At 100, Boy Scouts face a new world

July 26, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Dallas Morning News

DALLAS

Norman Rockwell’s iconic images defined the Boy Scouts throughout the 20th century. Rosy-cheeked Scouts, solemn faces framed by short hair, looked as if they were gazing at goodness itself. They never appeared cynical or sardonic.

Times were simpler when the Boy Scouts of America was born in 1910. Most of the country lived in rural settings. People were familiar with hunting, fishing and outdoor labor. By midcentury, boys still practically lived outdoors, traveling the neighborhood on bicycles and playing sandlot ball until sunset. Fast food and video games lay in the distant future, and most of white America had not reached out to other races.

As the Boy Scouts enter their second century in 2010, membership has been declining for five years. Smart phones, iPods and laptops present stiff competition to a youth organization based on camping, hiking and quaint practices such as taking care of a pocketknife.

The challenge is how to reach out to families and convince them that Scouting is worth their time.

Today, a tradition-bound organization must change without abandoning its devotion to God, the outdoors and straight living, Bob Mazzuca, chief executive for the Boy Scouts of America, said in an interview.

He said three specific areas are targeted for change:

Integration of new technology into Scouting programs.

Focus on bringing more Hispanic boys into Scouting.

Becoming advocates for children’s health.

Another challenge — no one is quite sure how serious it will become — is how to handle court cases in which former Scouts say the organization did not do enough to keep pedophile adults from sexually abusing them.