intresting question...

[TAB]

I was talking with a friend if mine about his son, who is in the planing stages ofhis project to become a eagle scout ( he was talking to me about diffrent erosion control methods, for trail restoration) Any ways.  My friend was never in scouting. He has seen the leasons learned and the values scouting puts into place.  So he asked me thus question: " how much better would the world be if all young men had to become eagle scouts?"   I really had to think about this for awhile.   this was at about 9 am this morning and I am still thinking about.   whats your $.02?

[jaybet]

Honestly I don't think we could all BE Eagle scouts, like all people who go into the service can't be Seals or Marines. It's a group of the outstanding, and I guess you could say the values of scouting would make the world a better place, but I don't think you could hope for all to be outstanding.
Then there's the whole (large) percentage of the population that is incapable or just plain doesn't give a s**y.

[TAB]

You are 100% there is no way we all could be eagle scouts, but what if we all were?

[BAC]

I was never in scouting.  Went to sign up when I was a pup, but was told that they "had enough white kids" in the troop.

[Solus]

Actually, I think the world would be improved if everyone gave their best try at becoming an Eagle Scout...maybe near as much as if they all made it.  

You will have a respect for what it takes and a respect for those who accomplish it, and a respect for yourself for doing your best at the attempt.....and respect is a sorely lacking quality in today's society.

[Sponsor]

[santahog]

I think that scouting, as much as building civic and personal responsibility, gives a boy a chance to ask some questions of himself.
(And while he's young enough to start working on the answers before the questions bite him in the butt. I know. Different question..)
I was just young enough when I joined to give it a shot before I got too old. I quit when my daddy died. I had just made Star. The personal stuff aside, having made star was the first thing that I remember making me think that I could accomplish something. While the attempt was always expected by the older boys on the troop, it was made clear that the choice was always my own.
It was the first time I was asked from within myself..
Mandatory? No.. Opportunity? Yes..
I think scouting is good for a boy, but I don't know how it gels with the kinds of trouble that boys face with middle & high school today.. Even the idea of the opportunity of a wholesome life as a kid seems like a myth if I try to look at it from the view of a boy today..
Back in the latter half of the 80s, I saw a bumper sticker that was stuck on the mail clerks pick up truck. It said "Remember the days when sex was safe and motorcycles were dangerous?" I never forgot that because it was funny, and it was sadly true.
25 years later, would any of us not long for the relative harmlessness of the times of Reagans last few years in office?
Eagle should be available to try for, but not "mandatory". Starting a boy early enough is the purview of the father..
.02 worth..

[tombogan03884]

The Soviets and the Nazi were both strong proponents of youth groups, Hitler Youth and Comsomol.
"Scouting" gets it's name from the fact that it was intended as a "junior military" to supply recon people with out tying up front line troops.
Research Baden - Powell and the siege of Mafeking.

[MikeBjerum]

Boy Scouts is not the only program that teaches and reinforces values we all need.  It is also a program with several levels that allow us to all succeed to the level of our drive and ability.  To make membership, participation and/or level of success mandatory would be wrong.  However, I believe that every youth and every adult needs to be active in organizations that push their comfort levels and that allow learning and growth in a measurable way.

[TAB]

You are right, its not the only group.  Its just one of many.

[Pathfinder]

Tom - and this should surprise no one here - you are a cynic. Ambrose Bierce, author of the Devil's Dictionary and Civil War vet, wrote in the Dictionary that a cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing. 

Eagle Scouting is an elite organization - less than 2% of all Scouts become Eagles, just like the same percentage of adult leaders earn their Woodbadge knots. It is an honorary rank that is purely earned and not bestowed or voted on.

So, although the question is moot - for the same reason we aren't all millionaires, if we're all millionaires, then being a millionaire ceases to mean anything - it is an interesting intellectual problem. Yes, the world would be better if all men were Eagle Scouts, as Mike said - it instills a certain level of principles and leadership skills we are lacking in today's society.