I was briefly involved in the Boy Scouts from 1979 to 1980, when I was 11 years old.
I will admit that I was somewhat lukewarm about being a Boy Scout from the get-go. I got involved with scouting at the behest of a friend of mine. We are still friends today, but I have learned not to take his advice on important life decisions.
Don’t get me wrong: I had a great time as a Boy Scout. I made some friends in the Boy Scouts who are still friends today, some 45 years later. (Or well—at least they’re friends on Facebook.)
The things I liked about the Boy Scouts included the merit badge system. Even as a youngster, I liked the idea of diving into subjects and learning about them from the inside out. I earned a respectable handful of merit badges.
My big problem with the Boy Scouts was camping. I never learned to enjoy sleeping in a tent. Nor did I enjoy making complete meals out of Spam and deviled ham.
And as for answering calls of nature out in the woods… well, we won’t even go there.
A Boy Scout who doesn’t like camping? Whoever heard of that? That’s why I didn’t last long in the Boy Scouts.
As a result, I made it only to the rank of Second Class. No Eagle Scout bragging rights here.
The official magazine of the Boy Scouts was Boy’s Life. I would have been a member in January 1980, when the issue below was released.
Boy’s Life contained articles about fishing, camping, and other outdoorsy stuff. There was content about history, and profiles of professional athletes. This was the right magazine for me at that age. I enjoyed Boy’s Life a lot more than I enjoyed the campouts.
I understand that Boy’s Life has been renamed Scout Life, to conform to the new coed nature of scouting. The BSA began admitting girls in 2018. In 2025, the Boy Scouts of America officially changed its name to Scouting America.
There have been other changes, as well. It really isn’t the same organization I was involved in back in 1979 to 1980. I have no official opinion on Scouting America, and I’m much, much too old to be reading Scout Life, anyway.
-ET