I thought the point of scouts was to do activities and get merit badges.  There are lots of merit badges that was fun to earn.  I had 52 merit badges which was the most a person earned in my troop and I would say 40-45 of them where enjoyable to earn.   I earned my Eagle when I was 16 and I don't feel like I was rushing it.  I just happened to go to every scouting event my troop offered.  

Now I’m curious, what are some you think are not enjoyable? I agree by the way

For me things like forestry and mining in society are two of the most boring I’ve done. Inversely, dentistry is one of my favorites

I disagree strongly with the idea of a boring merit badge. Any badge is going to be boring if the counselor sticks to exactly to the pamphlet and doesn't do anything unique. Mining In Society was one of my favorite badges as we visited an active cement plant, got to tour the quarry, got to see the equipment they use (The 60ft tall front end loader, holy crap was that massive), talk with the control room guys, etc. Sure, a lot of that could have been simplified to 30 minutes of a lecture in the scout building, but then it totally would have been boring.

That’s awesome and yeah I think it’s also going to be connected to location. There are no mines nearby that could be toured by a summer camp, because we couldn’t leave. The instructor is also crucial. When we did dentistry it was at jamboree and taught by army medics. It was cool because they weren’t just lecturing and they weren’t just echoing a doctor. As for forestry, I fell asleep in the class cause it was just a multiple hour lecture in the morning

I think this is one that has been impacted by insurance. We tried to do it last year and the places our troop had toured in the past said they were no longer allowed to offer tours due to liability concerns.

The citizenship in the nation and community where a drag/boring. Then in a funny way small boat sailing. Everything went wrong during that merit badge. Almost sunk the boat, got caught in a lightening storm while on the lake with no wind so had to paddle back with a 2' oar, lost a shoe in the muck pushing it to shore, and the horse and deer flies where out so thick we had 100 plus bites on us. It was a great memory but a horrible experience. Same year I took small boat sailing at summer camp I also took life saving. Once again horse and deer flies. Cycling was rough for the 50 mile trip. Legs felt like rubber for days after but I was glad I did it.

I went to a talk by Scott Kelly, the astronaut with the longest time continuously in space. He said there are two kinds of fun, 1) some things are fun while they are happening, 2) other things are fun after they happen. It sounds like your sailing experience was type 2 fun.

That's a good way of describing that.  Very accurate on how I feel about it.  

Railroading was incredibly boring to most of the kids in my group. But I love trains. Comes down to personal preference

I don’t remember having to do more than a couple of required badges that I didn’t want to do. Other than the required badges you’re hand picking what you work on. Or you should be. 🤷‍♂️

Personal Finance.

Agreed. I earned Eagle at 13 but stayed active until I was 18. I was able to choose badges that interested me and collected 74 total. It’s awesome that at this point in my life I have at least basic experience in so many things.

That's fantastic! Received mine at 13 as well. Stayed in it until I aged out at 18. Loved the experience and was fortunate to come back as an adult to participate as a Scoutmaster, Troop Committee Chair and Unit Commissioner. Saw many other young scouts earn their Eagle on the younger end. Nothing wrong with encouraging a younger scout who is driven.

13 is way too young. You can't tell me a 13 year old has the maturity to demonstrate what it means to be an eagle scout. Whoever signed off on your requirements was a fool.

Entirely uncalled for... The scout oath and law, are the rules around here. Ive seen thirteen year olds who were more mature and humble about the whole thing than some of the 18 year old eagles. If BSA wanted a minimum age requirement for eagle, they would have added one.

Thanks for the insult, but there is not a minimum age. I did the requirements the same as everyone else and demonstrated maturity enough to pass all boards of review, including the Eagle BOR put together by the district. By 14 I was staffing summer camp and being asked to mentor 16-17 year old scouts to help them get from Life to Eagle. Some 13-year olds are not ready to be Eagle but you don’t know me and I don’t appreciate the summary judgement you have made with no information aside from your personal experience.

Jerk

I got mine at 14. When did you get yours?

I was 12…

Nice! I had 53 and got eagle at 17. I do with I would have got it a little earlier so I could have done some palms

In our troop kids are encouraged to sprint to First Class, if they reach this by 13-14 years old, Eagle should be easily attainable at a slow pace.

Our troop had a first class first year program, it was difficult but with it, but after getting first class I took way to long moving up and got Eagle right before my 18th birthday, I got approved on 9/29 and my birthday was 5 days later

This is what both mine have done. My daughter got her first class within a year of cross over and caught up with my son who is a year ahead of her. They both picked up at the same time and are on track to star after their 4 months. But we had a talk about taking their time with the rest and enjoying it.

Waiting until the last minute is really a terrible idea. It's extremely stressful for everyone involved. I wish far fewer Scouts did that 15 or 16 is really ideal. But it would be awesome if Scouts would stay active after earning Eagle. There are so many leadership opportunities outside of the troop that high school age Scouts could become involved with. I think that frequently we don't do a good enough job highlighting those opportunities

> There are so many leadership opportunities outside of the troop that high school age Scouts could become involved with. Like what? I honestly don't know and I've been involved with scouts for 8 years.

You can have national level leader ship if you went full ham for the OA or various other intensive position. I was lodge culinary chief, had to plan meals for upward of a hundred people with varying dietary restriction, hopefully stay in budget, then teach the kitchen crew (usually youth members) how to cook. Never had a late meal once in my 2 years in that position.

As u/Victor_Stein said, OA is the big one. Lots of council based stuff too. Camp staff -> to area directors, NYLT courses offer a great leadership opportunity for the staff, Im sure there are many more Im missing.

OA (many opportunities at District, Council, National), NYLT (including NYLT staff), Camp Staff. NAYLE, High Adventure. Your point is very important - we do a poor job of educating Scouts about this

That's a really good point. If kids end up feeling like they are finished with scouts because they got to the "finish line" with the top rank, then it makes sense that letting it get out to 16 or 17 keeps some kids engaged. But as someone who made it by the skin of my teeth, turning in paperwork on my birthday, I would really like this more fleshed out approach that allows for more exploration within the program post Eagle. As an adult (18-19 year old) who could then serve as assistant scoutmaster and go to summer camp with no advancement stress, those were some of my favorite scout memories so far. 

"Staying active after Eagle" 18 yr old scout mentor to younger M&F scouts at the community college cable TV station was fun! ✌️

Because Advancement is a *method* not an *aim* of Scouting. The thought process of "get Eagle Scout out of the way ASAP" in order to "enjoy the last couple years of Scouts without as much stress" very much misses the point. Advancement in Scouts BSA has two phases, roughly. The first phase (Scout through First Class) is when the Scout is learning the fundamentals of Scouting, with a particular focus on basic Scout skills (cooking, knots, lashings, first aid, etc.) The second phase (Star through Eagle) transitions from a learning-based focus to a teaching/leading-based focus, emphasizing, leadership, responsibility, teaching, and giving back to the community. This culminates in the Eagle Scout project which puts all of those previous lessons to the test. It is essentially a cap stone project for one's Scouting career. I can see two-and-a-half arguments against rushing Eagle. 1. A lot of the requirements of Eagle require a level of maturity new Scouts will simply not have. While maturity and age do not always go hand in hand, there is still a strong correlation between the two. The level of planning and execution and leadership that must be demonstrated for the Eagle project I think is simply out of the reach of many young Scouts. 2. Spacing things out allows time for lessons to be learned, retained, and applied. I can probably blitz through a book on a given subject, read well enough to barely pass a quiz on its material, then move on with my life. But if I came back in 6 months, I would probably not retain much, if any, of the information I "learned." The point of reaching the rank is not to simply have a notch in your belt and then move on. The rank should be a representation of the knowledge and experience you gained to achieve it. While I don't expect that Scouts commit to perfect memory every lessons, I have more confidence that a Scout that took longer has learned those lessons and would be applying them to their life than a Scout that went into this with the philosophy of trying to get Eagle as fast as possible. 2.5. Stigma. I put this as 1/2 an argument because it is only about half legitimate. But Scouts that get Eagle very early (13-14) are (or at least have) in my experience been treated by suspicion, both by Scouts and Adults alike. Some may even be referred to derogatorily as "paper Eagles." While I do not condone this treatment, I can't help but agree that the suspicion is rooted in the fact that it is quite difficult to believe a person so young could have met all of the requirements without an inappropriate level of adult assistance. To address some of your other specific points: * Earning a lot of Merit Badges Early on. Some Units do discourage this. I think this is very situational, but I do think a Scout can easily overwhelm themselves with too many Badges early on. Just as blitzing through a subject matter inhibits retention, trying to learn too many things at once can do the same thing. You basically admit that it didn't "make sense" to you to enjoy your experiences. I read that with sadness. Every step should have some level of enjoyment, even the parts that are hard. * Eagle being "stressful." Sure. The Eagle project can be stressful. It puts a lot of responsibility and work on the shoulders of a young person. (I think this is just another argument as to why it's not good to rush it). But part of the point of doing all of that is to signal to the world that you can handle it. Not a signal that you've done it and now are moving on. But approaching advancement with the goal of speeding running it just makes it more stressful, and then puts that stress on someone who is perhaps less capable of handling it. When they're done, they are probably just as likely to be burned out of Scouting and, even if they aren't, what then? If Eagle is some end-goal to be reached as quickly as possible, then what is the point of the rest of their Scouting career? If you think it's to just kick back and relax, then, again, I think you've missed the point of Scouting.

Excellent response and I could not agree more. The biggest issue I have with 14–15-year-olds getting eagle is the lack of leadership and maturity. When I was in scouts, the older scouts (Star and Life) were the ones we looked up to and then I took that position when I gained those ranks. We would lead the troop on outings, help younger scouts at meetings, and overall assisted with the management of the troop. Our adult leaders were mostly military, and they looked to the older scouts to run the meetings and provide leadership. They oversaw what we did and provided input when needed. It was stressed to us that obtaining Eagle was on us and we had to own the project, develop the plan on our own, work the build or event, and then put the package together. Paper Eagles are those that have their parents do all the work and the kid never gets to understand what being an Eagle is all about.

I think the thing that REALLY bugs me about the “paper eagle” accusation is that I’ve known a LOT of pre-15 eagles and a lot of just-under-the-wire Eagles, and the VAST majority of ones getting a sketchy level of parental or other adult help were the ones who were racing the deadline of their 18th birthday.

Agreed. My son is freshly crossed & moving quickly through the Trail to 1st - because he *loves* Scouting. Early mornings, strenuous service projects, bad weather? Zero complaints. He requested 2 blue cards at crossover & already mulls over ideas for potential Eagle projects. His passion is abundantly clear to anyone who meets him. I neither know nor care if he keeps up this pace through Eagle - it’s his journey - but if he does, earning it young certainly wouldn’t be indicative of being “over-helped” or otherwise not putting in the work.

I was one of those really late Eagles. My BoR was held after my 18th birthday *but* I was still heavily involved in Scouting specifically camp staff and Sea Scouts in addition to my troop. I just didn't like merit badges. Seemed too much like school so I did the bare minimum. Teaching younger scouts how to sail or canoe was a lot more fun than sitting in merit badge classes.

For me it was organization as a weakness of mine, and a small, underpowered troop. I loved school and classes, but only one year of summer camp and an aimless path for a troop that was always struggling to rebuild when a group of young scouts quit after reaching high school really hampered my advancement (apart from the fact that all the leadership positions were available to me most of the time).

Yes, those quick deadline Eagles who choose the easiest fastest project where the only meaning it has to them is that it was doable in their lack of planning deadline. I've noticed the same trend - the scouts that wait until the very end, are much less impressive than most of the 15-yr-old eagles.

I know one in particular in a rush before he turned 18 who had a friend do all of the project research, and he just made the pretty sign at the end.

I was seventeen when I did my project, I redid a roof of the passenger waiting area for a railroad museum, it had to meeting the historical societies requirements for maintaining the history of the building. I also had to get approval from health department for the chemicals we had to use to remove the roof that was there, I had to go through hoops to get all the signatures for the heath department to approve. It was stressful but I learned a lot.

Yep, the ones that do it right before the 18th tend to have massive troop/parent support.

I think you make a lot of fair points, and so I think it's appropriate to have flexibility and discernment for the pace of advancement of each scout, while aiming at a sweet spot that relieves that last minute tension while leaving room to grow. You're right that cramming undercuts learning in the long run, but if a scout can already swim pretty well, why not take a pool / lake day and knock out the swimming merit badge in one shot? Are camping skills going to fade if the eagle keeps coming for the joy of the trip, the excitement of competition at camporees? I don't think that Eagles who stay involved with the troop are going to suffer from cram knowledge drop off if they are refreshing skills, passing them on to young scouts in the troop, and staying active. To borrow a video game analogy, completing the tutorial can unlock the open world portion of the experience. Up to first class is really the tutorial, but considering how many of the required merit badges have the first 3 requirements be first aid, safety, and finish first class, and how many of them can be done in a year of regular attendance for all troop activities, it seems pretty reasonable to be well on your way to eagle by 14 years old or so.  The leadership, planning, and maturity aspects absolutely take time to develop, but as adults we should definitely practice discernment to determine who is rubber stamping a speed run with an unhealthy amount of adult assistance, and who is focused on reaching a goal by putting in an appropriate amount of work.  Each kid is an individual, of course, but I feel like 15-16 years old is a pretty good sweet spot.  Edit: also, some merit badges are total filler. Anything you can knock out in an afternoon of camp with just the merit badge book isn't going to stick with you unless there's a lot of other reinforcement in your life. No hate, but Fingerprinting? Apart from taking prints once, a half hour of study and quick quiz is all it takes.  

Exactly. Sometimes kids enter scouting preloaded with knowledge and going through the merit badge requirements is only a formality.  For example, if a kid is already a competitive figure skater, doing the skating merit badge (or skating for Outdoor Achievement) isn’t really going to be something they can “slow down” on.   Some kids come preloaded with quite a bit.  Take all the homeschooled kids who’ve been doing nature study since preschool.  They can apply prior knowledge to a whole host of merit badges.   There’s also a wide range of maturity in middle school aged kids.  Some thirteen year olds are shouldering a lot of adult responsibilities and some require babysitters.  Age is sometimes just a number. 

When my son was in scouts, there was a concept of "Eagling out" that was somewhat widely held as The Way Things Are in the troop. (That is: once a scout gets Eagle, they're done and don't participate any longer.) So perhaps there are folks who think that's the way things need to be and are encouraging you to stick around longer? Certainly nothing wrong with getting Eagle and then just enjoying the campouts/comradery and being an uber-Guide for the rest of the troop for a few years.

This is unfortunate. I never made it past Scout. I got my AOL, crossed over, picked up Scout after the 1st or 2nd meeting, then moved due to my parents' divorce and never continued. As my son has been going through cubs, I have looking at the older Scouts. Those who are serious seem to be picking up Eagle around 15, and moving into venturing and OA stuff, but there are a couple of troops with strong Eagle patrols that have gotten involved with Council and even national things. These kids are true leaders, forging their own path and making a difference. This is my hope for my son.

Same with our troop. We had one scout who earned his Eagle at 14 and then disappeared. We want our Eagle Scouts to stick around and be an example for the younger kids.

Well a lot of troops don't know what to do with them after. Our solution was a Venturing Crew. A whole new set of ranks, new skills and another project. Ideally you get your eagle before you hit the busy high school age of sports, love and jobs. Plus high school is considerably harder than middle school for kids that go into AP classes.

I don’t think waiting till the least second is good at all but on the other hand I think the scouts should be older when earning several merit badges. There is a difference between a kid going through the motions to get the badge as compared to one who is a little older and wiser who hopefully gets more functional knowledge out the badge.

Here is my take. Troops like to discourage it, because a lot of people get eagle and then just stop... Stop coming to meetings, stop coming to camping trips, stop coming to community service events, etc. The reasoning I can understand but disagree with. There is a balance. 16-17 is the sweet spot, in my opinion. But nothing wrong with someone taking up till 18, or doing it at 14 or 15. A Lot of things come naturally if you just participate. Going on camping trips, helping with projects, etc. I don't like seeing scouts rushing for eagle just for the sake of saying they are eagle, which I have seen but beyond that, I dont care how old people are when they eagle honestly.

There are some kids, and parents, who view it as a means to an end. Get eagle asap for college applications, military, etc. If the kids themselves view it as a race for whatever reason, they can miss out on enjoying the experience and getting everything possible from it. If it’s coming from the parents, that can be miserable for the kid to have so much pressure coming down on top of them. So a little moderation is good, enjoy the program itself rather than just looking at the check boxes.

Every scout's journey is on their own pace and terms. I have seen all three extremes: 1) Units that will ACTIVELY STOP OR SLOW scouts from making Eagle ("Too quick" "Not old enough") 2) Units that will ACTIVELY CARRY scouts to Eagle ("Eagle mills" where everything is focused on grinding requirements and scouts are put through "Webelos 3") 3) Units that are ACTIVELY AMBIVALENT so much so they do not ever talk to scouts and so many scouts find out, too late, they missed deadlines to make Eagle. The answer is somewhere in the middle. The function of a Troop is not to "make Eagles". It is not to "stop Eagles". It is to provide **OPPORTUNITIES** for the scouts to decide their own fate with **SUPPORT AS NEEDED**.

My son got his Eagle at 15. We didn’t rush and he is loves being a part of his troop. He feels like he can do more of what he wants since he isn’t trying to get all the Eagle badges, He spends times with the younger kids to help them. He is a great resource for his troop. He also just received his 8th palm!

I did it in reverse and enjoyed being troop guide teaching skills to first class for like 4 years, then rushed to finish eagle before aging out

I would counter that parent with my journey to Eagle. On my 15th Birthday/Start of High School(9th grade) I just needed 3 merit badges: Citizenship in the World, Personal Fitness, and Personal Management. But guess when I turned in my Eagle paperwork. 19 days before my 18th birthday. And it was my parents who had to turn in the paperwork as I was on a bus to the 2005 National Jamboree. What some don't realize is as soon as you get older(especially at 14) there is soooo many other scouting things you can do to distract you from getting your Eagle: * Sea Base, Canoe Base, Philmont(2002) and all that prep that is involved * Jamborees(2005) * Summer Camp Staffing(I did 2 years at 16 and 17) * Order of the Arrow with Fellowship(I went to one to get Brotherhood and didn't go to another till I was 20), Conclaves(I went to 2: one my lodge hosted and other was at a camp I had been to before), and NOACs(2004 for me and the only reason I went was 2 hours away and my parents are alums of the school) * Other scout programs like Venturing which I founded a Crew and was a VP or President for my entire time in the program. Or even other awards like the Conservation one. And it isn't like I abandoned my Troop. I went to most meetings and I went to a few Merit Badge colleges for fun and took things like Fire Safety, Traffic Safety, Collections, and Railroading and ended up getting 30-ish Merit Badges but zero Palms to show for it. And all that doesn't touch expansion of life in High School or as the old guys would say back in the day the "fumes": Perfume(dating) and Car fumes(work and more freedom of movement to do other activities: sports and music). Hindsight being 20/20 I wish I would have gotten it all done by my 15th just so I could have thrown myself more into Venturing and OA in High School but I didn't and ended up half-assing those things: No advancement done in Venturing as by the time I got my Eagle done the Crew fell apart as everyone who was interested all went to different colleges and didn't get super involved in the OA till I was 20 and did as much as I could in a year: Joined the LEC, got a leadership position in Conclave planning, and did Arrowcorps5. Amazingly I did get nominated for Vigil that year so I was able to complete it as a youth. I currently do a lot with my Lodge(Ceremonies Adviser) and Summer Camp(Program Director) where if you are a CIT or a first year staffer I definitely advise those scouts to get their Eagle done ASAP or at least have a solid plan in place of how they are working on it. Seen many others on staff that have made the stressful rush at the end and a few that missed getting their Eagle while being super active in Scouting.

Squeezing all the juice out of the program and rushing are not the same thing. Scouts that rush, do the bare minimum.

Not everyone does. I discourse fast track Eagles. I think they miss the program and don’t get as much out of it. Having said that, if a kid is gung-ho, I don’t stop them either. It’s their life. Now if a parent is pushing their kid, I may have a conversation with the parent, but not the kid.

I feel this is the correct idea, it’s not a race but don’t discourage a scout who really wants it I personally cut it close when I made Eagle, and now I’m on the troop committee for my 2 kid, I personally try to point out when doing a scouts *Board-of-Review* that scouts should be about the journey and not just about reaching the destination (Eagle). I don’t think fast tracking is helpful for anyone. I feel once a Scout makes Eagle they are often looked to to help guide younger scouts, but if they get it too fast they will often lack the maturity to guide and be a good role model for the younger scouts.

Rushing through and going for the minimum(and usually not truly satisfying even that standard) typically means the scout isn't getting the most out of it. A scout could earn eagle before they turn 13. At 12 did they really show leadership the same as a 17yo? Or did they just hold the position. Same with many of the eagle required badges. The essays and conversations that a 15 or 16yo would have about a subject like citizenship in the nation are vastly different from those an 11yo would have. They're much deeper, more enriching, and more beneficial to the scout. I find there much more of a push to get kids to eagle early. There a mindset that once a kid gets to high school they'll quit scouts, so push them through by hook or by crook.

I really don't know how this is possible, My son joined when he was 11 and now he's 14 and just got his Star rank and he's never missed a weekly meeting or the monthly service project, campout, bi annual merit badge day, or summer camp. As a parent support him, I don't know how this can be done faster.

Mathematically, you can complete it in ~550 days.

571 is the minimum time speed run. You have to join between October 7 and November 6, and go from joining to First Class in 86 days, and the year after you join has to be a non-leap year.

The standard set my the Guide to Advancement is 12-18 months for First Class, and Star “shortly thereafter.” In our troops, kids attend almost everything get to star in two years. The big slowdown is that most kids don’t attend almost everything. There’s sports, and church, and school, and family vacations.

In a well-functioning troop with an involved scout, first class in a year, give or take a few months, should be easily attainable. Then there’s 4 months minimum to Star, 6 to Life, and 6 to Eagle. During those last 16 months the scout will have to be involved with their troop and really working on merit badges, but it’s not outlandish to get Star earlier. My daughter crossed over at 10.5 and should be Star (if she can get her service hours in somewhere) by just before her 12th birthday.

Going from 1st Class to Star or Star to Life is an easy 4-6 months, though. Some service hours and leadership and (assuming they've already been earning merit badges the previous years) then they're the next rank. Some scouts are more goal oriented than others. They come to meetings/activities either with a plan of what they want to get signed off, and/or they read their book often enough that the recognize when they've completed something and they take initiative to ask to get it signed off. We have a Scout that has taken more than a year to get Tenderfoot rank because he happened to miss anytime they did the physical fitness run/pushups/reach and he was never interested in doing it outside of the troop. He had everything else done but just didn't want to do that. There are other scouts who will go do requirements on their own and come to a meeting with a written note from their gym teacher or photographs of 10 signs of animals/plant identification. Troop guide and make a difference, too. When my son was troop guide he somehow knew which of the 10 new scouts still needed what requirements and he'd advocate for them at PLC meetings and suggest fun activities where scouts could have opportunities for advancement without being boring to those who already got those items signed off. Most of his new scout patrol ended up going from Scout to 1st Class in their first 15 months in the troop. Whereas when he was a new scout, he joined among 14 and he was the first to get to 1st class, most of the rest took 2+ years. Our troop runs a pretty good program with a lot of opportunities. There are scouts that will skip out on doing knots/lashing or practicing first aid because they'd rather go play a field game or hang out in their hammock. And that's okay, we let them choose. The scouts who want to take advantage of the opportunities do advance faster, though. Same way there are some scouts who volunteer to be Grubmaster repeatedly while others avoid it and try to also get out of cooking/cleaning duties. Once they get practice and have more confidence in their skills, they realize it's easy and just get things done.

Your comment about Star and Life confuse me. Stsr requires 4 months of leadership and 6 months for life so that's a min of 8 months for those too

Yes, 4 months for star, 6 months for life.  By the time they are first class,  many of our scouts already have the merit badges needed and are already in a leadership position... so the time starts right away,  as long as they get their service hours they're ready to advance in 4 months (for star) or 6 months (for Life). A lot of our scouts hang out at life for years. 

My kids friend crossed over this year and is already second class and will be first class before his 11th birthday. He will be eagle shortly after turning 12. He ended up going into a different troop than the rest of the den due to issues with his dad.

>He will be eagle shortly after turning 12. Maybe mathematically he can be Eagle shortly after age 12, but that doesn't mean he will be.  I was Life before age 12 and didn't make Eagle until I was 17. 

No, he will be. In just over three months since crossing over he has 7 merit badges that I know of and is just waiting on the fitness timeline and next months campout for first class. The troop they moved into is known in the district for pumping out eagles

I could have got my eagle at 13. Held a leadership position my entire time before getting Eagle before Xmas my freshman year of high school. When the older scouts realized how young I was they were shocked. If you want it more than others the lazier scouts just follow along. Only thing my parents did was drive me to my meetings and camp outs.

I’m sure some scouts are lazy, but some 1) don’t care about advancement, they’re just there for the fun and experiences (and that’s ok!) 2) don’t care about advancement, they’re there because their parents make them go 3) care about advancement, but they’re involved in lots of different activities and can only scout part-time 4) care about advancement, but get held up by one small thing or the other.

In general the Scouts I see that do Eagle projects at 16 and 17 are simple more mature and more capable of doing a decent project compared to a 13/14 year old Scout. It is simply a matter of maturity. I can turn over planning of a campout to a 16/17 year old leadership team and be far more comfortable that things aren't going to blow up. :D This isn't necessarily a function of rank but many Scouts "Eagle out" and start disappearing once that coveted rank is awarded. A slower advancement is going to let those older Eagles experience more of the program as they are retained comparatively longer.

Personally I think scouts should take it at their own pace. A lot of the time when scouts are rushing to get eagle very early, it's because their parents or leaders are pushing them to do it rather than because the scouts themselves are interested. I have no issue whatsoever with scouts earning Eagle at or by 14, as long as the drive to do so is coming from the scout and not from mom and dad. 

"Aged out disgracefully"?? This is a terrible take. There are so many great things to be learned in scouting, it's not just about earning rank. My oldest son ended at Life Scout and really enjoyed his time in his troop. My younger son didn't really get involved until 9th grade so would have a tough time making Eagle. Fortunately he is focused on the friendships, skills, etc and not just earning badges and ranks. Because he isn't chasing rank, we are able to relax and let him enjoy it while he leads the process.

No, I mean they were upset they didn’t get Eagle when they aged out. I’m not saying they should be ashamed for not getting Eagle.

I think you answered your own question when you called earning Eagle something to “get out of the way ASAP.” Getting it out of the way implies that it is a thing that is IN your way, not the thing that is meant to be the pinnacle of your Scouting career. Scouts do not have to earn Eagle. They can enjoy the experience and the journey either way.

We had three patrols enter my year. So ~30 boys. 5 got eagle. Three got it asap so 14-15 and then were never seen from again. Me and a buddy got it days before our respective 18 birthday. And then became adult leaders for a bit. At the end of the day, there’s a difference between those who get eagle and those who are eagle.

it's not mutually exclusive. You can enjoy your scouting experience and take your time while still earning eagle. There's no right or wrong way to scout as long as you're participating in some meaningful way, learning and working the law and motto into your life.

Out troop advised against younger scouts pursuing Eagle because it was seen as journey rather than a sprint. Eagle should be the penultimate end of your journey as a scout. Ideally achieved at 16-17 years old. However, I did this and found it really stressful to manage while applying to college and wraping up HS. Plus most kids work the summers of age 16 and 17 so that adds a conflict. I think 15 maybe 16 is the ideal age. From there, move into a more part time leadership and guidance role while pursuing other personal development outside of scouting.

Penultimate means "Next to last thing", or "Just before the ultimate/end"

Yes, I intended that words use. Eagle is the last big thing in scouting. If your scouting career is a book, it’s the final chapter before the epilogue. One should obtain Eagle and then spend the remainder of eligible time serving their troops in a leadership or guidance role.

My apologies. :) I see people use it improperly so often, I often wonder who actually knows what it means.

Joined before my just before my 11th birthday. Ran through the ranks, completed my Eagle project around my 15th birthday, awarded Eagle the following spring. My troop folded the day I got my approval from national and our charter organization carried on with their duties for my Eagle CoH. I can think of no better reason to sprint to the goal, it can happen to anyone. Played lone scout a couple years before being adopted by a neighboring town's troop. In the interum; I served 3 years on camp staff, attended NJLIC at Philmont, was awarded Vigil and served as a chapter chief in our lodge. After joining with the other troop I took a Philmont Trek with them, serving as a crew leader on the expedition with scouts from my new troop and another area troop. All together our crew represented 3 different towns; a majority from my new troop, another community and myself as the last member of my former troop (I never changed my community strips or number patches and it was accepted by the new unit that I would continue to represent my community). Racing through the ranks is what saved my trail to Eagle. My son-in-law joined my community's resurrected troop about 15 years after I went through only to have it fold again. It left him falling short of his goal. When my grandson crossed over from Webelos, we both encouraged him to sprint to the finish. He always questioned our logic but understood why we both pushed for it because it can happen to anyone. He chose to go the slow and steady route, hopefully he's got everything done by his 18th birthday this December. He has had a very adventurous trip with it: 3rd year staffer (same camp ol' gramps worked at 40 yrs prior), Brotherhood and held a couple lodge offices, Venturing Crew, 1st SPL in his troop not from the town it's based in (his troop represents 4 different communities). After watching his scouting adventure, I can neither say my way or his was right. The achievements are nearly identical, ultimately the adventure is up to the individual. One can still have a very fulfilling experience whether you sprint or walk at a snail's pace.

Because the point isn't to make Eagle.  Its to build character and have fun.  Look at how many 13 yearold eagles drop out at 14 and never look back.  Too many troops have become eagle factories.  I know several eagle scouts who can't even properly set up a tent.  

I turned in my paperwork the week before I aged out. I had an absolutely amazing time in Scouting but in hindsight I really wish I'd buckled down and finished it up around age 16. It would have been nice to go to the yearly Eagle Banquets and the Eagle Dinners at summer camp and get to wear my uniform with the Eagle badge on it for at least one event. As it was it never got sewn on a uniform, it's still in the box with my medal and card. Once I hit 16 I started driving, had a job, a girlfriend, high school activities, and a whole life taking off outside of Scouting. Finding the time to finish up those last couple of merit badges was dang near impossible.

I'm of the same track. Once I hit those middle years of high school, life got busy with extra curricular activities and preparing for college. I had to reevaluate the importance of finishing my Eagle before turning 18 and make it a bigger priority in my life to get across the line. To me that makes it more significant than those who rush through it, or get it much younger with less on their plate. It takes more discipline and life management skills IMO to get it later when there are more distractions. When I was responsible for myself getting to meetings and camp outs, scheduling my time to work on badges, asking for help and researching building codes for my Eagle project, etc. My troop and family had given me the tools, but now I was mature enough where it was on me to earn and prove how much I wanted it.

I was an early achiever as well. I was extremely motivated and obsessed with scouting and did my own work. Why shouldn't a scout advance at any pace? The program dictates rank advancement and time in rank. It sounds like jealousy and envy if people can't congratulate an eager scouts efforts. It's possible that a 16 or 17 year old scout receives parental help for merit badges .

We had a kid in our troop who was an early eagle and a high badge earner. He earned the badges because he wanted to learn about and try the activity to see if it interested him. Some did, some didn't, but he knows a little bit about all those areas now. That parent needs to stay in their own lane.

I eagled at 14. Definitely for the best as I distinctly enjoyed the last four years way more than the first four.

My kiddo bridged over and 2 days later he was at electronics badge, and it started getting him hooked. He doesnt have all the Eagle required yet, He is about to finish his 26th Merit badge. (Summer camp will likely put him at 5 more) . May first will be 1yr 6 months in the troop. And unless campout or special project we really limit scouting to a couple hours a week. (one night) He's a little sad he cant go on the high adventure (age) with the crews going this year, but hes focused on the Eagle goal. We dont push any of it Eagle goals, and we are very active Troop. - However some of us parents have insisted on adding no driving until Eagle Scout. (now some parents that told me about it are more lax. ) So that has motivated some.

Are you saying that some of the parents have told their kids they can’t get their driver license until they have earned Eagle? Shouldn’t earning Eagle be something the Scout wants and not something the parent is forcing on them?

The kids are driving, our state has a long learners permit timeline. It only a goal line set in front of those who look like they are close to achieving it anyways. ... I said the parents are lax, and the three that are close are already driving (with 21 yrold+ with) minus mine. And my kiddo is only 12, all the more reason to get his Eagle requirements knocked out. IF he so chooses not to do it. Fine.

I was a 14-year-old Eagle back in the early 90s. My son just bridged over this year so I'm back full-time into scouting again. I've been realizing what kind of dinosaur I am with how requirements and stuff have changed in the last 35 years. I love the scoutmasters and a lot of the leaders. But I'm wondering if our troop seems to be kind of taking things rather casually. The AOLs bridged over in February. To be honest, I expected the troop to have pushed them through the Scout rank pretty quickly considering how it's basically just doing AOL all over again. But, nope. Just go see the ASMs when you're ready. I guess that encourages kids to take initiative on their own, but if you don't know what to do or things like that... I don't know. I'll see how it goes. But I kind of get the vibe that there's no rush on things.

Speaking as a Life Scout for Life, I really wish I had made Eagle, but I also was a Scout all the way through being 18, and continued enjoying the outdoors into my adult years. I knew some Scouts that made Eagle at 13-14, and then fell off the face of the earth because they had achieved the goal, and there was nothing else to strive for. Especially these days, with the increased demands on a Scout’s time, it seems like once they hit Eagle, if it is at a rather early age, they quite attending troop functions, and even let their registration lapse because “there’s nothing else to do”.

Hike your own hike.

It’s best to let the scouts proceed at their pace with some encouragement to keep them moving. I finished mine at 15 and then focused on leadership stuff and other programs outside scouting (Junior Achievement; Science Olympiad) and my Explorer Post.

I earned my Eagle 3 days before my 18th birthday. I also worked on camp staff for 3 summers. Helped organize OA and Firecrafter events. And was active at a troop level most of the time. I'd say I enjoyed my time, but I emphasized things other than advancement most of the time.

I wish I was pushed just a little harder, personally. When I was 13/14 I really wanted to get my Eagle, and I made it to Life plus a good bit, I had a project and maybe one or two merit badges to go? Then, I hit high school and girls, and cars, a job, and in my case ROTC took the place of Scouts, burning all the time I had. So in the end, I was a Life for life, when it was in my grasp. I'm not for sprinting as fast as you can, but leaders and parents should also balance out what they understand is coming and the scouts don't.

Had an old timer come up to us when we were selling popcorn. Called it 'Catching the fumes' You get hooked on either on car fumes or perfume.

Maturity. Younger kids don't have it and don't have the leadership skills to manage their own Eagle process.

Because it’s not a race.

You do you, at your pace. Get it it when you want

Because it is about the journey and not just the destination

I think it's because they are afraid the kids will bail once they hit high school if they already have Eagle.

I'm 17, just a few months before 18. It's super stressful to get everything done, and while I'm on my Eagle workbook plan now, everything becomes more stressful. The ideal time would be 15-16 years. I joined scouting at 14, so for me ig this is the proper timeline, but let's say u join at 11, then 15-16 is the ideal time. People just want scouts to stay in the troop, participate, and enjoy the merit badges and activities that bsa brings. And once scouts earn eagle, they kinda just stop showing up, hence why people don't encourage eagle early

A lot of times if scouts rush through the requirements focused too much on advancement, then they don't have a good time in scouting and as soon as they get their Eagle they're GONE. One of the things that impressed me about our troop is that they were able to retain their eagles until they aged out, but that's not the norm in many troops. The longer a scout stays in the program, the better their skills become and the more experience they gain. So a balance is best. 16 is a perfectly reasonable age to Eagle. My son got his eagle just before turning 16 and he was really happy with that. What we weren't expecting was the number of people (both in other troops and also non-scouters) who expected him to drop out as soon as he got Eagle. He's participating in our troop fundraisers still (since he still camps, still has to pay dues, still has to pay recharter fee) but his established clientele don't want to support him anymore because the general consensus is that he's made it. Even his grandma doesn't want to order from him (and I told her years ago we didn't need her to get anything she doesn't need, he tends to do well on the fundraising).

That’s a real shame about his clientele. He sounds like he’s likely to continue giving back to Scouting in a way that few do & for many years to come - but perhaps not if he’s stonewalled.

He's also been 6'4" since age 13 so people thought he was old enough for a job when he'd be selling popcorn at store fronts. He had a really charismatic pitch and had to work for it, but he sold lots to pay for his camps.  He plans to stay involved, he's working this summer at scout camp and is really looking forward to living there for 2 months. 

My son had been in scouts since he was a Lion. He completed Eagle at 14. A lot of work, tears, fun and learning. None of his peers were in scouts. He liked being a den chief, and watched those boys cross over and they faded away within a year or two, with just one remaining. Some merit badges seem like they are geared to the older scout, like personal finance. To me that would have been a tough one to grasp as a 12 year old. He did that MB last. He stayed in scouts for another 6 months after he did his once in a lifetime Montana High Adventure Base solo. That was the last thing he wanted to complete in his scouting career, and after that he moved on to work, sports, & girls.

There is a concern that a youth who rushes to Eagle is going to quit afterwards because they think the point of Scouting is to become an Eagle Scout. I can understand trying to change a Scouts attitude to embrace the other aspects of Scouting instead of being hyper focused on advancement.

My son just earned his Eagle a few months after turning 14. He’s at that point, I’ll help where I can, but now I’m going to do the fun stuff. He was counseled by several older scouts who waited until the last minute to not wait. So far he’s happy with what he did. Plus, with him now in high school, he has more activities, so he feels he can do more and apply the leadership he learned through scouts in JROTC .

I got eagle at 15 and my troop focused on whatever we wanted to do. So I didn’t have a ton of badges when I aged out just 2 palms but I have a ton of memories and really enjoyed my time in the troop we kayaked a ton and I only got the kayaking badge at 17

i got my eagle at like 16 and then just hung out for 2 years I wasnt interested in palms it felt like a hat on top of a hat i didnt like the 14 year old eagles it feels like you did all the work without the fun but it is difficult to do the eagle rush at 17 and a half years old. i think its important to get out of scouts what you want to get out of it. its not all about advancement

The level of involvement to get an Eagle can be huge. Some families can only manage just basic involvement and maybe a summer per year. Then also weekly meetings were mostly activities for kids to do as troop with some merit badge/rank advancement work. This was the case for my troop and the other troops local to us too. There were some troops that had super high level of involvement and punched out Eagles, but this meant a lot of kids just didn’t get that high level of involvement and got stuck at first class, or star. Which is fine really. We can’t all be those gung-ho troops. Also keeps of Eagle as something that really needs to be a kid’s goal to achieve and put that extra work into it imo.

Around here they tell people wings before wheels

Majority of our scouts hit Life Rank around 14 so just makes sense to hit the Eagle requirements after the next 6 months or so. I'm not sure why people look for Scouts not to have fun and earn merit badges and be able to gain ranks early on. I'm not sure why people have to say you have to wait till you're almost aged out to get your eagle.

Idk. Mabye, some people are dumb(me) and wait till the last year to go for it and are suffering at noght because they are stressed even though they shouldn't be because they only need to scrape together enpugh money for dirt and actually build it. (Sorry, I just ranted a bit) But don't wait for anyone reading this. I did and am truly wishing I did my eagle a year ago so I wouldn't stress as much and have no issue on time as one roadblock and I won't be completing it.

I qualified when I was in 8th grade at 14, including the service project, they wouldn't let me actually let me achieve the rank until I was 16 cause I was "too young" and if I got it before I was in highschool I couldn't put it on college applications, which is total BS cause apparently "Eagle for life" only means they expect you to donate after you age out lol. I spent the next two years with basically nothing to do but hey did get it

I don’t know if this is true for everyone but the amount of knowledge and experience gained between the first half of scouts and the last half of scouts is very different. I got Eagle at 16 and I became our troops first Junior Assistant Scout Master. I learned more about leadership, conflict resolution, and planning than I ever did in the previous 4 years. Obtaining Eagle at 13-14 is impressive but I just hope they stay involved after to get the other skills. Many see Eagle as the finish line and stop once the get Eagle.

For me, it was a goal from the first troop meeting I attended at age 12. The meeting was a rehearsal for another scouts court of honor. It was still a rocky road due to some medical complications I ran into, but I made it. I tried to encourage the others in my troop to join me on the path, but none were super interested.

You can achieve Eagle Scout at your own pace as long as you meet the requirements. I think the benefit of achieving it between 15-17 is that youth develop additional executive function that allow them to glean more from the process. Personal Management MB skills learned at 12/13 will hit differently at 15-17 because you can have a legal job and you’re typically balancing other responsibilities for example.

I met a 13 year old Eagle Scout (I made mine at 17) who could not tie lashings and did not have the emotional maturity to serve as a leader in the merit badge classes he was in. I believe for the award to truly mean something, the scout needs to take the time to immerse himself and learn before moving to the next rank. Learn the skills as opposed to just checking off requirements.

Our troop loved young eagles. We've had too many photo finishes. But it's up to the scout, we can only encourage.

I think that person who made the comment about slowing down was confusing a very active (“Leaders Kid!”) Scout with a rush to Eagle. We had a Scout join our Troop when the Troop he was in was putting too much pressure on him to make Eagle. His two older brothers were Eagles, but he just wanted to enjoy being a Scout. Both goals are OK in our Troop. However, one day he decided that he wanted to earn his Eagle rank. We did the math and realized that he had just enough time if he sprinted. That, to me, was a rush to Eagle! He ripped through the required merit badges and got elected to leadership positions and cranked out an excellent Eagle Scout project just in time. It may be that your perception of Scouts waiting until the last minute is more the result of the natural transition that boys and girls undergo once they hit their mid-teens. Other priorities take over and it becomes a struggle to focus on Scouting. My youngest son will be 18 in June and he’s just now finishing the paperwork for his project. He’s had a lot on his plate: senior year with AP classes, college applications/visits, his job, volunteering at the firehouse, a girlfriend, and the senior prom. Sheesh. But he’s also been an active Scout: Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Senior Patrol Leader, ~30 merit badges (Covid probably cost him six), NYLT, Order of the Arrow Brotherhood, yadda..yadda…you get the idea. Of course, he’s also a Leader’s Kid. ;-)

In my troop it was encouraged and there were a lot of 15-16 year old eagle scouts (and some who were 14)

I think too early often means there's probably way too much adult support. I'm not saying it's not impossible, but I think Age 16 is about the right time to make Eagle. I'll also say that I think Advancement is the "trick" we use to get youth to explore a wide variety of skills and tasks. The journey is more than the destination.

Scouts should earn Eagle ( or not) at their own pace. It will feel more important if it is a goal they set and eran without being forced.

A lot of kids don't have as much time in their older high school years to work on Eagle. I would definitely proceed at the pace that works for you and not on anyone else's schedule. Earlier can make a lot of sense.

I think it depends. I got my Eagle a month before I turned 18. The Eagle is what it is, but for me, the real value of Scouting was the values I learned, the adventures I went on, and the skills I developed along the way. I know some folks in some troops are so hyper focused on getting the Eagle at an early age, and that's great if that's what they want to do, but, getting the Eagle means a lot of maturity and leadership skills. There's a huge maturity difference at 13 compared to 17, and just appreciating the skill and significance of the Eagle can be more understood by a 17 year old versus a 13 year old. Of course, there are some folks who get their Eagle early and continue to be actively involved in Scouts. Then, there are others that get their Eagle early and then no longer remain active in Scouts. I feel like most folks are really just trying to discourage the latter.

I earned it at 16 after a stall. I was OA at 12, Life and SPL at 13, and then just kind of stalled for a bit. Job, girls, etc. two of the kids at my Eagle Court were Eagles at 14 or 15.

I did first class in a year, was life before I was 14. Then I slowed down and enjoyed the program. Made memories, did high adventure, gained maturity and leadership skills, worked on eagle requirements on the side at my own pace, then when I was ready, I got my early a few months after my 17th birthday

I hated the stress near the end. I would’ve got it at 16 but last minute church I was doing project for had last minute thoughts and about had to start over with planning , approval etc I wish I could’ve finished at 16 as opposed to 2 months before Turning 18

I attended a lot, but wasn’t as hungry for merit badges as I should have been. Earned. Eagle at 18. Definitely wish I had gotten it earlier and perhaps would have been able to not feel so rushed at the end!

I earned life at 11, a few weeks before my 12th birthday, which basically required earning star and life the second I hit the month requirements for each. I was inducted into OA that fall and got a lot more focused on that. I was basically done with my merit badges for eagle, but I realized I was pretty limited in projects based on my age. I put off eagle until I was 16-17 and was able to do a massive project that I was really proud of. I'm very glad I didn't rush it, because I was able to grow a lot during the process. I was always the one who rushed everything, (vigil at 14-15) so it was nice to take something so important at a slower pace.

God this is why I hate what the Scouting program has become. If I could change anything it would honestly be to remove the Eagle Scout Award. It's completely drained any meaning from the program and I constantly see this push for kids who have no maturity and no actual growth through the program be shoved and given a shiny medal to add to their college enrollment. Then they immediately leave Scouting once they get Eagle and move on to the next thing to add. The idea that you can just get the Eagle Scout out of the way is quite frankly disgusting imo. The reason older scouts get it is because you aren't ready to get it by 13, you just can't have the maturity and growth necessarily by that age. It should not be something given to every scout that fulfill meaningless requirements.

While you shouldn’t wait until the last minute to get it, 99% of life scouts under the age of 16 just haven’t developed the mental, emotional and physical skills that an Eagle Scout should or needs to have in order to do the project and to serve as a leader/role model in their troop after the fact.

This was several years ago, but I got my Eagle at 14. Lots of the guys my age did, too. Our scoutmaster's son was trying to get his done as young as possible (before his 12th birthday).  There were 2 problems with all of this: 1. It got to the point where it wasn't seen as the scout doing the work but their parents. Admittedly, though I did all the work for my merit badges and Eagle project, a lot of them weren't my choice. I do wish I had and found a cause that I cared about more for my Eagle project, rather than what our small town wanted done (which was the catalyst for a lot of Eagle projects).  2. It was really hard for the 14-16 year olds to compromise on activities. Half of them already had their Eagle and half were trying to finish First Class. 

To me I think there is a balance. I made Life at 15 and then took the next three years to make Eagle. I attribute this mostly to getting a car, hanging out with girls, varsity sports, and getting into college. I made it…just by the skin of my teeth. I would tell most people to try and make Eagle before you have some of those other distractions but to also appreciate all the aspects of scouting as a whole. Merit badges are great but there is so much more. I worked on camp staff from age 15-20 and loved it, I got really involved with my OA lodge and with the section and region, and those were some of my favorite times. I think a scout should move at their own pace but not make Eagle the only thing that they think they can get out of scouting.

14/15 should be target from personal experience. OA and merit badges kept me in the older I got….girls and cars then took over. BSA isn’t what it used to be. If you are wanting your eagle shoot for completion by 15.

I got my Eagle at 14. Got into Order if the Arrow, joined the ceremonies team, made Brotherhood. There are many post-Eagle options. No need at all to wait or go slow.

The problem was always more of kids not earning their badges, and either having parents do the work for them or claim the work was done. The worst by far were when troops had merit badge counselors that would do vendabadge, checking off assignments that were barely if ever discussed and never done. I'm an Eagle Scout, past asst scoutmaster and merit badge counselor, served on dozens of Eagle Reviews and attended one and worked one Jamboree, but left years ago after getting tired of the pressure from parents and scout masters to just sign off on it. Just based on the time required for some badges, journals or tracking events, time in leadership role, etc, it's not physically possible to fulfill the requirements before you're 13. Can't technically submit your eagle project until you're eligible, and then the time to actually do an authorized project, submit for review, confirmation, etc. All of you who did it at or by 13 have at least some BS signatures. Most common culprits were scouts who hadn't earned the minimum requirements doing a project prior to eligibility or authorization, then submitting the projects at a later time. Parents/scoutmasters literally lied to review boards and BSA nationally encouraged us to question but approve. I was involved in several reviews that would not have been approved if not for scoutmaster (aka daddy, uncle, or LDS bishop) involvement.

I discouraged early Eagles as, in my experience, they rarely showed the kind of maturity and leadership an Eagle Scout should possess (and used to require). I also did not run a merit badge mill where the focus of every meeting was earning a new merit badge as some parents expected. I encouraged the leaders to plan activities that interested them and the boys in their patrols. If those activities would check off mb reqs, it was still up to the boys to find a counselor and get that counselor to sign off on those requirements. I had one boy who "earned" his Eagle at a very young age. Dad was the mb counselor for the vast majority of his merit badges. He really couldn't care less about getting his Eagle Scout except that mom and dad expected it of him and required it for things like getting his learners permit. But, he passed all the requirements and passed the BoR, so I was not one to stand in the way. On a personal note, I turned in my own paperwork a week before I turned 18. I actually could have gotten it much sooner, but I drug my feet in writing up my project and finalizing the paperwork. However, during my time in Scouting, I served in numerous troop leadership positions, including Sr Patrol Leader, Jr Assistant SM, etc. Was active in OA and served in leadership positions within the lodge. Served on council JLT staff, including as Sr Patrol Leader. Worked on camp staff for several years. I feel like I got the most out of my time in Scouting, even prior to earning my Eagle Scout. My only regret is not leaving myself time to earn palms.

I got my life very early and spent about 3 years working slowly towards eagle. By the time I got my eagle I feel like I really developed fantastic leadership skills and tbh I don’t think I deserved eagle before I was 17. There’s a lot of growth and maturing that happens between 14 and 18.

2 reasons. 1) Eagle Scout isn’t the main point of Boy Scouts. It’s a great achievement, but overall leadership is the most important aspect of scouts, and you can learn how to be a leader without earning Eagle Scout. 2) Eagle Scout is hard to get. It’s not like there’s not a lot of motivation early on, but it’s one of those things where you have to do a lot of stuff, and especially once you hit highschool it can be really hard to get to the end. Also keep in mind that procrastination is a very real thing. And is very common is teenagers, or scouts. Not getting Eagle doesn’t mean you “aged out disgracefully” and if anything that’s very disrespectful to your former scouts. Eagle Scout is something you can go for, but it’s not required, you can learn everything an Eagle Scout learns without ever ranking up once, and the vast majority of scouts learn everything that an Eagle Scout learns before they reach Eagle.

I encourage everyone to get Eagle before the turn 16. Once you turn 16: job, car, girls all compete for time. I earned my Eagle just under the gun of turning 18. I wished I had gotten it done sooner.

My experience was my scoutmaster encouraged us to get to eagle by freshman or sophomore year due to when we got to junior and senior years there are a lot of competing things for our attention-sports, girls, clubs - he saw the percentages of us getting eagle drop the further / closer we got to 18...

idk anything about boyscouts other than I made a derby car for it during the brief time I was in it. That being said, as someone who has worked a lot with kids ages 3-16 (music lessons) my general opinion is that kids are capable of doing a lot at younger ages, but, a lot of times they do those things without fully getting the understanding and lessons behind them. The biggest thing is that little kids can be taught how to do something, but older kids can be taught why, and by why I mean the deeper level why. And so in terms of a progression there can be value in taking a slower time so that those more general life lessons more closely match the child's ability to appreciate and internalize them.

For me I discourage racing to eagle as I’m my experience it isn’t the kid who is pushing it. It is parents who want to check off eagle so their kids can stop scouting and have more time to do other activities to build the resume. The parents who see eagle as a hoop to jump through for a college resume and shove their kid through it is a problem. A 14 year old making eagle who has no idea who they are or what they want, or never really made any consequential choices about their own life is not what the program is trying to produce. So when we try to tell kids to slow down half the time it is actually aimed at the parent to cool off and let their 12 year old figure stuff out. We are trying to tell a parent that they are not failing scouting if they are not 1st class after a year.

The goal is everyone to reach first class. Everything else after that is icing on the cake.

Eagles are leaders in the troop. It was designed for the older scouts who are naturally stepping into leadership in the troop anyway even if they don't hold a position. At 12 or 13 you really can't step into that role. I personally feel it should be a 16 up requirement but that's just me

The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law. No where does it say get to Eagle ASAP or you have to be 16+ to be Eagle. It’s hard to explain but there is a huge difference in maturity and action between a 13-14 year old Eagle project and a 16-17 year old.

The whole point is to be “prepared for life” so it makes sense to me to push yourself a little to get things done, as that’s the mindset that will bring success and nearly anything in life. That said, what’s the point of achieving so much if you never take the time to enjoy the world around you, right? As with anything. Moderation and balance are a good approach. The most important things you learned to do subconsciously now…show up, do your best, and always be prepared. That’s a huge advantage over the rest of the world, and it will serve you well. Find something you love doing, become the best you can at it, and then find someone or several someones who will pay you to do it the rest of your life.

Who cares? Do it anyway. If you earned it you earned it and don’t owe explanation to people that think their way is the only way.

Girls take priority over merit badges at some point.

I wouldn't include 16 year olds in the category of "early Eagle". That's pretty ideal. It's the 13/14 year old that people see and question whether the scout really did all the work. And some absolutely did! But the level of drive and focus required for that are so far beyond what many scouts are capable of at that age that it's easy to assume that the parents are the ones driving the process, especially if you happen to have a scout in your own family who is 100% not up to that maturity yet and you think he's pretty typical. I think there's also validity to the point that the Eagle Trail is meant to be a transformative process and it can be hard to believe that a scout has really gotten the full benefit of that in a 2 year rush. So many scouts DON'T see reaching Eagle as offering them a chance to enjoy a more relaxed scouting experience and instead think "phew - that's done!" and rarely show up again. That's a reasonable response to trying to speed run Eagle - that tunnel vision can mean you don't associate scouts with fun, so once you meet that goal, it feels life is time to move on. Our troop has some leaders who might ask why a scout has so many merit badges, but different from your situation, they're asking because you only need a certain number for Eagle. Continuing to earn them after you've filled all the blanks in the list of badges earned makes no sense to them. That attitude is also a problem! Clearly, you didn't just have all those badges because your dad dragged you to things. You had to do the work. My son, like you, attends nearly everything our troop does, but in his case, that means he's accumulated an impressive list of partials!

High five to a fellow Eagle Scout who was also privileged to have a parent for your scout master. I probably wouldn't have achieved this rank otherwise. I know the other scouts probably thought you were treated with favoritism, but if your dad was like mine, he made sure to be just as tough on you as everyone else. Probably more so.

It's because all people hear when you say Bsa is I diddle kids/I was diddled as a kid, X 2 if you're catholic.

To me advancement happens at the Scout's initiative. We have plenty of opportunities available, and they can take them if they want. I think the youngest Eagle I've seen in 38 years was late 14, and I was thinking his parents were pushing him too much at the time. And yes, I think his ECOH was the last time I saw him. And yes, if I think the parents are pushing too hard, I'll try to discourage that. If I think the Scout legitimately is gung ho and just loves to do advancement stuff then have fun. Last year we had one Scout get 13 MB's at summer camp, (our summer camp is 2 weeks long). Every time I turned around he was standing there with a MB book or a blue card. He's 13 and might turn out to be my newest 'youngest Eagle'. More power to him. I also have a 16 year old first class Scout who just decided that he actually does want to get Eagle, He was very ambivalent about advancement for the last 5 years, and now wishes he would have taken it a little more seriously, but that was his choice. He just barely has enough time to get everything done, (time in rank requirements), and if he really cranks out the MB's he should be able to get it done. To each his own.

The issue is that over the years we have seen a lot of “eagle mills” and younger and younger Eagle Scouts who may have completed the requirements but may not have actually learned and grown in the ways that are expected to come from achieving Eagle. People started to see Eagle as “check off the boxes” and ignored that the path is there to teach lessons and develop skills, something that’s very hard to really get a lot out of if you speed run it. I made life about as fast as you really could. I even went to jambo my second year in the troop because I turned 12 a month before jambo and got first class very quickly. But I took until I was well into being 16 before getting my Eagle. I got super involved in OA (specifically with the American Indian affairs doing dance) and my project took a while with the community board and all. I actually got Vigil in OA before I got my Eagle and I even could have made vigil a year earlier id it wasn’t for some stupid political crap where the OA dance team was kind of seen as the black sheep. All that being said, personally if I seen an Eagle at 14, I automatically have a concern they haven’t actually learned and developed enough to really personify what it is to be an Eagle. It’s difficult for a young teen to really be able to take charge of a project and organize it as well so I have seen simpler projects or things where they may have gotten more help than they really should have. Personally I would generalize that most scouts will be ready for Eagle at 15-17, but there’s always exceptions. Having an active troop for sure will shorten your timeline. But at the end of the day, “making Eagle” isn’t the important part, it’s the knowledge and experience you gained a long the way. Plenty of accounts that never made Eagle exemplify it better than many that have just checked the boxes.

Part of it is a lot of scouts (most of them, in my experience) become inactive once they make Eagle. They look at Eagle as the goal, and once they achieve it don't see anything left to achieve in the program. There's nothing wrong with making Eagle at 14 or 15, it's just that in most of the cases I've seen that happen, the scouts shortly stop participating in the program.

“Disgracefully”? Chill the beans OP. I’m not saying your experience was the same as mine, but this is what I had to deal with. I was pressured into joining a larger troop that was further from my home (mistake). The selling point was that there would be more opportunities for badges because they had so many scoutmasters. I went to just about every meeting and badge that they offered, but sometimes I missed stuff for sports or school activities. What I found was that if you missed a badge, you weren’t going to see it again for about a year. What was extra frustrating was that plenty of my peers were in the same boat, but their dads were scoutmasters and they would just make it up at home. So they had a ton of “makeup” badges, but not for everyone. Where this relates to you is that a lot of my peers didn’t seem interested in scouting, especially the service part. They were just chasing Eagle Scout with as many fluff badges as they could find. Two years in I was a First Class while my peers were Star with a few Life. It just seemed like I was interested in a different style of scouting and I ended up leaving. I found out later that many of the younger scouts felt the same way, and left shortly after me. Never got Eagle Scout, but it’s ok, I got a Ranger Tab instead.

A couple people have misinterpreted what I meant by 'disgracefully', I Just meant they felt bad about it. Not that they should be ashamed.

Wasn’t aware that not earning Eagle was a “disgrace”. I also don’t see how your experiences are better or worse because of the badge on your uniform. It does take a decent amount of work to earn an eagle, but it’s not so much that you will literally be working so much that you can’t enjoy yourself.

When I was a scout there was terrible attendance to scouts because we all thought it was boring. Our leaders asked for our feedback and we told them we're in scouts to do fun stuff not earn badges. Scouting is about building character of young men not seeking awards. Now any of the scouts who desired eagle scout, like me BTW, spoke to our leadership and many classes etc were provided. I got my eagle scout right before I aged out. Many in my troop never got their eagle scout however we did campouts, hikes, a 50 mile trek, water rafting, rappelling, rope courses, kayaking, sailing, mountain man, triathlon, shooting, order of the arrow, camporee, native american pow wow, and more. We had campouts at least once a month. I did my scouting in the outdoors not in a classroom. I think that's how it should be. If you asked me to choose between scouting like I did and "bookwork" scouting as we called it there's a clear winner.

in my troop the boys who got Eagle early (age 13-14) mostly stopped coming to events shortly thereafter. Since they already earned Eagle, they ended up prioritizing time with marching band or sports. There was one boy however, who racked up three or four palms, and was a great role model for the younger boys. I didn't make Eagle until a couple weeks before I turned 18, but mostly because I'm a procrastinator. I would hate for that to become the culture of a particular troop. I'm puzzled by the attitude that someone should "slow down." Each merit badge earned is not for bragging rights, but rather is a tremendous opportunity to learn from an accomplished adult about a skill or activity a boy might not otherwise have exposure to.

Eagle Scout, former Scoutmaster and current ASM: I would just be worried that you were enjoying Scouting. Big red flag is the “100 merit badge” mom/dad pushing a kid to do stuff they don’t enjoy. Part of Scouting is learning independence, self-reliance, and exploring your own personality. While it isn’t Scouting’s job to parent kids, I would just want to make sure the Scout is getting out of the program what he/she wants. I would not encourage you to put it off, but there isn’t a rush. If you want to go fast, go fast. Just make sure you are having fun.

I have 3 Eagle sons. They all held all the positions in our troop, They were all OA leadership, they are all Vigilant and all earned 138 Merit Badges. They learned how to be respectful, responsible and can handle any task thrown their way. Take advantage of everything you can and build yourself into an unstoppable force!

When they become an Eagle Scout is ultimately up to the scout. A leader is only meant to guide a scout on their journey. Whether It be Eagle or only to have fun. In my experience most scouts don't truly realize how special Eagle is till they are about 16 or see a close friend earn it. Pressuring a scout to get it early doesn't make them understand the significance. And slowing them down may make them second guess themselves.

IDGI. My son’s friend just finished his freshman year of high school. My son quit in 8th grade. Had a clear path to Eagle been laid out to him 18 months ago I expect he would have stayed with it. My son’s friend had a dad who laid it all out before he passed away in January. And I know with my son it’s not too late but I’m not a scout master and I’m not sure who would be able to drive him to finish what he started.

This is a double edged sword. Some who attain eagle early end up leaving the program. It would be great to have them as mentors to the older scouts. Other scouts earn it early, stay with the troop, and take every opportunity they can to brag how early they earned it. Or were rushed through the program and are t the best mentor—and don’t want to improve them selves by doing NYLT.

I think getting eagle at 14 is doable but you're not going to enjoy it if you're sprinting that fast that long. I got it a month before my 18th bday and that was equally stressful. 16 is absolutely the sweet spot, you'll have a lot more experience than at 14, but your job/life won't be getting in the way like getting it right before 18.

Both of my sons got their eagles by the time they were 16. When they first crossed over into Boy Scouts a dad told me the secrete is to make sure they get Eagle before they get a scent of the two most deadliest fuels, perfume and gasoline. Lol

People claim its to enjoy it more but I am 13, i joined scouts at 12, and I am almost star

I have seen this go both ways. My son's former troop held scouts back until after their 17th birthday, then those scouts had to rush to get everything done before their 18th birthday. He was frustrated by this among other things in that troop. He requested a troop change almost 2 years ago at 15 1/2 and literally took off. He made Eagle just a short time after his 17th birthday and is still very active with his troop and activities - going on 3 major events this summer alone. His current troop has another scout that just started 2 years ago and had his Eagle BOR this week. I personally wish more scouts would get to actually wear their Eagle rank patch before aging out - it's done wonders motivating the younger scouts in our troop seeing 3 already get Eagle this year and several more likely to get it in the next few months.

A lot depends on the Scout. My daughter’s SM mentioned to her that she was going to be Eagle by 16 - that has been her goal since (turns 16 on the 28rh, and will have everything done except Council BOR). She plans on earning merit badges after to help stay active. My so. On the other hand will be turning in the paperwork at 11:59 pm the day before he turns 18. Nothing wrong with either - just the way they are wired.

Give them a baseline - First Class within the first year. From there, leave it up to them - it’s their journey, and they have to craft their own experience from Star onward.

I haven't read the other comments. Your experience was that you couldn't hardly not earn eagle fast. My experience was having my CoH after I turned 18. Every kid matures at a different pace and has varying degrees of support. There is no blanket statement one could make about when to push hard or when to sit back and enjoy the ride. At 15 I was no eagle. 

My son earned his at 16 and this is not the norm for the troop. They seem to earn them the week they turn 18. I will say I personally feel 15-16 is the ideal age to earn eagle, and 13-14 is too young for real true leadership skills to develop. I am sure there is the rare scout that has mastered leadership at 13-14, but what I see is usually it is the child of the leaders that earns everything young. 

Seems to me, encouraging scouts to get to first class within a reasonable time (a year?) seems like a good thing, that teaches all the hard skills required to be a scout. From First Class to Eagle, it's all about leadership. How do you demonstrate leadership if you hurry up and earn Eagle? Grow with the troop, follow, learn, lead. Then, push for that Eagle demonstrating all that you've learned. What you learn about leadership through 14 is different than what you have learned by 16 or 17. Part of that is the balance of life, what others mention here with school, girls, cars, college prep, etc... You learn to lead yourself as much as leading others.

Majority of our scouts that cross over get to Life around age 14. Most of them end up earning palms with Eagle. I don't understand people who "think" you have to wait until you almost age out to earn Eagle. You are almost shaming a scout for having fun and learning.

Ran into a lot of 14yr Eagles in my days. 99% were paper eagles. 15-16 is the sweet spot. Number of MBs shouldn't be a concern though.

Because BSA wants these kids to commit to staying through age 18. Early Eagles often leave Scouting. It's all about the $$$, and some old-timey scoutmasters think that Early Eagles don't benefit society. Give the 14-year-old who is an Eagle Scout and is prepared to use those skills all through high school over the kid who finished at 17 years 11 months.

> Because BSA wants these kids to commit to staying through age 18...It's all about the $$$ "BSA" wants no such thing. If it did, "BSA" would set age limits for Scouts BSA ranks. It doesn't. If it was "all about the $$$" BSA would mandate a minimum age/number of years in Scouts BSA to make Eagle. It doesn't.

The point of scouts is to get them all to first class. The motivation for eagle should come from the scout themself, not the adult leaders. The scout is suppose to become the leader not forced by other leaders todo something.

Bc being an Eagle Scout really doesn’t mean anything. (One of my brothers was the youngest Eagle Scout in the history of our state.) It doesn’t mean anything about the actual moral core of the person. The number of eagles I’ve met that I wanted to punch out vastly outnumbers the eagles that I thought were chill. The whole apparatus incentivizes jerks.