Camps and scouting vs. "screens culture"?

Local congregations should become more active in real-life (analog) adventures -- right now

I almost made it to Eagle Scout status, in a Boy Scouts troop based at the Southern Baptist congregation led by my late father, the Rev. Bert Mattingly. The church had a Royal Ambassadors missions chapter as well, of course.

It was normal to be a Boy Scout, even for a sports challenged (except for golf) teen addicted to books and classical choral music. Well, I also liked to set up stage equipment for local rock bands (even those ZZTop guys from Houston).

But if you have followed the sad headlines in recent decades, you know that the Boy Scouts have evolved into a gender-neutral collective called “Scouting America.” For a progressive, LGBTQ+ culture take on that, check out this Advocate feature: “Why the Boy Scouts of America is changing its name and embracing everyone.”

In the World magazine opinions pages, Warren Cole Smith offered a view from the other side of the divide in American culture: “The slow and tragic death of the Boy Scouts of America.” Here is a large chunk of his background material:

Between 2019 and 2021, the Boy Scouts lost half its membership, which today stands at about 1 million. In the 1970s, Scouting membership topped 4 million. The organization declared bankruptcy in 2020, and it has sold or mortgaged virtually every asset it can to pay a $2.5 billion settlement over sex abuse claims.

These melancholy facts raise a couple of questions: How did this happen? And can this once venerable organization recover?

To answer these questions, it’s important to remember what made the Boy Scouts of America great in the first place. As John Stonestreet and Shane Morris wrote for The Colson Center:

“Few voluntary associations in American history have had as deep and wide an influence as the Boy Scouts of America. The training ground of soldiers and senators, pastors and presidents, the organization effectively instilled values like trustworthiness, loyalty, courteousness, thrift, bravery, and reverence in many of the over 100 million young men who joined in its over 100-year history.”

It’s impossible to dig into Boy Scouts history without noting the crucial role played by religious congregations, such as my father’s church.

Mainstream conservative congregations hitting the Scouting exit doors were an obvious early sign of decline, one that mainstream news organizations tended to ignore. For more information on that, do some searches at the GetReligion.org archives. Here are two crucial posts, “Mormons, Southern Baptists and the new math facing the Boy Scouts of America (2015)” and “Scouting membership numbers collapse: AP totally ignores role of religion in this drama (2021).”

What does this have to do with Rational Sheep? Early in the history of this project, I wrote a post noting that outdoor activities and adventures can play a crucial role in helping youngsters grasp that there is more to life than glowing digital screens.

That post was about church camps — especially those who are starting to wrestle with how to control, or eliminate, smartphones, in the pockets of their campers.

What can happen at the local level?

Several Rational Sheep readers have expressed frustration that leaders of their churches and even doctrine-defined schools have not been willing to stand up (especially in or near pulpits) and discuss the links between screen-culture addictions and the truly frightening Western world stats about anxiety, depression, self-harm and gender dysphoria among the young.

What about adventure organizations linked to churches and other forms of institutional religion? There are all kinds of options — including the Calvinist Cadet Corps, Navigators USA and many others (surf this search file).

But the big name is Trail Life USA, which is currently celebrating its 11th anniversary. While it’s unusual to share a chunk of a press release, I think Rational Sheep readers — especially brave ones seeking to inspire changes in their pews — will appreciate some of this:

In just over a decade, Trail Life has grown to include nearly 60,000 members in all 50 states, with more than 1,000 local chapters. …

This past year, Trail Life reached more than 100,000 people through conferences across the country; had over 17,000 adult volunteer leaders help young Trailmen grow into Godly men; and continually increased their troop retention, hitting the 90% mark for the first time.

There are lots of glowing “praise” quotations in this missive, of course. But here is some additional background info:

Trail Life USA is the premier national character development organization for young men, producing godly and responsible husbands, fathers, and citizens. Trail Life’s mission is to guide generations of courageous young men to honor God, lead with integrity, serve others, and experience outdoor adventure. Troops exist in all 50 states and are growing as Trail Life USA expands around the country. Find a Troop today, or Start a Troop in your community. Find out more at TrailLifeUSA.com.    

Trail Life USA’s K-12 program centers on outdoor experiences that build a young man’s skills. A robust awards program motivates young men to grow on a personal level to become role models and leaders among their peers. Living the Trail Life USA is a journey established on timeless values derived from the Bible.      

 There’s more info at TrailLifeUSA.com, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and  Vimeo.

Ah, but how are Trail Life USA leaders handling “screen culture”? I did some basic searches and could not find anything specific at the national level. Readers: Does anyone know what is in the book-length Trail Life USA handbook? My searches there found one or two references, but I could not maneuver to the right quotations.

Meanwhile, I did find this detailed policy on the website of Troop 147, based in Dallas:

• We have a no-device policy that extends not only to campouts, but also our weekly meetings.

• This includes smartphones, tablets, gamepads, etc including any other electronic device that would distract from the planned curriculum. Wrist-watches are allowed.

• While such devices can offer educational value to an extent, Trail Life USA is a place for you and your son(s) to get away from these distractions, and focus on allowing the Bible-based lessons to take root, while enjoying God’s gift of creation, especially during campouts and other outdoor activities.

• This policy starts at the door/entry to out meetings, so please leave these devices in the car or at home.

• This policy applies to the boys, not the adults. At meetings and on campouts, adults of course may carry their smartphones and Trailmen can request to use them in case of emergencies.

I would be interested in seeing comments from readers who are involved in this rapidly growing organization, which works with a wide variety of traditional religious groups (including Eastern Orthodox parishes, which caught my eye). The Troops Fully Alive network is coordinating work among Roman Catholics. In other words, this network is not for Evangelicals only.

That’s all for now. I sincerely hope that we see more churches and parachurch groups getting involved in these issues, which could help parents, pastors, teachers and counselors take the plunge.