What's an Eagle Factory?

I think the fact that we have to teach our boys to pass harsh judgement on other scouts is awful.  If we as parents, take the lead and celebrate our boys achievements without having to tear others down we have shown them what a true scout is.  All of this name calling is crazy -- if a child does not get the same feeling of accomplishment as the boys who have done more than "show up", that is his/and his parents cross to bear.  Not ours!  I was so disheartened when my Life Scout came back from OA and his first comment was there were so many boys there that come from Eagle Factories.  WHAT?  Who gave my son the right to judge?  Was he there making sure these boys were just getting merit badge stamps without completing the packet?  NO...so who gave him the right to judge?  Oh yeah -- his troop and others like the people here.  Shame on you.

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First of all- I am not in scouting- I have always thought that "earning the achievement of Eagle Scout" was a respectable thing and I am sure it is in most cases where the individual earns it.  I have lost some respect for this award when I witnessed one my friends push his boy through scouting to achieve this award.  The individual was his sons scout leader and somehow the young man was able to achieve th award at 14 years of age.  I know his son and I have a hard time buying that this individual could truly earn this achievement. The son posted a YouTube video entitled 'I google myself' shortly before earning the award. In the video the soon to be recipient was googling himself to see if there was anything out on the web that might keep him from getting the award, he is heard on the video basically admitting what he was doing, and admitting he didn't know how he was earning the award because he was so immature-as soon the award was earned they both dropped out of scouting  

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I have been associated with the BSA for over 37 years, and have seen too many instances where the Scout Program is not followed and requirements are not enforced. As a result, I have met many higher-ranked Scouts who do not possess even the most rudimentary of Scout skills. Many Troops push their Scouts through advancement without actually requiring that individual Scouts actually demonstrate proficiency in the skills that are published by the BSA as required for rank advancement - and they are also given Merit Badges without actually earning them. In addition, boy leaders are not held accountable for actually fulfilling the requirements of their positions. The results are that the Scouts are unqualified, the Scouting program becomes a travesty, and the boys - who ultimately realize that they have not really earned their ranks - become cynical about the Scouting experience.

A couple of ways to determine if your Unit is an "Eagle Factory" is to ascertain just how closely the requirements are enforced by the Scoutmaster and the Advancement Committee, to recognize if the Troop meetings follow the program planning guides, or if they instead feature Merit Badge workshops, and to calculate the percentage of Merit Badges that are awarded by counselors who are also registered in your Troop, particularly if they are registered as "Unit only" counselors.

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