Here's a new one - parent wants son to go from Scout to Eagle by Christmas.

[Armymutt]

New kid showed up last week.  Went camping with us this past weekend.  Can't seem to figure out the patrol method - kept coming to the adults for everything.  Mom thinks he can earn Eagle by Christmas.  Has him submitting videos for all sorts of requirements.  In one, he is obviously reading off a cue card.  In another, he ties a square knot instead of a sheet bend.  I told the acting SM that I'm not comfortable accepting these as an appropriate level of skill to sign off the requirement.  He agrees that it is strange.  Has anyone encountered this sort of thing?  It's an amazing hyper focus on rank advancement over actually being a Scout.  I push my son to learn the material so he can advance, but this is something else.  

[HashTagScouts]

1 hour ago, Armymutt said:

New kid showed up last week.  Went camping with us this past weekend.  Can't seem to figure out the patrol method - kept coming to the adults for everything.  Mom thinks he can earn Eagle by Christmas.  Has him submitting videos for all sorts of requirements.  In one, he is obviously reading off a cue card.  In another, he ties a square knot instead of a sheet bend.  I told the acting SM that I'm not comfortable accepting these as an appropriate level of skill to sign off the requirement.  He agrees that it is strange.  Has anyone encountered this sort of thing?  It's an amazing hyper focus on rank advancement over actually being a Scout.  I push my son to learn the material so he can advance, but this is something else.  

I'd start by referring her to read the rank requirements, pointing out: 30 days (minimum) required to earn Tenderfoot due to the fitness requirement,  4 weeks (minimum) after earning Tenderfoot to earn Second Class (fitness requirement), 4 weeks (minimum) after earning Second Class to earn First Class (fitness requirement). I appreciate the kids enthusiasm, but it is a marathon and not a sprint. To each unit their own, but I wouldn't accept the youth doing videos for rank requirements. If the youth wanted to come to a troop meeting and ask the SPL if there is time for someone to test him on requirement X if time allows, that is at the SPL discretion. 

[Tron]

Never seen or heard of this before. I would ask her where she got the idea for recording videos of him performing tasks and see where the leads.

[InquisitiveScouter]

Even at a full sprint, joining to Eagle takes 19 months:

30 days for Tenderfoot physical fitness requirements (all Scout and Tenderfoot requirements could be done in this period by a precocious Scout)

Four weeks for Second Class physical fitness requirements (cumulative now 2 months)

Four weeks for First Class physical fitness requirements (cumulative 3 months)

Four Months as First Class to Star (cumulative 7 months)

Six Months as Star to Life (cumulative 13 months)

Six months as Life to Eagle (cumulative 19 months)

I have never seen it done that quickly.  The fastest I have seen it happen is a young lady who, already having her Venturing Summit Award, Congressional Award Gold Medal, and GS Silver Award, joined a Troop at 16 years old (under the waiver), and completed in 20 months to become one of the Inaugural Class of female Eagle Scouts.  And, other than school work, that is all she focused on.  (She dropped out of GS, and said the Gold Award was not worth it for her...)

Show Mom the math...

Edited Thursday at 08:22 PM by InquisitiveScouter

[SSScout]

Oh there are some go getters....

Back in my days of yoooth,  my Troop was very active, merit badges were not that important.  We went camping and hiking and other stuff,  New kid joins, his dad is a navy doctor who would attend meetings in full whites.  The kid soon announced that he had done the math, so many months required for each rank, and he would be Eagle by such and such a date.  Us senior Scouts looked at each other and realized he might well become the first Eagle in our Troop !  we decided we could NOT let that happen.  Merit Badges became more important.  We started looking for MBCounselors, shared earning them.  

The "new" kid was an okay guy.  He became the third Eagle, about a year and a half late from his original schedule, but that's okay. 

Armymutt, talk to the Scout.  Unless he has some other issues (ASD?  Autism spectrum?),  He needs to take charge of his Scout career. Remind the mom that SHE is not the Scout.... sounds like she wants to live the Scout life she missed out on as a yoooth.  Make her a ASM WITH TRAINING,   then a Commissioner to get her out of your Troop's hair,...

[Eagle94-A1]

18 hours ago, SSScout said:

 Make her a ASM WITH TRAINING...

I would be EXTREMELY leery about this. Sometimes that is all it takes. But most of the time it takes that PLUS mentoring. And I have seen cases where folks took the training, thought they knew better, and ignored any mentoring to get them up to speed.

 

19 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

Even at a full sprint, joining to Eagle takes 19 months:...

I have never seen it done that quickly.  The fastest I have seen it happen is a young lady who, already having her Venturing Summit Award, Congressional Award Gold Medal, and GS Silver Award, joined a Troop at 16 years old (under the waiver), and completed in 20 months to become one of the Inaugural Class of female Eagle Scouts.  

Kayn Hourbacker got it at 11. He joined at 10 years old, and did it in exactly 19 months.  

Then there is this girl at 12. 

I question how much they really know.

I met one Eagle who got it at 13 that I can say knew their stuff. He was also pushed by his Eagle And Explorer Ranger Award dad ( OK I screwed up, I called the dad a Gold award recipient all these years because Ranger ended in 1949. But I recently found out that if you started it before 1949, you got to finish it until 1951.) Here is the deal though, he quit immediately after getting it. No HA trips, jamborees, OA, nothing.

[skeptic]

It should be noted that the term "earned" with the noted young person is suspect, and the Eagle even more so.  Suffice it to say, the "accomplishment" is seriously tarnished by numerous facts that were overlooked for "legal" reasons.  The real fact is that the entire fiasco should not have been allowed, but a "legal cloud" hung threateningly until it played out and he, and the lawyer father disappeared from the local scene.  It is not a local highlight for the majority, yet he is/was not the real problem, just the instrument, so to speak.  

[BetterWithCheddar]

On 8/28/2025 at 12:16 PM, Armymutt said:

 Mom thinks he can earn Eagle by Christmas.

I'm sure she has her reasons. Maybe the family has encountered some challenges and are searching for meaning. In this case, landing on Scouting seems healthy. It could be the pre-teen equivalent of a middle-aged man deciding he's going to go from his couch to a marathon in less than a year. There are sure to be some missteps in his training, but his goal is still admirable ... It's also possible that you're working with a family of grade-A narcissists who are going to drop into your troop life for a short time and make things miserable for everyone as they try to mow down every obstacle in their perfect little boy's way. 😬