Dee Flint wrote:

When the scout earns a merit badge,
it does not put him on the same level of
authority and responsibility as the scout
masters or leaders. That merit
badge does not make him the "equal" of the adults.

Indeed.

Also interesting to note that the Scouts (both Boy and Girl) have
an elaborate system of "rank, status, and privilege" by which
they classify different members, and their accomplishments.

An "incentive" system, if you will.

On the other hand, a 14 year old ham radio licensee

....or a 10 year old, or an 8 year old...

has all the same rights,
privileges, and responsibilities as
any other licensee of the same class.

And it's been that way (in the USA) since at least 1912.

Yet the proponents of an age requirement for a USA-issued
amateur license cannot provide any evidence that the lack
of such a requirement has caused problems for the ARS.

More important, this lack of an age requirement plus the
anonymizing nature of Morse Code and the "data modes" has
promoted and supported a form of equality among hams of all ages
are/were very rare.

Perhaps it is this equality that bothers some people so much.

When I was a 13 year old calling CQ on
80 CW, those who heard my signal and answered did not know
I was a seventh-grader unless I told them.

When I was 14 and
NCSing section nets and taking traffic to the region net, (all
using Morse Code) no one asked or cared how old I was - they
only cared if I was a competent operator.

There's a teenager who has the distinction of being the youngest
ham to earn an Amateur Extra class license - which that ham did
at the age of 8. Our first QSO (using Morse Code, naturally) was
when that amateur was 10 - and I didn't find out about the age thing
until well into the QSO.

Why should there be an age limit for an amateur radio license?

73 de Jim, N2EY