Quote Originally Posted by Matty Ross View Post
I might agree making eagle is easier than it was in 1965. But I will also say boys are VERY different than boys of my generation.
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I don't think it's the boys that are different so much as the parents, culture, and scout masters that are different.

I think parents and leaders have succumbed to the "every child a winner" syndrome that MoR mentioned, and they have the expectation that by simply attending Boy Scout meeting regularly their child will become an Eagle Scout. Leaders have a difficult time telling boys that they won't sign something off when everyone else has met the requirement and don't want to deal with angry parents who are convinced that Junior can do no wrong.

Boys today are also bombarded with media and time-wasting activities that didn't exist 45 years ago and Scouting has to compete with all of those.

As a scoutmaster, I make sure the boys in the troop really know what they're doing before they advance. Both the boys and their parents think I'm too hard nosed - whenever either of them expresses frustration with this, I simply reply that somebody's life may depend on the boy learning the skills that we're teaching and it could be mine or the parent's.

That is not to say that I don't think there is a place for boys with special needs in scouting. Our troop has recently been joined by a boy with Down Syndrome who struggles to meet even the specially modified requirements for advancement. It has been great for the other boys to learn to help this new scout and, while he may not be able to complete all of the standard requirements, I would love to see him attain the rank of Eagle Scout some day.