cookiemonster

I say LEARN FROM THE JUDGE. This boy and his father need to be brought into this century. His future will be very dim if he is not shown the consequences of this immediately. I work for a government organization that has killed from within several times. We have less than zero tolerance for a joke, much less a threat with a defined plan. As an adult, this would lose him his job and end up him up in jail. Better to deal with this on the juvenile level.

Do not, I repeat DO NOT, let this pass without intervention at a high level. How would you feel if later you found out that he did something drastic to someone else (or you!!)? You would live your life saying "if only...." Regrets are for suckers. Act now.

This seems to be a polarizing topic with not many folks in the undecided category. I'm thinking that maybe the one's who can't imagine having the drive to accomplish anything at age 13, probably never did themselves. No one needs to push kids to achieve, it can come from within. My son has recently joined NJROTC at his school and is advancing and achieving but not because Mom and Dad are behind him giving him the boot. We don't know the first thing about it. He is having a great time, totally self-motivated, and doing it without parental input - proof to me that we are not the driving force behind his eagle aspirations. I am hoping however, that we had something to do with him growing and maturing and making his own decisions. And thanks bkale for the support - it sounds like you were a great scout at a young age also.

Okay, one more thing. I don't believe that the requirements to become an eagle mean that you "can't stop and smell the roses" or it's so demanding to the detriment of all fun. You can work for it and STILL have fun!

Why would you ever question why an eagle wishes to get more palms? I sure wouldn't want that kind of attitude mentoring/leading my son's troop.

Camp promotions? Never heard of it. It is assumed that you will attend the in-council camp and that is that. Otherwise, you're on your own.

Am I the only one who thinks that eagle palms should be anything to strive for? Are they so rare that people tend to ignore their existence? The opportunity exists to earn 20 eagle palms over a period of five years which means the scout must achieve the rank of eagle when he is 12. It appears to me that BSA national is encouraging this if that is the way the program is designed.

I've appreciated the support and comments from everyone. I soul searched for a couple of days to determine whether I was an overbearing parent as someone had suggested. I even asked my son and he said no, you're just involved. I think his maturity and growth have come from having an involved family and I do intend to keep it that way. Involvement however does not mean I do his work for him or even direct it. As parents and siblings we are there for support and have many other kids who consider our family to be a substitute when theirs doesn't show up for something.

As far as merit badges being a way to avoid others, on the contrary. He's met all kinds of different people and has explored career options, hobbies, and sports. This is no way interferes with his troop or his leadership role within it since merit badge work takes place on his own time. I could think of a lot worse ways to spend his free time. It amazes me that someone would think an endeavor so educational was overkill or an escape since it clearly neither.

A

Just to clear things up - I am on the troop committee and this is a regular topic of discussion. I am not there just as an overbearing parent. If this topic comes up I share my views but I seem to be alone on this within the committee. One of them proudly tells me that her son got his project done 4 days before his 18th birthday. I try to instill the "be prepared" philosophy, not the "wait til the last minute" one.

I just wanted to hear the opinions of others, both pro and con, since I seem to be the only one on the committee that appears to want to let nature take its course and let the scout decide at what rate he advances.

I don't think it has anything to do with our son personally. There is another younger scout trying to move along and they are discouraging him in every way. I've heard "it's not a race" more times than I can count. I'm not sure how quickly my son will ask for a SM conference. It's up to him and frankly I think he's a little nervous because he's not expecting encouragement. We went to a council sponsored meeting for scouts nearing eagle. The leaders of this meeting were proudly saying that they were eagles at 12 and 13 years of age. They also said that "the sooner you become an eagle the sooner you become a resource for your troop". The eagle palm system is also designed so that in order to receive all of the possible palms you would have to become an eagle the day before your 13th birthday and have every SM conference exactly at 3 month intervals. It sounds to me like another troop would be praising his initiative. He's confused and frankly so am I.

(This message has been edited by cookiemonster)

There is a serious amount of discussion within the hierarchy of the troop to which my son belongs. They DISCOURAGE boys from advancing at too rapid a pace. All of their sons got their eagle reqs completed just under the wire. The scouts that have followed are continuing this pattern. Our son is 14.5 and has completed his eagle project and over 60 merit badges (his goal is to get them all). I think he has missed two meetings since joining scouts and they meet weekly even throughout the summer. He has held many leadership positions within scouts and other groups. He's an all around good kid. The problem: he's getting crap from the leaders that he's not old enough. As his parents we are encouraging him to follow his dream and set an example for the younger scouts and to set a new standard within the troop. We'd appreciate others thoughts on this and how my son can deal with these naysayers.

There is a serious amount of discussion within the hierarchy of the troop to which my son belongs. They DISCOURAGE boys from advancing at too rapid a pace. All of their sons got their eagle reqs completed just under the wire. The scouts that have followed are continuing this pattern. Our son is 14.5 and has completed his eagle project and over 60 merit badges (his goal is to get them all). I think he has missed two meetings since joining scouts and they meet weekly even throughout the summer. He has held many leadership positions within scouts and other groups. He's an all around good kid. The problem: he's getting crap from the leaders that he's not old enough. As his parents we are encouraging him to follow his dream and set an example for the younger scouts and to set a new standard within the troop. We'd appreciate others thoughts on this and how my son can deal with these naysayers.

There is a serious amount of discussion within the hierarchy of the troop to which my son belongs. They DISCOURAGE boys from advancing at too rapid a pace. All of their sons got their eagle reqs completed just under the wire. The scouts that have followed are continuing this pattern. Our son is 14.5 and has completed his eagle project and over 60 merit badges (his goal is to get them all). I think he has missed two meetings since joining scouts and they meet weekly even throughout the summer. He has held many leadership positions within scouts and other groups. He's an all around good kid. The problem: he's getting crap from the leaders that he's not old enough. As his parents we are encouraging him to follow his dream and set an example for the younger scouts and to set a new standard within the troop. We'd appreciate others thoughts on this and how my son can deal with these naysayers.(This message has been edited by cookiemonster)