Bad Example Eagle Scouts

[BadenP 93]

I agree with you OGE the unit leaders have got to take some of the blame. I have always felt that too many units push out an Eagle at way too young of a age and they have not had the opportunity to mature in the responsibility. The BSA does absolutely no service to the 13 yr old boy pushed through an "Eagle Mill" troop, they fudge on the requirements to turn out as many Eagles as possible and most of the leaders have little to no formal training. Boy Scouts is about enjoying the experience and maturing at a reasonable pace that the boy can handle.

 

Aside from the LDS scouting program we owe our youth a whole lot more than a race to a finish line, thats not what Baden Powell had in mind. Bad Eagles for the most part come out of bad troops with poor leadership and even poorer programs. If a troop is putting out many 13 yr old Eagles then that should send a big red flag warning to the council. Scout leaders always complain that they can't hold on to the older boys, well if your 13 yr olds are getting awarded their Eagle what is there for them to stay in for? Those leaders need to reevaluate their own program and training. Giving an Eagle Rank away to an immature boy does not make him a better citizen or scout nor does it give the BSA program any real credibility. Maybe it is time as our 100th Anniversay approaches for a reassessment of where we are now versus where we should be and what changes might need to be made in the program. Maybe a return to some of the basics would be a good place to start.

[Eamonn 61]

"My question to da group is "Why?" In these cases, where did we blow it? What should have been done differently?"

 

"Was it not emphasizing Scout Spirit for rank? Passin' kids for just holding a position rather than performing it well? "

Great Questions!!

 

Did anyone catch the story on 60 Minutes (CBS Sunday, November 11,2007) titled: The "Millennials" Are Coming?

(Copied from the CBS News web site:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/08/60minutes/main3475200.shtml

 

They were raised by doting parents who told them they are special, played in little leagues with no winners or losers, or all winners. They are laden with trophies just for participating and they think your business-as-usual ethic is for the birds. And if you persist in the belief you can, take your job and shove it....

 

"Some of them are the greatest generation. They're more hardworking. They have these tools to get things done," she explains. "They are enormously clever and resourceful. Some of the others are absolutely incorrigible. It's their way or the highway. The rest of us are old, redundant, should be retired. How dare we come in, anyone over 30. Not only can't be trusted, can't be counted upon to be, sort of, coherent....

""You now have a generation coming into the workplace that has grown up with the expectation that they will automatically win, and they'll always be rewarded, even for just showing up,".

May be it wasn't just us?

Eamonn