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I remember a few adults talking about earning the Eagle when I was a youth. I thought then that it would be much easier for an adult to earn MB's. Today the idea seems ridiculous. It is strange that an adult would read the rules and see that there wasn't an age limit and dig-in. Maybe Scouting encouraged it so that adults would remain in the program. It makes me wonder. I may have to get out a few of the old books and do some reading. fb

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Yes, they could

My grandfather was a scout during the early 30's. I have his troop picture and the SM has merit badges on his sleeve, I asked him about it when I was a youth and He explained it to me that at that time the adults would work on their Eagles to help motivate the scouts to work on their Eagle.

Different time, i suppose, different methods

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An idea, I think, that is worth discussion today. However, I see the risk that adults who are in scouting just for their own personal gratification would be enabled by this, thus becoming a negative for the boys. I'd keep it like it is. Adults that didn't earn it by 18 will just have to live with it.

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I don't think it's going to ever come back, but it's not the dumbest idea I've heard.

 

If you had leaders with limited outdoor knowledge and experience, such a program might motivate them to educate themselves. Also, seeing leaders working to improve themselves could motivate kids.

 

As it stands, though. it's a bit ridiculous, sort of like a 10-year-old playing in a t-ball league.

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Yes, it was true, an adult could earn Eagle, and many did.

 

How?

 

Well, for several decades, all you needed to earn Eagle Scout was merit badges. Stuff like doing a service project, holding a leadership position only came in the 60s or so.

 

Originally, Star, Life, and Eagle were just 'super merit badges' you got for getting several merit badges. Originally, you got 21 merit badges, you got Eagle. Later they put required merit badges in place.

 

Originally, only First Class Scouts were allowed to earn merit badges. All adults were automatically first class scouts, so could earn merit badges. It was felt that if adults earned them, they would understand them better and be able to teach the scouts.

 

By the 1950s this was discouraged, tho allowed in some councils. In the 1960s is when they put in place requirements like holding a troop leadership position and later an upper age limit which ended this.

 

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emb021 says the Eagle project appeared in the 60s.

 

Does anyone have more history on the evolution of the Eagle project? When I earned my Eagle in 1968, I remember the project being not nearly as complex a requirement as it is now. As I recall, the project was more purely a service project and less of a leadership project.

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GN said,

 

...If you had leaders with limited outdoor knowledge and experience, such a program might motivate them to educate themselves. Also, seeing leaders working to improve themselves could motivate kids...

 

You mean earning that "Trained" strip isn't enough motivation? Frankly, I found the fact that I might have to employ and/or teach a skill as sufficient motivation to learn it. Unfortunately, I've had to work with adults whom you couldn't motivate to leave a burning building.

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GN said,

 

...If you had leaders with limited outdoor knowledge and experience, such a program might motivate them to educate themselves. Also, seeing leaders working to improve themselves could motivate kids...

 

You mean earning that "Trained" strip isn't enough motivation? Frankly, I found the fact that I might have to employ and/or teach a skill as sufficient motivation to learn it. Unfortunately, I've had to work with adults whom you couldn't motivate to leave a burning building.

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"Does anyone have more history on the evolution of the Eagle project?"

 

Get Terry Grove's excellent work on the History of the Eagle Scout Award. He does go into the evolution of the requirements.

 

I have it at home. Off the top of my head, I seem to recall that the initial service project was a bit 'wimpy', and was later (5-10 years) turned into the Eagle Scout Service Project as most of us know it.

 

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Ah, if only we could... Or at least turn back the clock. I had completed my service project, but was 2 merit badges short (Personal Management and Communications - I still have my Scout Handbook with all the details). Dear old dad kept pushing me to finish, but the more he pushed, the more I pushed back. Yes, I was an idiot.

So now, in an effort to turn lemons into lemonaide, I hope to convince a lot of Life Scouts not to be a dunderhead like I was.

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Yes, it is Trev. I wish we could make them see the future! Every time I walk past the NESA row at the Scout Shop (which is often) I get a knife in the gut as a reminder of my stupidity.

The only advice I can offer, which doesn't come with much experience to date, is to ask some of the other adults to ask him about his progress in a very upbeat manner. As we all know, there can be lots of baggage between a father and son. Maybe start asking who he plans to invite to his COH, and talk about how proud everyone is going to be of him. That old Stephen Covey "Begin with the end in site" thing.

Good luck! I look forward to reading about him earning his Eagle!

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