An Open Letter to the Boy Scouts of America

First of all, BSA, happy 100th birthday! Hope it's a good one for you!

I want to thank you so much for sticking around all these years. Both of my sons are in Scouts here in New York City, and they just love it — though it does crack me up how they get to their overnights: The troop meets across the street from the Waldorf Astoria. Then the boys take the subway down to the Staten Island Ferry, which they take across the harbor (passing the Statue of Liberty). And then they get off and hail cabs to the campgrounds.

Just like their pioneer forefathers.

But, of course, once they're out there in the woods, they pitch their tents, make a fire and cook dinner. Then they stay up late and talk into the night, and the next day, they learn whatever it is they're learning — knots, first aid and, best of all, how to be at one with nature. How to love it, care for it. How to avoid poison oak. How to be part of something that isn't pavement or school and is all about boys growing into decent (brave, reverent) men. Returning from his first camp-out, my younger son plopped on the couch, exhausted, and said, "That was the most fun I ever had in my whole life."

Guess that birthday party we held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art didn't make the cut. A tent, some boys and a knife did.

That Sunday night, we had to do the laundry twice because his uniform was so smoky. But that's fine by me — especially compared with the nature trip run by our local public school. It's an overnight for the fifth-graders, and after dinner there's a campfire. Hearing about this activity at an information session before the trip, the parents went wild! Would the children be SAFE? How far would they be from a hospital? Would they BURN? Hurriedly, the assistant principal assured them that the kids would be seated 20 feet from the fire, behind a row of benches.

They're something I'd like all kids to relish. I run a blog and wrote a book, both called "Free-Range Kids," all about giving kids an old-fashioned childhood without going nuts with worry. Kids should have adventures, by golly! There's more to childhood than sitting in the house, super safe but staring at a screen.

A lot of people have joined this Free-Range movement, and not surprisingly, half of them have sons. Of these folks, many would love to see their boys in a program like the Scouts, but they — like me — are dismayed by the anti-homosexual and anti-atheist bylaws of the organization. In fact, some of them are keeping their sons out of Scouting for just that reason.

Here in New York City, the troops reflect the town. They're open to all boys, as well as any parent leaders who are kind, loyal, trustworthy. No one gives a fig about their sexual or religious orientation. I'm sure the top folks at your organization personally know some gay and/or atheist men who would make great troop leaders. And, of course, who would want to see any boy left out? Why not open Scouts to all the good people who recognize how important it is to get boys back to nature and knot tying? We all want the same thing!

Tomorrow night's another Boy Scout meeting, and my boys will be there. Wish everyone who wanted to could be, too.

Yours — A Boy Scout Mom

Lenore Skenazy is the author of "Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry)" and "Who's the Blonde That Married What's-His-Name? The Ultimate Tip-of-the-Tongue Test of Everything You Know You Know — But Can't Remember Right Now." To find out more about Lenore Skenazy (lskenazy@yahoo.com) and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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