outright that if he wants to make Eagle in the troop, that he’ll “have to put scouting first†ahead of his other extracurriculars. My son and I both cited that he had already completed his more than six months of active participation and that the troop could

I did try to address this directly with the SM and with the CC and they both dug their feet in deeply and made it clear that they were not going to budge. That's when I decided to take this to Council. Considering the resistance from the SM and CC as well as the time sensitivity, I had to. The consequence of not going to council in this case was too great. Krampus, Fred, Hedgehog, Stosh, Calico, Sentinel and all who have expressed support for my son - and support for open and honest communications and conducting advancements, by the book - thank you, with my greatest sincerity, tha

Thanks again everyone. This is very much a case of a troop that wants to run their own program, as opposed to the BSA program, but even regardless of that the SM has acted in an extremely egregious manner. The SM has made comments to me essentially saying that he does not feel that my son is worthy of being an Eagle Scout, that’s what this all comes down to. Thanks Beavah, I hear what you’re saying and I've always let my son fight his own battles in scouts, but this situation is so far off the charts that no scout should have to address something like this on their own.

Thank you to everyone for responding, I appreciate all of these answers and information very much. Everything is just as I laid it out, complete transparency. There are no skeletons in the closet.

Thank you again to everyone for providing great insights and advice into my situation with my younger son, from my previous post. Sadly, I guess that it’s true that, when it rains it pours, because my older son is now facing a far more urgent situation with regard to his own advancement towards Eagle. My older son is 17, an honor student and highly involved with sports throughout the year. He has been consistently active as a Boy Scout since crossing over as a Webelo in the 5th grade. He has successfully completed his project and the final write-up in the workbook. He has complet

Thanks everyone, this is all very helpful. My son is currently Star, so this was to be his BOR for Life. The SM insists that it was the troop committee, and not himself, that denied him the opportunity to have his BOR, however, I suspect that the SM influenced and encouraged that decision. In our troop, the troop committee does actually vote to approve or deny scout spirit for all scouts who are slated for rank advancement (and it sounds like in doing that, that they are not following BSA protocols properly). They have always linked the "scout spirit" requirement to active part

I have a question regarding the requirement, essentially required for all rank advancements, which indicates that a scout must demonstrate scout spirit and live by the scout oath and law in his everyday life. My son was recently denied the opportunity to have his BOR because the troop committee had voted against granting him approval for "scout spirit." My son is very well behaved, has no disciplinary issues whatsoever and does live by the scout oath and law, however, the SM cited specifically to my son that he was denied "scout spirit" because (according to the committee) he needed "o

You came to the realization that "parents suck...?" You may feel a little differently when your son or daughter experiences some kind of issue with a coach, teacher, scout leader, etc.

Actually, my intent was not to say that youth or adults need to compete in sports in order to achieve optimal health. What I meant to indicate is that sports do offer a greater opportunity, than scouts, for youth to develop an exceptional degree of physical fitness and cardiovascular conditioning, which contributes tremendously towards achieving optimal health. One does not need to be a competitive athlete to achieve optimal health. Rather one must commit to leading a healthy lifestyle, i.e. abstinence from tobacco and smoking, minimal (if anything) alcohol use, maintaining a healthy diet

Rick, I would argue that injuries sustained by scouts on camping trips are just as severe, if not more so, than overuse injuries as well as injuries that they may encounter on the field. Effective cross-training and responsible coaches and parents who do not drive their kids to the point at which they develop overuse injuries is the key to preventing them. All of that said, and the greater issue though is that American youth are facing an epidemic of obesity. The level of physical conditioning, strength development and cardiovascular conditioning, that they gain through organized sport

Too many posters here seem to be of the mindset that all parents are in some delusional state and view their son's sports participation with rose colored glasses. While that is true for many parents, believe it or not, there are actually scouts who do have real athletic ability, who have proven it and who have the stats and results to back up their performance and ability. And as at least one other poster noted, yes, the Boy Scouts can be just as demanding, if not more so, of scouts when it comes to participation in meetings and camping trips as coaches can be of their athletes attending p

Thanks all. This is good information. The beneficiary agency who initially agreed to support the project, and was open to it, is now reluctant. They've cited timing issues, which I can understand, but they also now seem to not want to be bothered. Scout is a few months shy of 17. He's looking at other project ideas and beneficiaries. The experience of the scout who worked to build the bus shelter and who did not make Eagle is especially disheartening.

Curious as to whether anyone may have had any experiences with an Eagle Project beneficiary backing out of supporting a project, after signing the proposal agreement. If so, how was the situation handled.

I'm also an Eagle and I can relate to what you're going through. From the time my kids were born, it had always been my plan to be involved as an active leader within their troop. When my older son and I were looking at prospective troops my one caveat for joining was that i would be able to become a leader and go on camping trips. I didn't come across any troops that essentially said "sorry, not interested in having you as a leader," but if they had, I would have thanked them for their time and crossed them off our list as a potential troop. I understand though that your options, in terms

Thanks to all. I do sincerely appreciate, all of the comments, feeback and input. Fred, in answer to your question, my older son started as a Webelos II so he has been in scouts (Webelos and Boy Scouts combined) for about six years now.

This is not a question. I'm just venting frustration over something which over my years as a Scout Leader seems to be commonplace across the boys in the BSA as a whole, so call it a rant if you will. In addition to scouting, my sons have always been very actively involved in multiple sports throughout the year. From what I have observed, the kids who are also involved in sports are far more well behaved, considerate and respectful than the Boy Scouts; it's not even a close comparison and I am referring to comparable age groups, 11-18 essentially. Within the leagues that we're in

Stout, what were your times? Were you All State? Did you go to the Meet of Champions? Did you swim high school only, or were you on a USS club team? Just curious...

It's 2014, not 1974. Smoking and tobacco use has been taboo for a LONG time...that's not a recent change. Nonetheless, yes, a lot of people still smoke...perhaps the BSA is the new last bastion for smokers. The BSA should get rid of the BS around its smoking policy. Ban it for leaders when in uniform, ban it altogether on scout campgrounds and ban it during any and all scout sanctioned camping trips and functions. Yes, smoking leaders would be up in arms, but at least the scouts and those of us who don't want to choke on someone else's bad habit could breathe easy. The fac

Thank you everyone. All of this information is very helpful.

Just looking for some comparisons. Our troop charges $75 per year per scout plus $10 per scout per month for dues. This is not including food for camping trips ($15 per scout), summer camp or other special trips or outings. The $75 registration rate is not really an issue, but the $10 per month seems a bit much and I can't fathom how they justify these costs. Our troop is largely comprised of working class families and we're not an affluent community by any means. Again, just looking for some comparisons.