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\nToday my 500th issue coincides with my very first, published 15 years ago this month. That first issue was published in the monthly newsletter of a single council. Today, these columns are regularly read in every one of the BSA\u2019s nearly 300 councils, including the Direct, Far East, and Transatlantic. Readers also hail from the GSUSA, Scouts Canada, Scouts Poland, Scouts Iceland, the British Scout Association, and many more around the world. In total word-count, we\u2019re closing in on the two-million mark.<\/p>\n
Letters have come from Scouts and former Scouts; Scouters at all levels; parents; and professional staffers at the council, regional, and national levels.<\/p>\n
Thank you! Without your readership and\u2014even more importantly\u2014your writing in, none of this would have happened. I\u2019m particularly gratified by your enthusiasm for what we\u2019re accomplishing here because \u201cAsk Andy\u201d has never been publicized or promoted; you\u2019ve found me, and stuck with me often for the entire 15-year run.<\/p>\n
My commitment to you will continue. Although about a third of our conversations will find their way into an issue sooner or later, every single letter I receive gets a personal reply. When I \u201cshoot from the hip\u201d and miss, I\u2019ll publish my error as soon as I can. When you let me know that maybe I should have considered a fact I was unaware of at the time I replied, I\u2019ll publish that, too, and I\u2019ll take twenty lashes with a wet lanyard for messing up. But, most of all, I\u2019ll research and double-check every reply and give you the very best I can offer.<\/p>\n
If I seem to be some sort of \u201cexpert,\u201d I\u2019ll be the first to tell you I\u2019m not. I dig in and research BSA literature, policies, regulations, procedures, and rules until I find the answer you need. This is why accusations like \u201cWell, that\u2019s just Andy\u2019s opinion\u201d\u2014which occur regularly\u2014simply don\u2019t hold water. In fact, such false accusations are often used to dodge the issue or avoid having to admit that what\u2019s been going on (often for years) is completely wrong. The cold fact is that I rarely offer my \u201copinion.\u201d In that vast majority of situations I\u2019m giving answers that are straight from BSA rules, regulations, policies, and procedures. Folks may not like the answer, but doing it this way eliminates further discussion and debate: It is what it is. (This is why the columns aren\u2019t a \u201cforum\u201d and why 99% of my responses aren\u2019t \u201cblogs.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Sometimes I can get out from in front of this computer and keyboard, and feel more like a real person than a disembodied bunch of characters on your screen. So thanks to the councils who have invited me to speak at their Universities of Scouting and Commissioner Colleges! Thanks, in particular to Scouter extraordinaire and fellow Philmont Staff Alumnus Ken King, for inviting me to speak at the NESA exhibition tent at the 2013 Jamboree held at the Summit Bechtel Reserve.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been asked from time to time, \u201cAndy, what\u2019s the silliest question you\u2019ve ever received?\u201d That one\u2019s always stumped me, because there are really no \u201csilly\u201d questions\u2014people need answers and that\u2019s what I\u2019m here for. But a few years ago I did get a question that was sort of tricky to reply to. It was from a Den Leader who couldn\u2019t find where to buy the plans for a \u201cCub Scout Cruise Missile Kit\u201d that I\u2019d said had just become available. I had to advise, delicately, that that was in my April First issue that year\u2026 Uh, April First?<\/p>\n
The other question is usually, \u201cAndy, what\u2019s the one question you\u2019re most frequently asked?\u201d That one\u2019s easy, although I\u2019ve never understood why. It\u2019s \u201cHow do you count camping days\/nights for Camping merit badge?\u201d (I\u2019ll let you work on the answer to that one\u2026)<\/p>\n
There are three other people I must thank today. The first is John Glockner, who, as my Council Commissioner 15 years ago (I was his ACC for training), liked my idea for finding a way to get answers into the hands of the people who need them most when commissioners were in short supply. The second is Mike Bowman, key among the founders of the U.S. Scouting Service Project, who \u201cauditioned\u201d one of my columns in the early 2000\u2019s and decided to give me a permanent place on the usssp.org website. The third is my wife, Linda, who has frequently watched my hair catch fire and listened patiently to my occasional rants, often guided me with her own wisdom, supported and encouraged me for a lot more than 15 years\u2026and has always kept her sense of humor!<\/p>\n
So let\u2019s keep on keepin\u2019 on! We\u2019ll see you at No. 501 shortly!<\/p>\n
\u201cBABY\u201d and \u201cCARDIAC\u201d EAGLES<\/strong><\/p>\n About fifty years ago, the average age for making it to the rank of Eagle Scout was 15 and a few months. Today, the average is 17 years, 4 months.<\/p>\n The reasons for this dramatic change are myriad; the debates about them have been going on for a long time and are likely never to get resolved in any coherent way. But that\u2019s not what we\u2019re here to talk about today.<\/p>\n In 2015 we had 54,366 new Eagle Scouts, representing 6.57% of all eligible Scouts in that year. So the first thing we need to recognize is that in that year 827,489 Scouts of \u201cEagle age\u201d stopped at Life or somewhere short of that rank. Further, when the average age of these Eagles is 17.34. This suggests that about 27 thousand Scouts were between 17.34 and 18 years old, while others were somewhere between 13 and 17.34. Of these, via crude extrapolation, some 6,000 or slightly more likely hadn\u2019t reached their 14th birthdays before making it to Eagle.<\/p>\n In the face of these results\u2014and this is the point here\u2014we had maybe as many as 6,000 Scouts called \u201cBaby Eagles\u201d and up to 27,000 Scouts called \u201cCardiac Eagles.\u201d So this could mean that upwards of 30 thousand or possibly more new Eagle Scouts were either diminished or deflated by these or similar pejorative remarks about their age when they achieved this landmark rank.<\/p>\n Really? Is this what we want to be doing? Especially when we look at some more numerical relationships\u2026 Do we realize that while Eagles in 2015 represented one out of every 15 Scouts, they represented one out of every 300 males between the ages of 11 and 18? That\u2019s right: Only one young man out of every 300 in America between ages 11 and 18 becomes an Eagle Scout in any one year. So what happens when we count only those who fit into some people\u2019s \u201cacceptable\u201d age range (somewhere between 14 and 17, or so it would seem)? Then we\u2019re talking about one in 600. Let\u2019s think about that. Is this really how we want to treat a boy\u2014regardless of age\u2014who\u2019s just spent a lot of time and energy on the dozens and dozens of individual requirements for no less than 21 merit badges, plus all of the requirements for five (six, now) previous ranks? And he\u2019s done this despite the challenges in every other part of his life, many of which are mandatory. Speaking of which, in Boy Scouting he\u2019s a volunteer. That\u2019s right, he can walk away from this anytime he wants, which as we\u2019ve just learned, at least 299 out of 300 do, one way or the other.<\/p>\n The really weird part is that in other arenas, we do the reverse. We heap praise on the youngest gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal. We applaud loudly the oldest to win the Wimbledon trophy. But make it to Eagle at all and, when done sooner than 96% of all other Scouts, getting labeled a \u201cBaby\u201d is about as cruel a destiny as one can get, except possibly for those who earned Eagle within the stated time limit and got labeled \u201cCardiac.\u201d Worse than wrong, this is insensitive and outright cruel.<\/p>\n In boards of review for this rank, I\u2019ll often ask the Life Scout we\u2019re chatting with why he believes he deserves to be an Eagle Scout. The very best answer possible\u2014which, thankfully, we most frequently receive in response\u2014is: \u201cI\u2019ve done the work and completed all the requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s it, folks. When we do the work and complete the task, we\u2019ve earned it. The Eagle rank isn\u2019t \u201cbestowed;\u201d it\u2019s earned. Let\u2019s make it our solemn promise to honor every Eagle. He\u2019s done the work, he\u2019s earned it. Congratulations!<\/p>\n Happy Scouting!<\/strong><\/p>\n Andy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Write to askandybsa@yahoo.com. Please include your name and council. (If you\u2019d prefer to be anonymous, if published, let me know and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll do.)<\/strong><\/p>\n [No. 500 \u2013 9\/6\/2016 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2016]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ________________________________________ Today my 500th issue coincides with my very first, published 15 years ago this month. That first issue was published in the monthly newsletter of a single council. Today, these columns are regularly read in every one of the BSA\u2019s nearly 300 councils, including the Direct, Far East, and Transatlantic. 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