It wasn’t an esteem award. You are right. In High School the kids that got the glory were the athletes and their accomplishments. My son was a band geek and a Boy Scout. He got a $2,500 college scholarship because he was an Eagle Scout.
It does pain me to see what they have become, and the path they took to get there saddens me.
I agree with what others have said...what has happened to the Boy Scouts is part of a deliberate effort to destroy what is good and estimable in America and replace it with evil.