For Citizenship in the Community, one of your Eagle-required merit badges, you must watch a movie that shows how the actions of one individual or group of individuals can have a positive effect on a community.  Why do you think this a requirement of this merit badge?  Certainly one of the reasons is to demonstrate that YOU could be the one person that makes a difference in a big way!   All throughout history, over and over again, major changes for the better have been the dream and the inspiration of a single person, or a small group of people.

The photograph above is from the movie, Ghandi, starring Ben Kingsley.  Employing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for non-violence, civil rights, and freedom across the world.  Even if you do not become a world-wide figure like Mahatma Ghandi, your individual actions can have an unbelievable ripple effect, as you affect others around you, and they, in turn, affect others around them.

As an Eagle Coach, merit badge counselor, and Assistant Scoutmaster, I know I am having a positive effect on young men.  I am not sure when and where that effect will occur, and I may never know, but nevertheless, I know it will be there!

You can download a list of movies that I approve as a merit badge counselor on the download page of this website.  The requirement states very specifically that you must have permission to watch the movies from your parents (or guardians) and your merit badge counselor.   So please get permission from both before you watch the movie.

Enjoy the show, and as you watch it, imagine yourself in a similar role.  What would you do differently?  Is there a way you can make a positive change in the world around you in a similar way?  Please discuss this with your counselor and parents.