Scouts Aim to Nip Gang Violence in the Bud : Youth: Palomar Community College Students recruit low-income Latino boys to become Cub Scouts and provide activities for their parents, giving equal emphasis to Mexican and American cultures.

Some college students have turned to the Boy Scouts to break the cycle of poverty and gangs in a San Marcos neighborhood where fourth-graders run with the “Smurfs” branch of an older gang.

Few of these Palomar Community College students were in Scouts themselves, but they hope Scouting’s discipline and emphasis on service will help the children not only survive without gangs, but also thrive.

They have added a twist to Scouting that the Boy Scouts of America are trying to duplicate elsewhere--recruiting low-income Latino boys and also providing activities for their parents--many of them recent immigrants--in both English and Spanish.

“We teach them a lot about the United States. They’re Americans now, they are a part of this society,” said Gerardo Madera, one of the Scout leaders and a member of the MEChA Mexican-American student club that sponsors the pack. “I try to unite them together. I try to show them that they also have their Mexican roots, that both are important.”

Cub Scout Pack 664 is the only Boy Scout group in San Diego County to be run by college students rather than parents or a church group. It is also one of the few to concentrate on Latino members, though non-Latino boys are welcome and at least one has joined.

“We’ve had a lot of people criticize that this is segregation,” said Juan Rodriguez, the 22-year-old Cub master. “My answer to that is they are already segregated. What we’re doing is breaking down those walls for them.”

Local Scout groups in the past have focused primarily on middle-class areas, and most leaders were not bilingual, the organizers said.

Officials at the Boy Scout district headquarters in San Diego said a concerted effort is being made to recruit Latino boys, not just as a gang alternative, but also in response to changing demographics. Latino packs are expected to open in Fallbrook, Vista and Oceanside over the next year, officials said.

“These boys don’t have any options” in their economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, said Matthew Bell, Boy Scouts district executive for seven North County communities, including San Marcos. “They can be bad and survive in the streets or they can be good and hide behind doors. We want to provide them with some options.

“If you’re 14 and already gang banging, it might not be cool (to join Scouts.) If we catch you when you’re a 6-year-old Tiger Scout, it’ll be cool. . . . The hope is to grab them while they’re young.

“We want to make sure those Spanish-speaking boys have every opportunity the English-speaking kids have.”

Training materials published by the national organization have been available in Spanish for more than a year, a crucial element in helping the mostly Spanish-speaking parents to one day lead the packs.

The San Marcos pack has doubled its membership to about 50 since its first meeting in March.

Around the time of the first Scout meetings, “It was back and forth between two rival gangs in San Marcos,” said Rodriguez, a San Marcos resident and sociology major at Palomar. “We found out that the people doing the shooting were kids in junior high.”

Messages about staying in school and avoiding gangs are woven throughout all the Scouting activities, from reading the Scout Handbook to camping trips.

“They tell us about gangs,” said Jonathan Fernandez, 10, adding that he wouldn’t join one because he wants to stay in Scouts. He and his friends were eager to show off their Cub Scout patches and salute.

“We tell the kids, now you belong to the best, the biggest gang in the world,” said Vince Andrade, a San Marcos businessman who chairs the pack’s advisory committee. “They’ve got signs, they’ve got a uniform. We just happened to fall on the right formula.”

The boys said Scouting’s camping trips and picnics are sources of fun they wouldn’t find in gangs.

And gang members aren’t any tougher than Scouts, the boys added, noting proudly that they know how to fend for themselves if they get lost on hikes and can beat older Scouts in soccer.

“I can do 40 push-ups,” added a grinning Gustavo Hernandez, 9.

Gang episodes sometimes result in a surge of parental interest in the pack, which Rodriguez and Madera acknowledge must be sustained so they can eventually turn over the reins to the parents, most of whom work and lack any Scouting experience.

Rodriguez and Madera, who both carry full class loads and have other jobs, are willing to stay on as long as possible. Rodriguez plans to transfer to Cal State Northridge next year and Madera, a political science major, hopes to attend UCLA Law School.

“We’re young and we have a lot of energy,” Rodriguez said.

That energy was apparent at a recent meeting in which the leaders helped the boys draw Veterans Day “thank you” cards to be sent to a local veterans center. The meetings and activities are conducted primarily in English, but the leaders all speak Spanish too, so they can translate for boys with limited English-speaking skills and for the Spanish-speaking parents.

At the meeting, Rodriguez presented the boys with ideas for their own pack flag, which he said would provide them with a sense of unity and pride. The drawings incorporated symbols of both American and Latin culture, such as an eagle and a Mayan temple.

“We want something that signifies something positive, something from our roots to where we’re going in the future,” he said.

One mother, Graciella Villarreal, said she likes how the Boy Scout leaders emphasize both American patriotism and pride in Hispanic heritage.

“They teach them a lot about this country and Mexico,” she said. “They learn to help somebody else, too. They don’t think only about themselves. . . . Everything that’s happening now (with gangs) is scary. I don’t want my kids involved in gangs. I want to have a good future for my boy.”

She said her son Oscar’s schoolwork has improved since he joined the Scouts. Some of the Scout leaders also tutor the boys in reading and English pronunciation.

“They see us, that we’re in college,” said Madera, 20, of Escondido. “That’s one of my main goals, to be a role model, so they see they can go to college. They’re seeing the differences between the gang members and people who are not in gangs.”

He said he and the other leaders, many of whom grew up in neighborhoods with gangs, can relate to the boys’ hardships of living where crime is rampant and money is tight.

“We tell them that when we grew up, it wasn’t easy for us. I knew a lot of people who dropped out of school, people who had babies young. We relate personal experiences.

“We come from the same boat they do.”

Daniel Anaya, a local businessman, said it is that link, as well as the Spanish communication, that has helped this pack succeed where others have failed.

“The cultural bridge is the major difference,” he said.

“It’s really important that they speak Spanish,” said Villarreal, as she helped the boys draw pictures of helicopters and tanks to send to the veterans home. “We can understand each other. We can tell them what we like and don’t like, and see what is best for the kids.”

Although other activities have been tried throughout the area to keep kids diverted from gangs, organizers believe Boy Scouts is the best hope for the boys, some of whom even have fathers involved with gangs.

“The reason I think we’re getting a lot of support is the values it teaches these boys, the activities to help the community and enrich themselves,” said Rodriguez. “The reason this thing has worked, it was at the right time, the right place and with the right people.”